Does the caterer work at all?

Zolt65 · September 2014

I've tried FIVE different parties and the caterer each time doesn't cook a thing!

Clicking on the sim doesn't do anything.
Clicking on the stove doesn't do anything.
Clicking on the fridge doesn't do anything.

Has anyone had a successful catering experience?

Asante · September 2014

Well, mine always cook, bartend and entertain as they're supposed to. So it might be a bug...?

Zolt65 · September 2014

What did you do to make him/her cook? I have a stove/fridge/counters ....no cooking

quasha81388 · September 2014

The first two parties i had the woman caterer she just sat around talking, never cooking anything. I finally hired this old man and he stayed in my kitchen cooking the whole time .... So im not sure if she was just lazy or what

Asante · September 2014

Hmmm. Nothing? Party starts, caterer comes, finds kitchen, starts cooking? I actually don't pay much attention to the service sims, because I'm too busy getting everyone to listen to the same music or some task like that...

ToriKelley · September 2014

Birthday party on town lot, caterer just hung around as there was no where for him to cook. (I have since added a kitchen to that particular lot, but have not had a party there to see if that worked) Hosted wedding party at my Sim's house and the caterer did cook a lot.

Zolt65 · September 2014

I remade the gym in Willow Creek as a wedding/reception hall. Stove/fridge/counters with a bunch of dinner tables downstairs and a microphone. Upstairs is bar, piano and restrooms. In the back yard is the wedding arch.

Asante · September 2014

Hmmm... have you tried parties at home? Just to see if there's a difference? Maybe they just refuse to work public lots?
Never tried an out-of-house-party before, but what ToryKelley wrote might hint at that...

WarpCode · September 2014

I have only had one party so far and I made one of the people in my household be the caterer but she didnt cook anything. When I would click on her and make her cook something the activity would show for a second on her action bar then disappear. I made one of my sims friends to be the bartender and she didnt make drinks. I hired someone to be the entertainer and it was an old man who showed up and he died because one of my guests started yelling at him.

Asante · September 2014

WarpCode wrote: »

I have only had one party so far and I made one of the people in my household be the caterer but she didnt cook anything. When I would click on her and make her cook something the activity would show for a second on her action bar then disappear. I made one of my sims friends to be the bartender and she didnt make drinks. I hired someone to be the entertainer and it was an old man who showed up and he died because one of my guests started yelling at him.

That's weird as well... Haven't tried employing one of my sims though... but if they're guests thay CAN cook. Had to make a cake once during a party because the caterer was cooking whatever it was...

EDIT: That party must have been the hit with the entertainer "conjuring" up a creepy wraith... must have been a goth party...

Zolt65 · September 2014

Asante wrote: »

Hmmm... have you tried parties at home? Just to see if there's a difference? Maybe they just refuse to work public lots?
Never tried an out-of-house-party before, but what ToryKelley wrote might hint at that...

Im going to try...these public parties are a bust

claritysf · September 2014

I had a wedding and hired an insane sim as my caterer. (She was from another family I had been playing, that's how I know her personality) She actually DID cook something, but then she proceeded to party with the rest of wedding guests. She didn't even bake a wedding cake. I clicked on her and there was no option to tell her to work. I thought it was just because she's insane but it sounds like you had the same problem. I really feel that this option to direct your cater needs to be patched in. "Make a cake" "Make a meal" or maybe "FIRE" Something like that. If you're hiring someone to be your caterer, they should really CATER.

briannamichelle000 · September 2014

The same thing is happening to me!!!!!
I have had 3 parties with a caterer! No cooking at all. I hired one the first time and all she did was show up and party with everyone so I had to make the food in a wedding dress.
So dumb. Then the second time the caterer didnt even show up and neither did the bartender.
Last time the caterer showed up but did no cooking. The bartender tended the bar. It is an annoying but because I payed for them and they did not do their work.

Kamb64 · September 2014

Happened to me too. I'll report it as a bug.

Zhivankarst · November 2014

I've found the best thing to do if you get a caterer that doesn't do their task, but at the same time is keeping you from cooking, is to run interference with another household member. Have any household member (other than your cook) engage a queue of conversation actions and have your cook make that cake for the wedding, birthday, what-have-you.

Kind of ridiculous to have to resort to this, but the dignity of labor with EA's service sims has always been in question.

AnnLee87 · November 2014

The key is not to talk to them. If you do they get chatty. If they do get chatty just right click and rest them with the testing cheat on. They will go back to cooking unless food is already prepared. They will not cook all the time if there is already some food out and leftovers in the fridge.

catmando830 · November 2014

They don't do anything. I always have my Sim make a bunch of food and either set it out or since the guests help themselves to everything, just leave it in the fridge.

davina1221 · November 2014

That is what happened at my weddings. The workers, mostly the caterer won't bake a cake and I have the stove, refrig, and cabinets there on the public lot and my sims had to fix their own wedding cakes. I requested that we be able to ask them go back to work. If we pay, then we should be able to start them back to work if they get off track.

IceyJ · November 2014

I've never had a problem with the caterers, until the first time I decided to have a party with the goals disabled. Don't know if it's related, but that was the only time they didn't cook. They just socialized and partied like a regular guest. I also noticed she didn't have the "Caterer" label over her head.

stilljustme2 · November 2014

Asante wrote: »

WarpCode wrote: »

I have only had one party so far and I made one of the people in my household be the caterer but she didnt cook anything. When I would click on her and make her cook something the activity would show for a second on her action bar then disappear. I made one of my sims friends to be the bartender and she didnt make drinks. I hired someone to be the entertainer and it was an old man who showed up and he died because one of my guests started yelling at him.

That's weird as well... Haven't tried employing one of my sims though... but if they're guests thay CAN cook. Had to make a cake once during a party because the caterer was cooking whatever it was...

EDIT: That party must have been the hit with the entertainer "conjuring" up a creepy wraith... must have been a goth party...

For my most recent wedding, I had my Sim (actually his mom) make the cake ahead of time then dragged it out to the table I had prepared for it. The caterer wasn't the greatest cook -- mainly made BLTs and left two of them on the ground unprepared so my Sims had a lot of cleanup afterwards (plus she broke the refrigerator so my new groom had to fix it), but other than that everything went well -- I finally got the gold medal for the wedding so now I don't have to worry about holding another plum wedding.

Juana · November 2014

I've only had one party where my caterer did anything.
My caterer never cooks, my mixologist never makes drinks.
I don't bother hiring them anymore.
There should be an option to click on them and say "go make drinks" or "go make food" or something.

MsPhy · November 2014

I had a party at the house once. I cannot remember the event. A birthday, I think. The random caterer made a birthday cake, then made tons and tons and tons of salad. The only other time I had a caterer was at a wedding museum venue. The random caterer was Pancake Bob, and he didn't do plum. The bartender did put out tons and tons and tons of plates of chips, which helped. I had the father of the groom eventually bake the wedding cake.

JENNTN · November 2014

Mine always cook too much stuff LOL. I think part of the trick is to keep the guests out of the kitchen. If they congregate in the kitchen, it blocks the cook's path to the fridge, counters, stove, etc. And they just eventually give up and go party. Also don't make a guest a caterer, if they are only there to work they are less likely to socialize. And be sure to have 5-6 counters so they have plent of prep room!

Aine · November 2014

I wonder if the fact that the caterer also acts as a guest on the public lots is the culprit? Maybe the guest role takes precedence over the caterer role, and they just go around being a guest instead...

GalacticGal · November 2014

I think it's like any of the NPCs in the games, prior to this one. Some maids worked for their money, others pretty much did nothing. You just have to recall who it was and make sure you don't hire that one again. You could also see if you have an option to fire the NPC who isn't doing the job you hired them for.

rosehrtgirl · November 2014

IceyJ wrote: »

I've never had a problem with the caterers, until the first time I decided to have a party with the goals disabled. Don't know if it's related, but that was the only time they didn't cook. They just socialized and partied like a regular guest. I also noticed she didn't have the "Caterer" label over her head.

How do you disable the goals. I didn't know you could do that.

I have found if you remove all food from the fridge and put it in the sims personal inventory the caterers will do their jobs majority of the time. And don't put any food out on the counters until the caterer and mixologist do their jobs. Guest will get in the way of the caterer and mixologist if their is food out on the counters.

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Does the caterer work at all?

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