Bell svc destroyed my sons birthday cake

[4HOLIDAYS]

I brought from home a cake made for sons 21st birthday, carried on lap for 3 hr car ride. Riom was not ready,at CBR, so we put that and bloc of choc (gift) with bell services woke we went to AK.

The women who I gave it to was not pleasent, spoke down to me when asking about making site it was in frig, mire than once spoke to me like i was idiot. She almost knocked it off counter while I was standing there.

I told my husband I had abad feeli g about it. I was really put off by her bad attiyude. In coming to Wdw for to yrs I can count on 1 hand any negative experiences eith CMs.

Come back from park, go to get it and could tell by face of bellman we had aproblem. He actually handed it to me with the choc box on top and did not say a word. He did not day a word. The cake had been dumped on its side, the upper layers on their side.

I pitched a fit. Told them to find me a mgr. I was fit to bet ied. She apologized, and offered to take the cake to alocal publix to see if they can"fix", or make another in the am. At first she asked what did i want to do if they can't fix it. ...i told her call Gf, Bw, CR ..all have bakeries.

The manager asked I write something up about incident and then offered to buy us breskfast tomirrow.

Btw, first visit to CBR, and love it. So pretty, GREAT beds, liked our lunch...

I guess I wanted to vent and make sure I am nit out of line expecting them to make it right with another cake. Thoughts?

 

[Disney_traveler]

While I am sorry for what happened, I do think it is out of line to expect them to do anything. While I expect them to be careful with suitcases, I also understand that if I have anything expensive or breakable or fragile, I take the chances of something happening to it. I would venture a guess the resort does not have special refrigerators for guest belongings. If it was so important to hold it for a 3 hour car ride, then arrangements should have been made to do something to allow you to keep up with cake if the room was not ready OR you should have waited to go purchase a cake until after room was ready.

 

[fla4fun]

Sorry this happened to you. Personally, I don't leave anything of any importance with Bell Services. There have been times I've just hung out in the lobby for a few hours with items I did not want to leave in the car (due to heat issues) or leave with Bell Services (in case they were lost, stolen or damaged). I may have missed some park time, but I didn't have to worry about something happening to an irreplaceable item.

As far as compensation, I'm not sure what I would do in your shoes. We used to have a bakery near us that made absolutely incredible cakes, and we would often stop and pick up a cake before going on a trip somewhere. I would have considered one of those cakes to be irreplaceable, and been crushed if it was treated like yours was. Getting a generic cake from a Disney bakery probably wouldn't have made me happy because it wouldn't have tasted or looked like the cake I had brought with me. Every time I would have looked at the Disney cake, it would have just brought back the bad feelings. I probably would have just planned a nice birthday dinner at a restaurant with some decadent desserts and not had a cake. However, I understand wanting to have a cake for such a milestone birthday, so I hope Disney works it out to your satisfaction.

 

[baler31]

Asking for an exact replacement for what was destroyed is in no way unreasonable. They should replace the cake with a comparable cake. They should refuse to handle these items if they don't want to accept responsibility for them. They do accept them, so please do not take offense to my next statement as it is not directed at you.

Disney should refuse to handle outside (or charge a fee) for the handling of refrigerated items, cakes, groceries, etc. It has become very common for a large percentage of guests to have those items and more staff need to be available and specifically trained to handle these items.

However, no excuses for the poor attitude and you should at minimum receive a new cake.

 

[AngiTN]

There is no reason for a CM to treat a guest rudely. No matter how much they don't want to do the task. The fact is Disney will store items for guests. They are supposed to take reasonable care of it. If they can't then they need to say so. I would expect a similar cake from a Disney bakery, if there is no way to repair to some sort of normal, the cake you brought.

While I am sorry for what happened, I do think it is out of line to expect them to do anything. While I expect them to be careful with suitcases, I also understand that if I have anything expensive or breakable or fragile, I take the chances of something happening to it. I would venture a guess the resort does not have special refrigerators for guest belongings. If it was so important to hold it for a 3 hour car ride, then arrangements should have been made to do something to allow you to keep up with cake if the room was not ready OR you should have waited to go purchase a cake until after room was ready.

But they do

 

[soniam]

Sorry to hear about the cake. I can imagine it was very disappointing. I wonder if the staff at CBR is under a lot of stress due to the massive remodel. It's not an excuse, but they may not be dealing with it well, since it just started.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I would have ate it and got a chuckle. It's all there and will get all messed up anyway as it goes down the hatch...

MG

 

[bumbershoot]

She apologized, and offered to take the cake to alocal publix to see if they can"fix", or make another in the am. At first she asked what did i want to do if they can't fix it. ...i told her call Gf, Bw, CR ..all have bakeries.

Honestly I would go with Publix over the Disney bakeries. I've heard over and over how terrific Publix bakery is, and I don't really hear that about the Disney cakes, especially if you don't manage to get a really good decorator working on it. (and decorating doesn't help the taste)

Or I'd head up to Whole Foods for their bakery.

I would have ate it and got a chuckle. It's all there and will get all messed up anyway as it goes down the hatch...

MG

Seriously. Squashed cake tastes exactly like un-squashed cake!

But then we had a housekeeper at our pre-wedding (non Disney) hotel throw away almost half of our remaining wedding cake, so we roll with the punches with cake. (and yes we did get compensation because it was our WEDDING cake, cost a ton, was 100% not-from-a-mix, and she put a bunch of it in the garbage can...but we also didn't go crazy with the compensation either)

 

[Nancyg56]

I would have ate it and got a chuckle. It's all there and will get all messed up anyway as it goes down the hatch...

MG

Me too! Seriously, it was a cake, and while I get the importance of special occasion cakes, I do not understand "pitching a fit" over one.

 

[WhispyPixie]

I am sorry this happened. A CM treating anyone rudely is not acceptable. On the other hand, I would never leave anything with Bell Services to store like a cake. Things happen and with the number of non-bag items coming through Bell Services I think it might be "over-reaching" to expect that it would be safe & intact. There is just too much risk with something so delicate. Sometimes, things just happen! At that point, it is time to grab a fork and dig in, share it with Bell Services and make their day! It certainly would be memorable. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your trip.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If they can't handle keeping it, they shouldn't have accepted it.

A replacement would be nice but I wouldn't count on it

 

[disneyvoice]

I'm sorry that happened to you. I think my first clue, however, that having the resort store the cake would not end well would be the fact that the first CM didn't seem thrilled by the prospect of storing it. I'm finding it hard to believe that a CM would just be rude for no reason at all in this situation - it sounds like she didn't WANT to accept the cake but felt pressured into it. Personally I wouldn't have gotten mad at them for it. It was a unique situation that they don't have a perfect solution for and the solution they had to come up when they cake appeared just didn't work out well. I think I would have at least called ahead to see if storing the cake would be possible. Most people know it is a strong possibility that your room won't be ready when you arrive and you will have to store your luggage so the problem could have been anticipated. It does sound like they tried to make the situation better by trying to "fix" the cake. I am assuming they offered this first because they felt the OP must have really wanted this particular cake if she brought it from home as opposed to just ordering one at WDW. It's just me but in this situation I wouldn't expect WDW to pay for a new cake - it would just be nice that they offered to assist with the process.

Kudos to driving 3 hours with the cake though! I guess it shows my extreme laziness in creating baked goods that I would have just ordered a generic cake at whatever restaurant we were eating at for my son's birthday or not do a cake at all and just enjoy whatever dessert was available.

 

[HopperFan]

Agree that once they accepted it, they accepted responsibility to take care. If they dropped/broke it, they need to replace it. I think what we are going to find is in the future Disney will stop taking on responsibility for any food items etc.

That said, if I were driving a couple hours or 8 hours (I do) I would not be giving anything to bell services ... I have a car. I would have packed a cooler with cake inside surrounded by freezer packs to keep it fresh. Then upon returning to the resort and my room, unpacked it myself.

 

[goofy4tink]

I brought from home a cake made for sons 21st birthday, carried on lap for 3 hr car ride. Riom was not ready,at CBR, so we put that and bloc of choc (gift) with bell services woke we went to AK.

The women who I gave it to was not pleasent, spoke down to me when asking about making site it was in frig, mire than once spoke to me like i was idiot. She almost knocked it off counter while I was standing there.

I told my husband I had abad feeli g about it. I was really put off by her bad attiyude. In coming to Wdw for to yrs I can count on 1 hand any negative experiences eith CMs.

Come back from park, go to get it and could tell by face of bellman we had aproblem. He actually handed it to me with the choc box on top and did not say a word. He did not day a word. The cake had been dumped on its side, the upper layers on their side.

I pitched a fit. Told them to find me a mgr. I was fit to bet ied. She apologized, and offered to take the cake to alocal publix to see if they can"fix", or make another in the am. At first she asked what did i want to do if they can't fix it. ...i told her call Gf, Bw, CR ..all have bakeries.

The manager asked I write something up about incident and then offered to buy us breskfast tomirrow.

Btw, first visit to CBR, and love it. So pretty, GREAT beds, liked our lunch...

I guess I wanted to vent and make sure I am nit out of line expecting them to make it right with another cake. Thoughts?

Any kind of rudeness to a guest is not acceptable....even if the guest is rude to begin with (not saying, in any way, that you were rude!!!). But, here's my issue...you said you carried it on your lap for the three hour car ride but wanted it in a fridge. They may very well have put it in the fridge, but it got mushed by other stuff, that needed to be kept cold. I would have left it in the car....then not worried about it.
What kind of cake was it? Had you made it at home? Did a bakery at home make it? How expensive was it? If you made it at home, or bought it at a bakery for $25, then I don't think it's fair to expect the best bakeries on site to replace it. Those cakes start at $50 and go up into the hundreds!!!
I completely understand wanting a destroyed item replaced but I'm not sure I would have left a cake, of any kind, with Bell Services. That's really not their responsibility. I would, possibly, left it with the front desk, and had them put it in a back room, but not in the luggage area.
I hope the rest of your stay goes well, and the birthday goes off nicely!!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I have to agree with the PP who said, if they accepted the item, they accepted responsibility for it and if they broke it, they need to fix it. I would ask them to replace it with a comparable cake. Bell services accepts all types of items - luggage, strollers, outside grocery deliveries. Holding a cake for you is not outside the norm and, if it were, they should have told you they couldn't hold it for you.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I have to agree with the PP who said, if they accepted the item, they accepted responsibility for it and if they broke it, they need to fix it. I would ask them to replace it with a comparable cake. Bell services accepts all types of items - luggage, strollers, outside grocery deliveries. Holding a cake for you is not outside the norm and, if it were, they should have told you they couldn't hold it for you.

Exactly. If someone left luggage with them and returned to find it battered, that person would probably be very unhappy. I could understand if the cake ended up slightly melted from a fridge not being cool enough or if the cake shifted slightly in the box, but to return and have it in shambles is unacceptable. Personally, if it cannot be fixed, I would either request Disney make a cake of the same size, flavors, and as close to the same theme as possible, or give me the amount of money I spent on the cake and I would call publixx and see if they could make one.

 

[IrishNYC]

Having them replace it with another cake (I'd also choose Publix over Disney's bakery). Things happen. I expect my bags to get tossed around a bit. If I have a package sent to bell services, I expect it will be manhandled. I would never give them something delicate like a cake in the first place.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I know what you mean by bad feeling about this.. Our room was very late once and I had medication needed putting in the fridge. I had timed it right but my cooler was running out. It was the room being late. Bell services said yes we will put it in the fridge then placed it on the side well I just knew it would stay there for ages. Please I said could you put it in the fridge now. The CM snapped at me. That medication is expensive and I need it!

The medication pen failed I was in awful pain. I wonder how long it sat in storage in the heat? Ruined my vacation.

 

[Harambe]

That is a disappointing story, and I feel bad for you. I would have expected, though, that when you handed over the cake, someone should have said that they could not guarantee its safety!! I would have expected someone to say that to me if I handed over a cake, just as a head's up that things could go badly. Then I would have had a chance to decide if I wanted to hand it over at all!

I never would have taken a cake with me, but I could tell it was a special cake for a special 21st birthday for your son. I hope whatever cake you get makes him happy!

 

[MermaidMommy]

Sorry to hear about the cake. I can imagine it was very disappointing. I wonder if the staff at CBR is under a lot of stress due to the massive remodel. It's not an excuse, but they may not be dealing with it well, since it just started.

The remodel doesn't start until May 1. They haven't started on that project yet.