WWYD - Wedding cake didn't show up

[jlima]

I assume they had to pay for the substitute cake the hotel provided....maybe the bakery should pay for that.

Yes Yes Yes! Send the owner of the bakery a letter detailing EVERYTHING - when your initial and follow up appointments were, dates & times of your phone calls, who you talked to, copies of what you signed (and especially, anything they signed), and what the hotel is charging you for the replacement cake. Demand that they pay for the hotel's cake, or you will do everything you can to inform as many people as possible how poor their business practices are.

 

[kidzmom3]

I am definitely in the minority here, but everyone (businesses included) make mistakes. It is common practice in bakeries to have folders for each days cake. Ever watch Ace of Cakes?, they keep theirs on clipboards.

they did apologize, but in her opinion it was not sincere. Well, that's an opinion. Maybe the person who gave the apology felt very sincere.

 

[tonilea]

True, people make mistakes, but this isn't someone putting pickles on a burger after you ask for no pickles. It is a wedding cake and there should be some sort of system to prevent that kind of thing from happening.

 

[jlima]

I told her to write a letter to the newspaper in the letters to the editor section.

No . . . don't write a letter to the editor. Get in touch with the lifestyle editor at your local paper; and tell that person if they ever want to do a feature about wedding horror stories, do you have a tale to tell!

 

[ericamanda01]

OP I know just what your DSM is feeling. Our wedding cake was ordered a month before the wedding with a call from the bakery to verify the order. We picked it up and everything looked great, until we cut into it at the wedding. It was not what we ordered. It was some sort of banana cake with a jam filling, not good. Well we had guests who were allergic to bananas and couldn't eat any, but what really got me was when I called that bakery they just said oh well, sorry.

My DH is allergic to blueberries and had there been any in it we would have spent our honeymoon in the hospital. When I told them this they just asked if there were any blueberries in it. I said no, but the point was it could have been a very bad situation. They again gave me what sounded like a forced apology and after another call to the owner we got our money back. They made me feel like we were bothering them.

 

[jlima]

I can't believe in this day and age at a bakery that the only recordkeeping is having a slip of paper in a Saturday instead of a Friday folder.

You would be surprised! I had a room service order get lost at the last property I worked at; it's a big property on the Strip with a name you'd recognize. They used clipboards - plain clipboards, not even the kind that you hole-punch the top & put on rings - and hung them on the wall, one for each day of the week, to organize their future orders. When they had too many orders to fit under the clip, they would put a "alligator" clip on the side of the clipboard to hold them down. VERY low tech!

I hand-delivered the order on Tuesday, called on Friday afternoon to confirm they had it; and on Monday morning the meeting planner it was for made sure as many people as possible knew she wasn't made to feel welcome when she arrived. The room service people found the order later on Monday. It had fallen off the clip board, and was between the wall & the director's desk.

Sometimes, you can't win.

 

[Hillbeans]

Kidzmom, you are definitely right and people make mistakes, and they did at least apologize and offer to refund her $ right away. What's done is done and it's not as if the wedding didn't go on and everyone of course had a great time.

It's just a shame that people aren't more careful, especially those who work in the "wedding" business. Either way you're wrong for not calling to confirm stuff 3x or you call 3x and everyone at the store calls you a bridezilla. It's not rocket science and from what it sounds like this system has failed others on this thread who also didn't get their wedding cake or got something completely different than what they ordered like ericamanda1.

 

[KristaTX]

What's the name of the bakery?

 

[Cindyluwho]

What's the name of the bakery?

Thank you for asking that, I've been waiting for the name to pop up!!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

That is horrible that that happened and frankly, it is inexcusable. I used to work in a grocery store kitchen. Our store does most of the caterings in this area including weddings. WE use the folder system as well, and we always call a day or two before to confirm. We have never had any kind of mix up like that and if we had, you can bet your booty that we would do everything within our power to make it right.

 

[wdwiala]

I work for a bakery. Even today, our wedding cake maker was calling brides and reception halls for the weekend cakes. There should be many checks and balances in the process if you had a descent bakery.

 

[Hillbeans]

Edited

 

[justhat]

It was the Viking Bakery in Denville NJ. If anyone is from around that area here they would know it has a good reputation.

Hillary, I didn't think to ask you what bakery it was, but that is crazy. They do have a great reputation, I would be even more annoyed now, knowing it was Viking. My mom used to get all my birthday cakes there as a kid. Even back then, they did that 'fill out the form, stick it in a folder' stuff. You'd think they would have improved on that system by now. I think the biggest disappointment would be that they didn't get to enjoy their cake, because Viking makes a pretty tasty cake. I'm sure the hotel cake was fine, but probably not as good as the Viking cake would have been.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

I'm sorry this happened, but I think taking steps to ruin this business is wrong. Mistakes are made, and probably this can be attributed to a single person.

 

[blissventure]

I'm sorry this happened, but I think taking steps to ruin this business is wrong. Mistakes are made, and probably this can be attributed to a single person.

ITA. Talk to the bakery owner/manager, get the refund, and be glad the hotel stepped up to the plate.
In these difficult economic times, though, is anger over a cake really worth folks jobs, livelihoods, homes?

Sometimes you need to make things right, financially. Sometimes you need to talk directly to an owner to be certain they are aware someone dropped the ball on an order.

I think it's very unwise and probably cruel to attempt to finish off or besmirch an entire business based on one (admittedly annoying) incident.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

What a nightmare! I would contact the OWNER of the bakery to make him or her aware of not only the overlooked cake, but the attitude of the person who took the complaint. Even with a folder type system, someone messed up big time in missing the cake completely. That should have been in the planning all week.

OT

Just want to comment on the "in this day and age" comment made earlier. Bakeries, especially older ones who've been in business for years, are just about holding it together. Many have closed. Utility costs are astronomical for them - heating, refrigeration, electricity, etc. Utility bills totaling $10,000 per month aren't unusual today for larger bakeries. Also, regulations have cost them a lot, for instance having to put in a handicapped restroom for patrons if they serve food, or being forced to close; newer safety and sanitation regulations, etc. Prices can only go up so far as people are only willing to pay so much for bakery items (not necessarily just wedding cakes) when they can get almost the same items at the supermarket or places like BJ's a lot cheaper. The traditional bakery business is becoming a dinosaur (and traditional bakers, too; good help is very hard to find). Those that are still around often can't afford to put in modern day computer systems, so you will still see ancient systems in place. This may not apply to newer bakeries who've opened more recently and incorporated modern systems into their businesses (and whose items will not be cheap).

I'd also like to say that, more than likely, for every cake that's been missed, there has been another side of the coin of bakers who've gone to wedding receptions to fix cakes or otherwise "save the day". This is probably more common than the missed cake.

So if you love your old bakery and want to help them survive, give them your business!

I'm sorry this happened, but I think taking steps to ruin this business is wrong

For the reasons listed above, I agree. I do, however, think they should make it right.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Thank you Pea-n-me!

My husband is a baker and has worked for the same place for 25+ years. It is an old school bakery that still makes custard over a double-boiler, not out of a bucket It is a scratch bakery and times are tough. The business has been owned by the same family for 3 generations.

I would agree to speak to the owner of the business. Express your unhappiness and let the owner respond. Not sure who youspoke with at the bakery, but it does not sound like it was anyone in a position of authority. If it was, they would understand exactly the impact this had on your event.

Good luck and glad the rest went off without a hitch!

 

[clgwli]

I would probably go in person to speak with the owner. No more phone calls but a nice in person discussion usually works better. Why? Because no one wants anyone to over hear that kind of thing in their store. Negative publicity hurts more than positive.

I'd be beyond furious with them. What they did was unacceptable on so many levels. I would want my money back and the cake (or equivalent of items from the bakery) as well. To me money back and further compensation seems more than fair.