Chestnut Hill Bakery

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Thank you for your help Revdex.com but at this time I will not have any further contact with chb.  My decision was based on  instead of 40 dollars worth of bakery goods I would have rather  had a least half of my money back.  As of now they have lost a customer for life and further family functions that require large or small cakes orders will go to someone else for those and holdays also.  Thanks again for you help.
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: I purchased 2 dozen Mediterranean cookies this past Saturday (May 4, 2013), and when I attempted to try one later that day, I found the cookies were burnt and hard. I contacted this business and left a message, voicing my dissatisfaction on paying $30.00 for cookies which my husband and I were unable to eat. I did not hear back, which is understandable, since the business had closed at 3:00pm that day. I arrived at the store first thing Monday morning to address my concern. I was greeted by a young lady, who informed me I would need to wait "15 to 20 minutes" for the manager to arrive. She also informed me he had told her "the cookies are not burnt, I baked them myself" on the phone. Approx 20 minutes later, a woman appeared behind the counter informing me that she had eaten one of these cookies previous evening, from this same batch, and they were not burnt. She refused to refund my $30.00, offering half the money and insisting that she keep the cookies. I was very disappointed by the lack of concern, as well as, unwillingness of this business to accept responsibility for their error. I was also disappointed that they would not refund the full amount of my money, especially, since I returned their burnt cookies.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund for the $15.00 that this business owner refused me.

I have been a customer of Chestnut Hill Bakery for more than 15 years. I love their large cream puffs and their butter rolls. I have never had problems with anything I have purchased from them. The items I have bought from them have always been fresh and very delicious and even fooled my husband into thinking I made them myself. (Sorry Chestnut Hill :) But they are truly one of the best bakeries I have been to. Thanks for all of the great products.

Review: ORDERED A CAKE TO FEED 100 PEOPLE CAKE WAS NOT EVEN AN INCH HIGH TALKED TO OWNER ABOUT THIS SHE SAID THAT SOMETIMES THEY DONT RISE BUT THIS WAS FOR A 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AND THS CAKE SHOULD NOT HAVE LEFT THE FACILITY, I DID NOT KNOW THE CAKE WAS LIKE THAT IF HAS A LOT MORE ICING PILED ON TOP SO WHEN WE CUT THE CAKE I HAD TO TRY AND SERVE IT BECAUSE THE PARTY WAS GOING ON, HAD A LOT OF CAKE LEFT THAT WAS THROWN IN TRASH BECAUSE NO ON WANTED ALL THAT ICING. SHE SAID SHE WOULD GIVE ME 2 DOZEN DOUGHNUTS FOR THE MISTAKE I SAID OK THEN I CHANGED MY MIND BECAUSE THAT DOES NOT ADD UP TO MY $75.00 THAT I PAID FOR IT, I WAS QUOTED 65.00 FOR CAKE BUT CHARGED 75.00 WHEN I PICKED IT UP SATURDAY. SHE SAID THAT HAPPENS SOMETIMES THAT IT DID NOT RISE BUT IF IT DID NOT RISE I THINK IT SHOULD NOT HAVE LEFT HER STORE.Desired Settlement: IF SHE CANT REFUND ALL MY MONEY AT LEAST SOME OF IT

Business

Response:

The Customer had concerns that her cake was not high and that she paid $75 but was quoted $65. It was explained to the customer that sometimes the cake does not rise, meaning that sometimes it does not rise within the one batch as much as it does within another batch. CHB pound cake is a dense cake with a lower height. Our variety cake flavors are less dense and are higher. Each batch of CHB lb cake makes approximately 700 servings. They are then used to fulfill various orders ranging from baby cakes, ¼ sheet cakes, ½ sheet cakes to full sheet cakes. All of which were sold. We have only heard back from this customer as being dissatisfied with her cake. I am concerned that this customer may not have had a CHB lb cake before and had different expectations. This cake was within our CBH range. I venture that she may have been expecting the height of a variety cake flavor, which is higher than our CHB lb cake. During her phone call, the majority of the discussion was about the cost of her cake. When cake orders are made we state the starting price for the size that they are requesting. . Her ticket had $75 written on it. (Full sheet cakes start at $65) This cake was decorated with greater than 15 roses, more than double the average amount for a full sheet cake, which would account for the additional charge. Since there was a misunderstanding about the cost, the customer was offered to have her choice of any bakery items to satisfy this dispute of $10. A decision was made to accept 2 dz donuts, worth $18. A no charge ticket was written up for her order to pick up on the next day. There was no further discussion about her dissatisfaction and it was felt that the donuts would satisfy her cost difference. Later in the same day, the customer called back to the bakery. She said she would like to cancel her donut order. The staff who took the phone call asked her if she would like to speak to the manager. She said she did not. The staff reported to the manager that the customer did not give a reason for her cancellation. Based on the information listed on the Revdex.com complaint, the customer chose to file a complaint at the end of the day in which she spoke to the CHB staff. CHB was not given the opportunity to satisfy the customer since she did not communicate back with us that she continued to be dissatisfied. It was the understanding that her dispute was satisfied with her donut order. Since she cancelled that order, and did not share why , nor would she talk to management there was no way to resolve her dispute at the store or “person to person” level. It is disconcerting that this customer did not give CHB the opportunity to provide a satisfying outcome. It is always the goal at CHB to have satisfied customers. It burdens us that we were not able to make this resolution at the store level. Our store policy is that the customer can choose product from the bakery worth half the amount of the disputed order. Since her cake was $75 she is able to choose $40 of bakery products. She would need to either come in and pick up product that is available in our store front, or she can make an order with at least a three day notice. With either options she must call and speak to the owner to share her decision so the owner will have the opportunity to make the counter staff aware of the arrangement. She must “redeem” her product refund by July 25th, 2014.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Thank you for your help Revdex.com but at this time I will not have any further contact with chb. My decision was based on instead of 40 dollars worth of bakery goods I would have rather had a least half of my money back. As of now they have lost a customer for life and further family functions that require large or small cakes orders will go to someone else for those and holdays also. Thanks again for you help.

Regards,