Cupcake Girlz

*** *** sent me a certified letter which is the same wording compliant received here. This was my response to her dated June *,
Dear ***,
In response to your letter dated May **, 2014, there is no breach of contract on Cupcake Girlz behalf. Your
order was placed via telephone on February *** not the *** as stated in your letter (dated credit card receipt is attached). As stipulated on the order form (copy attached), we are not responsible for any damage once the cake leaves our store We cannot be responsible for negligence once the cake is released The product given to you was in perfect condition and in the appropriate box which is given to all customers who order tiered cakes. Staff members witnessed your husband stumble outside the door hitting the box on the railing causing the cake to shift; it had nothing to do with the size of the box. When you brought the cake back into the store my staff immediately assisted in repairing the border of the cake as that was the only damage done per your husband’s stumble.
None of my employees apologized to you as you stated because they were assisting in repair of the cake that your husband damaged, they were being extremely helpful. Per your
request, the staff used a different box and placed the bear that was located on the board in a bag so you could transport it.
In response to your comments about the cake:
The photo provided upon ordering the cake was used as an example. You altered the cake design as you can see by the notes on the sheet attached
The bow was in perfect condition when you left the store.
The writing on the cake could not be done in fondant as mention to you upon ordering because the writing/description was too large so it was explained
to you that it would be piped on. It was not a sloppy mess
We use the utmost care and skill with every cake we provide to our customers. If you were unhappy with the cake upon picked you should have said something. Your husband accepted the cake and immediately paid the remaining balance
The photo you sent does not show any damage to the cake as you stressed (dents, bow damage, etc). I as well have a photo of the cake before it left our store. A refund will not be given as the damage to your cake was done once you left the store
Any action taken against Cupcake Girlz, Inc will be met with an appropriate response
Sincerely,
*** ***
*** *** *** ***
***IN RESPONSE TO YOUR 'ADDITIONAL PHOTOS" SENT TO THIS COMPLIANT WHICH WERE "NOT" SENT WITH YOUR CERTIFIED LETTER....As we cannot tell where the DENT is on the cake from the SMALL photo you attached with this complaint we cannot see exactly where on the cake it is - BUT if you look at the completed photo of the cake you can clearly see that the bears ear was leaning against the cake. The cake was placed on a 14" board and the original box was a 16" box to accommodate the size of the cake and bear. You asked for a smaller box. The cake was put into a 14" box that was the same size of the cake board. When you asked for a smaller box the bear was removed and placed in a bag for you to put back on the board in the exact spot it was originally placed when you reached your final destination. If this is where you are showing the dent then the bears ear would have matched up with the dent covering it. There were NO additional dents on this cake caused by Cupcake Girlz

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ***, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:
[Your Answer Here]
A box was NOT even offered upon pick up. Asking if you can hold the cake on your lap seems extremely unprofessionalasking for a box should not be something that should have been needed to be done. Your shop then did not provide an appropriate size box for the cake(an old large box laying around your shop) causing the cake to topple over in the box not even five feet from your register it did not even make it to the doorthis is when your staff "tried" to repair the cake and failed a different box was then given for the cake which also did not appropriately fit the cake (another old box laying around your shop was given this time smaller) Which did not even fit the entire cake and bear was placed in a paper bag (another non-apprioiate means to transport fondant which could have easily been smushed) If an appropriate box was given for the cake it would not have toppled over, which I don't know why this is not a standard procedure for a cake shop.... On top of the poor service and care for the cake I was never told fondant letters would never have been used it was written sloppy I have better handwriting then what was given to me...and when you expect fondant cut letters and given that is disappointing and the overall cake was poorly created again you can see dents on the cake and a huge bulging ring around the entire cake on both tiersHow you believe it is the customers fault that we caused the damage to the cake because appropriate means on transportation was not given is very shocking coming from a cake shop ***
your policy states: we are not responsible for any damage once the cake leaves our store
We cannot be responsible for negligence once the cake is released.
------ The cake did not make it out of your store when it toppled overand your company again failed to provide an appropriate box. Why are cake boxes not something given to your customers to take their cakes home in??
In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above
Sincerely,
*** ***

We tried to rectify the situation with the customer but was unable to.  We have also disputed the claim with the originating credit card company bank and they have found the result to be in our favor.
 
Thank you.

Review: At 12:14pm on Saturday, May **, 2014 my husband entered your shop in [redacted] to pick up a cake order placed on February **, 2014 where a $122.20 deposit was given. The product received was unsatisfactory: The cake was not given the appropriate type of box for transportation. As a cupcake shop that places cake orders on a daily basis, it should be expected that an appropriate means to transport the cake out of your shop is given to the customer. A staff member offered that the cake be placed on my lap and held since they did not have an appropriate size box to place the cake in. This seemed unacceptable and we requested a box. When asked to speak with the [redacted] or someone in charge about the transportation of the cake we were told the [redacted] was on vacation and no one was able to assist us but they were very sorry. The box they found around your shop was given for the cake and it was so large that once we opened the door out of your shop the cake toppled over, causing damage to the cake. The fondant around the cake was smashed and your staff tried to "repair" the cake and then placed it in another box where the cake barley fit into it and the bear for the cake was given to us in a paper bag. Once again not an appropriate means given for us to transport the cake. When the cake was placed out at the event the dents on the cake were noticeable to guests, the bear had to be used to cover the bow damage and the cake did not fully look like the picture that was sent to you as a model. (two pictures attached -model cake & cake received) The bear had one butterfly and the bear pictured was holding 4 items. The writing should have been done in fondant letters and we received a sloppy hand written message. Overall the cake did not look as pictured nor from a cake shop that makes cakes, it looked like I made the cake myself.Desired Settlement: a full refund of $249.83

the cake was damaged

Business

Response:

[redacted] sent me a certified letter which is the same wording compliant received here. This was my response to her dated June *, 2014

Dear [redacted],

In response to your letter dated May **, 2014, there is no breach of contract on Cupcake Girlz behalf. Your order was placed via telephone on February [redacted] not the [redacted] as stated in your letter (dated credit card receipt is attached). As stipulated on the order form (copy attached), we are not responsible for any damage once the cake leaves our store. We cannot be responsible for negligence once the cake is released. The product given to you was in perfect condition and in the appropriate box which is given to all customers who order tiered cakes. Staff members witnessed your husband stumble outside the door hitting the box on the railing causing the cake to shift; it had nothing to do with the size of the box. When you brought the cake back into the store my staff immediately assisted in repairing the border of the cake as that was the only damage done per your husband’s stumble.

None of my employees apologized to you as you stated because they were assisting in repair of the cake that your husband damaged, they were being extremely helpful. Per your

request, the staff used a different box and placed the bear that was located on the board in a bag so you could transport it.

In response to your comments about the cake:

The photo provided upon ordering the cake was used as an example. You altered the cake design as you can see by the notes on the sheet attached.

The bow was in perfect condition when you left the store.

The writing on the cake could not be done in fondant as mention to you upon ordering because the writing/description was too large so it was explained

to you that it would be piped on. It was not a sloppy mess.

We use the utmost care and skill with every cake we provide to our customers. If you were unhappy with the cake upon picked you should have said something. Your husband accepted the cake and immediately paid the remaining balance.

The photo you sent does not show any damage to the cake as you stressed (dents, bow damage, etc). I as well have a photo of the cake before it left our store. A refund will not be given as the damage to your cake was done once you left the store.

Any action taken against Cupcake Girlz, Inc will be met with an appropriate response.

Sincerely,

[redacted]IN RESPONSE TO YOUR 'ADDITIONAL PHOTOS" SENT TO THIS COMPLIANT WHICH WERE "NOT" SENT WITH YOUR CERTIFIED LETTER....As we cannot tell where the DENT is on the cake from the SMALL photo you attached with this complaint we cannot see exactly where on the cake it is - BUT if you look at the completed photo of the cake you can clearly see that the bears ear was leaning against the cake. The cake was placed on a 14" board and the original box was a 16" box to accommodate the size of the cake and bear. You asked for a smaller box. The cake was put into a 14" box that was the same size of the cake board. When you asked for a smaller box the bear was removed and placed in a bag for you to put back on the board in the exact spot it was originally placed when you reached your final destination. If this is where you are showing the dent then the bears ear would have matched up with the dent covering it. There were NO additional dents on this cake caused by Cupcake Girlz.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[Your Answer Here]

A box was NOT even offered upon pick up. Asking if you can hold the cake on your lap seems extremely unprofessional... asking for a box should not be something that should have been needed to be done. Your shop then did not provide an appropriate size box for the cake.... (an old large box laying around your shop) causing the cake to topple over in the box not even five feet from your register it did not even make it to the door.... this is when your staff "tried" to repair the cake and failed a different box was then given for the cake which also did not appropriately fit the cake (another old box laying around your shop was given this time smaller) Which did not even fit the entire cake and bear was placed in a paper bag (another non-apprioiate means to transport fondant which could have easily been smushed) If an appropriate box was given for the cake it would not have toppled over, which I don't know why this is not a standard procedure for a cake shop.... On top of the poor service and care for the cake I was never told fondant letters would never have been used it was written sloppy I have better handwriting then what was given to me...and when you expect fondant cut letters and given that is disappointing and the overall cake was poorly created again you can see dents on the cake and a huge bulging ring around the entire cake on both tiers... How you believe it is the customers fault that we caused the damage to the cake because appropriate means on transportation was not given is very shocking coming from a cake shop [redacted]...

your policy states: we are not responsible for any damage once the cake leaves our store.

We cannot be responsible for negligence once the cake is released.

------ The cake did not make it out of your store when it toppled over... and your company again failed to provide an appropriate box. Why are cake boxes not something given to your customers to take their cakes home in??

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Review: "Thomas the Train" character cupcakes were ordered on 6.**.13 for my twins' birthday party in the amount of $111.07. The initial date indicated was to be 07.**.13, however within 2 hrs. of placing the order, I had realized that I had given the wrong date and contacted the store via phone. I started the conversation indicating that I had just been in placing an order for the cupcakes and received a "yes, yes" in acknowledgement of having been there. I requested a change in date from the Sunday, 7.**.13 to Sunday, 7.**.13. I received verbal confirmation that "it was not a problem" to change the date to 7.**.13 (1 week earlier). On 7.**.13 we went to pick up the cupcakes only to discover the order was not fulfilled. The store also denied receiving my phone call regarding the date change. She was completely rude and wanted to deny a refund, offering her stock cupcakes as a concession. We refused as it was indicated we paid for a specific character and given that she did not fill the order we wanted the payment returned to our credit card. She claimed she was already in the process of making the fondant for the cupcakes (which would have been a week in advance had we kept the original 7.**.13 date). I did not believe this and told her so, how can food be prepared so early. She told us she would not give us the full return again claiming she had already begun the fondant design for the characters. The owner, [redacted], was extremely nasty and told me she "would not argue with me over this" and hung up on me while my husband [redacted] was at the store. I immediately contacted my credit card company to file a grievance for the payment. My receipt from Cupcake Girlz has no information regarding a return policy, and I had paid in full in advance. Had I not paid in full, she would not have had the money to try and keep. The owner of Cupcake Girlz did a partial return to our credit card in the amount of 71.69, claiming that she would have to take a loss for canceling the order, which we did not (she didn't make our order). Since she hung up on me, I was unable to tell my husband in time to deny any return at all. My credit card company told me that getting even a partial return indicates that we are accepting a resolution. We were unaware of this, though my credit card company said the store owner is well aware of that fact. Again, I felt taken advantage of. She was extremely rude to my family and combative over our order. Her denial and lack of professionalism were shocking, and her error left her with a guilty attitude. I refuse to pay for that. Others should know this is how Cupcake Girlz conducts business.Desired Settlement: I would like to remaining balance of $39.38 refunded back to my credit card, as we received nothing but aggravation from this company and 2 hysterical children who did not get their "Thomas the Train" character cupcakes for their birthday that they themselves had picked out. We have absolutely nothing to show from this purchase, not even the fondant that she claims to have been making.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Cupcake Girlz regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Sincerely,

Review: My daughter had her birthday party here in August, 2013 with 9 kids. The party was $350 plus an additional $40 for a birthday cake, which I had to purchase, because I was told I couldn't bring my own cake there. Pizza was served, to my surprise, only 1 pie arrived. I asked them if I could order more for the kids and parents, they advised me they only allow one slice per child and thats all! Next, they got a plastic box to decorate, they received a sharpie marker and 3 stickers to decorate each box. Then it was on to making the cupcakes. They made the cupccakes, which was supposed to include toppings to decorate the cupcakes. Each child only received 2 toppings,(4 mini- marshmallows and sprinkles). They gave 3 icing bags to share among 9 children. The kids were eatting the marshmallows, so I asked to buy more and was told I couldn't, that they were allowed a certain amount and there was no more to give out, that they were all alloted to other cupcakes. I was expecting a lot of toppings for the children to choose from. Balloons were included in the party, there were 3 balloons in the room. Goody bags were also included, and when my daughter received 1 single blow pop lollipop thats all (plus their decorated cupcake), she started crying! The party was supposed to be from 1 to 3 and it ended at 2:20, it started late at 1:25, there was nothing else for the kids to do.I paid for 2 hours and only received 1. I was so disgusted that I went to the counter and asked to speak to the owner and was told the owner was unavailable. I was told the cops were on their way. I was shocked!!! [redacted] kept watching me,telling her staff not to let me go. [redacted] went outside to take down my license plate number, in case I ran out.[redacted] stated to me that she knows where my husband lives and works (in a threatening way). Parents were now coming to pick up the kids and I was embarassed that the police had arrived and parents were questioning me, as to what happened. The cops arrived and I told hem how [redacted] threatened my husband and they asked me what I was comfortable with paying because I was dissatisfied with the service. The owner made me pay the total bill, stating we would talk more about this on Tuesday, that she would call me. (I did not receive a phone call from her) The cop advised me to spread the word to othe friends about the service I received. I am completely dissatisfied with the cost and level of service I received! I would like a refund!! My daughter was so upset, thinking her mom was getting arrested and I had to have my husband take her home and find a ride home. My daughterwas crying all the way home!Desired Settlement: I would like at least half the money back or more, so I can try to have another birthday party for my daughter!

Business

Response:

Review: 9/2012:ordered a cake for my daughter's 1st bday party on 11/*/12-met w/[redacted] & discussed cake details. cake was delivered as promised-but when we cut the cake to serve I realized it was not what I ordered. the bottom large tier of the cake was to be marble cake w/chocolate ganache filling-what I got was a white cake w/possible cannoli filling. I reached out to [redacted] as soon as the party was over that evening, via phone. the majority of the rest of our convos were via [redacted] messenger, so I have them in writing. after our phone discussion on 11/*, we came to an agreement in writing on 11/* that $50 would be refunded to my visa, and I would receive $50 in store credit. [redacted] said she'd call me 11/* to get credit card info-she didn't. 11/* she said she'd call-she didn't. 11/* told me that she had a death in the family & was handling that. 11/** I left credit card info with a store employee, messaged [redacted] via FB to ask her to let me know when it was taken care of. she acknowledged & said a gift cert for my store credit would be mailed 11/**. on 12/* I reached out asking when my visa was refunded, bc it wasn't shown on my statement as of 11/**-and where was my store credit that should have been mailed 3wks prior. said she would double check & call me 12/**. also said (again) she would mail the store credit that week. never called me. 12/** I reached out again. she said she called me 12/** but didn't want to leave a message. said the gift cert. went in the mail that day. said she'd call me 12/** or **. 12/** I reached out AGAIN. she apologized/stated she had a death in the family 2wks prior. 12/** she called me-obtained my card info. as of 12/** visa STILL had no record of refund & I filed a dispute. they credited me the $50 as agreed by [redacted] and I. to date, 1/*/13 I STILL have not received my store credit. on top of the cake being wrong & feeling brushed off/my refund not taken seriously, I also felt [redacted] made a couple of rude comments throughout the process.Desired Settlement: I was orig. satisfied to accept $50 refund & $50 in store credit bc I felt it was an honest mistake. I paid for a product & did not receive what I paid for but then to be brushed off, not taken seriously, lied to, etc-i am disgusted & disheartened & have no desire to return to her business at this point. I would have no use for the store credit, even IF she mailed it to me. base price of the cake was $275 (+ tax/delivery=$325.88). I feel I should be refunded $225(base price less my visa dispute)

Business

Response:

What the customer states is true regarding her order. It was unfortunate that the bottom layer of her cake was wrong and I apologized to her over again as it was an honest mistake. She wrote to me through [redacted] many times, and as I'm not a fan of speaking through [redacted] or email I told her I would call her. Honestly, I did forget the first time as I had extreme personal issues going on as she concluded with telling you that I had a sudden death in my family. I left it to my staff to get in contact with [redacted]. [redacted] did contact the store to provide her credit card information and we credited the account for $50 as agreed. After she contacted me again to say she didn't receive the credit I told her I would look in to it. When I finally spoke to her and told her we credited the card # provided, we then went over her credit card # and noticed that one of the numbers in the last 4 digits was wrong as you can see by the attached yellow paper. I told [redacted] that I would correct it. I left it with my staff and instructed them to credit this account that day. It is now to my surprise that I received this notification about not being credited again. I don't know why she wouldn't call the store or stop in as she lives local. For the record I did call her but did not leave a message because I wanted to speak with her directly, not through a voice message, through [redacted] or email. I understand her frustration but being "brushed off/or not taken seriously" is far from what I am all about. Yes, it is true that I had a tragic, tragic death in my family that I guess she just couldn't see passed. I left her information in trust of my staff and unfortunately the person handling the situation is no longer with me so I cannot even asked what had happened. I take offense to being called rude and a liar because I am far from that. I have personally credited the account today for $50 as you can see by the attached receipt as she voiced she will not return to my business again so this will be in place of the $50 credit for store purchases. For the record, I did personally mail the gift certificate but as she states she didn't receive it so there is no way of me proving that unless someone shows up in my store one day with it.

I will not be refunding an additional $225 because as she stated to me the cake was beautiful through facebook, etc and we came to an agreement on what was to be refunded. This could have all been avoided if she just called or stopped into the store but some people like to take matters in their own hands differently.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

However, in response to the business - I could understand a death in the family... however, I was given that explanataion 2x over a course of 6 weeks time. If you are continuing to run your business/keep it open during that time, then a phone call could have been placed, a store credit mailed etc. It was one thing when she originally told me about the death in the family, and that being the reason why she didn't originally call when she said she would... but 6 weeks later to tell me that the death happened 2 weeks prior? That doesn't make any sense. And while she takes offense to being called "rude" and a "liar" - I'd have to wonder if she was the customer, how she would feel... after her order is wrong to be told "well people still ATE the cake" or "it wasn't a $300 cake, it was a $275 cake" - or to be told REPEATEDLY that someone would call her, credit her, mail her a gift certificate - and none of it ever happen? It doesn't matter to me whether the error was by her or another employee - it is still her place of business, and at the end of the day, it falls in her hands. When she was already dealing with an unhappy customer due to the business's error, then perhaps she should have paid a little closer attention to make sure things were handled the way that she said they would be. I DID understand that it was an honest mistake... and that is exactly why I was fine to accept the store credit originally... and also why I was so patient over the 6 weeks time. but you can only "brush off" a customer for so long. Enough is enough. Again, if she were in my shoes - would she believe at this point that the gift certificate was ever mailed? I was told it would be mailed... it wasn't. Then I was told again, and STILL haven't received it. After being told I would get my credit card refunded repeatedly and it never happening, and being told that I would get phone calls, that I never received - you would tend to understand my disbelief about the gift certificate as well at this point. The same thing with the phone call - that she "didn't want to leave a message and wanted to speak to me in person". I could understand wanting to actually speak with me... had she left a message, I would have returned her phone call. I have caller ID and voicemail on my house and cell phone and don't have any missed calls from her... so I have to question that as well. Had she left a message, maybe that would have been avoided. Or had she tried to contact me again. I'm not sure why she thinks that **I** should have stopped into her store, instead of handling it this way. After HER error with my cake, and after HER not refunding me properly - it's up to me to drive 20 minutes to her store with my 14 month old child? Some of her responses are exactly why I referred to her as rude. In my opinion, the way she has handled this entire situation is what has made it go from an honest mistake, to disgusting. I will accept the $50 refund in lieu of store credit IN ADDITION to the $50 visa credited me in my dispute, to be done with this.

Sincerely,