Search Engine of Independent Retailers and Small Business Resources

Birthdays are exciting and momentous occasions, especially for children. My twin boys, Marco and Dominic, were turning three and nothing but the best cake would do. Extravagantly rich and decadent birthday cakes from Extraordinary Desserts have been the tradition in our family circle for some years. But this year I thought I’d break that tradition to patronize San Diego’s newest gourmet dessert palace located in North Park, “Heaven Sent Desserts”.

Heaven Sent Desserts opened this past summer and I, along with the rest of the local area, followed the progress of its development from a forlorn corner check cashing establishment to a sublime, sleek patisserie. Heaven Sent Desserts would symbolize not just urban revitalization, but would be catering to the growing demand for sophisticated desserts.

Once Heaven Sent Desserts opened their doors, it pleased me to see their business written up in various local publications praising them not just for their quality products but praising the owners for creating an oasis in North Park, San Diego.

I had also been impressed by the fact that the owner had contributed a gift certificate for a fundraiser at my son’s school. This kindness had won me over enough to consider paying three times as much for one of their cakes over a standard sheet cake at my local supermarket in-store bakery.

That said, I ordered my cake at the shop several days before my boys’ birthday—Chocolate Lingonberry Truffle cake with the inscription of “Happy Birthday Marco & Dominic”. A $48 birthday cake and it would be ready on Saturday. Great! Looked forward to sharing this with our family and do the inevitable comparison to our beloved Extraordinary Desserts.

The day of the birthday rolls around. John and the boys stayed in the car while I retrieved the highly anticipated special cake. What’s a birthday without cake and candles? Well, we might soon find out!

I rushed into the shop and handed my receipt to the counter clerk. I stood and read the various magazine articles that were tastefully matted and framed on the wall. I waited patiently and was eventually told “They are looking for it”.

“Well it’s a birthday cake for my boys” I said. ” I ordered it days ago.”

I caught a glimpse of the back of the bakery through the swinging doors. In the busy room, I saw the baker who had confirmed and okayed the order with the counter help who wrote up my order.

“My cake is not there, is it?” I asked the clerk.

“Yeah. They never got the order sheet. I’m sorry. Here’s your money back.” the clerk said while he reached into the cash register. I was not offered a choice of another cake. No attempt was made to make any form of substitution. Two more customers had walked into the shop while this had happened and I was rather dumb-founded at this horrible customer service. The cash was handed back to me and I was simply dismissed without any regard to trying to make this blunder right. What baffled me at this point was that I appeared more embarrassed then they did! Should I have screwed my face into a grimace and demand a cake? Should I have made a scene to mortify the clerk and get the customer’s attention and shame the employees into caring about my predicament?

Although fully prepared to make a scene and start barking demands of restitution, I had to regain my composure and take into consideration that I had two newly turned three-year-olds and a house full of family and friends ready to party. Off, I go to the supermarket!

At the supermarket I picked a sheet cake off the bakery shelf, and had it immediately inscribed by the bakery clerk, “Happy Birthday Marco & Dominic”. All this for one third of the price of the Heaven Sent Dessert cake.

“Oh but how can you compare the quality of a supermarket cake over a gourmet cake from Heaven Sent Desserts”, some might exclaim. While the quality of the product may not be in dispute, nothing can overcome the overall customer no-service that I had experienced.

A customer should never need to make a scene or express their indignation over a mistake made at their expense to recieve a sincere apology or a resolution for their problem. Birthdays are universally understood to be important occasions. The birthday cake is the major symbol expected and enjoyed amongst family and friends for this occasion. This should not have been lost on this business. Their business thrives on special occasion pastries and employees should be prompted and trained to handle any problems that may arise due to the time sensitive nature of dealing in special occasion, highly perishable products.

Consumers who pay three times over the average for a product expect about three times as much in service and care. I would not have expected this type of treatment from any type of establishment, let alone one which has been singled out for their exemplary style.

Lots of style, yes. But no class. Train your employees, they represent you as well as any product that you produce.