FB screengrab/ COMPLAINT SINGAPORE
‘Nothing more can be done’: Wrong cake delivered for boy’s birthday, shop only offers 20% discount
SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media to air her disappointment with a bakery which had not only got a birthday cake order for one of her sons wrong but also offered what for her was insufficient compensation for the mistake.
On the popular COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Tuesday (Apr 8), Melissa Guay wrote that she had ordered two cakes from Cake Avenue Singapore for the birthday celebration of her two sons.
As the children had requested, one was an order for a chocolate cake and the other was for a strawberry-flavoured cake. However, when they cut into the cakes, both turned out to be chocolate, which Ms Guay said caused “shock and disappointment.”
“We then had to break the news to the birthday boy that the cake shop had made a mistake—completely undermining the effort we put into making his day special,” she added.
When she immediately tried to contact the company, it turned out to be closed, although Cake Avenue responded the next day.
“To our dismay, the only resolution offered was a 20% refund, with the explanation that ‘nothing more can be done’,” she wrote, adding that they had also “even expressed our intention to order another cake for an upcoming celebration, hoping the shop might offer a more appropriate gesture of goodwill.”
For that order, the store only offered a S$30 discount, however.
“For such a significant error—failing to deliver the correct flavours for a child’s birthday celebration—this response feels wholly inadequate,” Ms Guay said, adding again that they were “extremely disappointed by both the mistake and the lack of proper accountability”.
She also wrote that customers surely “deserve better service and care, especially for such meaningful occasions”.
The Independent Singapore has reached out to Ms Guay, as well as to Cake Avenue Singapore, for further comments or updates.
She also posted a screenshot of her order, which cost a total of S$226. It shows that while they were charged S$88 for the chocolate cake, the order for the strawberry cake was significantly higher, as they paid S$138 for what was supposed to be a “vanilla with strawberry-vanilla sponge cake with buttercream, strawberry mousse, and strawberry slices”.
She also posted a photo of the two cakes side by side, showing that both were indeed chocolate cakes.
Many commenters have sympathised with Ms Guay and her family, with one asking if the difference in price was at least refunded to them.
“The vendor seems to be careless in managing the customer orders. They can’t mess up with a big order, and all the details are captured properly. Very disappointing,” they added.
“If they insist on charging for the cake, the highest they should charge for the wrong cake is S$88, as that is what they delivered. You did not receive any S$138 strawberry cake. Next, you should request at least an additional 20% discount on the S$88, as it was not the cake you have ordered and to make up for customer’s disappointment and bear responsibility for the mistake they made,” another advised.
One pointed out that the company’s response was bad for its reputation. “Poor PR. Just refund her the full amount. Instead of that small refund, now Cake Avenue will have to deal with the loss of revenue from bad publicity, which is gonna be much more significant. Businesses have to be aware that social media now is much more powerful than any kind of advertisements. Good service and good reviews are the best advertisement, and don’t even have to pay a single cent for it.” /TISG
