Wow... Well... What can I say... I've been here loads of time for cakes, biscuits and pastries, but that was always straight off of the shelf. For my girlfriend's birthday I decided I'd get her not one but two custom made cakes.
Pam really likes Fresh Cream Gateaus so, I asked them to make her a small one along with a custom shaped flower cake (she loves their flower cookies so it's basically a massive cake version).
She's allergic to nuts and had given up chocolate for lent (I told them both of these things) and was assured that neither of these two ingredients would be anywhere near the two cakes.
Two weeks go by and I go back to pick up my cakes. First of all I'm shown an amazing fondant covered flower cake with bees and accents and loads of amazing detail - they hit the nail on the head.
Next I'm shown the fruit covered fresh cream gateau... It looks beautiful... BUT, it's covered in nuts. It's the day before her birthday and I now have a cake I've paid for and can't use. After some discussion with the staff in the store (there were no gateau makers in) I took it away with me, I planned on showing it to her mum and seeing what she said.
I managed to get both the cakes home and was promptly told by my mother-in-law that it wasn't allowed in the house, so on the phone I go. After a brief chat I was told I could take it back for a full refund - not great but better than nothing.
I made the journey back to the bakery and spoke to who I can only assume to be the manager who made a comment along the lines of "well, there's nothing in the book to say no chocolate or nuts so you shouldn't have ordered it." If I was told any of that at the point of ordering then I obviously wouldn't have placed an order for something that HAD to have nuts or chocolate for my girlfriend that is allergic to nuts and had given up chocolate.
Either way I managed to get a refund for the gateau but for the return service and attitude of the manager alone I can't in any good faith give them more than one star. I'll probably still buy from them but it will only ever be from the cabinet.
Despite the fact that they made a really good custom fondant cake, they managed to HUGELY mess up 50% of my order. I don't have any faith in their ability to take an order and follow it through to completion. As we cut into the fondant cake there was a genuine concern that they'd made it chocolate. It's not a nice feeling to cut into a cake and feel tense. I would never want anyone to be in that situation again. I'm lucky I didn't just order the gateau as I would have really been left in the lurch the day before her birthday.
I've shopped here loads of times and this whole experience is just really disappointing. I can't recommend them. read more