I had placed an order for a 3.0 kg birthday cake on 2nd September, 09 (Wednesday) at Sweet Chariot Residency Road. I needed it for my daughter’s birthday party on Sunday (6th Sep) and was told it would be ready by Saturday (5th Sep). This was a made to order doll shaped cake.
However, when I went on Sunday morning to collect it, I was told that the date written on the order was 10th Sept. The person taking the order had apparently written the wrong date. The staff, on realizing the error, brought it to the notice of the manager /owner of the franchise. The least I expected from his was an apology acknowledging the mistake of his staff in taking the order.
Not only did the owner not acknowledge the mistake on his staff’s part, but he dismissed it as my mistake since I hadn’t verified the date on the order slip! Not accepting responsibility is one thing, but foisting the blame on a customer is something new to me. I surely expected a more responsible and mature response from the owner.
The owner instead then asked me to buy a cancelled order for a butterscotch cake sitting in his shelf. My daughter was particular about chocolate and I couldn’t accept his generous offer – please note, this was not compensation, I had to purchase it. I finally settled for two chocolate mousse cakes in place of the doll shaped cake that my daughter was expecting. And the owner, as charming as he was with his bloated ego and arrogance, made it sound like he was doing me a favor by peddling off his existing stock. His indifferent attitude and rude behavior, as expressed by his tone and manner of his speaking were totally unbecoming of an owner serving customers.
In the end, my daughter had to very disappointedly cut a regular cake in place of the doll shaped cake she was very much looking forward to. And this, after a very unpleasant experience for me in dealing with the owner of the Residency Road Sweet Chariot who refused to even acknowledge his mistake. I didn’t seek any compensation. All that was expected was an apology that his store was responsible for disappointing a six year old. But this apparently, was too much to ask of the exalted owner of this café. Needless to say, my long patronage of Sweet Chariot has ended with this experience.