COMPLAINT ABOUT FRENCH'S BAKERY IN IRVINE, CA
This is a bit out of the ordinary for this blog. But I have to use what resources I have available to share this particular story.
FRENCH'S BAKERY: IRVINE, CA, 14443 Culver Dr # C
After about 20 years of having all our custom cakes made at French's Bakery in Irvine, (along with all of our family and friends all using the place at our recommendation), we had the most unimaginable, unconscionable experience here. So bad, that I feel a need to complain publicly and warn others, which is not exactly my style.
My daughter had her 6th birthday party yesterday, it was her first real birthday party. Her favorite thing in the world is toontown.com, and she has been begging for a toontown birthday for months. So, we had ordered the Disney bounce house, a Minnie Mouse character to show up, we'd printed pictures for decorations, and purchased as many appropriate accoutrements as possible.
I printed up several pictures of toontown from the computer and gave them to my wife's sister, who dropped them off at French's Bakery on Culver Dr. in Irvine, CA, along with specific instructions for the cake, on Thursday at noon. The party was scheduled for Friday at 4:00. French's said there would be no problems accommodating the order.
However, Friday morning at 11:00 am, we received a call from French's Bakery in Irvine. It wasn't the owner or manager calling, it was a low-level clerk. She said, "We are really sorry, but your order got hung up in the wrong place and we didn't see it until now. We don't have any decorators today, so we can't make your cake." I was speechless. I gave the phone to my wife, who spent a half hour on the phone with the clerk, and the manager, begging them to do something to assist us, but they absolutely refused. Even after she called around and found a bakery that would do the rush order, French's Bakery in Irvine was not even willing to deliver the pictures to the other bakery.
The bakery which filled our order is French's Cupcake Bakery on 17th in Costa Mesa. They are not affiliated with French's Bakery in Irvine. They were very friendly, they made a perfect cake, and it was less expensive! My wife felt the quality was actually quite a bit better than we'd ever had from French's Bakery in Irvine.
After years of doing business with French's Baker on Culver Dr. in Irvine, we, and everyone we know, will no longer be going there. In our opinion, their behavior was completely unacceptable and uncaring. If it were my business, I would have handled it this way. When we discovered the problem, I (the owner), would have called and explained the problem. If I wasn't able to make the call, I would have had a manager call. In either case, we would have told the customer that we had made a mistake, but were going to do everything in our power to remedy the situation, and the cake would be free. We would send the order out to another bakery, delivering the pictures and instructions, and picking up the cake when it was ready. I would make sure the customer was happy with this solution and offer to do something different if that's what they wanted.
That's kind of a no-brainer, it seems to me. There's no way a business that wants to keep customers tells a 6-year old, "Sorry, you don't get a cake for your birthday."
Please do not use this place.
FRENCH'S BAKERY: IRVINE, CA, 14443 Culver Dr # C
After about 20 years of having all our custom cakes made at French's Bakery in Irvine, (along with all of our family and friends all using the place at our recommendation), we had the most unimaginable, unconscionable experience here. So bad, that I feel a need to complain publicly and warn others, which is not exactly my style.
My daughter had her 6th birthday party yesterday, it was her first real birthday party. Her favorite thing in the world is toontown.com, and she has been begging for a toontown birthday for months. So, we had ordered the Disney bounce house, a Minnie Mouse character to show up, we'd printed pictures for decorations, and purchased as many appropriate accoutrements as possible.
I printed up several pictures of toontown from the computer and gave them to my wife's sister, who dropped them off at French's Bakery on Culver Dr. in Irvine, CA, along with specific instructions for the cake, on Thursday at noon. The party was scheduled for Friday at 4:00. French's said there would be no problems accommodating the order.
However, Friday morning at 11:00 am, we received a call from French's Bakery in Irvine. It wasn't the owner or manager calling, it was a low-level clerk. She said, "We are really sorry, but your order got hung up in the wrong place and we didn't see it until now. We don't have any decorators today, so we can't make your cake." I was speechless. I gave the phone to my wife, who spent a half hour on the phone with the clerk, and the manager, begging them to do something to assist us, but they absolutely refused. Even after she called around and found a bakery that would do the rush order, French's Bakery in Irvine was not even willing to deliver the pictures to the other bakery.
The bakery which filled our order is French's Cupcake Bakery on 17th in Costa Mesa. They are not affiliated with French's Bakery in Irvine. They were very friendly, they made a perfect cake, and it was less expensive! My wife felt the quality was actually quite a bit better than we'd ever had from French's Bakery in Irvine.
After years of doing business with French's Baker on Culver Dr. in Irvine, we, and everyone we know, will no longer be going there. In our opinion, their behavior was completely unacceptable and uncaring. If it were my business, I would have handled it this way. When we discovered the problem, I (the owner), would have called and explained the problem. If I wasn't able to make the call, I would have had a manager call. In either case, we would have told the customer that we had made a mistake, but were going to do everything in our power to remedy the situation, and the cake would be free. We would send the order out to another bakery, delivering the pictures and instructions, and picking up the cake when it was ready. I would make sure the customer was happy with this solution and offer to do something different if that's what they wanted.
That's kind of a no-brainer, it seems to me. There's no way a business that wants to keep customers tells a 6-year old, "Sorry, you don't get a cake for your birthday."
Please do not use this place.
We had our delivery in august of 2008 for the staff event at sears in irvine and steven and mike had no problem. the attorney meeting also was catered and we were very pleased with the service and the clients loved it.
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