Works of Art Cakes Horrible Cake, RUDE OWNER, very poor customer service! Killeen Texas
Just so ya’ll know I don’t usually get on here and talk about my personal problems but I really think this one is warranted. I want all of My Friends and Family and who-ever else will listen to know what happened to me so that hopefully this doesn’t happen to them. As most of yall know our anniversary was Sept 12th, We started our own tradition of getting a wedding cake every year, since we didn’t have one at our wedding, well this year was a big flop and this was why……..I went to WORKS OF ART CAKES, @ 614 North 10th St, Killeen TX.
At first, Mrs. Blevien, the owner, was great, she drew a picture of what I wanted and seemed to understand my Do's and Don'ts, I specifically told her that I did not want fake flowers, because to me, they were dirty and cheap looking, I said I didn't want real flowers because I thought they made the cake taste funny. I told her my wedding color was a deep dark blood-red, which is what I wanted the primary color of the cake, with White and Black icing Roses at a bouquet on the top and scrolling down the cake, I love lots of frosting roses, not just one or two small ones in selected parts of the cake. I also stated that I wanted fondant frosting that curved on the edges, like what you see in the fancy bridal magazines. She told me she understood. She told me that with the detail that I wanted on the cake was going to cost more because it was more like a wedding cake. I told her that was fine, I didn't mind, I was expecting to pay a lot more to get what I wanted and I was told that she was the best. I left there happy and perfectly content to know that I left my cake in good hands........
.Boy, was I miss-informed. I got a cake that was a pinkish orangish red, and 3 FAKE blood red with black on the tip flowers of some sort. The frosting scrolling on the side that was red didn't even match the red of the cake, there were 2 different colors! I didn't look professional at all, or I might've settled and taken the cake anyway. She tried to give me excuses of way the red wasn't dark enough, but at our first meeting she assured me she could make it I was very specific in why and what I wanted. I told her that this cake was not what I ordered, she got upset and told me that the weather made the flowers wither and she could not put them on. She didn't tell me that this would be an issue almost a week and a half ago when I ordered the cake. I told her that she should've called me to tell me of this change since it was MY cake, and not wait till the last minute when I had to pick it up. If she couldn't make the cake as I had wanted I would've found someone who could. She took the cake to the back and came out with some hideous looking buttercream frosted flowers not even made of the fondant, that I had requested, that were melting, the shape didn't even look like a rose and the color didn't match the cake. It was horrible I was so upset, here I was at the last minute. I told her that I wasn't happy and that this was not what I paid for.
Her response to me was well, you can take it or leave it basically. I really feel that she took advantage of the fact that I would be without a cake at the last minute if I was to leave the cake. I wonder how many other people she had done this too, but had no choice but to take the cake. I told her I didn't want it. She then gave me a personal check as repayment!! I paid with my credit card. I told her my bank didn't except personal checks, she told me that it was a personal problem that I would have to take it to her bank.
So I did just that. Not only did I have to drive all the way across town to get to her bank, but because I didn't have an account with her bank, they charged me $5 to cash the check! I called her from the bank to let her know it was going to cost me to cash her check and she told me that was a personal problem, she couldn't help me and hung up on me! I was so disappointed and angry at this, I called her back and left a message, she wouldn't answer, told her that I was going to post the picture of the cake on my Facebook page and contact the BBB and let Angie's List to know how I was treated. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else! I feel bad for any Bride who is expecting to get the perfect cake on her wedding day, of all days.
I just went to HEB and got the prettiest cake they had. On the bright side HEB only charged me $20 and I saved money, To my friends and family and whoever else, If your wanting the perfect cake DO NOT GO THERE, SHE DOESNT CARE!!!!
AFTER MATH: After I did what I said I was going to, I expected the ower to make a response or rebutel thats only normal. But...what I wasnt expecting was for her to Lie about me. She posted that I went back to her shop after hours and tried to break into it. That never happend. I was at home celebrating with my husband and family. She said I stopped my feet and cried. I did NO such thing. It was just a cake, and not that important. She said that she told me the disclaimers when I ordered the cake, thats not true. Because it was humad outside and I wouldve changed it up then. I was very specific in what I wanted and I made sure that she understood before I left, because I am a very picky person, She knew what I expected or I wouldnt have left happy. She told me that she had to charge me for a wedding cake because of what I wanted, that was fine, I expected to pay over 350. for it and I only paid 165. She did refund my money minus $5 that the bank charged me. I guess I got what I paid for. She said she apologized, NO SHE DIDNT. otherwise I wouldnt have taken it this far. Instead she got angry and offended that I would call her out on something that she promised and did not fulfill as a professional. She said that I called her more then 2 times and I was cussing her. No, I did not. I called her on speaker, infront of the teller at the bank, to see if she would waive the fee and give the bank premission to take it from her account. She got rude with me and started cussing me then hung up on me. It echoed through out the bank and several tellers could hear the way she spoke to me. After I left the bank I called and spoke to her voice mail. I did tell her it was the point of the matter and how she handled business, and I was going to let anyone and everyone who will listen know, what she did to me. This is why Im filling to report today. I will not be violent with her or stoop to her level, but I will let word of mouth travel in the direction that it goes. She put on her rebutel that I was doing this for sympathy or attention. I dont want anyones sympathy or attention, I dont need it. I will not be taken advantge of, and by this, I will be heard, I will have a voice and hopefully others take my advise, and not have to go through this. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Works of Art Cakes
Killeen,Texas,
Mrs. Schmidt Cake Order
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, September 16, 2014
There are always two sides to every story. In cases such as this, the person writing the review is not always completely honest in order to garner sympathy for their cause.
As Mrs. Schmidt stated when she came in we discussed her cake wishes and as is our norm we drew a picture of how she wanted the cake to be and her specific colors etc. 1) She requested two tiers to be covered in a dark red color, Mrs. Schmidt at no time provided a color swatch for us to match her desired color to so we did what is our color palette of dark red. We have specific gel paste colors for each shade or red, blue etc. Super Red is what is used to create a blood red or deep red color, Christmas red creates the bright red color and etc. etc. The cake is by no means pinkish orangish red. The pictures do not lie.
When Mrs. Schmidt ordered the cake she requested the icing flowers that retail bakeries such as Walmart and HEB produce, I advised her that we do not do buttercreme icing flowers in our shop. PERIOD. We use gumpaste to create our flowers and figures as it gives a more professional appearance to the cake. As I advise all of our customers, if the weather is rainy or extremely humid, even icing flowers will not hold their shape and will droop and if that were the case we would substitute a quality silk flower. Her reply to this was “that’s OK, I just don’t want real flowers on my cake because they make it taste funny.”
I will be attaching a copy of the drawing from the order form so that you can see that the cake was indeed decorated per her wishes minus the flower change due to the weather.
As Mrs. Schmidt states she did indeed tell me all of the following,” that the cake was not what she ordered, that it wasn’t professional, amongst other things and began to berate me over the cake just as she is doing here. And she was far from friendly when doing so. I asked her what she wanted me to change and I proceeded to make the changes she requested. Each time I remedied one situation, she would find something else to complain about, nothing about the cake was pleasing to Mrs. Schmidt. After making a customer who had arrived before her wait for 45 minutes while I attempted to make Mrs. Schmidt happy, I told her I was sorry I could not do anything else that I had another customer to attend to, she literally stomped her feet and threw a fit and began to cry. I told her she was not required to take the cake since she was unhappy with it and that I would give her a full refund of the money she had paid. She said she wanted her money back right then. I immediately refunded her money to her in the form of a business check and she got angry and screamed at me saying “I don’t take checks”. I apologized and told her that is how we issue our refunds due to bookkeeping requirements and that she could deposit it into her bank account or she could go to Extraco Banks located on the corner of Jasper Road and 190 where I do business.
A few minutes later she called and cursed me because she was at my bank and they wanted to charge her a fee to cash the check. I was unaware of the charge and told her that I was not sure why they were charging her a fee and that I would call the bank and find out why. She then began cursing at me once again and telling me that I was going to have to reimburse her the $5 fee because I was in cohorts with the bank on taking her money. As I have stated many times before and this is the norm with most businesses, when a customer becomes abusive, I will end the phone call or ask them to leave if they are in person. And that’s exactly what I did. A few minutes later she returned to our shop (after hours) and began beating on our windows and doors as well as attempting to gain access via our backdoor. Given the highly agitated state she was in, I did not wish to confront her and make the situation worse. She then called a second time and not only did she curse me out once again, she made the threats she listed, i.e. bad reviews all over the web and contacting the BBB etc. I did not return her call due to the abusive manner in which she acted in person as well as by phone.
We do a large number of cakes each week, and incidents such as this are very rare. We attempt to complete each cake order to the customers specifics… it is their responsibility to communicate their desires completely and if possible provide us with color swatches, photos etc.
We regret that this unfortunate event happened, and we do CARE. I went above and beyond to remedy the situation for Mrs. Schmidt and was unable to please her and ultimately refunded her money in full. If anything, it is a lose/lose situation, we have lost our time, materials and potential income while Mrs. Schmidt’s day was unhappy. So in essence no one comes out a winner or walks away with a positive perspective.
We cannot please everyone, some people cannot be pleased and that’s a simple fact of life. Caring, going above and beyond etc. cannot remedy some situations ever. We apologized many times to Mrs. Schmidt and I will do so once again. I am very sorry we did not meet your expectations.
Chef Vavette
I would be happy to provide the contact information for the customer who witnessed Mrs. Schmidts actions as well as allow them to hear the phone message that was left on our personal phone, we have no need to malign any customer. We too have a right to tell our side of the story and allow people to make their own judgements. The basic truth of the story is this: Mrs. Schmidt ordered her cake here, she was unhappy with the final product and we issued her a full refund. Her anger is over the fact that the bank charged her a $5 fee to cash the refund check and because we did not reimburse her the fee, Due to this she promised to come onto the net and malign our business. There isn't much more a business can do besides offer a refund if a person is not happy with the final product.