I come here writing tonight to update you about a Food Injustice that happened last week. Normally, I don’t feel too compelled to write a whole new post about the situation as I could just easily append the update to the bottom of the previous post. But this situation is more personal to me than most as this affects a sweet 4 year old’s birthday. Also, this takes place in the neighbourhood I grew up in, Leslieville, where I’m usually 100% supportive of local businesses and I love the gentrification and changes that have been going on. The residents actually went and started a huge petition just to try and prevent the proposed WalMart from being built to protect their local businesses. And if my website stats are correct, this is the most linked and followed story on my website for the week, so it deserves its own posted update.
the virgin cake... this is what $90 gets you?!
Food complaints happen every day. I’m sure right now somewhere in our city, someone is at a McDonald’s complaining to the poor underpaid cashier that his fries are too salty. In most cases if the food’s not eaten (yes, yes, I’ve read your e-mails about that), then most places will gladly replace it or take it back and off the bill. But even in a few extreme cases where the food was completely eaten but the patron was left unsatisfied, they will either be offered a discount or given “free dessert”. This usually works in two ways as the patron feels much better about their experience, and the restaurant has just saved themselves from poor word of mouth, and possibly has a returning customer too. I can name a few places where I’ve had a generally poor food experience, but the manager has tried to make it better, and I usually do go back knowing that they care about what it is their customers take home to share with their family and friends. A great example of this is Caplansky’s Deli and how, when present, Caplansky will go around and ask for feedback and if someone tells him truthfully that they disliked their meal and why, they’d be compensated.
When it comes to It’s the Icing on the Cake, sadly, it appears they don’t worry too much once the cash is in the register. But here’s where the situation gets a bit sticky. Jenn (Amber’s mother) did willingly take the cake when she was shown it, and I know this is causing a bit of a debate about who’s right or wrong in this situation. The way the pickup was scheduled, right before the party was to start, so there was already a pouring in of children into her household while she was heading down the street to grab her cake. So she had little choice and time, and took the cake. She did express her concern when she picked it up but was told that there wasn’t anything they could do, and that the owners were away. Taking the cake and not demanding her money back may have been a mistake but I feel this is besides the point.
My point is, and always has been, that the cake pictured above cost $90. Ninety freekin bucks! No one would order a cake for $90 if they knew it was going to be the above. Literally a pound of cake mix, some icing, and a Hannah Montana’s logo with a giant star. A normal Loblaws bakery decorator could have that design frosted on in less than 5 minutes. That was not the cake Jenn was originally told and shown photos of what she was getting. The cake was supposed to be two-tiered, with the bottom tier being like the picture above, and a second tier being a star shaped cake. This would make more sense at costing $90 then what she actually got.
As you may have guessed, Jenn did finally speak to the owner of It’s the Icing on the Cake, and was told “well it’s too bad because you took the cake”. There was no offer to help try and fix the situation. Heck, not even a few free cupcakes! So I end this Food Injustice on a sad and cliché note: buyer beware, as some things you pay for will not always be what you expect.