Cake Boi — Local services in Newcastle-Maitland

I never write reviews. Im pretty hopeless with technology but I am so dissapointed with Cake Boi at the moment, I feel I need to share with others...in the hope that if a few people agree with me, maybe Cake Boi will listen or possibly rectify this mistake.

Approx a week ago I placed an order for a cake with Cake Boi. I unexpectedly found out I had to go to hospital 3/4 days the cake was ready. I was hoping to cancel the cake and pick it up when I was out of hospital. I thought 3/4 days notice would be ok with Cake Boi. So, I looked EVERYWHERE for their phone number. I checked their website (seriously for 1 hour), google.....Every thing I could think of. No luck. I didnt realise that I was expected to email the company. If I could have, I would have gone into the shop myself, but I couldn't. It would have been SO MUCH simpler if they had a phone number. I understand technologly is moving ahead pretty quickly, but alot of older people arent tech savy. We can barely order online (some people even can't do this). So.....I went to Maitland Private and after dropping me off, my partner drove all the way back to Cake Boi, picked up the cake, then drove back to Maitland to give me a couple of slices. I couldnt keep the whole cake at the hospital so my partner took the rest. We were so lucky that my partner could even pick up the cake that morning, otherwise we seriously would have no cake.

I was pretty peeved, so I emailed the company to suggest that if they had a phone number, things would be much less stressful for ALOT of people, also, it would draw more customers to the buisiness as people could ring and book a table/enquire about the menu etc etc/order a cake......but more importantly, if people have to cancel/reschedule a cake, someone would be there to actually talk about the problem and come to a mutual agreement about where to go from there. I totally understand that the cake store requires 3 days warning (minimum ) before they can cancel an order. I totally understand you cant give a refund. However, I dont think its too much hassel to offer an instore credit or something similar. And it would be helpful if the store advertised this on their website in a size that people could actually see.

Anyway, I wasn't going to write a review, but I did email the company regarding the matter, in the hope that if enough people voiced their opinion, Cake Boi would get a phone number. I was happy to get an actual reply.....Alaura, who works in the Newcastle store, oferred to call me the next day after 1:30. I was pretty impressed that I got a reply so quickly, and I looked forward to talking to someone to discuss my point of view. Unfortunately I waited until 4 or 5pm and realised no one was going to ring. I emailed Cake Boi around 5:30, asking if they could ring to discuss the matteranother time;never heard back, thus I am making this review. Alaura mentioned in her first email, myself or someone else could have gone to the cake store personally to cancel the cake. Unfortunately, I couldnt go in personally because I was unwell, and my partner was working. It would have been SO, SO, much easier if I could ring them quickly to address the situation. Then I thought there must be a fair few older Australians out there who were't so tech savey, who agreed with me, and together, if we all voiced our concerns, something might be done? (I bet a handful dont even realise you could email the company..or leave a review.....(that is if they knew how to email). I know about ten people who are close to me wouldn't understand how to email didn't realise until a few days ago.My partner is one of them. It is mentioned on the website in tiny letters if you look.

Anyway, I cant believe I was so frustrated that I actually wrote a review, but my priciples could't let this go. So...... Cake Boi, please please get a phone number.....

It's such a pity, because the cake was bloody...

Came for high tea for two.

64 dollars per person will get each person Two small scones (together equivalent in size to one from baker's delight or woolies) Two party-sized (i.e. small) sausage rolls with tomato sauce One cream cheese and cucumber sandwich, and an egg sandwich. Each was about the size of a third of a slice of bread. One lamington, one slice of carrot cake and one passionfruit tart. The first two were smaller than one you might get from a servo. The biggest dish of all, a big bowl of cream with a tablespoon of jam on it. The cream was enough for 4 full sized scones, the jam for at most two. Unlimited tea and coffee.

Pros Good location Online booking Indoors (although this depends on the person, but it was a windy day today) Plenty of coffee/tea for the thirsty among you Pleasant service, in terms of the personality of the wait staff. Very friendly.

Cons Patchy service. Ordered a latte, got a dirty chai. Were seated at the wrong table initially. This may depend on the individual, but our experience of high tea in the past was that dishes came in stages, especially for 64 dollars. This gave some degree of anticipation of what was to come and made it feel like an occasion. At Cake Boi it was basically, sit down, eat everything in front of you, and that's it. The value for money is terrible. Yes, it tasted nice, but for 64 dollars alot more was expected, especially when 2 hours was alloted. Being indoors, it can be really noisy.

TLDR: Very basic and overpriced high tea. By all means come for the cakes on any other day, but skip...

Long story short: I thought I ordered my daughter’s 6th birthday cake for Saturday afternoon pickup — right before Cakeboi closed at 2pm for the weekend. Her party was Sunday morning and I work Saturdays, so my husband was on pickup duty. 2:30pm and husband calls to say he forgot to pick it up (cue potential divorce proceedings), and by this time, it was too late.

Enter Reece, the literal Cakeboi hero. He was in Sydney at R&B Fridayz, messaged me back at midnight asking when the party was, and THEN turned up on a Sunday (his day off!) after getting home at 2am… only to discover my order never actually went through. No cake. No hope. Just chaos.

But somehow, the cake gods were smiling — there was one unfrosted cake left in the kitchen. Reece frosted it, added sprinkles, and single-handedly saved my daughter’s birthday (and probably my marriage).

Reece, you’re an absolute angel. This is what customer service looks like. You’ve got a customer for life — and next time, I promise I’ll double-check I...