Dougies Goodies Ballymena — Restaurant in Northern Ireland

Terrible, terrible, terrible experience. Would give 0 stars if I could. Went into the store on 26/04 to order a birthday cake, before doing this I pointed out the collection date was a bank holiday and clarified they would be open. After checking out the back the girl sorting out the order confirmed they would be able to do the cake and the shop would be open on the bank holiday. I ordered and paid and got my confirmation. Imagine my shock and anger when I turned up today to find my cake hadn’t been made. I give my name and when it was cross referenced with the others attached to the boxed cakes behind the counter for collection I was informed it wasn’t there. I did have to clarify with staff I knew my own name! Then they asked what I’d ordered and again crossed referenced with those ready for collection but, no, still no cake. The cakes behind the counter had other people’s names on the icing. The girl went out the back and when she returned told me it hadn’t been made. Then the excuses started. “We don’t make cakes on bank holidays”. Clearly she forgot 5 minutes before she went through the cakes behind the counter ready for collection. And as previously mentioned I already clarified they did when I ordered it. Then it was “you have to phone an hour before collection so it’s ready”. The confirmation email specifically states my order would be ready for collection anytime between 11am - 3pm. Nothing about needing to phone before hand. After much discussion she finally admitted that they hadn’t made the cake. They did offer to make one but I’d need to come back in a hour or so. With a return journey of 40mins I didn’t need to spend another 40mins driving back to the shop (80mins in total) when I’d other things to prepare for a surprise 40th birthday party. And waiting around Ballymena for an hour for it to be made wasn’t feasible. As a compromise I was offered a generic pre-boxed off the shelf cake as an alternative. NO! This was for a surprise 40th birthday party, I wanted the one I ordered. Finally the girl who was helping me admitted the shop never made the cake and fault was with them. I was given a refund and offered a few buns as an apology which I declined. Not sure who was more embarrassed when at my wife’s 40th birthday party a generic shop bought cake was presented. A MASSIVE, MASSIVE thank you for ruining what was supposed to be a...

Dougie's in Belfast is advertised online as being open at 7:15am. Called today at 7:25 to get buns before work. Tried to open the door and it was looked. A young lad looked at me and I asked if they were closed. He just nodded and walked away. No chat about how long the delay would be, or an apology. There's no excuse for poor time keeping, just bad organisation.

As an original Dougies fan, being from Ballymena, I've tried to give the new Dougie's a go. The quality has gone down since the take over (on the iced french fancies certainly), the tray bakes are smaller and everything is more expensive. The ethos of a small local bakery, value for money and quality products has now been replaced with a juggernaut of greed. Having been advertised as being open today and actually being closed, after walking across town, is the final nail in the Dougie's coffin for me...

First time in the new shop and very disappointed. Went in for sausage rolls and an iced layer cake. Sausage rolls are now indivually prepacked like you expect to find at a hot food counter in a petrol station not a home bakery. Each sausage roll in its own plastic packaging. So much for reducing our plastic. Also at £1.20 each that is very expensive. I know they are lovely sausage rolls but between price and plastic I decided against them. I did buy the iced layer cake and price has gone up significantly since the move to the new shop and thats ok price of everything is going up but the cake is also so much smaller. Unfortunately it will be a rare occasion I will be back for...