ABC Cake Shop & Bakery — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I understand that mistakes happen, but this was really bad. My brother-in-law who was in hospice care, with not much longer to live, loved chocolate and asked for a chocolate cake. Due to his condition, he couldn’t have sugar, so we asked for a 6” round sugar free chocolate cake. I also asked for sugar free chocolate icing/filling. They said they could only do sugar free vanilla icing/filling, but the chocolate cake could be done. I wasn’t sure my brother-in-law was going to like that, so I said I would get back to them, but asked how much the cake would be. I was quoted $74, which seemed high, but thought maybe it costs more to make a sugar free cake and I just wanted to get it to make him happy before he passed.

After checking with him, my brother-in-law said vanilla icing/filling was ok, but could it be a thin layer of icing/filling. I called ABC back to put in the order and pay for it. We asked for the message on the cake to be written in green (his favorite color) with standard decor also in green. The message was to say “Happy Chocolate Party!” The ABC employee said they could accommodate the requests, but the previous employee was new and quoted the price wrong. It ended up being $62.42, which still seemed expensive, but I didn’t complain because it was less than the original quote.

We picked up the cake 48 hours later, but saved it for dinner, after ABC had closed for the day. The cake looked good. It had the right message and decor in the right color, but when we cut into it, it was a white cake and the icing/filling was at least 1/2 inch thick. To the disappointment of my dying brother-in-law, it was not the chocolate cake with a thin layer of icing/filling that he asked for. I felt horrible.

When I called to inquire about what happened with our order, I left a message. Someone returned my call and said the our order references a white cake. I said that was incorrect. In response, the ABC employee said, but we always go over the order with customers at time of pick up and you accepted it and you didn’t call us when it happened. I said they were closed and I left a message the next day. I also said that I never heard them say white cake when I picked it up…. Maybe they said white icing/filling, but I did not hear them say white cake. I then said that the message on the cake said “ Happy CHOCOLATE Party!”. It doesn’t take much common sense to know that some part of the cake had to be chocolate. Since they only make vanilla icing/filling, the only other part of the cake had to be chocolate.

After I said this, she repeated her original response that we went over this when you picked it up. No acknowledgement that it could have been their mistake and essentially absolving any responsibility on their part and telling me it was my mistake for accepting it. The call ended with the employee saying she would talk to the owner and get back to me. It’s been almost 2 weeks, my brother-in-law has passed, and I have yet to get a call back from anyone. The cake also tasted like cardboard, which I thought was due to it being sugar-free, which I was fine with.

The lack of any empathy, acceptance of any responsibility, or a call back was inexcusable, hence my...

Do not come here if you’re looking for a professionally decorated cake, reasonable customer service, or even very good tasting cake! My mother ordered a cake from here with very specific instructions- “I want frogs on the cake, but I want them to look like they’re hiding, in some grass, especially along the boarder on the sides and then a birthday message”. She also shared the sweet story behind the strange order, because it was a special inside joke for our family. The person taking the order gave her full assurance she understood. While placing that order they up-sold her on an “edible”, she agreed but said- “there’s a picture on your site that is just a picture of a turtle, that is not what I want” and stressed that she did not want just pictures of frogs on a cake, but for them to be peaking out behind piped grass or whatever else they thought would work, that they should be subtle and kind of hard to find. Well, she shows up to pick up the order and they presented her with a cake with four images of frogs on the top, and nowhere else, nothing but a plain boarder on the sides, and no the frogs did not look like they were hiding. Unfortunately she did not get a picture of their first attempt. Obviously unhappy with the cake she asked them to take off the images and try again with buttercream (what she had asked for originally, because she wanted them to be 3-d and not images), they told her they would try but they couldn’t put anything on the sides because it would have needed time chill (so I guess they could have done it before and just chose not to). While she was waiting for them to fix it, she saw a candied frog on a toothpick in a display case and said “wait isn’t that a frog? Can you just stick that on there and pipe icing around it?” They told her no because that was the last one and they were ordering more.

The picture is what they came back with.

Since the party was only three hours away she was forced to take the cake they made, or loose out on the deposit she had given. Having had worked in a bakery before I know that request wasn’t impossible to fulfill, but if they weren’t able to they should have just said that. Or not charged her full price since they clearly couldn’t fill the order as it was placed. But unfortunately they actually charged her extra for the image AND the extra buttercream they used to “fix” THEIR MISTAKE, all while having TERRIBLE customer service. I can’t imagine why a business would double down on a mistake and be so rude in an economy like this. We are all feeling it, and to over charge for something so egregiously wrong is just, well it’s unethical. They ended up charging her $80 for this cake with “frogs” on it, but if you ask me they just look like little green poops. I could have found something better at Costco and they cake would have tasted better. Myself and my family will not be returning, and unless you don’t care what the cake looks like, and are okay with mediocre tasting cake, DON’T SPEND...

I ordered a heart-shaped clown cake to match the picture I provided. When I arrived, I noticed right away the cake was round. I let the workers know the cake was wrong. They said they could make the cake another day, but I explained, “There’s no way that’s possible—this is for a birthday party. Everyone is already heading to the house, people came from different states to be here, and I’m just supposed to tell them to come back next week because of a cake?”

The manager told me they couldn’t do anything because they had no authority. At first, they claimed that on the purple order sheet, the circle around the “12” meant it was a round cake. I replied, “How am I supposed to know that? To me the circle meant don’t forget it’s a 12-inch cake. I don’t work here, I don’t know what each mark on that sheet means.” I had also told the lady who took my order that I wanted it heart-shaped, and she even replied that heart cakes come in different sizes. So she knew it was supposed to be a heart. I also told them my phone number was on the paper, why not call and ask me, if one paper says heart and the other says circle. Wouldn’t it be better to call and verify? Her reply was “well when we asked the lady who took your order, she confidently said it was a circle cake”.

Then I was told the receipt would show it as a circle cake—but when I checked, it clearly said heart shaped. Their solution was to “leave a note on the owner’s desk” and wait for the owner to reach out. In the moment, my only options were to take the wrong cake or leave empty-handed and get a credit for next time. I took the cake as it was. Almost a week later, I still hadn’t been contacted. When I called again, I was told, “Your paper is on the desk, she has it—it’s whenever she gets back to you.” It’s about to be two weeks now.

This isn’t even the first time—last year the same thing happened. I filed a complaint and never heard back from the owner then either. I thought maybe this time would be different, but it wasn’t.

What I’m most upset about is the lack of communication and professionalism. The owner still hasn’t reached out—not after I showed proof on my receipt, not after I called, not even after weeks of waiting. It feels like customers don’t matter to her at all. If the owner can’t take five minutes to contact someone after two failed orders, it shows exactly how little she cares. The indifference and poor customer service are worse than the wrong cake. I’ve learned my lesson and will not be coming back. Let’s see if the owner will...