Paris Baguette — Restaurant in Austin

I came in today with a single goal of getting a slice of rainbow cake, since my son loves it and we don’t live nearby. When I got to the front of the line, I saw that there was a promotion for buy one, get one free on single slices of cake. Since I was already planning to buy one, I asked the cashier, Tuong, and they said that you had to be a rewards member to be able to use the deal, and told me to download the app. So I stepped out of line with my toddler, downloaded the app, went through the registration, and got back in line. When I placed my order, Tuong told me to scan the code, and I couldn’t find it anywhere. They then told me “I guess it’s not for new users” and asked me if I wanted anything else. Uhh… what?

First of all, the promo sign in store and the employee didn’t say anything about having to scan a rewards code on the app. Secondly, why would you tell me to download the app for the promotion, waste my time setting up an account (while wrangling a young kid), and then tell me I wasn’t eligible? At this point, another employee stepped in and said “Oh yea, I did that with a customer this morning and it didn’t work for her either.” Clearly your team should have communicated this with one another and it’s not a mistake that should happen again. Maybe update your sign to “existing rewards members, with in-app coupon.” I’m pretty sure “do nothing and repeat mistakes” wasn’t the best path here.

They did tell me I could use the free coffee or tea coupon though. Which is not really the same thing, but I made it this far. So I ordered a hazelnut brewed coffee, and they told me it’s only for brewed coffee, and I said that’s what I ordered, it’s not an espresso drink that’s restricted on the coupon. Then they told me “We don’t have hazelnut today.” I was so over it at this point. Why tell me something doesn’t work and then tell me you don’t have it anyways? Just give me whatever and let me leave because I’m sick of being lied to. If I didn’t promise my toddler a slice a cake I would have left a long time ago.

PS: I had to ask for the second slice of cake to be removed because I guess they assumed I would now like to purchase both slices even though the only reason I ordered it was for the promo.

Please train your staff better. While the cake is ok, it is pretty tiny in comparison to other bakeries and it clocks in at nearly $7. It is significantly more expensive than it’s competition like Tous Les Jours (around $5-$6) and double what 85 charges for a slice ($3-$4). The cake alone doesn’t justify that cost, so you would hope customer service would be better, but...

We had the worst experience in at this location, we ordered a drink and it was a hot chai latte and the drink came cold and super sweet, when we asked to make it hot and lower the amount of sugar one of the barista said we can do something to balance the other barista came and said no we cant add any thing you have to pay, after they give me the drink, i told the barista let me check if its good or not so make another drink, the barista said we don't have refund and we cannot make you another drink read the policy??????????? Then the barista called the manager and she was even worse i don’t blame the barista i blame the manager who don't have a maner to talk after telling her the whole story she said: now what leave it or solve the problem, we said solve it for sure, we paid around $20 for 2 small drink and 2 pices of pastries. They ruined our night and we didn’t have any refund neither our drink Which we left at the café the manager was unprofessional. She doesn’t know anything about customer service. She was able to make us happy to get the drink that we want at the spot without arguing and talking to us almost 20 minutes on the phone and then called us while we are leaving just so she don’t refund us and she keep arguing, She didn’t even offered to adjust the drink at the spot. She keep arguing for minutes for a drink, which cost you less than a dollar. This place is not recommended at all, and I believe most of their reviews are fake and not real. The manager was mentioning to us please feel about the Server who taught us we cannot refund or change the drink. I don’t blame it at all. I blame the manager who did the training and put this policy in the place. I understand Some People violate The system, but we were very clear After one sip, we returned it to the barista. We didn’t drink more than that as a customer. I want to be happy with what I paid for. I think the manager need to get training to know how to deal with customer and I think we are not Asking much, she just waste our time...

Edit, emailed the owner as asked in response to this review. No response has been received, seems like they just responded to make it look like something was done when in actual my email has been ignored.

If I could, I would put 0 stars. The customer service I experienced was absolutely horrendous. The manager was immediately defensive when I called to report that there were multiple small hairs found in the chocolate chiffon cake. She continued to say they never had this problem with the cakes. Me as the customer, honestly couldn’t care less if it has happened before or not. I just know it happened with me and I want it resolved. Also I said I was disappointed because I drive 30 mins+ to this bakery, we also purchased a cake last year and her immediate response was “no one asked you to drive 30 minutes” like what??

Horrible way to run a business. She said there is absolutely nothing she can do, not a thing u unless there is proof. And I very honestly told her that hey, I didn’t stop in the middle of my event to take photos with multiple guests over. Is it hard to create a fake photo with hair? No it is not, could I do it and post or send it to her? Also yes, but telling the truth that hey I’m sorry I was too busy in my event to click a photo doesn’t get you anywhere.

I hardly ever post reviews but this experience “took the cake”. I work hard and if I went out of the way to treat myself to something nice, I expect it to be worth my money. I will be disputing the cost of this purchase with my credit card company. Which I wouldn’t have done if the manager had showed any form of respect to her customers.

I have some cake left over and I’ll rummage thru it, if I find more hairs I’ll definitely will be posting that...