The Pennsylvania Bakery — Restaurant in Camp Hill

Years ago I found this place & really enjoyed it. It was a cute with a nice atmosphere, friendly employees, & tasty treats. It was one of my favorite places to go & I would often eat in their tea room. Now that the daughters have taken over, the place has been going downhill and fast. The only reason I think they still have any business at all is the loyalty of customers who have been going there for years, the fact that they really have no competition at all, & I assume that every once in a while they get something right. Don't bother to go in there on a Saturday - the place is a nightmare, customers & staff are rude, & in the end they are so ready to get out of there that they start putting the food away early. If you want a large amount of something & have not placed an order, they act as if you've put them out & go grab food out of the freezer to complete your order. Yes, you read that right - the freezer. All of the items that are in the case are back in freezers already decorated, & the sad part is that there is no covers or anything on them to keep them from getting dry. (I wanted muffins & they pulled them out of the back, not wrapped at all, and when I got home I realized they were all freezer burned and inedible.) Their food is NOT baked fresh daily. I ordered a cake for a friend's birthday, telling the lady in the front exactly what I wanted. She included a picture of the design, drew a picture to show the layout, and was very detailed in her order form. I sent my husband in to get the cake, and when he brought it home, it was nothing like what I had asked for. The only thing they got right was the flavor, and it was good, but not great. When I contacted them to let them know, the daughter blamed it all on me and the person who took the order. After being extremely rude to me, she offered to give me a gift certificate to come back and purchase more food. If I wanted my money back, I automatically lost part of it, even though they clearly did not follow the instructions at all, and gave me a cake that was, in all honesty, quite ugly. I was one of those people who felt a loyalty to this place, and I guess I just kept hoping that things would get better. Unfortunately, over the last few months, I've seen things just get worse i.e. family screaming episodes out in the front where customers can see, disgusting behavior by employees (some examples: eating, then not washing their hands; consistent reuse of very cheap looking gloves, if they use them at all; an older woman absolutely refusing to do any work while the other people are running around trying to answer phones and take care of customers). Speaking of cookies - I watched one of the employees filling the cookie case the other day. They came out of boxes she had brought from the back and were stored in packaging without being covered by plastic. So... the cookies that they charge $17.55 a pound for are actually not cookies they make at all. I was shocked. On this same day, as I sat in their awkward and uncomfortable tea room (it used to be nice, but now the chairs and tables wobble and the tables are usually a mess), I watched one of the daughters (one who always has an attitude problem) yell at an employee because a cake was not done right. The look she gave that employee when the CUSTOMER told her it wasn't that employee's fault, and that he should go and yell at the decorator who did whatever she wanted instead of what the customer had asked for, was scary. During that time, I had watched several complains from customers about how it wasn't what they ordered, and each time the daughters were rude to the customers, as if they should be honored to get what they were given. I saw a few, and they were just as ugly as the one I had received myself. I will never step foot in this bakery again and I wouldn't recommend anyone else do either. I can't believe this place hasn't been closed down by the health department, and if the owners were smart, they'd get someone else to come in and run their business because their daughters do a...

Edit: After calling the store to discuss the "inaccuracies" in my review (there were none), I did eventually get the manager to process a refund. They still made it more difficult than I would expect for a $17 transaction, and were dodgy about acknowledging any fault, but I do want to give them credit where due. I'm still unsatisfied by the customer service overall.

Original Review: My wife called to place a order for 3 peanut butter bombs. She was told they had 4 in stock and they would be held for her. When I arrived to pick them up, I was charged but could tell that an entirely different item was boxed up. Not a big deal, so I explained that she ordered "peanut butter bombs", and they had no qualms with fixing it. Then they boxed up an item that I still wasn't 100% sure was the right thing, but I trusted the employees because they heard me ask for the item in person. When I got to the car, my wife confirmed that it was the wrong item. I went back inside and politely asked for a refund because it wasn't the item that we ordered. I apologized and asked if perhaps I had asked for the wrong item. The manager got involved and confirmed that I asked for the right thing - "peanut butter bombs" - but that they didn't have them at this location. I assured her that my wife had gotten them at this location multiple times in the past. The manager insisted that they don't carry them every day, and refused to give a refund because the item was "removed from the facility". Now, I understand that you can't put an item back on the shelf once it's been given to a customer, but the fact is I am due a refund because I was charged for an item that I did not order. The manager themselves confirmed that I ordered the right thing, that they didn't have any in stock, and tried to pass off an entirely different item instead. When I am picking up an order for someone else, I am trusting the employees to give me the correct item. When that trust is violated, the least the employees can do is give me a refund. I'm still kinda surprised that I was disrespected and taken advantage of at a bakery of all places, but it just shows that you can't let your guard down anywhere. I hope my $17 was worth losing a customer, because my wife certainly did not appreciate how I was...

Terrible! Rude! Management sets the tone of a business and this may be the worst case of apathy I have ever encountered in a business! I have purchased premade items from this bakery several times and all were good, some were great, although I have noticed a decline in both taste and appearance recently. Tried to order a specialty cake and everything changed! First, the staff is unfamiliar of the products they sell and how they are made, but does not stop them from making obligations they cannot meet. Called to verify they could make a dairy free cake (dairy allergy) which they assured they could. Stopped by within the 24-48 hours they advertise to make the purchase. The employee did not know the difference between gluten free and vegan. The manager then advised that they could not do the cake because of a holiday and that would be less then 48 hours. This occurred on a Wednesday and the would pick up on a Saturday. However, they could make cupcakes, of course for an additional price. I did not want cupcakes, but a birthday cake for my grandson. (question here is how can they make cupcakes and not a cake? Or do they have cupcakes already made and are willing to sell the customer some stale premade cupcakes?) Cost is not the issue. Terrible customer service from the staff. The manager was rude and condescending. They did refund the money, but that was also an issue. First the wrong amount was offered (much lower) and then the manager said she would put it back on the card when it was a cash transaction. She was holding the receipt during this transaction. Will NEVER order or use this business again and recommend if you need specialty cake and decide to use this business to check and double check. Probably take the time to explain the ingredients to the person taking your order. Like I started with, in the past I have purchased items that were good, although the quality and the service have degraded recently. There are several great bakeries in this area so recommend doing...