Villa Italia Bakery — Restaurant in City of Schenectady

I'm sharing the same review I left on Yelp. It pains me to write a poor review - this is a famous local bakery and they really do have delicious baked goods. This review is late. I got married in July of 2021 and went to Villa Italia after wedding cake plans fell through with another local bakery (similar e-mail issues as with Villa Italia - see below). Time was beginning to run out but I was told that I only needed to place an order a couple weeks in advance - great! I got a taste box, everything was good. My husband and I ordered our cake through e-mail. Again - everything was confirmed through e-mail, so I have it in writing. It is still sitting in my inbox. The manager had the date, time, and location of the wedding. I called a week in advance to confirm the order and double check on the pressed flowers that I was hoping to add. The girl who picked up the phone checked the system and I was not on the schedule at all....she sounded very nervous and double checked. I told her what the style of the cake, date of the wedding, location, and time was supposed to be. I then told her I was no longer interested in doing business with them. A manager called back later, repeating back everything I told the girl verbatim, and her hopes that I would come back to them in the future. It wasn't really much of an apology. If I hadn't thought to call ahead I would have shown up on my wedding day to pick up the cake and would have been told that there was no cake because I wasn't even in the system. I won't tell anyone not to get a cake from Villa Italia - I will simply suggest that you only converse over the phone. They shouldn't offer e-mail as an option because you'll be more likely to fall through the cracks. Fool me...

Come off the high horse and do better with customer service.

After ordering a birthday cake and being explicit about the color and type of decorations on the cake, upon pick up, the color was incorrect on the cake. Their was no manager on at night to Correct the mistake, therefore my information was taken and I was told I would be reached out to tomorrow. The owner Bob, contacted me the next day and offered $20 in return for the cost I paid for the additional decorations. I told him that was fine, although the cake being made incorrectly completely ruined a birthday theme. Upon arriving to receive the credit, I was told that only $15 was being given because that’s what I paid. Although my receipt said $20. It was explained that the owner made a mistake(see the trend) and that it was confirmed(by the same staff who incorrectly placed my order) that I paid $15 xtra. No confirmation phone call was made to me to confirm what I paid, before arrival and the owner didn’t offer to come out to double check. After I confronted the owner about the second mistake (on the phone) his establishment made, no ownership or accountability was taken, nor an apology given. My only option was to come and pick up $5 or get mailed a check. Even after explaining, I shouldn’t have to pay for anything given my inconvenience. The owner continued to not acknowledge his or his staffs wrong doing(no surprise).

This is also my second and last cake where the order was wrong.

It’s very easy for white owned, popular business to lose focus of customer service, especially when your family owns many Schenectady restaurants. I however will not forget your lack of tact and...

Firs of all let me say this place has fantastic pastries. Every other aspect of the business is why they only get 2 stars. First off last week I called to order a blackout cake for pickup today. I was Informed over the phone that a 10” round blackout cake would be $39.99+ tax. When I got to the location today I was informed that the cake would be $46.50 + a $10.00 custom cake fee. First of all $46.50 is $6.51 over the quoted price on the phone. Second of all when I ordered the cake I was not informed whatsoever of a $10.00 custom cake fee. These extra charges were sprung on me at the register. The only reason I ended up paying for the cake was because I originally ordered the cake because a different plan already fell through and if this one did as well I would be facing an issue regarding a loved one’s birthday. It is totally unacceptable to get hit with a total of $16.51 in extra charges at the register over what I was told the price would be over the phone. I asked the guy who worked there and he said the $10.00 charge alone was valid because of the crumbles they put on the cake which I think is BS in itself because this cake is on their menu to begin with. There were no extras added to the cake by me and no inscriptions or anything to customize the cake. If they are going to throw extra charges at you they need to tell you when you originally order the product. I found the entire process to be extremely slimy and I know find them to be untrustworthy along with being ready and willing to take advantage of any situation that presents...