I usually go to the Buena Park location, but visited the Downey location today because I was unable to purchase a Yuletide Log online at the Buena Park location. The Downey location was another massive and impressive Portos operation. We came at little after 5am, and it was packed with customers trying to get special treats for Christmas and employees trying to help customers quickly.

I was only able to purchase the Yuletide log in Mocha online and hoped that by coming early, I could purchase the Dulce de Leche log as a walk-in customer. I figured they limit how many of each item they should sell online to make items available to customers who walk in and wait in long lines. My gamble paid off, and I was able to purchase the additional Dulce De Leche log after waiting in a long bakery line that moved rather quickly. We purchased some drinks and some Cafe items to enjoy at Portos while we waited for our 5:50am pickup time window to come up. This is where the Downey location became a disappointment to me.

We drive up from San Diego, not Northern San Diego County, but close to the border San Diego. Last Christmas we had a dozen individual tartlets and Mango mousse bombs destroyed because they were packaged together and they didn't survive the ride home. I've since learned to ask Portos to please pack my small items in individual boxes since last Christmas every time I check in to get my pickup order at the Buena Park location. I've never had a problem with the Buena Park location. They always happily acquiesce to my request when I explain that I'm driving my treats back to San Diego and they get destroyed when they're packed together. The staff always takes the time to package all of my delicate treats for me in the individual boxes and I've been able to successfully present them to guests ever since I learned how to safely transport my treats since the disastrous Portos Xmas of 2022 event.

The worker who checked me in was pleasant and efficient. She smiled and said she understood and made it sound like I would be taken care of when I asked her to box my Mango mousse bombs in individual containers because they crash into each other on car rides back to San Diego when they're packed together in one box. To my disappointment, I found 4 Mango mousse bombs jammed into one box! In the disastrous Portos Xmas of 2022 event, two Mango mousse bombs were packed together, and they couldn't survive being transported back to San Diego for our Xmas Eve Party. There was no way 4 Mango bombs could survive the drive enact. I was very upset and went to look for a manager and couldn't locate one, so I went back to the online order line to tell them how I asked that my Mango bombs be packed individually, showed the worker how they were packed, and stressed that they will be destroyed on my drive down to San Diego. The worker asked if I wanted to repack them myself. I was surprised at her lack of apologies and care, so I just took the individual boxes to be done with this Portos. This trip to Portos started off great because I was thrilled to be able to buy both Yuletide logs, but this visit became a big upsetting letdown when the staff didn't care to safeguard my treats when I knew what would happen and specifically asked them to please help me make sure I get my treats home safely by simply packaging a few items individually. I think everyone that comes to Portos spends $$$$ big time to make the trip/wait worthwhile, so for employees not to be trained to take extra care packing delicate treats--especially for clients who specifically had previous disasters and ask employees to take extra measures---is shameful.

I attached a picture of how 4 Mango mousse bombs were packaged after I had already removed one and repacked it myself in an individual container.