Serpe & Sons Bakery — Restaurant in Elsmere

Hello, My name is Lee. First off I would like to say that I would NOT recommend this bakery to anyone! Reason being is on November the 2nd (Wednesday) I went to pick up my Almond Butter Pound Cake with Strawberry Preserve in it. Upon picking up the cake, they (Serpe's Bakery Staff) physically showed me the cake. The cake of course looked good. When I arrived home and presented the cake to my mother for her birthday, the cake top half was shifted to the side. I didn't think anything of it no big deal. Once we cut the cake and served it, it tasted and smelled like cherry cake as if the preserve inside the cake was Cherry instead of Strawberry. Once I called and spoke with Laura (Employee), and told her what had happened, she (Laura) instructed me to send in a picture of the cake for proof which I did the next day. So once I did so, she (Laura) confirmed that it was in fact Strawberry preserve filling based off of the fibers in the picture. My wife was trying to convince Laura that it was Cherry filling instead of Strawberry filling. So I took Laura's word over my wife's ( I'm not a baker to begin with). So I then asked Laura could they do a partial credit for the cake being shifted and she (Laura) of course denied it. So I asked to speak with a manager who's name I forgot, and Laura did so. Upon speaking with the manager. She (the manager) was already informed about what happened. So I (Lee) simply asked the manager could she give me a partial credit for my birthday cake in December, and of course she (the manager) denied it. She told me that they are not liable for anything that happens to the cake once it leaves the store which I fully understand. I instructed her (the manager) that I (Lee) brought plenty of cakes including my wedding cake which wasn't cheap from Serpe's bakery and NEVER until now experienced something like this before. I (Lee) told the manager that I (Lee) did not drive aggressive or brake hard with cake in my car. I even had it in a secure spot in my car. And for the manager not to give me a partial credit on my birthday cake in December that I was going to order is wrong. It is not like I'm asking for a free cake or anything like that, I just wanted a little compensation for my inconvenience. I can understand if I dropped the cake or something like that but it definitely was negligence on Serpe's behalf. I guess I have to be a Karen or something like that to get the point across! Never again,...

UPDATE: About a week after the response I received here, I decided to email them as they asked (I had to figure out how I wanted to word my email, which is why it took me a week to reach out to them). They told me even though I said I would not change my mind about not having my wedding cake done there, they would still like my number so they could have the owner reach out to me. This was on 5/30/19. It’s now 6/21/19. Well, unless they called from an unknown number, I have yet to receive the phone call from the owner. No voicemail has been left on my phone from them either, if I had missed the call. I also discovered that the person I had such a bad experience with in the store is part of the group of owners (whether she is a manager, or married to one of them, I do not know for sure, but she was featured in a news article with them). Needless to say, I am still very disappointed by how everything was handled in my experience I wrote about below, and now how I still have yet to receive the phone call they were so adamant I receive. So, I am not changing my rating.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

I went to just ask a few generic questions about a wedding cake - how long in advance to place the order, if they have red velvet, and if I could look at pictures. They didn’t use to require an appointment with a $20 consultation fee, and because my wedding wasn’t a month away, the lady couldn’t be bothered with me. She was very short, rude and after finding out when my wedding was, ignored us for a good 20-30 minutes. Then when she finally acknowledged my fiancé, best friend and I, she did so with an attitude and talked down to us like we were wasting her time and stupid for looking for potential bakers more than a month from the wedding. I’m sorry, but who waits till ONE MONTH BEFORE to start tasting at bakeries, etc. One of my friends got her wedding cake from here in 2014 and the experience then was amazing. I was COMPLETELY disappointed with the service I received, how I was talked down to, ignored and then later rushed when we wanted to buy cupcakes as we left. I will not be ordering my cake from here and I’m definitely not coming back, nor recommending this bakery to anyone else....

I placed an on line order for 2 dozen peanut rolls and a half tray of tomatoe pie. My rating is for the customer service not the food has that is terrific. I requested a 7:40 am pick up time in store and I arrived at 7:35 am waited in line for my turn. The lady that waited on me rude and dismissive from the start. I started off with a good morning gave my name and proceeded to explain that I was here for my on line pick up order. It went down hill from there. She very sternly explained to me that they don't start work until 6 am and all of vendors orders have to packed up and the store shelves have to be filled and only if they time after will they do on line orders as call ins come first. I was shocked by the way she spoke to me as there where other customers in line behind me and when I turned to look at them they where looking at me. She then took her ime to get a tray of tomatoe pie to cut for my order as she packed the peanut rolls she dropped one and looked at me as if she was going to pick it up. She then went on to explain again about the time they and that on line orders have to wait. She asked me did I need anything else and I said yes 6 small cannolis and 6 chocolate small cannolis they where tossed in the box and the box wasn't even closed correctly.at the register when she rang up the 12 small cannolis the price came to $27 she then said to me you look confused are you alright I said yes as again there was a customer standing next to me to pay for his order. The phone was ringing and she do you this I said what she said the phone ringing I stated yes and she then said I guess their orders will wait too. I gave been going to Serpes Bakery since I was a child. The worst part of the morning was I was on my blue tooth and my sister heard the entire encounter. I have been so embarrassed. She did womanplan to me how hard it is to work with just a staff of two. This employee has not a clue what I do for a living and should never treat a customer let alone a human being this way. She needs a soft skill and...