Montclair Bread Company — Restaurant in Montclair

Update: My message to owner’s blasé response is attached via photo. Also other reviewers have reported to me that they aren’t able to see my photos I’m referring to, so not sure what owner has done with it with Google (deleted my photos?)

I called ahead of time before I finalized checkout on their online order for pickup next day to inquire if dietary restrictions can be accommodated/vegetarian. The person whom I spoke with said that they understand the situation and to go ahead and place specifically on the instructions area to switch the donut to a more diet friendly option.

Next day we travel half hour to pickup order, only to find out that the packers never read the note we had in place and placed a bacon donut inside our box. A caucasian lady came out, with short straight hair comes out and I ask her to swap the box or refund because they made a mistake. She gaslighted me and said "even if you made notes it's not guaranteed that we will honor it". I called ahead and I was literally guaranteed as an exception due to diet restrictions NOT just simply because we didn't like a certain flavor and wanted it swapped. She kept repeating herself of "not guaranteed", without even apologizing for their mistake.

My partner was so disgusted seeing the pork donut in our ordered box, and rightfully so wanting to switch the entire box in case the bountiful bacon chunks touched the other donuts (we saw it touching the donut next to it). I on the other hand was fuming inside while I kept quiet, because I was stuck between a rock and a hard place of having a meat donut in our vegetarian order and also being forced by their error to now waste a whole donut box (i hate wasting food, and it was our first time trying the establishment where they ran out of all their donuts past 11am, hence our day-ahead order). My partner comforted me that he's sure they'll sell the donuts in our box, but I was just so upset by the experience and how we were handled. Thankfully while I almost let the lady gaslight me and guilt of wasting the order and embarrassed to tell her she was wrong, as I was choosing a donut to replace in box, my partner was able to stand his ground and say the reality that their error is wrong, and it's not okay that we take a box where they housed meat in it; not okay for him to take the other donuts alongside. She still wouldn't take the box for a refund (which I don't understand why), but thankfully he was able to get the white lady to give him a new box with their remaining items which was not a lot of great options.

Our small order was $34, still the lady's persona was, "eh we didn't do anything wrong. we don't guarantee (even if the person on phone did), so it's your issue". The sad thing is, the everything bagel croissant and tomato and spinach croissant were very good, but the lady's response to the issue ruined our experience such early in the day. Either she needs a sensitivity training, or the company needs to change their attitude on policies when...

10/8 Update The wrong charge through the app was still not refunded after almost one month. Apparently, there are some serious problems.

9/13 Don’t get me wrong. The donuts are awesome as always. Otherwise, none will drive all the way to Montclair for half a dozen on a Sunday early morning. Five star for the bread and donut.

However, as customers, we don’t feel welcomed this morning not sure if this is because of recovering and adjusting procedures due to covid. We drove from out of town, stayed in the line and when it was our turn to speak to the waitress, we were told to order online / from the app. We asked why we can’t order in person, but were just told to order online. What a disappointment to be denied service while already spent time in the line. It is good that the store is adjusting and implementing a new way of order. Kudos to that. But, to deny taking orders from customers standing in the line, seems to be too much. Not to say, when we spent another 5 minutes downloading app, making order, the message we got was order will be ready on 9/18, which is 5 days later. Imagine our feeling, taking a four year old anxious boy waiting in line to get doughnut, denied order, extra steps to order online with your son asking 100 questions and order was not successful due to system.Eventually, we ordered through the old way. We appreciate the team keeping business running but also want to remind the team that customer service is still important when running a restaurant.

In addition to the unpleasant order experience, another accident happened to my son, while he was enjoying his long-expecting strawberry donut. A bee somehow got into his mouth. As parents, we got panic as we had little outdoor experience and were not sure how to react or treat that. We were aware there was at least one store personnel in the scene, but no help was offered, probably the person was also not sure how to react. With this, i just want to remind the team to be more aware of the environment they are operating in and provide necessary training/guidance in case any future occurrence.

Anyway, please reconsider your customer relationship management and business process. You are not a random shop. You are those that customers are willing to drive afar for...

Poor customer service and definitely not worth the price! Today I went in and asked for a small hot coffee with milk and sugar. The older lady at the register did not tell me they don't add this themselves. Before leaving I saw the coffee looked black so I asked her if it had the milk and sugar and she said "no, you add this yourself back there." Idk why she didn't say this from the beginning but fine, I go to the back station and guess what? There's nothing there. So I tell the girl working in the back that there was no milk and sugar. She gave me an attitude and said "we don't keep the milk there, just sugar. What kind of milk do you want?" I told her I wanted whole milk. Then I pointed out to the guy working that there actually was no sugar either and he apologized and gave me sugar packets. I made a point to let the girl initially giving me an attitude that indeed there was no sugar there either and she didn't apologize, just looked at me, said ok, and looked away. Then she comes over with the milk and again with an attitude, asks "so will that be a splash of milk or ?" Keep in mind the coffee was filled to the top and she just poured the milk to the point it started to spill as soon as i put the cup down on the table. She should have poured some of the coffee out before adding the milk but no, she just kept pouring. Then the guy brings 1 paper towel for me to clean the mess she caused and when I ask if he has more, because 1 clearly wasn't enough, he says oh there are more napkins over there and points to a table all the way at the opposite side of the store and just walks away. Overall, this was a negative experience and I will not be returning. Don't waste your money here! The ONE donut and small hot coffee were NOT worth the...