Ooh La La Dessert Boutique — Restaurant in Texas

ANTS IN THE COOKIES. On or about November 1, I picked up a mix of 18 cookies. In the past I've had great experiences but this time, I called ahead and, when I arrived the cookies were already boxed and waiting on the counter at Ooh La La. I paid, took them out to the car, and drove straight from Ooh La La to my client's office, dropped off the cookies, and left. 5 minutes later the client called and said there were tiny sugar ants in the cookies and she sent me a video which I have, but I can't figure out how to upload it on this review. I couldn't go back as I was already in a Zoom meeting in my car, so I had to abandon the cookies. I knew, because I abandoned the cookies, I wouldn't get a refund. No problem, it wasn't about money but about health and embarrassment. The next day I called Ooh La La to tell them there were ants in the cookies so they would know there was a problem. The person who answered, Maze, said she was the one who boxed them and it was impossible. Well, they didn't crawl from my lap into the box over a 45 minute drive. She was rude, jumped to the conclusion I wanted money (I NEVER mentioned money), said they weren't giving me my money back, and did NOT care AT ALL that I was humiliated and embarrassed in front of my client. There was ZERO consideration for me. I was ONLY calling to let them know they had a problem and may want to keep an eye out but I was treated so badly it was unbelievable; I did not want money back nor did I EVER bring up the subject of money; Maze made it all about money. I have been a regular customer to Ooh La La and I have spent hundreds of dollars, likely in the low thousands of dollars, with them buying desserts for my clients and business socials, yet no one cared that they had given me cookies with sugar ants crawling in the box. Also, Maze basically said I could chase the owner down, but no one was going to call me. The owner, Vanessa O'Donnell, did NOT reach out at all. I am a business owner and if something like this happened to one of my clients, I would have been ALL OVER IT. This was a nothing order to me in terms of money, but for ANTS to be in the cookies, it was a HUGE embarrassment for me with my client AND a health issue regarding the food. I expected them to care. They did not. I will never use them again. I have promised my client I will never use them again. All my client's employees shared the video they took of the ants and said to one another "Never go to Ooh La La". I have waited over two weeks and Vanessa O'Donnell has completely disregarded this matter so she is NOT an owner who cares about her clients. Apparently, a $48 sale was more important than my repeat business, more important than her reputation, and more important than the health issues of having ants in the cookies. I think this is the first negative post I have ever made because I don't roll that way. I take it up with management and management typically makes things right. Not this time. And NO, it is NOT my job to chase down Vanessa, it is HER job to chase me down and apologize. That did not happen. Buyer Beware when it comes to food...

Alright, so to preface this, the critique isn’t about their products - they’re fantastic. My issue is with everything that happened BEFORE I received my food.

So I ordered curbside pickup through doordash. I was told that my order was ready for pickup, so I left my house and drove to the store. I got there in about 10-15 minutes and called the store number. They didn’t pick up, so I waited a few minutes, and then called again. I repeated this until I had called about 5 times. They finally picked up and I told them my order name, and they said my food would “be right out”. I waited a couple more minutes, and In this time, I saw multiple people park, go inside the store, and come back out with their order. I called again and politely asked once again if I could pick up my order. This time, they did come out within a minute or two of saying it would “be right out.” As I said before, everything after this was smooth sailing, as their food was fantastic.

Now you might say “oh their phone line was just busy because they might have been talking to another customer!”. Well, that may have been an excuse back in March, but now it’s been nearly half a year since the pandemic started. They should have a working curbside pickup option established alongside their regular operations. A simple fix would be a line dedicated solely to pickup orders.

Another issue was the first come first serve rule. I ordered online quite some time back by the time they had even picked up, and even if you disregard that, the fact that people were able to go in and come out in with their order AFTER I called to pickup my order is unacceptable, whether their order was online or in person. If it wasn’t virtual, it would be the equivalent of me being in the front of the line (with my food supposedly already prepared), and someone walking in the store and getting their food before me. It doesn’t make sense.

I want to end this by saying that I have no problem with the workers at ooh la la - they were very polite despite possibly being quite busy. My issue is with the management. They need to establish a more functional system at a time where walking into a closed building may not be...

I will start this review off by saying that we (my wife and I) absolutely love this place. Today though, things were off. It wasn't the product necessarily, (more on that in a minute) but the customer service. Actually, let me rephrase that; the LACK of customer service.

The young lady working the drive through window had the most lackadaisical "ugh, it's Saturday morning and I don't wanna be here, why are you bothering me?" attitude. I asked for my multiple cupcakes to be bagged individually at the call box, and she tried to put them all in one bag. When I reiterated that I would like them individually bagged, she rolled her eyes and said "hang on". As she handed them out the window to me, there was no friendliness to her voice, no cheer to her attitude. Anyone who has worked in a customer service position knows, even if you're not feeling it, you fake it 'til you make it.

As for the cupcakes themselves, (which are to be parceled out for a birthday celebration) three of the four I purchased had icing that had slid off to the side. Now, that very well could have been on me, but in the years my wife and I have been purchasing cupcakes there, that was a first.

All in all, my experience today was underwhelming, but it won't put me off from returning. I would, and do recommend this place, and send quite a few...