Reserved a room (seating capacity 40) at a local steakhouse for husbands birthday party. Made two western cakes that were placed on a large formcore board. I had made sure they did not have a problem with cakes being served and they were very excited and said to bring the cakes and all 36 people. Arrived hour ahead of guest to deliver and they insisted they had no place to put the fondant cake but the beer cooler. No problem just a short time, all is good. An hour later when guest were arriving we asked for the room to please be made available and the cake placed in room. Time for screaming........., was told they would not let us put cake in room, wanted to seat other people in room because they were busy, and the cake would be brought out when time to serve. Problem was room was very long and narrow and most would not even see the cake I had worked so hard on. I headed toward the cooler threaten to go in and get it myself if they didn't give my cake back. Feel bad for even caring about a cake, it was for my husband but still........... When I explained to manager that this was a $300 cake he just laughed and said yeah right. My feelings were so hurt. 9 inch oval hat cake with 3- 2 inch layers of chocolate ganche covered in fondant and filled with buttercream. The other was 16 inch rounds, 3 two inch layers covered in chocolate ganache filled with oreo filling, and covered with fondant. Darn it, I can't believe he laughed at me.

ewwwww- you did better than me-- that sucker would have been WEARING 300 dollars worth of cake!

YOU WERE NOT WRONG! Horrible customer dis-service. So what happened? Did you get to display your cake? Did they honour your reservation of the room (i.e. NOT seat other people in your reservation)?

Anxiously waiting to find out....

If it is a chain restaurant, complain to the regional manager. What an idiot the local manager is. What he did makes absolutely no sense to anyone in business. Don't let it go. You did nothing wrong.

They did bring cake into room, but everyone was all ready seated. Was so nice to see people crawling over each other to ohh and awe. But yes we had 4 empty chairs and they did bring in other people. No big deal gae them cake too.

fat finger at it again, sorry guys meant to say gave them cake too

That is terrible of them to do that to you. A special occasion should be special not disrespectful and thats what he was to you! I had brought a cake once and they put it in the kitchen. After asking for it 4 times and 30 minutes of waiting I marched my butt into the kitchen and got it myself.

OMG! How rotten of that "manager"!

The cakes are great. I hope that you all got to enjoy them and that your DH had a happy birthday.

I'd definitely call the place and ask the name of the general manager. If it isn't the doofus you had to deal with, then I'd ask to speak to him/her and get info for sending a written complaint. If I didn't get satisfaction, then I'd ask for the name of the owner (if a non-franchise eatery). If it is a franchise place, I'd get be calling the regional office immediately.

They can't promise you a reserved room and then renig on it because they got busy. They can't take your cake and refuse to bring it out when you ask for it. They also can't LAUGH at you and expect you to go away a happy customer.

Go get 'um
Rae

my DH asked what I was typing and told him I was telling the Logan's story of his birthday. Oh my gosh, he just went and got the gumpaste cowboy and ate his leg, and said wish this was the guy that laughed at you! Love that man.

By the way your cake is awesome!

ohmygosh. i agree, the manager would have been wearing the cake if that were me!! or my fist.. either one... maybe my fist actually.. coz that didnt cost me $300!!!

definantley complain to the head honcho of this business. id also be writting in to complain about this to your local newspaper, we have a ticks and crosses section in ours, otherwise just a letter to the editor about "cust0omer service".

lol, cant tell i love to complain can you? haha. i have worked in both retail and hospitality tho, and i dont see a reason for staff to be consistently and bluntly rude. its not on and i make it bloody well known!!! hahaha

OK, first of all, the manager was a big giant doofus for laughing at you...and very unprofessional on several levels. I wouldn't be going to his restaurant ever again and certainly wouldn't be recommending it to anyone.

Second, you had every right to get those cakes when YOU say it's time. They told you ahead of time you could bring them in with no stipulations and they should have held to that.

And finally, I honestly don't know how you kept from decking him. If it had been me, he might have ended up with a cake shoved in his face (and I'm not a violent person)!

In spite of the frustration and general poor customer service you received, I hope you were able to have a good time and your hubby had a nice birthday. The cakes are fabulous!

thanks guys for the encouragement. I am new at this and I was worried that they looked bad and that was why he laughed.

Oh my gosh, you guys have been so kind, thank you. Just gave me enough of a lift to order the sugarveil I have been wanting to play with. Yipee new toys........... Seriously thank you so much. Hope someday to do cakes 1/2 as good as some of yours. Some people dream of art galleries, of looking at fine paintings, not me cakes just make me weak in the knees! I have boxes of gumpaste figures, flowers, just love playing with it. Maybe there was some kinda of playdough crisis as a child. Did email Corporate office of the chain we were at. Forgot to tell you guys they did bring me a grey trash can from the kitchen that they were going to turn upside down, and put the cake on it. Calm down folks, there has to be some humor in this somewhere, somewhere, somewhere..........

He laughed because he wouldn't pay $300 for cake, and couldn't imagine anyone would.

That man probably buys his cakes down at the local grocery for $10.

What a jackhole! I wouldn't have had to worry about ruining my cake or hurting my first - my DH would have handled it for me!! For you being new at this, your cakes are freaking awesome!!! And what an ass for laughing at you! Seriously, the guy probably does buy his cakes down there at the local grocery store for $10. Not everyone appreciates hard work, and that was apparent with his reaction. Only a small minded person would do that! I don't know that I'd be going back to that place anytime soon! And, regardless if you had FOUR empty chairs, they should never have put someone in your room - unless specifically asking if it was okay, at the very least! My BIL owns a restaurant here in town and would bend over backwards to help someone with a celebration like this. They get people in there with desserts all the time - they even provide every thing to serve it with, and would cut it for you if asked! Customer service has sure gone in the crapper these days! I love your husband for eating the leg of the cowboy and wishing it was that guy - freaking hilarious!!!

I would find out the General Manager's name and email him/her a very nicely worded letter, and if it is a chain restaurant, a cc to the corporate office. You should receive some compensation from them.

Even though you e-mailed the corporate office, who knows who actually reads those. So this is my suggestion. Get the NAME of the head honcho...the CEO...the Regional Manager...the District Manager...the Area Manager, the Manager of the Restaurant, the head of Customer Service, ANYONE who has a title and sit down and write a real letter (typed) with real stamps, outlining the incident...go into great detail. Tell them you were personally insulted and that you will never set foot inside that restaurant, nor will you recommend that restaurant to anyone again. Ask for a refund. Sign it and send it to each person on your list--including the manager of the restaurant. I guarantee you will get a response. I worked for a time in marketing for a fast food chain and believe me, when we got a letter from a dissatisfied customer, the you-know-what hit the fan and rolled downhill. Corporations know that if one person is unhappy enough to write a letter, that means there's hundreds more out there that are equally angry, but they don't take the effort to complain. There's no excuse for poor customer service in this day and age. You actually would be doing a service to the restaurant in the long run. I understand you wanting to find the humor in all of it...but it will be funnier if you can end the story with "...and they ended up apologizing and giving me my money back!"
PS. Your cake is great.