Baum's Fine Pastries

User Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

We ordered a groom's cake for our son's wedding a couple of months in advance. We live in North La and we made two trips to the bakery, in addition to several emails and a phone call. After our initial discussions, we decided it would be too expensive to have a cake made in the shape of an offshore fishing boat, so decided to go with a two layer cake topped by a model boat. We found a large R/C boat on-line and were told they could make it work. We took it down on our 2nd trip to show it to the representative. We discussed, in detail, how we wanted the boat to be embedded, to the waterline, in the cake and surrounded by ocean waves. We also gave her the caption to be written on the cake. She took the boat's stand and we positioned the rather large craft for best fit onto a "cake board" the same size as the cake would be. The receipt gave the general design and the caption.

The bride's family also ordered the wedding cake from Baum's. That meant that both cakes would be delivered to the church together on the morning of the wedding day. We all awaited the delivery in the reception hall. The driver was a bit late, but very efficient. He set up the 4-layer wedding cake on its separating columns and finished some detailing around the bottom pretty quickly. It was beautiful!

Then he brought in the groom's cake, and disappointment set in. Instead of embedding the stand, they put the cardboard with the stand, attached with cellophane tape, on top of the cake and frosted the cardboard. They also completely forgot to write on the caption! We were very disappointed to have the boat on a stand with the underside exposed; out of the "water." The delivery man offered to try to cut through the cardboard and embed the stand and try to set the boat into it, but, with only two hours to the wedding, we declined. He tidied up the tape and we set the boat on the stand atop the cake. We showed him the receipt which clearly showed the caption. He said he'd drive back to the bakery and get the materials to fix up some damage on the side of the cake and apply the inscription. It was a long drive, but he did make it back in time to do the patchwork and he did a fine job of writing the caption. While doing this, he told us that the lady who'd taken the order and seemed to understand what we wanted was on vacation, so they decorated the cake the way they interpreted her instructions.

We weren't totally disappointed -- the German Chocolate cake was the best we've ever tasted. We give the delivery/setup man high marks for going above and beyond. All of the people we dealt with at the bakery were courteous at all times. The wedding cake turned out as ordered and it was beautiful. Overall, we're a bit disappointed, but will give them credit for trying to make the best of a bad situation.

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User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

**POOR SERVICE****

On November 21st, I called and ordered my birthday cake for pick up on November 23rd for five o’ clock. I was told that I had to pay over the phone because of the amount of the purchase, which was no problem. After I gave the employee my Master card number and asked her to repeat it twice because she repeated the last two numbers wrong. When I corrected her she replied, “Well, that’s what I have.”

On November 23rd, I was working in the area so I called at 11:00AM just to see if the cake may be ready. The employee who answered the phone said that they had to five o’clock and I could try back later. Later I drove back in the area a little after 3:00PM so went into the store and kindly asked if my order was complete. A worker went to the back of the bakery to find out and a white female in her forties with blonde hair came out to talk to me. She stated that she took my order and the Master card number didn’t go through so she did start my order. She said that she tried to call me this morning, but she didn’t get an answer.

I was baffled because I called at 11:00AM and no one notified me of this problem. I also wondered why is it that she just tried to pay for my order this date when I placed the order over the phone on the 21st. The female looked at me and said, “Well, you call on our busiest day of the year so…” This was an inexcusable answer for me so I asked to speak with a manager and she did not want to let me talk to a manager stating that it was no one to talk to, but her. She did not want to give me her name or a manager’s name so that I could call back at a later date. The cashier at the register also decided no to cooperate and give any names or number stating, “what she said.” I unfortunately walked out of the store disgruntle without a birthday cake for my party that evening. Knowing how they workers were unwilling to cooperate after I walked out I sent my friend back into Gambino’s to gather my ticket with the master card number written on it. When she returned to the car I looked at the ticket and the last number was wrong.

I decided not to speak with anyone else and contact BBB because I know that the worker could easily say that I was causing a disturbance. which I was not. I work law enforcement full time and I know how to handle the situation properly. I’m simply notifying you of the incompetence displayed about my cake order. There was no excuse how they handled my order. Overall, I was displeased and sadly did not have a birthday cake for my party that evening and the attitude of the works displayed that they didn’t have a care in the world about my order and did not give me anyone’s name so that the incident could be reported.

Rozelyn Parker

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User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Where Chocolate Dreams are Made: I have lived in Houston for many years. I have never in all my travels found a bakery with such wonderful treats. Better than Godiva!!

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