My Take On The Cake, or... Food For Thought?

Between a previous post and the statuses that my mother, sister and niece posted on their facebook pages, there were several comments/opinions about my dads birthday cake. So I decided to share my "take on the cake".

I work with customers five days a week. It is important to keep the customer happy. I think we do a pretty good job of it. We have a menu at the deli where a customer can literally design their own sandwich. All they have to do is fill it out and we make it for them. Of all the delicious choices that are on our menu, once in a while someone puts an X in the box for bread, meat and cheese... and that's it. When that happens we call the customer by name ('cause it's on the paper as well... or it should be) and say, "you only marked meat and cheese, do you want any mayo? mustard? veggies?" Almost every time they say, "ooohh yeah... I forgot. I do want some tomatoes, lettuce..." you get the idea. Case in point. Just today my co-worker showed me a customers sandwich order. The customer had picked his bread, meat and cheese and then X'd only sprouts in the toppings category; that was okay, except, in the column next to the list he wrote the words... load me up, I love veggies. Okay. We are not mind readers, did he mean load him up with... sprouts? It turns out he wanted all the veggies, he just didn't X them on the paper. On the other hand, sometimes when we question people they get a little rude and may say something like, "if I had wanted that I would have marked it." My policy is this... it's always best to ask.

So, this brings me to my dad's cake. If you read my previous post you know the story... and it is a funny one; I'm still giggling (out loud) when I think of it. But the fact is that somebody made a mistake. I think there are several people responsible here:

1. The person who took the order. After finally getting the correct spelling established, this person should have started over on a brand new order form and filled it out without any flaws. Instead, the order was put in as written, which included the mistakes.

2. The person who decorated the cake. At some point that person should have questioned the validity of what was written on the paper. I've ordered many cakes at this bakery and every time they have asked for my phone number. Why didn't the decorator call and double check?

3. The person who handed the cake to my mom and took her money. I understand that employees don't always know what to do in certain situations... so ask someone. Certainly there is always a manager on hand to answer.

4. And speaking of the manager... I feel it is important that the manager know what happened here. Because I can guarantee it's going to happen again; and it might happen to one of you.

I love this bakery. I will go there again. My mom will go there again. So will a lot of you. I understand that "accidents happen", I just don't think a consumer should have to pay for "accidents" like this. In this case I think: we should have had our cake (for free) and eaten it too!

Seriously; my parents are the best of the best. Dad at 75, just as silly as ever and mom can still throw a great party!