January 14, 2021, 06:33 PM
Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg
[UPDATED on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 9:35pm: Updated with Ting Bakery's response to the situation.]
As the saying goes, life isn't always a cakewalk.
One Mothership reader found this to be the truth after he placed a S$70 order for 12 customised cupcakes from a local bakery, which ended up being a lot less customised than he had hoped.
Asked for customised faces
The reader, Sean, told Mothership that he had placed an order on Dec. 22, 2020 for 12 cupcakes with customised faces from Tings Bakery & Event Styling.
In WhatsApp messages seen by Mothership, Tings Bakery informed Sean that cupcakes with personalised faces sculpted onto them cost S$5 each, with an additional charge of S$10 to add names onto them.
Here is an example of the customised faces that Sean was ordering:
Image via Mothership reader Sean.
Sean also asked the bakery if they would be able to make the faces "Christmasy", by adding decorations such as hats and bells, to which the bakery responded affirmatively.
The order was then confirmed and paid for, and Sean sent the bakery the images of the people that he wanted customised onto the cupcakes. All seemed to be going well.
Until...
Several faces the same, name misspelled
On Christmas Day (Dec. 25), after Sean picked up the order, he discovered some issues.
For one, he said, one of the names — Jesper — was spelled incorrectly.
In addition, Sean claimed that three of the faces — those of "Andrew", "Josh", and "Shaun" — looked strikingly similar to one another.
Photo courtesy of Mothership reader Sean.
Sean also told Mothership that the cupcakes, which he ordered in the earl grey flavour, were "bland without any hint of earl grey".
Apart from the red and green colouring, there didn't appear to be any festive decorations like bells and hats and hats as earlier agreed.
Blocked by bakery on WhatsApp
However, when Sean reached out to Tings Bakery about the spelling mistake and the similar-looking faces, he received no response from the bakery.
After reaching out two more times, on Dec. 28, 2020 and Dec. 29, 2020, Tings Bakery finally responded saying that they had been "very busy" those few days.
"Apologies for the name and faces," the bakery wrote.
Image via Mothership reader Sean.
After Sean complained to the bakery that their only response to their mistake and several days of going MIA was an apology, he once again did not receive a response.
The next day, he reached out again, asking Tings Bakery for a token refund for the inconvenience.
The bakery then apparently blocked Sean on WhatsApp.
Image via Mothership reader Sean.
Sean told Mothership:
"Worst of all, they showed no remorse for spoiling someone else's special day, had zero customer service mindset and even blocked me on WhatsApp to avoid the difficult conversation - epitome of a short-sighted business to avoid."
Very good reviews online
Responding to Mothership's queries, the bakery provided their side of the story and apologised for their WhatsApp communication.
Tings Bakery said that they had customised the cupcakes "to our best based on the photos the customer had provided", and that, with regard to the three faces that looked similar, that the hairstyles were "subtly different", as were the curvature and the shapes of the faces.
The bakery also apologised for for misspelling one of the names, and for their WhatsApp communication.
Tings Bakery's Carousell page appears to have overwhelmingly positive reviews, with an average of five out of five stars from 305 reviews.
Screenshot from Carousell / @tingsbakery.
Totally unrelated but follow and listen to our podcast here
Top photos courtesy of Mothership reader Sean.
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.