To report this company to trading standards?

[MyTrivia]

I ordered a birthday cake for my DD’s 6th birthday party from a company called Caker Street (big mistake!!) - I will attach photos of what the cake was supposed to look like and what we actually received.

when I opened the box, I was in disbelief. Apart from the fact that the cake is broken, it clearly would have looked awful before they even sent it and was nothing like the product I bought. It also smelt horrible. Kind of like play doh. I imagine there is hardly any sponge inside.

Unfortunately, I mistook this company for one I used in 2022 which was a lovely cake with a Stranger Things theme.

Anyway, I digress. After a bit more digging it seems that a lot of people are having this kind of experience.

Do you report this sort of thing to trading standards? I had to rush around, trying to find someone who could make us a decent cake within 24 hours! We were very lucky to but I am so out of pocket as a result.

Caker street have ignored my attempts to get in touch.

Did you pick it up from the shop?

If its postal I really don't see how they could post delicate cakes like that without them getting mushed up in the post.

I would leave an honest review for other potential customers and chalk it up to experience. Then put the photos on Reddit as there are tons of threads dedicated to 'what I ordered v what I received'. Caveat emptor unfortunately.

No but I’ve ordered cakes before that turned up perfect - like the Stranger Things cake. It’s their responsibility to make sure they deliver what you paid for surely. Also, it wouldn’t have looked like the photo anyway.

The lady that used to make our cakes became ill, sadly. Although I’ve now found someone else that will be able to do it next time.

It's hard to say without seeing the unicorn or rainbow, but it looks like it would have been fine if it wasn't crushed.

Did they send you a photo beforehand?

I don't think trading standards will do anything because it happened during the postal process, but, as pp says, just leave a review and try and get your money back

So there was no unicorn or rainbow at all?

God, that’s awful. You can see from the finish it’s not great even before the damage.

I don’t think it’s a Trading Standards job - in fact, I don’t think it’s as straighforward as letting them know these days - I think you have to contact CAB or something. I’d definitely be doing a chargeback on my card and getting the money back.

Shocking! Just had a look at their reviews and this seems like a common occurrence.

I would (a) name and shame online and (b) try to do a chargeback through my bank.

Thanks. I think that one reason their cakes cave in is that there isn’t much sponge in them. A properly made cake should feel heavy when you pick it up and this one didn’t. And also, it stank of play doh. I wonder if they just asked some nursery kids to make it out of their craft supplies 😂 I will try to get my money back because it was £175.

The new one we had to buy couldn’t have been more different and was very heavy to pick up and it cost me a lot less, too! And it looked amazing.

There definitely a tail and 2 legs of the unicorn, maybe the rest is elsewhere? The arch at the front looks like the rainbow that has fallen off face down when the box was tipped

That is extortionate! Have you thought of letting DD design a cake which you make together instead? Our DC love doing that as a birthday tradition each year, then we buy a generic supermarket one for their actual party.
Its not too hard to learn to do with watching youtube videos for initially learning techniques, and its really fun for them to help with.

The unicorn and the rainbow was in a separate bag but that’s neither here nor there since the cake was the wrong shape and the icing all ripped.

In the future just buy a supermarket cake if you can’t do it yourself or find a local person (we have several people in my town who make them as a side line) also I think M&S and Waitrose have made to order for half that amount

Have you not sliced it to see what's actually inside? Seeing as you've replaced it I'm fascinated that you're going by weight and feel rather than actually checking it out.

Well, luckily we were able to find a cake shop in the next town that made a lovely one for us for a lot less money - £118. (Pic included). I was so very grateful because we had 24 hours!

I do make our own birthday cakes sometimes but this was DD’s first big birthday party which we invited all her friends to. She’s an autistic unicorn-obsessed child and she had found the first cake herself via google images.

I don't think teading standards qiuld get involved .

If the person is making and selling as a business, they should ensure that the goods are transported in a suitable packaging to get to the end destination in one piece.

Unless the person transporting dropped it, the cake wasn't appropriately packaged for the method of transport used. That us on the sender of the cake.

I haven't used that type of icing, to know how long something like that would take, but £175 seems expensive for what you received, which appears to be quite basic.

I think it would annoy me that I was being ignored too.

Assuming you paid by card, I would try for a refund through the card provider

Thats a lovely cake!!
Does she believe in unicorns? I loved it when my DC1 was in the unicorn stage, she was adamant that they did exist but were just very shy so people didn't see them 😂

£175!!!!!

My local and amazing cake maker would charge £45. Here is just one example of a £45 cake he made.

I think it’s a franchise. If I had known it was not the original cake company that I used a few years ago (which, incidentally has gone out of business) I’d never have ordered from them at all.

The cake didn’t have the correct packaging to stop it moving around either - there were big gaps around it.

Love this!! Where do you live? I couldn’t get a cake like that for £45 where I live, sadly. Is this a friend?

£45 is very, very cheap for that!

No, she knows they aren’t real. Almost every gift she received was unicorn themed - she was so happy. I did laugh though because she must constantly be talking about unicorns at school 😂

I live near Manchester.

He was recommended by a friend a few years back and he has made quite a few for me over the years. The last one was a football shirt, with scarfs and a badge. It was a chocolate sponge £35.

The most amazing one he has ever done was a Harry Potter, with Diagon Alley, houses, characters and books. It was a 3D cake. I think that was about £60.

He does it as a side line to his full time job.

I used them.
Rubbish in my view. Cake arrived intact but nothing like what i had ordered. Spent a rushed few hours searching for cake toppers/ribbons/ anything to make it look better.
The cake actually wasn't bad to eat.
I complained, never even had an acknowledgement.

My goodness, he’s massively selling himself short. He must be making that at a loss.

I’ve never heard of a cake like that being delivered. Who delivered it?