I paid for my cake in full 3-4 months before my wedding. I was excited about Anna because she does excellent work. Unfortunately her business skills and customer service leave much to be desired. She rushed through our original 30-minute consult 4 mos before because she had another client waiting. Nonetheless, my mother, coordinator, and I were happy with the samples we'd seen and felt we had reached a price that was reasonable. We had nothing in writing but she said she would email a paypal invoice. Since mine was a destination wedding and my groom was unable to attend, she assured me she would be happy to meet with my groom and I to finalize the design. I communicated with her a few times 90 to 60 days before to finalize payment, request design ideas, and to make arrangements for a cake stand but was totally unprepared for what I would experience after the second consult 2-weeks before the wedding. To make a long story short, she completely disregarded the original agreement and began to design a new more expensive cake unbeknownst to us (We had nothing writing)...and proceeded to charge us more! She simply kept telling us that the design changes the price...without explaining what the original agreement included and what we had actually paid for already. When we asked for a contract or a copy of the original agreement. She told us to just take a copy with a cellphone because she didn't have a fax or copy machine and that's how she would get it to us via text msg! Unfortunately, we didn't because have a suitable phone. The nightmare continued up until the morning my destination wedding weekend began (you will soon see how hectic that time can be). She sent me a 1000+ word email 48 hrs before the wedding. The morning I was rushing around preparing for the rehearsal dinner, rehearsal, hotel, bachelorette party, and picking up friends and relatives from the airport, I also had to contend with last minute demands and refusals from a vendor I had settled with originally months before. Our goal had been to finalize the cake and addt'l cost two weeks before. We even made a trip to her home to drop of trimming (I didn't need) and finalize things 5 days before to no avail. I was completely flawed. I felt powerless. Although our FREE top layer was delicious, the cake that was served to our guests was awful and was wasted. Nothing like what we had at the tasting. She told me she had 5 other cakes to make that weekend, I wonder if it had been old or frozen…The cake design, although lovely, was nothing like what we asked for despite paying $150 extra. She created an artificial cake, per our request, with REAL fondant and icing…needless to say I will not have it forever as agreed. Since it was not set/dry on the day and no cake boxes were provided the layers shifted during transport, fondant was ruined, and the REAL icing melted. Essentially, I have nothing to show for the almost $700 I paid. My husband and I sent an email citing our disappointment and requesting a partial refund 2 days after returning from our honeymoon. She sent us a brief email and tried to blame the poor quality of her cake on the other vendors saying she would get back to us when she had time. When she replied after a month, she insulted the beauty of my wedding day and the integrity of my guests. She also have leveled heavy insults against my culture, professionalism, faith, and my motives. Anna's arrogance was unprecedented. She did not accept a shred of responsibility for the stress, heartache, confusion, and unnecessary expense she caused us. Again, Anna's cakes are beautiful but her customer service and business savvy are lacking. If you want a beautiful cake Anna can deliver but get everything finalized in your consult. Also request a written contract with your agreement.
Anna Cakes responded with the following comments:
:( omgosh! I don't want to seem argumentative by replying to this review. Ok, I'm going to...for starters, this bride was 2 hours late to her own wedding. eeks! Hopefully that kind of puts this in perspective. Unfortunately, there are so many inaccuracies in this review, and misrepresentations, I am not sure where to begin. Confusingly, this bride began changing her mind about her design, and continued to make changes (as were her mother and friend who was acting as coordinator) right up to the day before the wedding. I really did try my best to accomadate her in every way. :( I lost sleep over it, I was trying so hard. I spent 2 hours writing her an email going over all of her options, and offering ways to cut her costs, if she wanted. She could never fully decide on her cake, so I was never able to put it in writing. :( She decided at the last minute she wanted a bigger, more intricate design, which I was happy to do, but I let her know every step of the way, that these added changes would be more expensive. She was adding custom colors, and intricate damask fondant work, and all kinds of little extras, but was expecting not to have to pay for those extras for some reason. Anyone who has experienced a tasting with me knows that I always try to find ways to save a bride money. I am def not an "upseller" at all. LOL I actually hate that. :) I assume after rushing through her vows and fitting the entire reception into 1 hour, she is now looking back with regret, naturally, and trying to receive compensation. She had sheet cake and cupcakes from another vendor there, (which I explained was against my policy, due to quality control), and from what I was told, her guests weren't even served my sheet cake. :( The cake they were complaining about was from the other company! Ahh! It's like my worst nightmare for there to be a mix up like that. :( This is why we have the no mixing of cake vendors policy in place. She chose sheet cakes, and a "dummy" display cake from us, to save money, which is made of real icing and styrofoam cake underneath. Only the top tier was real, for cutting. Although more sturdy than a real cake, it is still made of icing and other delicate decorations. After the wedding, her friend did not drive with it carefully, and left it in a hot car, which naturally melted it. :( I am not sure why she would want to keep a partially dis-assembled fake wedding cake, but nonetheless, if she did, I would think her friend would've taken better care to preserve it. I did leave boxes for it's transport, and explained it's fragile nature. I even let her use my $300.00 cake stand for free, and her coordinator friend left it at the venue. Thankfully, I knew the other vendors, and was able to track it down. The truth is, I worked so long and hard on her cake, and I was so nervous about it, that it turned out to be one of the best cakes I have ever done. :) She was raving about it at first, as were all of her guests. Unfortunately, later when she tried to nit pick to receive a refund, I was tired of being bullied by this bride, and politely told her we found no error on our part that would warrant a refund. I also mentioned the fact that Christian to Christian, I was saddened by the way she had treated me and her fellow vendors. :( I would never insult someone's culture. I have a mixed family, and value all cultures -- I really don't know what she means by that. In speaking with my fellow vendors on this wedding, everyone had a negative experience with her. I have definitely learned from this. Sometimes there are people in life that just cannot be pleased, no matter how hard we try. But, I will always keep trying! :) Happy planning!
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