Thursday, June 26, 2014

Read this before going to Bakery House!



If you live on the main line, you've probably heard this name a hundred times- Bakery House.

Yes, we all know that Bakery House food is arguably delicious. But everyone can admit that the prices, well, that's a different story.

About a year ago I went into Bakery House and ordered brownie bars for my son's school. I noticed how big they were after I paid, and I kindly asked the woman behind the counter to cut them in half for me. Her response: "Yeah right. You bought the brownies. They're yours know. The door is over there, so just get out and don't forget to leave a tip." Word for word.

I've never thought of the Bakery House to have great an friendly service, but never like this. I went ahead and wrote this 2 star yelp review:

The cupcakes and cake may seem killer, however I am a very inexperienced baker and with some Internet searching, I was able to craft a cake much better than this place. The cookie bars are amazing,and also amazingly overpriced. The main reason on the low rating is the service. The people who work here are unfriendly, rude, lazy, and even sarcastic. I ordered ten brownies for twenty people, and seeing that they were huge I politely asked the woman at the cashier to cut them in half for me. Her response was "Yeah right. You bought the brownies. They are yours know. The door is over there, so just get out and don't forget to leave a tip." I won't be returning!

A bit later I received a private message from 'Kelly S.' It read:

Why would you put that kind of thing on Yelp. There's no way that that happened to you at The Bakery House. 
Shame on you =(


I was shocked that a. this lady shamed me and b. she was supporting the bakery house SO much

I decided to visit her profile and I realized that she had only reviewed the bakery house, nothing else. This is her review:

For 23 years this place has done nothing but get better and better. They have been honored with The Best of the Mainline more times than you could imagine.....Best Bakery, Best Tasting Cakes - you name it.
The cake decorators can do anything! The business has expanded to wedding cakes that are stunningly beautiful. If you want to see....check them out on Facebook.


This looks more like an ad than a review.

I then messaged her back:

Do you work here? I really wouldn't lie(about my experience). Just wanted to spread the word.

I just was looking at reviews of the bakery house and saw that it is the only place you have reviewed. You obviously own the place or work here. Next time you should be a little more sneaky. And, you could really improve your staff, Kelly, so that they can handle criticism (if that is in fact your name).

I never got a response.

About a year later I found myself on yelp again. I looked at my previous messages and checked out 'Kelly's' account. She had written two more reviews for bakery house:

This review is a review of those posting on Yelp about The Bakery House* as well as The Bakery House itself...which I give the business 5 Stars.
To those that post negative comments or 1-2 stars...it's perfectly fine if you don't enjoy the product, that's not what this is about.
** I'm talking about the woman that said the staff is rude and she was told to take her brownies and "get out"*** or the woman that said "she saw a baker take a full sheet cake out of the freezer to decorate"****.... let me just say there is no possibility that either of these things occurred***** and I think it's awful to post something that could actually have a negative impact on someone's business that is absolutely inaccurate.****** I think they should be ashamed of themselves.*******
The Bakery House has been in business coming up on 25 years...same location...same owner. They have won year after year after year...Best of the Mainline. You don't achieve that type of success over that number of years treating customers poorly.********

* I'm confused... she's reviewing me?
**She's just not making sense. I didn't enjoy the way I was treated
***This is where I get really mad. 'The woman who said'- so I lied? Is that what you're trying to imply?
****Again this 'woman who said'. PS whoever you are I'm sorry for your experience!
*****She can't accept criticism. She denies that I was telling the truth. Why would I lie?
******I'm sorry. This is what business in today's internet age have to deal with. You might think it's horrible but consumers love it. And it's absolutely inaccurate? I am telling 100% the truth.
*******I'm sure you do. You also think that cupcakes should be 5 dollars a piece.
********People love bakery house despite the service and keep going back. It's also really the only bakery around except for the ones in the farmer's market.


She also posted another review:

Best of the Main Line and Western Suburbs 2013 Event".....again voted "Best Bakery"

Fans of a bakery wouldn't post a review announcing they won this. But the owner would.

I sent Kelly this message:

Hey, either you are obsessed with bakery house, or you own it. I'm guessing the ladder of the two. No one has a yelp and writes only 3 amazingly  positive reviews OF THE SAME PLACE. You tell me there is no chance of the worker being rude to me, but it has happened more than once. Why would I lie? I don't wish for people to do poorly. But if they are rude to me continually I just want to save other people the time and especially the money you steal. And let's face it, you're never going to go out of business. No matter the negative experience, all the kids need to bring 'bakery house' to parties, school, and practically everything else. AND you have really no competition for the best of the main line. Ultimate bake shoppe? People don't know about it. Ummm.... no more bakeries on the main line, so you win by default. Also, you are a business owner. Can you not accept some criticism? Yelp is what every business has to deal with today, and it might (but probably not) negatively effect your business but that's life in today's age. After these rude comments you should be extremely ashamed in yourself instead of telling your customers to be ashamed in themselves.

So please, you've seen the real bakery house. Don't support this business. I'm begging you.

Send a link to this post to your main line friends on an email chain and ask them to forward it!




Michelle



PS- I would highly recommend the Ultimate Bake Shoppe in the Ardmore Farmer's Market. Their Mom's Chocolate Cake is to die for (better than bakery house if you ask me) and the prices aren't too bad.