We’ve all heard unhappy customers who vent their anger on social media, leaving behind a wake of negative reviews and unhappy followers.

But in this particular case, the bakery at the end of scathing feedback managed to turn the tables and gain hundreds of new followers worldwide!

Let’s find out more about the story of ‘The Whisk Studio’.

It all started with a customer who posted an angry review of a skating-themed birthday cake, which had cost her the equivalent of $100 AUD.

The review had a photo attached, and it could be seen that the featured cake did look a little rough around the edges—perhaps literally—and gave off the appearance of being a rush job.

Unsurprisingly, the customer slammed the business and warned her friends to ‘avoid’ it.

An unhappy customer posted a negative review of the bakery on social media. Credit: Facebook

But the bakery was having none of the negativity, and responded by posting a screenshot of the customer’s review on their own page, before providing some background information on the situation.

The post read: 'There is currently a post circulating on social media about a cake we recently made that a customer was unhappy about.’

'Please note the picture circulating is a photo of THE BACK of the cake and not a good representation of the situation at all. The photo is highlighting the back of a 2D topper not being painted. (This is not standard practice for us),’ the bakery added.

The Whisk Studio claimed they reached out to the customer in an effort to fix the situation. However, to no avail.

‘The cake was served. And a full refund was demanded, threatening “social media bashing” if that did not happen. We felt that was not reasonable and gave a 30 per cent refund,’ they wrote.

The bakery was founded by two mums—Ines and Samantha—who were disheartened by the negative review.

'This has now resulted in posting negatively about our business all over social media without providing the full context. This is very damaging to our small business. We are but two mums doing our best to make every cake an exceptional one.'

They also asserted that they followed their customer’s request properly, saying: ‘We believe we followed the brief and delivered what was promised.’

Unfortunately, neither party posted a photo of the front of the cake. However, some of the comments suggested that it is possible the front of the cake looked like one of the bakery’s earlier creations:

Some social media users suggested that it is possible the front of the cake looked similar to this. Credit: The Whisk Studio/Facebook

You can read The Whisk Studio’s post here:

​

This response won them hundreds of fans, with people from all around the world singing their praises.

'Some people don’t want a solution, just a reason to complain. The back to me isn’t very important. It looks good,' a social media user claimed.

‘I like the way it looks but I guess that’s my style,’ another added in support.

Most interestingly, Ines and Samantha, who are based in South Africa, garnered lots of love from the world over with more messages of support. The post was also sprinkled with love from people in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Ireland, Japan, Zimbabwe and many more!

‘Looks like their social media bashing has backfired! So many new followers! I’ve liked your page too. Sending love from England,’ someone pointed out.

‘Good Lord, the entitlement is real. Following from Minnesota to see more works of art. Also, great and classy response!’ someone remarked.

‘Awesome designed cakes. Following from Australia,’ a second said.

Others focused on praising the bakery’s creations. One person commented, ‘Wish I was closer so I can buy one of your beautiful cakes! You keep up the great work!’

‘Your cakes look amazing, gave your page a like. Wishing you all the best in your cake business,’ another said.

Key Takeaways

• A bakery named 'The Whisk Studio' gained significant attention after an unhappy customer’s negative birthday cake review went viral.
  
• The bakery responded to the customer's complaint about the cake on social media, sharing the backstory and their side of the event.
  
• The customer demanded a full refund, threatening to bash the business on social media. Hence, a 30 per cent refund was made.
  
• The bakery's transparent and mature response earned them thousands of new supporters on social media around the world. In turn, a lot of people criticised the complaining customer.
  

Members, this story offers a different perspective on what goes on in customer complaints, especially those involving small businesses. Perhaps a more calm demeanour would have made the difference in this case, but who knows? That said, we are by no means discouraging anyone from asserting their rights as customers!

Do you have any experiences of customer service gone bad, or great reviews that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!

 

[JayEeGeeP]

Tired of these whingeing, whining stupid people who are never happy. Only an idiot would spend that on a birthday cake. Why didn't she just make it herself if she wasn't happy in stead of being so lazy.

 

[Vio Kot]

Tired of these whingeing, whining stupid people who are never happy. Only an idiot would spend that on a birthday cake. Why didn't she just make it herself if she wasn't happy in stead of being so lazy.

Maybe it was a special birthday. I dont make birthday cakes, never have. But if I was to get that cake that I paid that much for I'd be complaining too. If you can't do the job, don't take the money. It looked nothing like the other cake. I would have accepted the 30% discount, but wouldn't be going back to them, nor recommending them to any friends

 

[michaelkfra1]

Everyone's a critic - no one's an artist. Just another example of someone taking advantage of small business owners.

 

[Vio Kot]

Everyone's a critic - no one's an artist. Just another example of someone taking advantage of small business owners.

What was artistic about that cake

 

[Skeeta22]

What a shame neither the bakery or the disgruntled customer can show a picture of the front of the cake! If I was the bakery owner, I would be taking photos of EVERY cake I sold before it left the shop.

 

[michaelkfra1]

What is artistic about this cake?
Art takes on many forms and genres. Cubism, Avante Garde, impressionism, Neoclassical, Realism - to name a few. Take as a paradigm, the Pop Art style of Andy Warhol. We're talking soup cans and Brillo boxes.

Of course this cake is artistic.

"Picture this scene. A critic arrives at the gates of heaven. ‘And what did you do?’ asks Saint Peter. ‘Well’, says the dead soul. ‘I criticised things’. ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘You know, other people wrote things, performed things, painted things and I said stuff like, “thin and unconvincing”, “turgid and uninspired”, “competent and serviceable,”…you know’. I think we can guess Saint Peter’s reaction." - Stephen Fry

What some people are missing here is that the customer turned up, paid for the cake, took it home. photographed it, ate it, and most likely pooped it out before noticing there was a problem. C'mon give me a break.

Actually - that's not a bad idea for a free meal. I think I'll go down the bakery buy a pie, sit down at an outside table, turn it upside down, photograph it, eat it, and then slap a writ on the owners.

I wouldn't complain - remember, a blind man on a galloping horse would be pleased to see it.

 

[Rosscoesmiff]

I bet the cake tasted great. Who cares what icing or adornments are put on it.

 

[Lizzylou]

I am afraid I disagree with some of the comments, I do feel the back is just as important as the front, if the front looked like the back I too would complain particularly if I paid 100 dollars for a decorated cake to have it baked iced and a cut out of a skate plonked on top. Sure we don't know what the front looked like, but as neither parties bothered to post a picture of the front of the cake we really can't be fully informed. I have seen cakes more decorated then what this one was. As it is a small business I also agree you should take photos of every cake you make so you can not only cover yourself saying this is how it left with the client but we have done something similar to what you are requesting have a look at these photos.

 

[IanB.]

We’ve all heard unhappy customers who vent their anger on social media, leaving behind a wake of negative reviews and unhappy followers.

But in this particular case, the bakery at the end of scathing feedback managed to turn the tables and gain hundreds of new followers worldwide!

Let’s find out more about the story of ‘The Whisk Studio’.

It all started with a customer who posted an angry review of a skating-themed birthday cake, which had cost her the equivalent of $100 AUD.

The review had a photo attached, and it could be seen that the featured cake did look a little rough around the edges—perhaps literally—and gave off the appearance of being a rush job.

Unsurprisingly, the customer slammed the business and warned her friends to ‘avoid’ it.

View attachment 30976

An unhappy customer posted a negative review of the bakery on social media. Credit: Facebook

But the bakery was having none of the negativity, and responded by posting a screenshot of the customer’s review on their own page, before providing some background information on the situation.

The post read: 'There is currently a post circulating on social media about a cake we recently made that a customer was unhappy about.’

'Please note the picture circulating is a photo of THE BACK of the cake and not a good representation of the situation at all. The photo is highlighting the back of a 2D topper not being painted. (This is not standard practice for us),’ the bakery added.

The Whisk Studio claimed they reached out to the customer in an effort to fix the situation. However, to no avail.

‘The cake was served. And a full refund was demanded, threatening “social media bashing” if that did not happen. We felt that was not reasonable and gave a 30 per cent refund,’ they wrote.

The bakery was founded by two mums—Ines and Samantha—who were disheartened by the negative review.

'This has now resulted in posting negatively about our business all over social media without providing the full context. This is very damaging to our small business. We are but two mums doing our best to make every cake an exceptional one.'

They also asserted that they followed their customer’s request properly, saying: ‘We believe we followed the brief and delivered what was promised.’

Unfortunately, neither party posted a photo of the front of the cake. However, some of the comments suggested that it is possible the front of the cake looked like one of the bakery’s earlier creations:

View attachment 30977

Some social media users suggested that it is possible the front of the cake looked similar to this. Credit: The Whisk Studio/Facebook

You can read The Whisk Studio’s post here:

View attachment 30978​

This response won them hundreds of fans, with people from all around the world singing their praises.

'Some people don’t want a solution, just a reason to complain. The back to me isn’t very important. It looks good,' a social media user claimed.

‘I like the way it looks but I guess that’s my style,’ another added in support.

Most interestingly, Ines and Samantha, who are based in South Africa, garnered lots of love from the world over with more messages of support. The post was also sprinkled with love from people in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Ireland, Japan, Zimbabwe and many more!

‘Looks like their social media bashing has backfired! So many new followers! I’ve liked your page too. Sending love from England,’ someone pointed out.

‘Good Lord, the entitlement is real. Following from Minnesota to see more works of art. Also, great and classy response!’ someone remarked.

‘Awesome designed cakes. Following from Australia,’ a second said.

Others focused on praising the bakery’s creations. One person commented, ‘Wish I was closer so I can buy one of your beautiful cakes! You keep up the great work!’

‘Your cakes look amazing, gave your page a like. Wishing you all the best in your cake business,’ another said.

Key Takeaways

• A bakery named 'The Whisk Studio' gained significant attention after an unhappy customer’s negative birthday cake review went viral.
• The bakery responded to the customer's complaint about the cake on social media, sharing the backstory and their side of the event.
• The customer demanded a full refund, threatening to bash the business on social media. Hence, a 30 per cent refund was made.
• The bakery's transparent and mature response earned them thousands of new supporters on social media around the world. In turn, a lot of people criticised the complaining customer.

Members, this story offers a different perspective on what goes on in customer complaints, especially those involving small businesses. Perhaps a more calm demeanour would have made the difference in this case, but who knows? That said, we are by no means discouraging anyone from asserting their rights as customers!

Do you have any experiences of customer service gone bad, or great reviews that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!

If she's stupid enough to spend a hundred dollars on a birthday cake I don't really care

 

[goatwhisperer]

What is artistic about this cake?
Art takes on many forms and genres. Cubism, Avante Garde, impressionism, Neoclassical, Realism - to name a few. Take as a paradigm, the Pop Art style of Andy Warhol. We're talking soup cans and Brillo boxes.

Of course this cake is artistic.

"Picture this scene. A critic arrives at the gates of heaven. ‘And what did you do?’ asks Saint Peter. ‘Well’, says the dead soul. ‘I criticised things’. ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘You know, other people wrote things, performed things, painted things and I said stuff like, “thin and unconvincing”, “turgid and uninspired”, “competent and serviceable,”…you know’. I think we can guess Saint Peter’s reaction." - Stephen Fry

What some people are missing here is that the customer turned up, paid for the cake, took it home. photographed it, ate it, and most likely pooped it out before noticing there was a problem. C'mon give me a break.

Actually - that's not a bad idea for a free meal. I think I'll go down the bakery buy a pie, sit down at an outside table, turn it upside down, photograph it, eat it, and then slap a writ on the owners.

I wouldn't complain - remember, a blind man on a galloping horse would be pleased to see it.

Love your response!