I've been to this DQ a few times over the past 8 years, usually in the summer to get a small…read moreBlizzard, but not being a huge ice cream fan, it's not one of my go-to places for a sweet treat. But it's always been consistent, and my kids and I occasionally have stopped in here, and it's always been good. And a few years ago, I surprised my kid with a heart-shaped ice cream cake on Valentine's Day and she LOVED it, so I thought I'd do that again this year. (Yeah, I know, I could be "Mom of the Year"!).
For the past few weeks I've been inundated with tv commercials for the Cupid Cakes available at DQ, which are the perfect size for 2 people, so I went online today to the DQ website and I ordered one. (V-Day is tomorrow). They only come in 2 flavors: cookie dough or red velvet. My kid loves cookie dough and isn't keen on red velvet, so it was easy to decide what to order. I plugged in the time I'd pick up the cake at the store and I paid in full ($35. Not cheap!) and I immediately got an e-mailed confirmation.
I walked in the rain to the store and arrived at 5:30 pm. (My designated pick up time was 6pm, so I was prepared to wait a bit if it wasn't yet ready). The lady who was working there was super nice but immediately said to me she's so sorry, but they didn't have my cake. I said no problem, I'll wait, but she said no, they "ran out of the cookie dough cakes" earlier today. Um, what? I told her I had a confirmation, and I had paid for it in full. She apologized repeatedly, saying this sometimes happens, that they don't get sent the right amount of cakes. I was flabbergasted. Why on earth would a company - a HUGE international company with a gazillion franchises, - advertise specific products on tv, have customers pay for them, send those customers order confirmations, have those customers physically go to the stores, and then not guarantee that the products ordered and paid for would actually be there? Like, how does a company even stay in business with a practice like this?
The woman was nice and tried to make things right. She asked me if I'd like a red velvet cake heart cake (not really. My kid isn't fond of this flavor). She asked if I would like a generic round cookie dough cake that was much larger (not really, as it isn't special without being heart shaped, and I don't care to have a cake that large, that feeds 6+ people. Plus I don't really have the storage room in my freezer for that size cake, anyhow). She wasn't sure if I could get my money refunded, too, saying she'd have to ask her manager. I was really taken aback by this whole experience.
I ended up taking a heart shaped red velvet cake, knowing full well that it's not my kid's favorite, and it's not what I paid for.
Seriously, what kind of business is this?????
I'm giving this place one star and that's ONLY for the lady who was very apologetic and tried to make things right (when there was no real way to do so). I will never again go here, or probably to any DQ anywhere. This really left a bad taste in my mouth. SO unethical.