I don't want to get bashed on for giving a one-star review of this place amidst the positive reviews, so let me say this first: I am rating Gourmet Works based on their CUSTOMER SERVICE, not on their quality of chocolate and other goods.
Gourmet Works' Chocolate: Fantastic.
Gourmet Works' Customer Service: The worst service experience I've ever had.
Situation: This business specializes in producing personalized molded chocolates. For my graduation party, I ordered a large batch of 3 types of molded chocolates. Within the order, I wanted flower-mold chocolates with blue-colored centers. I recited my order to the store owner (Kathy), who wrote down the order on an invoice sheet, and I specifically told her that I wanted a blue-colored center for the flower chocolates.
I went to pick up my order the next week, and was mad and frustrated to discover that the flower chocolates had white centers instead of blue centers. I complained to the store worker, but she said that the owner was out of town at the time and there was nothing that they could do right then, and suggested that I call Kathy the following Monday. With my party being the next day and not having any other options for guest gifts, I unhappily took the chocolates home.
I wanted to get some type of refund or an apology at the very least for the mistake, and so I called Gourmet Works the following Monday. I left a message for Kathy with another employee, and informed them of the mistake, and requested a refund for the batch of flower chocolates. For the entire week, Kathy never called me back, so I called again on Friday and was finally able to get ahold of her.
And here's where it gets interesting...or should I say maddening? In a calm voice, I told Kathy of the mistake her shop had made in making the wrong-colored chocolates. Kathy immediately became defensive and said "I'm not giving you the refund because you took the whole order. I can't believe you're asking for a refund."
After I reinstated the fact that we did point out the mistake during the time of pick-up and looked at the invoice Kathy had written and saw that she did not even write down that we requested a blue-colored flower, Kathy said "Your order was very confusing and you kept on changing your mind. There's nothing wrong with white color for the flower centers...why are you getting traumatized by this?"
I said, "We never changed the color of the flower. We chose blue all along because those are our school colors. We came to your store to get things personalized, and that's not what we got. I don't feel like I should pay for something that I didn't want, and that's the reason why I'm asking for a refund."
After a long and maddening phone conversation, I was unable to receive a refund. Kathy did apologize at the very end of our conversation, but the fact that she initially asked me if I was "traumatized" by having the wrong color flower, and refused to admit that she had made a mistake shows a lot about how much she cares about her customers. I was more traumatized by her bad attitude and lack of good business sense rather than by the initial mistake.
Sorry for the long review, but I really think that the owner of Gourmet Works really needs to reconsider the way that she runs her business. I paid her with the understanding that they specialized in personalized goods and would satisfactorily fulfill my order. However, doing business with Gourmet Works just made me unsatisfied and frustrated that I had to pay for chocolates that I did not want.
Lesson learned: In the end, it's not just about making money, but about being a good business owner and running your business in a way to keep your customers coming back - because god knows, I'm definitely not going back to Gourmet Works. read more