I visited Kohnen's Bakery Tehachapi yesterday with my family, and this was honestly one of the…read moreworst customer service experiences I've ever had.
I only purchased two items -- one cream puff and one slice of cheesecake -- but the cashier charged my card THREE times due to repeated mistakes.
Here's exactly what happened:
1) My first card (Card A) was charged $11.20. The cashier asked me if I wanted a receipt, and I said yes. Then she told me the receipt didn't come out because the transaction "didn't go through," and asked me to provide my card again.
2) I gave the same card again, and this time she charged $11.69.
3) Then again, she told me that it didn't go through, so I used a different debit card (Card B), which was charged $11.20.
While sitting at the table with my family, I immediately checked my bank account and thought I had only been charged twice. I spoke to a staff member at the store and requested a refund for one of the $11.20 charges, which was processed.
However, today I realized I had actually been charged three times, meaning there was still another $11.20 that needed to be refunded. So I called the bakery and asked to speak with a manager. I spoke with someone named Danielle.
I calmly explained the entire situation and told her I would send all my receipts and bank transaction records by email so they could double-check and confirm everything.
She said ok and gave me their email address, but it was very long, and I was concerned about making a mistake while writing it down. So I politely asked if she could text me the email address instead.
Her response was extremely rude -- she said, "I'm not required to do that," and told me to just write it down myself if I had a pen and paper.
Although I was already uncomfortable with her attitude, I carefully wrote it down and sent the email. However, the email bounced back as invalid, even though I had confirmed the spelling with her multiple times over the phone.
When I called again, Danielle answered and said, "Ma'am," in a very dismissive tone, and told me that they had found the three charges and had already processed refunds for both $11.20 transactions.
I tried to confirm which card the refund was going to, since I used two different cards, but after putting me on hold for a long time, she read off a card number that was not mine.
When I told her that wasn't my card, she insisted those were the only transactions for $11.20 yesterday and told me to "check my bank in a few days" and call back if the refund doesn't show up.
And, she didn't apologize for the mistake, even though they charged my cards three times and wasted a significant amount of my time.
Even yesterday, when I asked for an apology, I only received one reluctantly after I pointed out that they had made a mistake -- and even then, the response was dismissive, as if I should just accept it because they were "taking care of it."
The attitude throughout this entire situation was rude, unprofessional, and extremely frustrating.
The cheesecake was very good. But because of this experience, I would never come back.
We drove all the way from Los Angeles to Tehachapi with my family, expecting a pleasant visit, but this bakery completely ruined the day.
Being charged a total of $34.09 for just two small items due to repeated errors is unacceptable.
If your staff cannot properly process payments, they should not be working as cashiers. Situations like this should never happen.
What's even worse is that after making multiple mistakes, there was not a single sincere apology -- only attitude, dismissiveness, and instructions for me to keep checking my bank and call back again.
My time is valuable. This entire situation could have been avoided if things were handled properly from the beginning.
This was an extremely unpleasant experience, and I am very disappointed.
Cf) For reference, the other $16.05 receipt is for bread that my brother purchased.
