Goldilocks, a memorable day to remember

Last October 24, 2010, my wife, daughter and I went to Goldilocks branch in Antipolo to order a special cake for our baby girl. They were attentive with what we need and gave us several albums for us to pick. My baby girl was so excited so she checked one picture after another and after several albums, she picked Dora with Boots and Swiper and with a background of a forest and rainbow. (Below is a picture but does not exactly look the same, the cake is square with a rainbow)

I was surprised because the guard was the one taking our order. Anyways, he asked us to fill up the form, and asked for other details like what candle, when to pick it up and what time to pick it up. So we told the guard the details he asked and told him we'll pick it up on October 28, 2010 at 9am. The reason why choose to pick it up at 9am is because before we go out to celebrate my daughter's birthday, we wish her to start the day by blowing her special birthday cake. I paid the cake in full so that I will just pick it up on the agreed date and time.

We were more excited than our daughter for her special day. This morning, I went to Goldilocks to pick up the cake, I came there at around 9:45am (45 minutes late) to be sure that the cake is ready, parking was usually hard since they only have one parking space, so I parked at Shopwise which is direclty in front of them. I crossed the street, excited to see the cake and when I came in the store to claim my cake, this is what happens next.

"Good morning", the crew told me, I returned the greetings with a good morning as well. He asked, "what can we do for you sir", I politely answered, I'm here to get the cake I ordered earlier. So I handed him my receipt, the crew told me, "for a while sir" which I answered politely again "sure". A few minutes later, he returned, he told me, "sir, could you wait for a minute", and I answered again "sure". So I sat down, looked around and waited. He then came back and told me, "sir, could you wait for 30mins or come back after 30mins, the delivery van is still at the other branch", irked, I said "What!?!?", then he told me again, "they are still melting the icing to form the Happy Birthday", so if that was the case, then 30mins would not be enough, I called my wife, asked her about he, she got irked as well, so as not to ruin our day because of this, I politely said to the crew, "I'll just pick it up this afternoon" and they answered, "thank you sir and we're sorry".

So here are the questions that I need to be answered. What is the use of ordering a cake in advance? What is the use of the pick up time? What is the use of downpayment? What is the use of lead time? What is the use of having a calendar with orders written in it? How is the order being processed?

The thing is, I'm not mad with crew, I'm just mad because I fulfilled all my part (details, payment, advance order, etc) but they didn't.

If it wasn't for my daughter's birthday, I won't be this upset. What if we have a real party set at 10:00am, then we'll be starting the party with no cake at all. Imagine the disappointment of our daughter. Imagine a party without cake. Imagine the excitement of a child who picked her own cake and was expecting it to be at the table by 10am but the disappointment lurks in after discovering that the cake won't be ready on time.

This is the first time and the last time we'll be ordering at that branch. I do hope they improve their process. I do hope they meet the customer's needs and satisfaction. I do hope when we pass by this afternoon, the cake is ready.