Lux-Sugar Cupcakes and my not so good experience.

By on May 21st, 2008 . Filed under: Bakeries, Mail Order .

There comes a time, I suppose, where we have to share our experiences.. good or bad. I have been contemplating how to go about this as I’ve never really had a negative experience that involves cupcakes… until today.

I recently saw a post on Cupcakes Take The Cake , about Lux Sugar, and how they ship and have perez hilton cupcakes. Awesome! I personally, like to order online so I can write up awesome reviews on ATC.. and of course, I always forget to mention that I do write for ATC but maybe that’s a good thing.. right?

I placed an order on their website and didn’t receive any sort of response for a few days and then when I did receive a response, it was an apology that their store wouldn’t let them view orders. Understandable. They gave me a coupon for 6 free cupcakes. Thanks.. but I’m not sure if I will use it.

The box came today.. and the cupcakes were hidden, in the midst of packing peanuts.. I pull out the cupcake box and this is what I see:

Needless to say, I was beyond disappointed. It was definitely a cupcake catastrophe and I don’t think I will be ordering from them. ever. again.

Sigh. Was it just my order? Has anyone else had this experience?

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29 Responses to Lux-Sugar Cupcakes and my not so good experience.

  1. The Tattooed Mama » Blog Archive » Fine, I Wrote About It

    […] http://www.allthingscupcake.com/?p=1191 […]

  2. sizzle

    I certainly hope it was just a one time thing but sadly, it seems they might want to work on their packaging for shipments.

  3. Cyndi

    Did you email them back and show them the pics? $30+ shipping for a dozen cupcakes is an awful lot to spend to have them arrive in that condition. Did you even get to taste them or did they end up in the trash?

  4. Tanya

    It could be a one-time thing. Someone wasn’t careful enough when packing your order and/or the postal carrier wasn’t careful either while handling the package. Either way, I would expect that if a company wants to ship any type of baked good, they should thoroughly invest the time in knowing how to best ship their items. That’s is so disappointing.

    Personally, I wouldn’t order from them again. Even if this was a fluke, you just don’t know. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

    I’m just curious though–did you try them at least? At least if they tasted good, you could give them a good review on the taste alone, but a bad review on customer service and shipping.

  5. Ivy

    Hmmm… SO SAD to see something so yummy destroyed! I’ll tell ya… I worked for a shipping company for six years and know how packages get thrown around. It looks like they didn’t have sufficient labeling (like THIS SIDE UP and/or FRAGILE) and the box was totally kicked around, placed upside down, etc. If it had these labels, then I’d definitely place some of the blame on the carrier (FedEx/UPS/DHL). Maybe tell the company about it and see if they’ll make it up to you with a replacement order at no cost? If they arrives in beautiful condition, then maybe it was a fluke. Still, it’s sad. I want a cupcake!

  6. Poppy

    My advice would be to point them to this post. You said and showed it all here.

  7. Mary

    Oh, goodness. That’s disappointing. Did you even try them?

  8. kellie

    WOW! That is pretty upsetting. I know everyone is asking if you told the company…did you?? What about tasting them?? It is just a shame to have all the yummy goodness wasted!! Presentation is EVERYTHING!! Even if they were amazingly delicious, they sure don’t look very appealing now. :(

  9. LuxSugar

    Greeting from Lux Sugar :-)
    A faithful Cupcake Takes the Cake reader & Lux Sugar repeat customer (thanks Becca) let us know that a less than satisfactory comment was posted about Lux Sugar.
    We at Lux Sugar take all comments seriously and have contacted UPS our preferred shipper to recoup the shipping costs that we gave as complimentary to Jessica.
    Also, we contacted Jessica to let her know that we are processing a refund to her.
    We regret that we were not first given an opportunity to rectify this situation before it was posted.

    Thank you to our new and veteran customers who continue to adore our goodies and shop
    Lux Sugar.

  10. Rachel

    That’s great that Lux Sugar is giving you a refund, but you didn’t do anything wrong by posting a review, it happened so why not share? I don’t know how the cupcakes were supposed to survive with that sort of packaging.

    I probably would have contacted them at the same time though.

  11. angel

    oh no – thats just horrible!
    i’m glad you posted about it, and i hope you let them know what happened.

  12. elizabethsheryl

    I can see why they would want you to contact them, so you could say in your review that they are refunding, but that still doesn’t take away anything from the packaging blunder.

  13. gina

    it’s good that they are refunding and knowing this happened will keep them on their toes maybe- yeah refunds are good but you still lose the time. the public has a right to know about all experiences- good or bad.

  14. Tattooed Mama

    To All – I did contact them and they are refunding me but something tells me that if I would have said I was doing a review on the cupcakes, they would have been shipped differently. I did get a chance to taste one of the cupcakes but really, I just wasn’t impressed.. I don’t know if I just had a bad taste in my mouth over the way it had shipped… I’m not sure.

  15. Terry

    Honestly, i would have definitely contacted them first. Usually thats what you do when you have a complaint, no? It seems like everyone here is forgetting that…(i.e.)when you go to a restaurant and the meal isn’t good don’t u ask for a manager. then if it isn’t taken care of and its the rudest and most horrible service ever then u make a complaint.
    o well…
    it looks like they woulda worked with you to make things betta.
    hey if u dont want those 6 free cupcakes i’ll take it…lol

  16. Regarding the Lux Sugar Experience.

    […] All – In regards to this last post. I did contact Lux Sugar and they are refunding me (even though that wasn’t the real […]

  17. Tattooed Mama

    Terry – I see your point but do secret shoppers contact the store they are shopping at before they write a review?

  18. Wired Whisk

    Hey mama-
    Holy cupcake dramaz!
    As a cupcake/bakery business owner & neighbor :] I totally stand behind you and your review posting. I have food critics sneak in ALL the time…buy some cupcakes..take them to the office…gather feedback and write about it. I don’t know what they think until the magazine/newspaper lands on my door step.

    A first impression can make or break a consumers relationship with a business or brand. That is why consumers look to members of the media, friends and family for their thoughts and opinions about products & services. A consumer is ten times more likely to purchase an item base on word of mouth other than advertising…..look what Sex in the city did for cupcakes & magnolia bakery!!

    It’s called: Spin
    The apology and refund are great but the fact of the matter is that the first impression is lost and you may never be a loyal customer of the brand. The positive side is “press is press”. Good or bad people are talking about LuxSugar. I am curious as to how many site hits they had today alone :] It’s all in the spin and recovery from the incident. I think they are doing a great job with that. It hurts. It sucks. It’s called life.

    One more thing and then I’ll step off the soapbox…A start-up ALWAYS needs to be on it’s toes!

  19. Molly aka SuperWife

    The internet is a place to share information, and unfortunately not every single product gets a glowing review. If Jess would have written a complimentary review about a product she wasn’t satisfied with, she would lose credibility with her readers. I would think her loyalties would lie more with her blog than a random company. I respect her post very much, and appreciate honesty. It’s completely unfair to expect that she should have to tell the company that she writes for ATC before placing her order just to receive her products in one piece (or tasting the way a $30 dozen of cupcakes should taste). Do restaurant critics always identify themselves? Do health inspectors call ahead before their visits? And as Jess said, to secret shoppers announce their intentions?

  20. Rachel

    Terry-
    When you review for publication, it is not customary to tell the recipients of the review the outcome or even that you are writing one. Think restaurant critic.

    As a consumer, and a reviewer who is paying for the items out of pocket rather than being reimbursed by say a magazine, I would also contact them the issue (like she did) and see if they would do something about it.

  21. Lauren Cortesi

    This is exactly why I do not ship anything other than cookies and brownies. They should have had a cold pack, and frozen before they sent them. It also should have been shipped overnight, and should have still been cold by the time you got them. What a shame.

  22. Maxie

    I don’t blame you for writing the review– and it makes me LESS likely to order for them b/c they kind of had an attitude in their comment. Just saying.

  23. Joanne

    I think Terry’s point was that LuxSugar whould have been contacted about the state of the delivered cupcakes to give the company a chance to rectify it before posting about it. That said, the slow response on the initial request would have been strike one for me so I would have been mad if those arrived on my doorstep!!

  24. Joanne

    Yeah, that should have been “should” not “would.”

  25. Sarah

    I absolutely disagree with the people commenting who said that Tattooed Mama should have contacted the company before posting her review. Restaurant critics and secret shoppers don’t inform companies before writing their reviews. To do so would unfairly compromise the neutrality of her review. Tattooed Mama had a bad experience that couldn’t have been UPS’s fault entirely. Cupcakes are fragile items and need to be packed carefully.

  26. GreenEyedLillies

    What a huge cupcake mess.
    Yikes!
    I wonder if this has happened to anyone else before?
    I know that the shipping process can beat up any package…but why did it have to be the cupcakes?
    As a seller, unfortunately, it is your responsibility to make for package whatever you ship to be safe and sound.
    Who knows…maybe I’ll order some cupcakes from them and have a superlative experience that I could write about.
    :(
    *Playing “Taps” on my horn*

  27. bakeanddestroy

    Anyone who saw Cakespy’s cupcake shipping experiment knows the way Lux Sugar packed this order wasn’t right. Unfortunately for them, they sent this hot mess to someone with a public voice. Had I ordered those cupcakes I would have done the same thing on my blog. It’s great that Lux is trying to make it right, that’s what any good company would to. I think they handled it well but what’s with all the backlash? Hi, it’s called review. If I get terrible service in a restaurant do I tell the manger? Yes, but as a reviewer I also write impartial reviews based on my experience. I believe in second chances, and I think the Tattooed Mama does as well. But it was totally fair of her to share her negative experience with her readers and I think both possible buyers and the company itself should be grateful to her for saying something about their bad shipping job before it happened to more people. Man, I think of some of these people read my Yelp reviews they’d send the Nice Police after me.

  28. Danielle

    I am a baker. I have shipped cheesecakes all over the US. Let me say this. There is no way to ensure that cupcakes will get there in tact. Have you ever looked an airplanes window and saw them throwing luggage around? Well that’s what happens a lot when shipping. I use UPS and they are very reliable. I did several trial runs and guess what? Cupcakes are its alomost impossible to ship

  29. ash

    O! people please, you act as if someone was killed. It was just cupcakes that weren’t handled with care.
    Personally I have ordered from Lux Sugar and please know that you are missing out if you have not tasted there cakes or cup cakes.

    They are delicious, and I will continue ordering from them. So to all who are typing & complaining and trying to put them down your missing the taste of something great.

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