"Appalling service and terribly unpleasant experience"

I had a terribly unpleasant experience with Cat & The Fiddle. This was my first time (and henceforth last time I will be) ordering from this bakery. The service I had received was appalling and pales greatly in comparison to that of many other ... More bakeries I had ordered from. The actual cake also differs from the pictures on their website & brochures: my guests commented it looked less appetising than the pictures.
My ordeal with their service: I had ordered the cake one week in advance, and selected a self-collection time (6.30pm) from the drop-down list at their Burn Road store; ie. an available time-slot stated, not one that I requested without verifying its availability. Granted, the store sent me an email stating, my “order is confirmed for collection on 22 Dec between 9AM-5PM @ our HQ Taiseng.“ However, I had missed the email as I was in hospital for a few nights caring for my young child and became very ill myself thereafter. Having just recovered on the day of my event, I proceeded to their Burn Road store at 6.30pm, expecting to collect the cake. I was shocked that the store was closed, and even more appalled that the store could just close without bothering to make a courtesy call when I, the customer, had not collected the cake on the collection date stated. Additionally, Cat & The Fiddle should not state in their email that my order is “confirmed for collection” when the collection time differs and is not available. Moreover, if the collection time is unavailable at their Burn Road store, it should not have been included in the drop-down list for selection. And seriously, when the collection time is indeed unavailable, should a courtesy call not have been made in the first place to inform the customer? What if the customer can’t make it at other times? It is absolutely unfair and rude to confirm the order and payment without verifying with the customer if another collection time would be suitable. An online chat with their chatbot (or live person) was even more frustrating & appalling; stating: “We always advised to contact at least 36 hours in advance to change your self‐collection date and time if necessary”. I received no such “advice” and notification for their information. The only redeeming part was that Ms. Mei Ling, staff at Clarke Quay store, offered to arrange a replacement cake for me to pick up from Clarke Quay. She was however rather apathetic towards my frustration, which I shall not complain, though it does add to my frustration and disappointment. In my exasperation, I had also forgotten to request for candles. I would have appreciated it if she had been attentive to ask if I had required candles for my cake, like most bakeries would. Another gripe was that I had paid $2 extra for writing on the cake - which I fully understand the store at Clarke Quay was unable to provide for the replacement cake. Many other reputable and high quality bakeries would provide this service at no cost. So I basically ended up with a plain cake that looked short-changed, with a terribly appalling & disappointing customer service experience and $2 extra paid for naught. This will absolutely be the last time I will be ordering from Cat & The Fiddle. Thank you.
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