Sylvia's Bakery - Maria Castro
Raul Castro Local bakery owner uses fraud, deception, and unethical business practices to make money

This bakery has THE worst customer service I have ever come across. I have been lied to by the owner & blown off/ignored. My fiance & I put down a deposit on a wedding cake in 2009. We tried to make an appointment in Jan to get a sample cake to finalize the flavors. You can only talk to Maria (who I later found out was the owner) about wedding cakes. I was told January was a good time to do this because it was sl slow. I left a message for Maria that was never returned. I called for several days trying to reach her. Not one was the call returned. Beyond that they are rude on the phone. Never once asking to take a message or see what the call was regarding. I always had to ask to leave a message.

I got fed up & decided this is not a business I want to trust my special day to handle. I called to cancel my order. Low & behold Maria was finally in the building & answered my call. She told me they don't do refunds. She went as far to say that's how they make their money. She mentioned that she verbally told us when we ordered there was no refunds which is a lie. Had that have been mentioned we wouldnt have put money down. I told her we didnt sign anything stating such & she insisted she tells everyone verbally of no refunds.

I was appalled. I was giving 9 months notice, no work has been done on this cake, no planning & they wont give a refund. Maria told me she would speak to the owners & get back to me.

I was very upset & we argued a bit. I said I would go to court if need be & thats when she got very defensive; my first clue that she was the owner. I asked for the owners names & she refused; my second clue that she was the owner. After calming down she said she would call me Tuesday. I believe it was Thursday when I spoke to her. Tuesday came & went with no phone call. I called Wednesday & she said she forgot to call me because she has been so busy (even though I was previously told this time of year was dead for them). She said she was going to write herself a note & get back to me tomorrow which was Thursday, a week after I called to cancel.

That night I went to the website to see if they had any policies listed that I somehow missed. Low & behold there was. It stated that a full refund minus $50 if 30 days prior to wedding. So she lied. She didn't volunteer the info thinking I didn't know about the policy. She refused to say she was the owner because I threatened court.

She never called Thursday & Friday I mailed out my complaint form to the Illinois Attorney General's Office of Consumer Fraud. I received notification of my complaint being received & that they are looking into the situation.

I have also filed a report with the Better Business Bureau & have given honest reviews on websites that rate local businesses.

Company: Sylvia's Bakery - Maria Castro
Country: USA
State: Illinois
City: Darien
Address: 8117 South Cass Avenue
Phone: 6309710389
Site: sylviasbakery.com

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