thecookiecollaboration.co.uk

AVOID. Bad experience - extremely disappointed.

I ordered 130 bespoke cookies for my wedding which didn’t arrive on time. Despite knowing my wedding date months in advance, the cookies were only posted two days beforehand (on a Thursday - my wedding was on the Saturday), allowing one working day for postage. Bearing in mind, the cookies were being sent from Lancashire to Glasgow, so I had expected these to be posted at least a few days prior. I also had to chase for confirmation of postage/the estimated date of arrival beforehand, which should have set alarm bells ringing at the time. I wasn't provided with proof of postage to confirm the exact postage date/time - instead, I was given a tracking code by email (which didn't actually show any updates).I was contacted again by the company owner on the Thursday evening to advise that there was an apparent issue with the courier and my cookies would need to be posted by Parcelforce the following day instead (one day prior to my wedding), directly to my venue. I was told that delivery would be guaranteed by 12pm, but after arriving at the depot on the morning of my wedding, they sat undelivered for a further two days – finally being delivered to my venue on the Monday (by which time I was on honeymoon) so these had to be collected by a family member in my absence. Again, proof of postage wasn't provided and I was given a tracking code by email instead. In hindsight, I suspect that the correct delivery method wasn’t used (the next day delivery service doesn't include Saturdays and an additional fee applies to guarantee this). I also checked with Parcelforce afterwards, and there were no issues with the route, parcel or driver which would have caused a delay or affected delivery, so the choice of delivery method was the only logical reason for this.A few days after my wedding, I complained to the company owner by email and asked for a refund, but was initially ignored. I finally received a response a week later (after I had to send a follow-up email), and although the owner did apologise, they accepted no responsibility. As a “goodwill gesture” my £24.99 delivery fee was refunded, which I found insulting given how much I had paid for cookies which had arrived late and were no longer fit for purpose.In her response email, I was also advised by the company owner that the cookies would be fresh for up to four weeks from delivery so I could still share them with family and friends. This was impossible, since many of our wedding guests had travelled from across the UK and internationally, and had already travelled back home by the time the cookies finally arrived. If, as the owner confirmed, the cookies stayed fresh for so long after being baked, and it wasn’t essential that they were eaten immediately after delivery, then why weren’t they posted to me sooner? It highlights extremely poor planning and time management, and also demonstrates a lack of professionalism. I had paid all invoices quickly, and well in advance of all payment deadlines, so there was no other reason why the cookies were dispatched so last minute.For others thinking of using The Cookie Collaboration, I’d urge you to reconsider. This experience caused me unnecessary stress in the days before and after my wedding, and also on the morning of my wedding, which is completely inexcusable. I also noticed that there are no reviews on The Cookie Collaboration’s Facebook page (these have either been deleted or reviews have been turned off entirely), which is very telling.If orders cannot be honoured by a specified date, then they shouldn’t be accepted in the first place. Likewise, full payment shouldn’t be requested or retained if a customer's order cannot be, or hasn’t been, successfully fulfilled as per the agreed terms. The customer service I received from this company, particularly post-delivery, was extremely poor. Both my time and money has been wasted - hopefully this review will save others from a similar negative experience.

Date of experience: Feb 12, 2019