If your favorite cookie stall at a shopping mall happened to be unmanned and you needed to get your cookie fix stat, what would you do?
One thing apparently NOT to do is to take the cookies in the vendor’s absence — even if you fully intend to pay for it, based on an experience by The Manila Baker that quickly went viral.
The reason people have caught wind of this crumbly situation is because the erring customer posted about the incident herself.
Taking to Facebook, the customer, who grabbed two boxes of the brand’s salted chocochip cookies worth PHP800 (US$14.40), shared screenshots of her conversation with The Manila Baker and gave the business a negative review.
“Wanted to buy their cookies in an unmanned kiosk at Podium. After waiting for 15 minutes, I got cookies and messaged their Facebook account to pay through GCash. The reply was berating messages instead,” the customer said. “Not surprising as another previous review called the owner arrogant. I am not expecting gratitude for my voluntary honesty but professional communication is a minimum requirement of any business. Never buying here again,” the customer added.
However, social media users were quick to point out that it was the customer who was in the wrong, not the brand.
The accompanying screenshots revealed that the customer got in touch with The Manila Baker and offered to pay for the cookies. Meanwhile, the brand explained that their staff had momentarily stepped away, leaving a note stating, “We will be right back,” as she took a brief restroom break and ran a bank errand. The customer was then requested to complete the payment as soon as possible.
Upon receiving the payment, the brand expressed gratitude and offered a gentle reminder to avoid doing it again.
“PLEASE next time, just message us online if you are in a rush and our staff is currently running an errand,” they advised.
They also highlighted the potential consequences, explaining, “If this were a different situation and nobody informed us, our staff would have been charged PHP800. I hope you understand our perspective and why we cannot allow this to happen again. Thank you.”
“How is it that she was the one who took cookies without permission and she’s the one who’s angry?” One wrote.
“The owner’s remarks weren’t even rude. Just [stating a] matter of fact. It seems she was embarrassed for being called out,” another said.
