Deluxe Cakes & Pastries

I've been going to Deluxe for cakes, cookies, & assorted goodies since their opening days & have never been disappointed. Those behind the counter are always friendly & helpful.

I went in today, wanting to give them more business, but I also had a complaint about the macarons I got last week. They were a solid, chewy mess. I ate 7 terrible macarons, and threw away the last 3. So today I tried to tell the lady there about this problem. I asked if I should talk with the chef or talk with her about this. She said, very negatively, that I could just talk to her. So I started talking about the problem, I started saying, you know, I think with macarons it must be that they should only be sold for a day, maybe two, but.... She cuts me off and screams that I could just stop there, that she didn't want to hear it, that she is the owner, and that they are selling stuff that NO ONE ELSE IN THE MIDWEST is selling. (Because no one else in Iowa City sells macarons, I guess.) I said, you don't want to hear about my complaint even though I came in here to buy other stuff and there was simply this problem with the macarons last week? No. So I just go on and tell her that I'd been there a year or two before when they'd had a variety of different macarons that they'd just made, and those were fine, blah, blah. She ends up tasting one of her macarons, and has me taste one of the macarons, and today they are fine. "Okay, I'll give you ten of the macarons," she says. And I go on to buy 8 petit-fours, as I'd planned, for about $7.50. But I WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN. It was obvious from my dealings with her that the owner felt abashed by her poor behavior. But, I mean, UGH. I can go to Amazon or somewhere else on the Web and get delicious pastries. The cakes, etc., at Deluxe Cakes & Pastries ARE pretty ordinary. And getting screamed at--who needs it???? I will NEVER go back there again. Never, ever, ever....

I was the wedding planner for a small group of couples traveling to Iowa City for their weddings on Oct 2, 2009.



I visited Deluxe Cakes & Pastries 4 days prior to our event specifically to buy a nice cake for our after party at Devotay. What the owner Jamie Powers did instead was convince me to buy 30 cupcakes which she poorly represented and sold to me as gourmet $3 each cupcakes. She didn't have a sample in the store but reassured me I was going to get a top notch product.



What was delivered to Devotay was tiny, plain, flavorless, overloaded icing topped cupcakes. For $100, I could of purchased several of their beautiful round cakes on display which I am sure would of been of a better value than the cheaply made cake-mix style cupcakes, but Jamie Powers the owner convinced me her cupcakes would be a far better choice than what I saw in her display case.



They were not. When I called her on it, she even agreed in an email that her cupcakes are not at all gourmet, but rather simple and plain. Why are they $3 each then? What kind of scam she is running selling a customer one thing and offering another? I offered Jamie the benefit of the doubt several times.



I have repeatedly tried to contact Deluxe and Jamie Powers but she refuses to take any of my calls. Sure, Deluxe Cakes & Pastries took my $100. Jamie Powers only responds by emailing me with excuses of having her children at the bakery, being too busy in consults or on one particular day when I called the store, her employee said they were being inspected by the health department. (You can imagine how that made me feel, not sure that is a great sign either.)



I am disgusted by their lack of professionalism to even call me and handle this disgruntled customer - me. I have had nothing but positive experiences in Iowa City. Devotay is a top notch restaurant and we even worked with cake designer Jamake (who we will return to again and again.) My only reason for using Deluxe Cakes & Pastries was to specifically spread our gay dollars around the city. We believe strongly in supporting local businesses when we plan our weddings in your fine city.



Warning BRIDES AND GROOMS!



STAY AWAY AND NEVER USE THIS BAKERY FOR ANY WEDDING PURPOSES!