Patisserie Valerie Reviews 

I ordered a birthday cake from Patisserie Valerie on 7 October and it was delivered on 9 October. When it arrived, the topping was badly smeared against the lid of the box, which completely spoiled the look of the cake. It was meant to be the centrepiece of a birthday celebration, and I was very disappointed to receive it in that state and it ruined my day. Customer services refunded me £15 despite the whole top of the cake being ruined. They say it’s rare but looking at all the reviews with similar issues this is dubious.

I'm genuinely shocked at some of the 1 and 2 star experiences on here, because based on my very first order with PV, I've had nothing but exceptional service all the way. Kept up to date with my order, prompt delivery, delivered frozen and well boxed, so I can defrost at my leisure, and even the courier DPD delivered in pristine condition, which is a rarity here normally. Anne on customer service has been lovely to speak too. I will certainly return in the future without hesitation.

Me and my wife worked there for over 11yrs ,had some good times but alot of bad experiences. Everyone wants to be in charge. That day came when you know it's time to get out. So we did,and now we are more happier than ever.

Ordered a chocolate cake for a birthday party, arranged delivery for day before as recommended. Cake arrived at given time however the box and cake were damaged. Worse still it was the wrong cake completely. Apparently they have strict checks before sending out deliveries but this was human error. Makes me laugh how silly that is. Got a refund but no cake for the party.

My daughters birthday cake was delivered yesterday and for the first time in all the times I’ve delivered with them I was extremely disappointed, I ordered this cake to use today for my daughter’s 6th birthday party! Unfortunately the box was damaged, dry ice was completely melted which made the cake box wet and the cake has been bashed about, icing on box lid, icing is cracked and cake off the board. Never seen my order like this before!
I called customer service and her answer was to email all the pics which I did and that they’d respond and get this out as an urgent order after they have looked at the pictures. I haven’t had one response and her party is today and looks like she’ll we’ll be having to buy from a shop instead.

Paid £53 + £15 delivery for a rainbow cake for a 40th birthday. Looked like it was dropped or turned upside down before delivery as the coloured icing was smeared over the box, the cake was half off the cake board, and sprinkles were spread in places they shouldn’t be. Sent numerous photos to show the damage & have only been offered a £25 voucher (which would mean I’d have to buy another cake from them!). No refund offered. Appalling delivery standard and terrible customer service

Very dishonest company. They remove the negative reviews from their website.

Ordered a cake for my daughters 6th birthday party which arrived on time. Checked on arrival and looked fine. Put in fridge to defrost overnight as instructed. Following morning all I can say is I'm glad I checked it before heading to the venue. It was a pink cake and had "sweated" dark pink liquid in big puddles on the top of the cake. It also had jam or some gooey red substance oozing out the base of it. It looked awful. I took photos and then dashed to the local supermarket spending £20 on a cake and losing 30 mins which made us late to our own birthday party.

I emailed all of this along with photos and had the exact same response as the below reviews. A £15 voucher. An absolute insult to the stress and additional expense this cake had caused. I asked for at least £20 to cover the cost of the cake I had to purchase but they refused & referred me to their very shady refund terms which states they decide the amount to refund depending on their perceived damage to the cake.

I left a 1* review and attached photos on their website which was published. When I checked the following morning it has gone.

What an incredibly dishonest company they are. Wish I'd read these reviews instead but you trust a businesses website reviews to include all reviews and not just the positive ones.

Awful awful experience with a home delivery cake for my daughter’s 9th birthday. Has turned up today in a smashed up box, soaking wet which is making the cake leak itself, and with the sides of the cake all smashed in. I’m absolutely gutted. I’ve had to dash out to buy a new cake. Contacted customer services and they said I could have a £15 voucher when I asked for a refund! When I’ve emailed back I’ve had no response so entirely been left in the lurch. I would never ever trust this company again to home deliver a cake.

I purchased 2 orders both orders arrived yesterday both were wrong sent they choose some other cheaper options and send me,do you think i am stupid or blind that I will never find it out??????extremely disappointed at your childish and unprofessional behavior,I did not pay you to receive some cheap jams and bad tasting dry scones SHAME ON YOU

# Poor Service Followed by Even Worse Complaint Handling

We visited Patisserie Valerie Southend on 25 September for a simple order of three drinks and three cakes.

Despite the café not being particularly busy, we waited around 25 minutes for our order to be taken and then another 30 minutes for it to arrive, with no explanation or apology. When the drinks eventually arrived, the waitress put part of her palm into the cream on one of the milkshakes.

When I went to pay, staff couldn't even find our order on the system and eventually had to use a menu to manually calculate what we owed. We paid £30.50.

I complained to Patisserie Valerie Customer Services that same afternoon, providing a detailed account including the date, time and payment amount.

Anne Marie Montilla from the PV Team replied on 27 September asking for information already contained in my original complaint. I nevertheless replied fully that same day.

I chased again on 29 September and 1 October, requesting either a management contact or a firm timeframe for a response. Neither email was acknowledged.

**UPDATE 12 OCTOBER 2026**

Unfortunately, matters have deteriorated considerably since I originally posted this review.

Having received no meaningful response privately, I posted a Google review detailing both the Southend experience and the subsequent failure to handle my complaint.

Patisserie Valerie responded publicly, apologising for the original experience and poor complaint handling, stating that they wanted to "make things right". They specifically instructed me to contact their Reviews team, assuring me that my concerns would be brought to the appropriate team's attention.

I followed those instructions on 5 October, forwarding the complete correspondence.

**The Reviews team never responded.**

Instead, Jennifer Hall, Customer Service Team Leader, eventually replied through the original Customer Services channel, explaining that they had been waiting for the Southend store to investigate the complaint about itself. She said the store had been chased and its Area Manager included.

That was seven days ago. Nothing further has been received.

On 6 October, I submitted a second, separate formal complaint specifically concerning Patisserie Valerie's handling of my original complaint, requesting senior management involvement, a complaint reference and an explanation for the repeated failures to communicate.

**That second formal complaint has not even been acknowledged.**

So, as of 12 October, 17 days after my original complaint, I have two outstanding complaints, neither substantively answered, and no proposed resolution whatsoever.

And now there has been another development.

**My Google review, which Patisserie Valerie had already publicly responded to, has subsequently been removed from public view by Google.**

The review contained a factual account of my visit and the subsequent complaint correspondence. I had updated it on 7 October to reflect Patisserie Valerie's public response and what actually happened after I followed their instructions. The updated review remained publicly visible before subsequently being marked "Not published".

I have appealed Google's decision.

I do not know who, if anyone, reported the review, and I am not suggesting that I have evidence Patisserie Valerie requested its removal. Nevertheless, the timing is particularly disappointing given that my complaints remain unanswered.

What I find most frustrating is the contrast between Patisserie Valerie's very apologetic and proactive public response and the complete lack of meaningful action behind the scenes.

Publicly, they express concern and promise to investigate. Privately, I have repeatedly chased, been passed between departments, been told they are waiting for the store, and ultimately been ignored.

The original café experience was poor. The subsequent complaint handling has been substantially worse.

**Seventeen days, two formal complaints, multiple unanswered emails, a public promise to make things right, and still no resolution.**

For a national business, this is an appalling standard of customer care.

I ordered the Blue Candy Stripe Gateau for my daughter's birthday in August, having previously ordered from Patisserie Valerie numerous times and always had a great experience. Unfortunately, this time was completely different.

The cake was supposed to be the centrepiece of my daughter's birthday celebration, but the taste and texture were awful. Despite following the storage and serving instructions, the sponge and buttercream were mushy and completely lacking in flavour. Nobody who tried the cake could finish their slice, and the remainder was left untouched in the fridge. My daughter was understandably upset, and it was incredibly disappointing and embarrassing to serve something of such poor quality to our guests.

I contacted customer services, providing photographs and the batch code so they could investigate. After a delayed response, I received an apology and was told the matter had been passed to their Bakery and Technical Teams. However, their proposed resolution was a £10 voucher towards another purchase.

Considering the amount of money spent on a birthday cake that nobody enjoyed, I found this offer particularly disappointing. Why would I want to spend more money with a company after such a poor experience? I would have expected a refund or at least a more appropriate resolution.

Having been a loyal customer, I am genuinely disappointed, not only with the quality of the cake but also with how my complaint was handled. What should have been a lovely birthday treat turned into a complete waste of money, and I certainly won't be rushing to order from them again.

ORD # 0002159430

Ordered a Birthday Cake for my Son's 6th birthday and cake arrived was damaged, with based totally moved from middle to sideways, smashing one side of the cake.

I took pictures and tried to make a claim and request for a replacement cake as my son was really disappointed with the physical shape of the cake.

Unfortunately, the customer services team was totally inconsiderate to the emotional element of the Theme cake selected and ordered.

Instead the closed the complaint by offering a 20 pound discount instead of replacement cake.

You don't pay and order cakes with a company like this for receiving a damaged cake and a partial refund.

Emotional attachment to a quality service and selection has not value.
Really disappointed with the plain refusal to settle the situation.

I have been ordering the cake with them for years and never had this situation.

The first time I had it, I was expecting a better customer services response and considerate approach.

Really disappointed and there are other companies out there which one can order from, if this is how they want to do their business with returning customers.

Cake arrived on time, in great condition and most important of all, IT TASTED GREAT
Plus the price is reasonable for the product quality (really great quality)

I ordered a Nutella cake for my daughter’s birthday.
The cake came on time but when I put my hands in the box to remove the box inside, I ended up covered in dry ice because some of the bags must have exploded either during packing or transit.
Additionally, there was no inscription on the cake as requested. So, this has ruined my daughter’s birthday party which is tomorrow. It just looks like a standard cake.
Not what I expected from a nationally recognised business.

Made a formal complaint - they didn't even bother to respond!

I wish I had seen these reviews, but I did not and decided to order a £119 Macaron Tower from Patisserie Valerie for our wedding reception. I ordered on Sunday for Friday delivery, and was informed on Thursday that my chosen flavour was not available - which one would I like instead. I was asked to respond within three hours, which seems very unreasonable - not everyone checks their email every three hours and they had had four days to plan ahead on flavours. The next day I was informed they could not take my wish into consideration anymore and sent me a different flavour, resulting in an all green macaron tower when I had specifically wanted the alternating colour effect. When the macarons arrived, two were damaged and one was missing altogether. When I called customer service that day and said I wanted an urgent replacement as it's for my wedding they logged it, but I never heard back from them again. I emailed another three times asking for a refund for the wrong AND damaged product, and was completely ignored. Absolutely shocking. I will order from independent providers in the future.

I went to order a cake online and they offered a bday discount of 10% which was great my cake went from £50 to £45. I was really happy and went along with the payment only to realise they didn’t mention how much the delivery would be. But as soon as I pressed to pay the payment went through and it all of a sudden was £60! The delivery was hidden up until payment was made! How awful!!!

Would have rated this zero if it was an option.Ordered a cake for my daughters 21st it arrived on time but it was soggy, bashed and not fit to eat. Had they handled this better and provided a refund I would not be writing this review as I appreciate things can go wrong although looking at other reviews this is not an isolated incident. The customer service was terrible after a lot of calls and emails they offered me a voucher worth 20% of the amount the cake cost me For a cake that could not be eaten. They have admitted the cake was not suitable but as of yet I still do not have a refund now going through the bank to try to resolve. Sadly I would not recommend and I would not use them again.

The cake arrived in damaged packaging with holes in every corner- it looked squashed. The dry ice had leaked into the packaging including the inner cake box. The plaque I ordered was missing. Customer service replied after a couple of days and just said “sorry about that “. I was disappointed with the cake, delivery and customer service.

UPDATED 21/09 - I’ve now heard back from Customer Services and they’ve offered me a full value voucher as compensation, which I’ve accepted. They explained that they did send a response previously, but I didn’t receive it.

ORIGINAL REVIEW - Awful cake and awful customer services. Would have been better to purchase from the supermarket. The box the cake was transported in had been turned upside down. Not only was the top ruined but the cake has shifted on the base meaning when it defrosted the side collapsed. Rang customer service on delivery and was told they couldn’t talk to me and I need to email, which I did with numerous photos attached. They then asked for more photos (not sure how many you can take of a damaged cake) which I sent. They have totally ignored all my attempts to contact them since I sent the additional info. They are just not interested. I would have got a better cake from Tesco for a third of the price! I will NEVER buy from this company again.