Takashimaya apologizes after 900 customers complain over ruined Christmas cakes

900 complaints! 900, can you believe it?

Well, this is very unusual for them, found them to have high standards from my past experiences you see.

I'm sure some cakes were damaged but once the news spread, I wouldn't be surprised if some people knocked over their boxed cake hoping for some kind of payout! Welcome to 2023!

Who started the custom of eating strawberry cakes on Christmas Day in Japan? Seems like a case of commercial exploitation like the White Day.

Correct. Strawberries have nothing to do with a Christmas cake.

Firstly, it's a delicately made cake. People who ordered these need to take some responsibility and should have accepted beforehand that the thing could arrive in a heap of mush. They should be given 100 yen discounts on their next cake purchase (to be redeemed in-store only).

The story here should be instead: The Christmas miracle of how tens of thousands of these concoctions were safely delivered in pristine condition. Kudos to Kuro Neko, et al.

factcheckerToday  07:56 am JST

Correct. Strawberries have nothing to do with a Christmas cake.

Christmas cake can be anything you want.

At least Takashimaya are owning the mistake.

Quite a sum of money, ¥4.8 million.

MarkXToday 07:36 am JST

I'm sure some cakes were damaged but once the news spread, I wouldn't be surprised if some people knocked over their boxed cake hoping for some kind of payout! Welcome to 2023!

If that is true, I'd like to know the nationality of those people. I know certain people from a nearby communist country like to do such low class things. They like to exploit the "customer is always right" mentality of Japanese businesses.

4.86 Million Yen is in the petty cash box at HQ. Just Apologise, refund everyone and keep your reputation intact.

Correct. Strawberries have nothing to do with a Christmas cake.

A Japanese Christmas cake vs a traditional European Christmas cake - the former is enjoyed/finished quickly, the latter ends up partially eaten and sits in the fridge for a month or so before being thrown away.

Give me all the damaged cakes..

No problem for me..

I will eat all of them without complaining..

900 complaints! 900, can you believe it?

Some people creatively change that cake to glacier cake.

https://twitter.com/akarimochi_ba/status/1738926093581930871

People who ordered these need to take some responsibility and should have accepted beforehand that the thing could arrive in a heap of mush.

From the article -

and delivered frozen.

If properly transported and handled they should stay intact and not arrive in a "heap of mush". Someone made a mistake in transportation and/or storage.

Alongfortheride: "At least Takashimaya are owning the mistake."

Only because they have to, and because of all the pics on social media of their damaged cakes. They would not be otherwise, or at best they would be quietly giving refunds or credit. No refund will make up for the disappointment, of course, and so Takashimaya needs to do more. Next year sell the cake at cost -- no profit, with free cakes guaranteed to all customers who complained (plus the refund). Or, people should maybe just realize that they are overpriced to begin with, and that strawberry shortcakes actually have ZERO to do with Christmas.

Sounds more like the delivery company(ies) that they used. I'm sure they don't want their name publicized. That's for sure.

If properly transported and handled they should stay intact and not arrive in a "heap of mush". Someone made a mistake in transportation and/or storage.

Exactly. Word is that they were frozen in a heap of mush, so looks like someone messed up before the freezing process and was too afraid to tell their boss.

Yet another example of Japan's decline. And the cake is way overpriced at 5,400 yen. I got mine from 7-11.

I wouldn't pay that much for frozen strawberry shortcake.

Some foods freeze brilliantly, it almost seems to improve them, but I doubt this would survive the process well. Its all about lightness of the sponge and cream. I'm quite proud of our cooking skills but there is no way we could make a Japanese cake shop-level sponge, British sponge cakes are comically heavy in comparison.

Making a strawberry cake for the New Year at a lot less cost than that.

In the UK Christmas cake is not something you eat on Christmas Day. Its a long lasting fruit cake you have with cups of tea when your relatives turn up a day or two later. At the Christmas dinner, you should have Christmas pudding.

So I find British moans about Japanese Christmas Cake being different somewhat irrelevant. The Japanese one is a dessert. The British one is a tea accompaniment. Part of me hopes that some Japanese person way back when had a UK "Christmas Cake" and decided, "no, we're not going to copy that. Lets have something else".

Some Japanese do eat Yule logs, a Swiss roll done in chocolate creme, but will refer to them using the French name which sounds like "busshu noel". I only know this because my wife made one once.

To start with why order a frozen and overpriced cake online?

People used to be perfectly fine before buying real cakes in real shops.

Cheaper and probably better tasting.

rainman1

@wallace - We don't all have the abundance of time you have.

You can make a cake in 30 minutes but otherwise, go to the store. Your choice.

Most countries have their own cakes for Christmas. I like the Italian one.

Just googled some images of the damaged cakes and yeah, if I had paid 5400 Yen for that I’d be complaining too.

At least they refunded. There are many Japanese companies that try to deny there is anything wrong with their product. Companies that sell a faulty product and treat me correctly by either fixing the product, replacing it or giving me a refund retain my custom as I know every company sometimes delivers a faulty or problem product and I know that company treats customers well. If they don't, I avoid that companies products whenever possible.

Tim SullivanToday  10:43 am JST

Yet another example of Japan's decline.

That is a rather frivolous and quite ridiculous claim.

Proper Christmas fruitcake with icing and marzipan can take a hammering and still look reasonable. You could probably go bowling with a Christmas pudding and it would hold up to presentation (and light it on fire if you so desire!).

Considering the recent boom of stollen as a Christmas item, maybe it's time for people here to try a real Christmas cake now and abandon the strawberries and cream! Served like in Yorkshire with a slab of cheese!

Or failing that- a decent trifle!

If properly transported and handled they should stay intact and not arrive in a "heap of mush". Someone made a mistake in transportation and/or storage.

Fair enough, but wonder why a tiny percentage somehow thawed on the way, and yet somehow the others (the majority) didn't. A mystery to be solved by those experts in transportation logistics.

But really who in their right mind would think to buy a strawberry "frill"(whatever that is) shortcake online for more than 5 grand in the first place?

Who is to say what Christmas cake is?

Who is to say what Christmas cake is?

Yeah, it can what you wish it to be. It's just the way the world is now.

Only in Japan

People across the globe never complain about these things

There was no mentioning of reimbursement to those who purchased the cakes.

Takashimaya on Monday issued a second apology on its website, adding that it "may take a few days" to contact customers individually regarding the matter.

"We assure you that we are making every effort to improve our management system," it said.