Fraud investigators are to look at claims up to 500 brides and families have lost money after the collapse of a wedding catering firm.
On Monday crowds of angry customers gathered outside the Halesowen HQ of wedding reception organisers Bake A Cake.
They have been unable to locate bosses Lisa and Ryan Holt, the firm’s website has been shut down and Action Fraud – a Government agency which collates complaints from consumers who feel they have been ripped off – has been contacted.
The company phone number simply rings out.
As yet, there is not a crumb of comfort for those who put their faith in Bake A Cake, a company that, according to its lavish website, “adds a personal touch to any special event.”
The home-based business was at hand to bolster functions by providing food, photo booths, chocolate fountains and popcorn, candy floss and ice-cream machines.
Now, a veritable army of disgruntled customers is demanding to know what has happened to their cash.
Meanwhile, Action Fraud said in a statement to the Mail: “We have received a report. It’s very early days and we are not yet in a position to say how many people have been affected. It is currently being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.”
Most Read
Hundreds of families from across the country are believed to have been left in the lurch on the eve of their day at church.
Their dreams were destroyed by a brief Monday message on Bake A Cake’s Facebook site. It announced that a burglary and arson attack at the firm’s premises had effectively broken the business. The site was shut down shortly afterwards.
Reports of a break-in at The Holts’ address has been confirmed by West Midlands Police, which says it was alerted to a burglary at their home on July 19, when business papers were stolen. Police were contacted again on August 12 following an arson attack.
Attempts to contact the Holts – and some couples travelled hundreds of miles to knock on their door – have failed.
But an an email to desperate clients Lisa Holt messaged: “I am sorry to have to tell you this and to inform you that as of today Bake a Cake are no longer trading due to the nature of the circumstances surrounding the burglary and the arson attack on my family home.
“Business records, photo booths and equipment were stolen. Our insurer is processing the claim currently. For a while now we have had to sub contract work to fulfil our obligations to clients, but these cost much more than if we had used our own equipment. We simply cannot afford to keep trading.”
She blamed a campaign of intimidation and harassment for destroying the business, adding: “Some of our competitors even took to searching for our clients on our business page and contacting them privately to tell them to cancel and obtain refunds. This is being investigated by the police. The actions of our competitors have led to the closure of our business.
Don’t miss
“I will update you as to refunds later on this week. In the meantime, we will be un-publishing our Facebook page to reduce the amount of harassment we are experiencing.
“I offer you my deepest apologies for the inconvenience and stress that this announcement may cause you. Please bear with me and I will update you over the next week.”
But other customers have been unable to get answers.
One left a note on the door of at the company's residential HQ in Albert Road reading: “You owe me £500. I want it back – 5 Days.”
Those demanding answers, desperate to avoid a big day disaster, have now formed a Facebook group under the banner ‘Bake A Cake Customers Looking for Replacement Suppliers’. It has 787 members and is crammed with tales of woe.
Essex sales manager Lewis Morlang’s confetti catastrophe is among them. He and tearful fiancée Bobbie Gray now fear they will be forced to scrub their wedding, which was to take place in Romford next July.
The 31-year-old said: “I feel gutted, absolutely gutted, and Bobbie is in tears. It’s disgusting, absolutely disgusting. You can’t do this to people. You are talking about people who have had to cancel their wedding because they have no money left.”
Lewis booked a hot and cold buffet, DJ and drop-down curtains from Bake A Cake. The icing on the cake was to be an LED-lit floor for the evening reception.
He was charged £1,200, but offered a £650 rock-bottom deal if he paid in advance. He coughed up on June 25 and is now desperately trying to save his marriage before the ceremony has even taken place.
“They had a website, and I thought if they had a website it must be all right,” Lewis said. “I’ve still got the invoice.
“But I got a bit wary two months ago. We’d heard stories about people who had been let down. My mate, who used them, asked for his money back, but didn’t get it.
“I thought I’d give them the benefit of the doubt and asked for a meeting, which was supposed to take place in September.”
The head-to-head was scuppered by Monday’s bombshell, and Lewis fears the planned wedding is now in tatters.
“We’ve really got to think about what to do,” he confessed. “To be fair, we’ve paid out £650 already and we’re not loaded.”
Katie Battle is frantically attempting to rescue her day after handing Bake A Cake a £600 down payment for her wedding reception at the Poacher’s Pocket, Shard End, in four weeks’ time. Katie and groom Richard Washbourne now fear that family shindig will be cancelled.
“I don’t know why,” said the Kitts Green mum, “but I woke up on Monday in a panic.
“I sent Lisa a message, asking her to meet me at the venue – and got one back saying she had been burgled.
“I asked for a refund, then found the message about the business going into liquidation.
“I feel upset, but looking at the ‘Bake A Cake Customers’ Facebook site, there are a lot of people in a worse position than me. Around 500 brides have been let down, there are even cancer patients. One bride was supposed to get married this Saturday.”
Katie has contacted West Midlands Police, who referred her to Action Fraud.
Brides are not the only ones who tried, in vain, to locate the Holts.
Stella Weston, from Halesowen, was relying on the firm to add glitter to her in-laws’ golden wedding anniversary in September.
She paid £500 for a buffet, DJ and photo booth. On Monday, she was among the posse gathered in Albert Road.
“Looking back,” Stella said, “the price was a bit too good to be true, but we’d used them last February and were really impressed, so I wasn’t too anxious.
“There was a message saying she had been burgled and some arson attempt had been made.
“I read that and thought ‘Bad things can happen’, I thought I would give it a couple of weeks.
“Then on Monday I saw the message saying Bake A Cake had ceased to trade. I feel sick that my money has gone and I don’t expect to get it back.
“I’ve been left to pick up the pieces and try to rescue the anniversary. It’s a mess.”