Kylie Rae Allen, a small bakery owner in Princeton, West Virginia brought a lot of negative attentions towards herself and her bakery recently when she uploaded a TikTok criticizing a customer.
In what Kylie called the “worst” customer interaction she’s ever had, Kylie was complained about the customer being unhappy with the rainbow cake they ordered and not liking the $80 price tag. In her video, Kylie didn’t show what the cake looked like, instead she filmed herself making a similar cake with no writing.
@kylieraeallen Worst client experinece so far 😅 #cake #cakes #cakedecorating #cakedecorator #rainbowcake #fypシ #fyp #sprinkles #cakesoftiktok #karen #badclient
The customer responded by sharing with the world a photo of the cake, which had severely messy sprinkles and almost illegible writing on the top. The customer ended up making their own cake, which provided a more visually satisfying outcome.
@afreebird Replying to @selenahernandez608 The cake TRILBY deserved. PS – Ik the handwriting is rough! I’m rusty. #kylieraeallen #happybirthdaytrilby #karen #badcustomer #homebaker #rainbowsprinklecake #cakebeef #thatsideoftiktok #doubledown #cakedecorating
The situation went completely viral as TikTokers dove deep into Kylie’s other creations, which were arguably also less than professional. Even people from Kylie’s area who either know her or know of her have been speaking out.
Kylie responded to her haters with a video and then continued on by going about business as usual.
@kylieraeallen ❤️
One of her most recent creations was a Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair cake.
@kylieraeallen I loved making this Wednesday themed cake . #fyp #fypシ #caketok #cakes #cakesoftiktok #cakedecorating #wednesday
That cake was inspired by a cake made by Josué (The Cake Guy) Luciano.
@jou.king91 Did a cake inspired by Enid and Wednesday Addams. 💖🖤 #Wednesday #Enid #Cake #WednesdayAddams
A local posted a review of Kylie’s bakeries. They thought the cupcake they purchased was okay, but the cinnamon roll was undercooked and doughy.
@raventoker I’m not a baker or a chef. giving my personal opinion. #cakegate2023 #ravensmisfits #coffeesmoke💚 @haunted_hem_herald @floridaonadimemissy @spicycarmel @80s.mom
Kylie also appeared on the Baking For Business podcast with Chef Schonberg where she said she was unapologetic about the situation. Kylie said that wasn’t sorry about how she handled the customer interaction despite the fact that she thinks people want a “public apology” from her.
She is sorry for one thing, however: she’s sorry that she made the original TikTok on the first place.
Chef Schonberg pushed back by asking Kylie why she doesn’t want to apologize. She went on to say that from a PR perspective, apologizing in this situation is something she would do herself, and something she would recommend to her students.
“It’s a learning lesson,” Chef Schoenberg said. “And we all learn. But you’re very adamant, you’re like ‘No, I’m not apologizing.'”
“What am I sorry for?” Kylie responded. “At the end of the day I don’t feel sorry for how I handled the customer interaction privately.”
“I am sorry for how I handled making the TikTok,” Kylie continued. She then goes on to say that her TikTok isn’t for her business, but is instead a personal account, which is odd considering that her TikTok is solely about her business and appears to be marketing for it.
She says that even though she’s a business owner, she’s still “a person,” and explains that if she made an apology video she wouldn’t know what she would be apologizing for.
“I’m not ashamed of the way that I handled the customer interaction,” Kylie says confidently. “Could it have been handled differently? Yes. Am I sorry for it? No.”
