Pastry cafe sends customer photo of surprise gift in rubbish bin after failed delivery

What was supposed to be a surprise birthday gift from a colleague ended up in the dustbin as the unsuspecting birthday girl was not home to receive the delivery.

Stomp contributor Jasmin said her colleague had made an order from L'éclair Pâtisserie and arranged for it to be delivered to her home on Sunday (Oct 4).

"It was meant to be a surprise hence I was not given heads up to expect this delivery," shared the Stomp contributor.

Jasmin, a condominium resident, said a deliveryman from the éclair specialty store called her "four times within 11 minutes" on Sunday morning as he was unable to access her unit via the intercom.

However, Jasmin missed the calls as she had been in the hospital visiting her mother.

She shared: "Next thing I know, I received a message from my colleague, who apologised and informed me about my gift being disposed into the rubbish bin by the deliveryman.

"The deliveryman later shared me with that he had been instructed by L'éclair to do so.

"At the same timing, my helper had informed me of a flower delivery from another friend. If the florist had no issues delivering the flowers to my place, why did L'éclair face a challenge?"

Jasmin shared a screenshot showing her colleague being informed about the order getting discarded as both of them could not be reached.

"As stated in the terms and conditions, there will be no re-delivery," said the message, which was accompanied by a photo of Jasmin's gift in a dustbin.

Jasmin told Stomp: "This is indeed a 'surprise' on my birthday!

"I just wanted to make people aware about making surprise deliveries, so that they don't receive such disappointment and a picture of their birthday gift being thrown into the bin on their birthdays.

"L'éclair could have at least asked my colleague, who I'm sure would not mind paying the re-delivery fee, compared to the amount paid for the éclairs.

"They didn't even apologise for throwing the item away!"

According to L'éclair's website, delivery costs between $18 and $25 per location.

Here are the terms and conditions on the order page of L'éclair's website:

L'éclair also recommends that its éclairs are refrigerated within one to two hours from purchase to prevent spoilage or contamination.

The pastries' short shelf life outdoors could be the reason why the store discards failed deliveries instead of arranging re-deliveries.

Stomp has contacted L'éclair for more info.