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A disgusted dad has slammed an Australian supermarket after it ruined his son’s frog-themed birthday cake with their ‘pathetic’ decorating skills.

In preparation for his son Mason’s third birthday, Shane Hallford, 43, claims to have forked out $49 on a special birthday cake from his local Woolworths store in Tamworth, New South Wales, on November 11.

The dad-of-two claims his request for a frog-themed birthday cake was confirmed by the store three days prior to picking it up – but the policeman and his wife Amy, 29, were both horrified to discover that their son’s cake looked ‘nothing’ like what they ordered, shares Daily Mail.

‘They told me it could be done, no worries at all. He wrote down everything I said and said it would be ready by Sunday morning. I was very excited to see it,’ Mr Hallford said.

‘I went down to pick it up on the morning of Mason’s birthday party. I was in a rush getting extra supplies and didn’t actually check it at the store because it was in a huge box,’ he added.

‘I just assumed it would be fine. When I got home, I opened it up with my wife and we were both mortified.’

Instead of a colourful number three and a big green frog decoration they had envisioned, the ‘mortified’ parents were met with a ‘pathetic’ smiley face and small ‘three’ both written in green icing.

‘Amy was very upset, as our guests were arriving in a couple of hours. We thought we would have to try and bake something else,’ he said.

‘I decided to just ring Woolworths to see if they could fix it. I explained the situation but was told that they didn’t “decorate” cakes.’

Mr Hallford explained that because the supermarket has lovely looking pre-made cakes he thought they would do a good job.

‘They do this every day for a living. Surely, they could have done something better than this,’ he said.

Shane said the ‘pathetic’ cake forced his family to seek help from another cake decorator who thankfully ‘saved’ his son’s birthday cake just twenty minutes before guests arrived.

And despite the initial ‘disaster’, Shane said his son Mason still had a great birthday party and enjoyed the ‘repaired’ version of the cake which featured a frog beside water.

Shane’s angry post has since gone viral, racking up thousands of likes and shares on social media.

‘I was most disappointed with just the lack of effort. It seemed like they didn’t even care.

‘It was a disgrace. I will never be buying cakes from Woolworths again.’

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  • Not very professional and she shouldnt have paid the money required for the cake.
    BUT….. im sure the little guy wasnt really super fussed as its only a cake. If he was so focused on the cake instead of the fun he should have been having with party games and his friends then that would be very concerning. The day should not have been ruined just because of a cake.

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  • As bad as this is, very unprofessional, there’s more tona birthday then the cake. So he can’t claim it ruined his sons birthday. It’s an ok looking cake, even if it isn’t frog themed

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  • Too funny, I didn’t even know they made special cakes for people!

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  • A kindergarten kid could do a better job of it.

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  • Almost $50 for this crap.. As this came on facebook and blogs probably they will refund… And little Mason wont mind if he gets lots of presents..;) I guess…

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  • That is most definitely an ugly cake.

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  • The kid is 3, I doubt he would care about the cake mishap, so it wouldn’t have ruined his birthday. Mum and dad however paid fir this dodgy piece of green glub, they have every right to be angry

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  • Ouch! That is a disappointing effort of a frog cake. Money back please.

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  • Wow, that’s pathetic! I’d be upset too! We have ordered cakes from Woolworths before when I was growing up and never had a problem, so this store must have just had very poorly trained staff.

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  • I never knew woolies used to make cakes to order. Glad all went well with the birthday party in the end

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  • Safeway/Woolworths did used to sell cakes made to order. I’ve since learned they no longer do that. They simply should not have taken your order. Glad it ended well, but I can imagine the panic and anger at what they received.

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  • Would never trust a supermarket to decorate a cake. They may have a baker there but they do not decorate things. Would like to have seen what the final cake looked like.

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  • $49 for a “decorated” cake from Woolies, pretty pittyfull. I feel sorry for the family. Kids parties are stressful enough without a cake failure.

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  • If mum had picked it up, she would have checked it before leaving the store. Not a cake you would expect for the price

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  • Okay, maybe not what they expected, but could have bought a toy frog and put on the cake. I didn’t realize Woolies did cake decorating ‘to order’.

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  • Depends on the cost. He should have also asked for clarification of what was included. But I woulnd’t have bought it if I’d seen that.

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  • Have to agree it’s not satisfactory or what they asked for but all the run around to have it fixed was a bit unnecessary just print out a frog on the computer and place on cake and lift of when cutting the cake or better still and heaps more yummy buy some chocolate frogs and place on the cake.

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  • I used to work at a Coles with an in-store bakery, and unless things have changed in the supermarkets the people decorating these cakes are not skilled decorators and haven’t usually had an training in cake decorating. But having said that, what they have produced is beyond a joke. I hope the poor family got a refund.

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  • I thought this was a joke at first. I can’t believe how viral this has gone.
    Aren’t there worse things going on in the world. Yes, I know he didn’t get what he asked/paid for but really!

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  • I’m bewildered why they didn’t computer generate an impression of what they were going to do in advance. Or have some stock photos of decorations that they can use/ modify.

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