The first rule of bakeries is to never get something from the display case as you have no idea how long the items have been hanging around there. But it seems one customer at Walmart’s bakery didn’t get the memo as they appeared to not only buy a display cake, but were then shocked to find that it was made of styrofoam.
Walmart employee Charlie (@cardcaptor_s) took to TikTok to recount the incident in a video that has been viewed over 587,000 times.
In the video, Charlie showed her viewers a cake that was clearly made of styrofoam and explained, “This is a display cake and it was sold to a customer who thought they were taking a real cake. A real cake to their birthday party. Look, they lit the candles and everything.”
@cardcaptor_s you cant make this 💩 up bro
♬ original sound – Malik
Charlie continued, “Imagine the shock and panic that flowed through my body when I got a call saying, ‘Hey, um, I just bought a cake from you guys, and it’s styrofoam.'”
They added that their “heart literally stopped” as a “cold wave of panic” washed over them. “The only cake that I had sent out that day was a custom cake, so I asked, ‘Which cake did you pick up?’ She says, ‘a Barbie cake,’ … so I instantly know where this is going.”
According to the customer, someone from the bakery told her that she could buy the display cake, but the customer’s description of the supposed employee didn’t match up with anyone working at the store. “I have no idea how this happened,” Charlie despaired.
Both the TikToker and viewers were baffled by the situation, and many commenters shared their suspicions about how the customer came into possession of the display cake.
“Check the cameras,” one commenter advised. “Some tells me she just grabbed it like.”
“I feel like she might have picked it up herself and started asking around for a price,” another suggested.
Several others remarked how the weight of the display cake should have been a clear indication that the woman was not holding an actual cake.
“Did she… not notice how light it was when she picked it up…????” someone asked.
Charlie didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via email.