i just got a goal of putting a ONE sphere, formal french topiary in my café. anyone who's ever looked at my profile knows that one-ball topiaries have been part and parcel of my café, right from the get-go.
i accepted the goal, though, because: 1) i already had a crapton of 1-ball topiaries in my café; 2) the outcome of #1 should have been an instant completion of the goal; 3) completing it was worth an instacook, and that can be very valuable.
well, as it turns out, it was much more valuable than i had expected!
after i accepted this goal, i expected to be greeted by the tumultuous cheers from the crowd, instantaneously! i was not.
so, i checked the goal. it said i only had 1/4 of the requisite "1 sphere" topiaries in my café. hmmm... the only topiary i only had one of was a THREE-ball topiary [which i think i got as a reward from some earlier goal.]
being the inquisitive type, i went ahead and removed four 1-balls from my café and then put them back, just to make sure. nope. still no dice. :/
so, casting all logic to the wind, i went ahead and bought a new, THREE-ball topiary for the 15,000 that they cost, [as opposed to the measly 750 that a 1-ball costs] and put it in my café.
and this wasn't just any, old, three-ball topiary I'm talking about, no sir! this is the TAPERED, three-ball topiary!
well ladies and germs, lo and behold, yes, virginia, there is a glitch! when i clicked on the goal again, to see if it had updated, it had, indeed done so. it now showed that i had 2/4 of the required plants in my café.
so i went ahead and bought two more TAPERED,THREE-ball topiaries, put them in my café, clicked DONE, and whoo-hoo! i got cheered and, more importantly, a free instacook.
so, either when the goal says that you need 1-ball topiaries, it's a misprint, and you really need three -ball ones.
or else having to buy 3-ball topiaries to fulfill this goal is a glitch, AND SOMEBODY OWES ME 45,000 CHIPS THAT I HAD TO SPEND, WHEN I ALREADY HAD THE REQUESTED PIECES IN MY CAFÉ TO BEGIN WITH!!!!!
either way, though, something's not right.
rocco jibraltar
P.S.
if you, too, are experiencing this problem, and you have read this and applied my workaround, please remember to CLICK THE KUDOS BUTTON! not so i get the kudos, but so the problem gets the attention! the more kudoses a post gets, the better the chance of someone fixing it. - thanks, r j
actually, vicki, the single topiaries are good, cheap way to block off entrances [except via the front door, 'cause they have the "unseen aisle" right against the front wall that they can use, but we can't see] and exits, so you just might want to hang onto them.
visit my café and see what i'm talking about: the customers can't get past the doors, nor do they have open access to the tables. hence, as soon as they step through the threshold, they're trapped, and are seated immediately! then, once they've finished eating, they don't "get up from the table" and wander out, they're just gone!
additionally, the chef can reach all the cookers, even though s/he can't actually touch them, and so is able to transfer food to the serving tables immediately*.
also, the waiters never have to take more than six steps [in my case, anyway... it depends on how many tables wide you choose to make your seating area] to either serve or clean up!
all this makes for much quicker service, turnover rate [which is, after all, what running a restaurant is all about, isn't it?] payment, and total income [read, "chips"] so you can buy more stuff! 
i use the cacti around the serving tables, though, so i can still access them to see how many portions are left; even the single-ball topiaries make it hard to mouse-over the serving tables.
rocco
*this really helps when you're trying to avoid your beer "spoiling" on the cookers, waiting for the slow-footed chef to amble all the way up and down the line of cookers, trying to get from each one to the serving table and back again, to get the next tray!
i'm not a tagged programmer, but the only reason i can think of that you absolutely can't put a topiary tree in your café, is if you're putting it in the square immediately in front of a door. nothing can go in those squares except for floor tile, insofar as i know.
if someone can tell me how i can look at your café, i might have a better idea, but i don't even know that much about the game! 
thank you
