If a child drops their ice cream, should the shop replace it free of charge?

[LittleRa]

I witnessed this today. At the seaside, at a popular Italian ice cream/gelato store, takeaway window. The family in front of me- mum, dad and two kids. They got their ice creams and as they turned, the dad said to the eldest child about 8yo “don’t spill ice cream on your England shirt” She put her tongue out to lick and licked too hard and the whole scoop fell off onto the ground. Cue tears from the girl and the dad huffing and puffing. He came back to the counter and seemed to be expecting it to be replaced for free. The person behind the til said so sorry she dropped it but we don’t do that, the dad was saying but I’ve just bought it, but she’s literally just dropped it and sighing loudly. In the end he did get his wallet out and pay for a new one though.

YANBU- it’s the parents’ responsibility to monitor the child’s ice cream and if the inevitable should happen, they need to pay to replace it.
YABU- the shop should replace it for free.

As an aside, I got my DD’s hers in a tub with a spoon

* Not really the responsibility of the shop, OTOH they should squish the ice cream down onto the cone firmly, not just balance it on the top.*

^This

i was at the carnival when i about 14. i brought a toffee apple and as soon as i opened it, it fell of the stick and onto the floor. i ran back over to the guy selling them and tried to buy another one but he had seen that i dropped it on the floor and gave me another one free of charge.
it was very nice of him, but i wasn't expecting him to give me on for free.
i think when you expect things you dont get them.

The England shirt was a giveaway as to the sort of person. I worked in a hotel, a child wet the bed, we charged the parents for cleaning the mattress, parents blamed us for serving drinks.

Cheeky sod

Shop Error - they should replace

User Error - they don't have to replace

Ice creams from kiosks/vans are incredibly expensive. You can easily spend £10 on 4 small ice-creams.

The seller doesn't have to replace it but, as a gesture of goodwill, I think most sellers would do so after a genuine mishap like this.

That's ridiculous, of course they shouldn't replace it for free. For heaven's sake where I live, "you break it, you buy it" applies in shops, and that's for things you haven't even purchased.

Did the dad have an ice cream to share?

I would pay for a new one or tell child tough poo poo! In a million year I'd never expect the shop to replace it!!!

My SiL once tried to lick her ice cream and the top of the cone fell off. She caught it.

We were a few steps from the ice cream van and I said to ask for a tub so she could still eat it. I/she didn’t expect a replacement.

However they did replace it. In short, don’t expect it, but it’s nice I’d they do.

If the ice cream fell off in a lump then they didn't pack it down properly.

They should have replaced it. Very mean-spirited of them not to.

I think the shop should replace because sometimes they just balance it on the topnotch the vote. It needs to be pressed and secured into place. Ice is numinous expensive. We bought 4 cones last summer in Bristol. It was £12.50. No fancy bits. 4 ice creams in cones.

To be honest this happened to us last week. I spend 16 £ on 5 scoops of ice cream. My 7 year old took one lick and it fell out of the cone. Vendor replaced it. I think he didn't push it in hard enough!
He replaced it and we pushed the others for the kids into the cones harder.

They weren't obliged to but ice cream parlours do replace it for free in towns.

Seaside towns not so much.

@TillyTottenham

If the ice cream fell off in a lump then they didn't pack it down properly.

They should have replaced it. Very mean-spirited of them not to.

You don't run a business do you, ice cream has never been risk accessed, apart from don't eat if it's refrozen.

Rookie error - kid won’t do it again! Not up to the shop to replace, although yes it would be a nice gesture but to be fair a lot of these places have youngsters working in them who probably don’t feel authorised to give away ‘free’ stuff and also not savvy enough to push the ice cream into the cone a bit firmer either!

Not the shop's responsibility. Ever.

I had this happen to me in an ice cream shop! However before I had even licked it as the 'scoop' wasn't pushed onto the cone enough.. It hit the floor right infront of the counter. The shop owner replaced it with a teeny scoop which to be honest annoyed me as it wasn't my fault at all and I actually cleaned up the ice cream off their floor too.
If it was the child's fault though its the parents responsibility to replace.

Obviously it is not the shop's responsibility, however, if I was the owner/worker, I would replace just to be nice and as a gesture of goodwill.

@Daffi

The England shirt was a giveaway as to the sort of person. I worked in a hotel, a child wet the bed, we charged the parents for cleaning the mattress, parents blamed us for serving drinks.

Erm What? The England shirt is a dead giveaway to what exactly? Why is it a problem for child to wear a football shirt especially yesterday?

When I was wee my granny used to give me 40p to get me and the dog a cone from the ice cream van, the dog would follow me to the van back in the days when dog just walked themselves, every time it was a different guy I would order 1 cone and hold it low so the dog would eat it, I would cry and say that dog ate my cone and I would get a new one and kept the 20p!
I was a bit of a del boy as a child!

I dropped a tray of drinks in a coffee shop, they all slid off, and the shop cleaned it up and replaced the drinks! I was obviously mortified.

No. Why should they ? Might be done as a goodwill gesture but definitely not to be expected.

Not should but if I ran an ice-cream shop, I would definitely do this for a child!

Did you see the news today?