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

God people are harsh !

Stingey if you ask me, I'm sure it doesn't happen a lot and a friendly place wouldnt have to even be asked and give another scoop as a good will gesture.

This had happened to me before and they’ve replaced without my asking.
The ice cream should be soft enough to sit in the cone, Gelato is usually quite mushy and wouldn’t roll off with a lick. I think the ice cream was too hard. No matter the circumstances it would have been a nice gesture.

@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.

The England shirt = What type of person? My boys both have England shirts, I’m we ordering what type of person that makes me? FYI I’m a London based professional, 3 properties, 2 children at Uni and 2 in independent schools and I’m generally pretty respectful as others. But clearly you have a different opinion, do tell.

In this scenario if the retailer is contributory negligent in not suppling an ice cream with the expected amount of pressure squashing down to prevent ease of slippage by a young child - then as a good will gesture it would be a nicety but not obligatory to have a partial replacement of lost scoop at no additional financial lost to the purchaser. If the ice cream was supplied to satisfactory fit for purpose condition then it is the fault of the customer and no free of charge replacement is necessary nor should be demanded.

However this scenario involves a little child. For the sake of goodwill to all especially the child - this should ideally be replaced as a one off nicety at negligible cost to the vendor. The vendor would hopefully gain from this exemplary customer care in extra business confidence from their target customer base.

This overtly family friendly business ethics would obviously not work against a challenging trading environment as will be taken advantage of - where all you can eat use and abuse refund culture types is common. The premeditated serial fraudulent consumers who deliberately purchase items to use and return after free loan enjoyment or deliberately invent or pick out non issues demanding a refund when items are sold in good faith of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose at a reasonable cost.

The England shirt and Italian ice cream is not of material importance in this scenario unless it is to incorrectly stereotype assumptions.

Why on earth would it be the shop's responsibility? Always prep children beforehand and leave the cones in the stand on the counter until parents hands are free to help. The entitlement of some people is beyond belief.

The person working there may not have discretion to replace free of charge.

A lot of places would probably replace it as a gesture of goodwill, although they are not actually obliged to. In a similar vein,in Costa's,I once dropped my full cup of coffee en route from counter to table,and they replaced it without me even asking! (In my defence,it wasn't just clumsiness or carelessness on my part,I have arthritis in my wrists and they occasionally choose an awkward moment to suddenly give way ).

How would a business be viable if it handed out freebies to people who gave the product to someone too young to be capable of consuming it? Kids constantly drop ice cream on the ground, it’s a parent problem, not a business model. Also, who actually gives a single fuck though?

So if someone buys (say) a set of wine glasses in a store and then drops them on the way out the store should replace them for free? No, the customer should be more careful. Once an item is in your possession its your responsibility.

If the ice cream fell off neatly when licked, it wasn’t put in the cone properly, and should have been replaced at the servers discretion. As a rule though, you bought it, if they drop it, it’s their own fault.
Coming from someone who ran an ice cream parlour.

I think they should. They're obviously not obligated to but I would think it very mean and stingy if they didn't. I've worked in hospitality in my student days and anywhere I worked would have replaced it. It's nice to be nice!

I crashed my new car on the way home from the showroom. Should they give me another one?

This happened to my son a couple of weeks ago. I didn't even think about it not being secured properly. He cried. I cleaned it up, told him I'd get him another one, lady behind the counter came round with a new one for him and said no charge. It wasn't expected and was kind, but hardly the greatest surprise in the world either. It's only a scoop of ice cream.

@SourAppleChew

I crashed my new car on the way home from the showroom. Should they give me another one?

Are you expecting the dealer to give you a new and better safer car? It’s a bit different from a scoop of ice cream for a little child! That family will be grateful and child so happy from such a small goodwill gesture especially with these pandemic and economically challenging times. Such a small gesture speaks volumes and avoid disappointment. It’s not the monetary extra cost but the power of goodwill asking for another scoop of ice cream and not a big ticket item. How much will the vendor be out of pocket?

Just to clarify- I really didn’t mean anything about “the type of person” wearing an England shirt. First of all, it was a child so I think they get a free pass to wear whatever, really. Secondly, it was the day of the Euros final so anyone and everyone was showing their support! I just thought it was a funny exchange between a parent and child, which could’ve simply been “don’t get any ice cream on your T-shirt”- made me think “erm, have you ever SEEN a child eat an ice cream before?!” They’re notoriously messy and melty! And the fact it was an England shirt- pristine white and obviously worn in support of the match that wasn’t happening for another few hours, just made it more humorously unrealistic to expect the child to keep it clean. And lo and behold, no sooner had dad said it than the scoop was off. It’s kind of like in a slapstick comedy sketch, like an old Laurel and Hardy movie… “oh, what a beautiful priceless Ming vase here on this tall, narrow plinth…. Would be such a shame if someone were to knock it over….” somehow makes it all the more funny than if it was just a boring old cheap vase on a safe sideboard, not getting ice cream on a child’s carefully chosen and pristine white England shirt game me the same vibes.
I’m probably not explaining myself very well, but I really didn’t mean anything untoward or sneering towards the wearing of an England shirt!

Are you expecting the dealer to give you a new and better safer car?

I assumed that, in the scenario given, it would have been PP's careless driving and not an inherent fault in the car.

It’s a bit different from a scoop of ice cream for a little child! That family will be grateful and child so happy from such a small goodwill gesture especially with these pandemic and economically challenging times. Such a small gesture speaks volumes and avoid disappointment. It’s not the monetary extra cost but the power of goodwill asking for another scoop of ice cream and not a big ticket item. How much will the vendor be out of pocket?

As we've already mentioned, though, it's not just one un-careful child (who would have been better with a tub), it's potentially loads. The whole point about small-ticket items is that you need lots of customers to turn a profit, as opposed to maybe only one or two a day for a very big-ticket item. We're talking lots of 'small gestures' and being 'out of pocket' multiple times.

Also, the pandemic has hugely affected small businesses just as much as (if not more than) everybody else....

Not really related to the question I know, but this thread reminded me of an episode of Hotel Hell where Gordon Ramsay berates the owner for refusing to give out samples in their ice cream parlour.

I would expect the Dad to make a slightly exaggerated attempt to pay for a new one with a knowing eye roll to the vendor. As a goodwill gesture (and an assurance the Dad and any observers of the incident return for more ice-cream) the vendor replaces the ice-cream free of charge.
Equally, for both their sakes, he’s careful to squash the ice-cream down more securely into the corner next time.

If ice cream vans gave away free ice creams every time a kid drops some they wouldn't make much money. Goodwill gestures are normally when a business is at fault - not sure why the dad (or some posters here) would think this situation warrants a freebee. If it's "just an ice cream" the dad should have stumped up for another without fuss. Ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

I’d charge for a new cone, but pop a flake or sprinkles on for free. Most of the profit is made on toppings, not the ice cream.

You would go bust

It’s time we had child friendly ice cream cones.
Smaller cheaper cones.Children love the novelty of a cone,
but physics of the ice cream cone works against children.
Big dollop of dense ice cream balanced on top of fragile cone.
As well as the ice cream going splat, the cone can snap.Too much coordination, concentration, speed and dexterity needed.
Same as giving a small child or a child with neurological needs a can of bubbles and a bubble wand.
I have tried asking for half size cones in UK, US and Canada.
It utterly flummoxed the servers.
They all explained to me that a all ice creams are a set price and a set size.
This is a very common answer, if it is soft serve ice cream being dispensed from a machine.
I have responded by explaining that I don’t want any discount, just a half size ice cream cone.
I suggested that they just discard the extra ice cream.
This horrified nearly all servers.
I offered to pay double for a half size cones in Canada.
My request was granted following major negotiations.
Still cheaper than several bigger cones, stuck to the pavement.
My neighbour runs a ice cream parlour in a open farm.
She finds it very entertaining to watch how customers cope with cones.
How some manage them very easily and others struggle.
She reckons, about half the customers have issues, dentures, tremors, too young etc.
About half of those struggling, lose all or some of their cone.
So why not make more manageable cones?