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

Can't pay the bills with nice, they have to do that with profits they get from selling product.

Well, this is true but they wouldn't have lost much in the way of profit from giving away 1 scoop of ice cream, but they might have gained a bit of repeat business from that family.

@Reallybadidea

I don't think they should but it would be a nice thing to do.

My thoughts. I've seen this exact thing happen and they replaced it.

To be fair if the child only had to lick it too hard once then the ice cream couldn’t have been put on the cone especially well.

If the child had been messing around then I wouldn’t have expected the shop to replace it for free no.

I remember doing that to a cone when I was young. My lovely DF just gave me his instead. I was a little disappointed because it wasn't a flavour I'd have chosen but had the sense and manners to accept it with thanks.

I learned from this to always squish the scoop full down with my tongue before licking and have never dropped another since.

but they might have gained a bit of repeat business from that family.

Probably not a family on a day trip, not much to be gained from repeat business.

No one should expect it to be replaced really, and with an entitled attitude I'm not sure I'd give it either.
However, when you say think of the profits people might well remember a kind gesture and they may well go out their way to come back another time to support the business.
I do understand that it can't maybe be done every time though.

I guess I must be really entitled then as I think they should have replaced it if the ice cream fell off on the first lick. I wouldn’t have thought much of their customer service and I probably wouldn’t go back there again

Utterly no obligation on the shops part whatsoever. CF Dad for trying it on, glad he didn’t get away with it!

Have served soft ice cream in my time, if it was obviously overloaded I’d use my discretion, and often did do a new one for free, or charge half price.

If I’ve told the child repeatedly while handing it over ‘now hold it upright’ while the parents are ignoring them jumping up and down, then no.

And demanding it? On your bike!

Is this a stealth fan bashing post?

A tub is always wiser. And you get more sauce

Well I think they were miserable tbh, I got an ice cream for my son at the ice cream van and when the man handed it to me it snapped in my hand, he took it straight off me and put it into another cone, he didn’t say oh well it’s your own fault, they are more likely to lose custom by acting that way tbh.

No obligation to replace it but it would be a nice goodwill gesture in a case like that.

Most places I know would shove another scoop on the cone for free, but probably not if the parent expected it.

Honestly, how much is a scoop of Italian gelato around you? A Whippy I may understand but proper Italian gelato… nope.

Shouldn't have expected it, then they probably would not have charged. I was in Sainsburys car park and completely smashed a bottle of wine because I dropped it. The trolley man saw, called someone to help and the manager came out to say I could go in and get a replacement completely for free - literally just walked in, got the bottle and walked back to my car (very red faced at having caused such a mess).

I bet it wasn’t put on properly if all it took was a lick for it to fall off. Would be different if the child was messing about and it fell off.

This exact thing happened to my 7yo this week. It was from the ice cream van that is always outside school. It was the Mr Whippy type but somehow the whole scoop fell off with one lick. I had money out ready to re-pay but he gave us it for free. It was very kind and totally not expected. But then again I once didn't have enough change for an ice cream for both kids and he said don't worry about it, pay me next time. A very lovely ice cream man! But definitely kindness and not an expectation!

My dd works in a cafe and only replaces if the child is really young and the parents initially offers to pay. She's used to cf customers and wouldn't replace if it was expected.

Personally as a parent I'd offer mine rather than expect a free replacement.

I think loads of places would fo it. But it would probably put the server's back up if the customer expected it.

Also how many times a day do you think this happens? This is potentially lots of ice creams. Probably not enough to make a dent in profit, but still why should it cost the company anything?

I was at a zoo the other day and the same thing happened, however the granny just scooped it back off the floor and gave it back to the little girl🤢. The little girl was fine with that. I almost reached into my wallet to prevent that happening.

Could it be that the scoop was correctly installed in the cone but the child has an exceedingly strong tongue?

The exchange should go like this:

Parent: OMG do you have anything so I can clean that up?
Shop: Don't worry about it, here's free (small) scoop to go on the cone.

Everyone lovely, everyone getting a little of what they need. Come with entitlement and not being a good person, no ice cream for you.

You replace things (if you can) when people do "sorry for the mess, can i buy another quickly?"
Not when they eant it. The second someone hinted discount or free stuff with me, the only thing I ever wanted to do was to put surgarge on top of the bill😂

I remember when I was a kid I was walking the family dog on my own and it was obviously hot and tired. I couldn’t find water and stopped at an ice cream van, bought an ice cream and then crouched down near the sea wall and gave the ice cream to the dog. The ice cream van man threw my 50p back to me and said there was no charge for the dog….which was lovely of him.

Like others have said it would be nice if they offered but don’t have to.

Difficult one. If the person serving isn't the owner they could get into trouble ?
Margins are tight these days !

Sounds like it wasn't put in securely so their error so they replace