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

I thought taht banks accept "being kind" as business loan repayments😂 joking. You are spot on.

If it falls off on the first lick then it’s not been pushed down properly in the cone (I remember this from my ice cream selling days as a student) so the shop would be doing the decent thing to replace it, yes.

A few minutes and licks later - no way.

When this happened to ds and he burst into anguished tears, the shop did give him a free scoop which immediately made everything better. I would have been happy to pay but it was lovely of them and we've certainly been back plenty since.

I wouldn't expect it at all.

I was in Costa recently and a very stressed looking woman strode up to the counter with her empty cup and said that she'd just dropped her drink outside. There were 2 young women serving. They weren't sure what was happening. She repeated that she'd dropped her drink and stood there. It was a little awkward and she was holding up the queue.
In the end one of the staff asked her what drink it was. It was a black tea so they gave her another for free.
I was very surprised. I did wonder if it had been a more expensive drink would they have done it. She didn't offer to pay. I don't see how it would be Costa's responsibility to replace a drink that was dropped quite a long way from the cafe.

I once picked Dd's whole scoop off the floor, and shoved it back on the cone, she didn't care and I was fairly sure she wouldn't die!

When my kids were very small, 8mths, 2 and 4 I took them to France on my own with a very tight budget. On our last dsy I treat them to one of those posh ice creams which was the end of the treat monies. Yup, the two year dropped it! The wail was hideous (not mine but could have been). The shopkeeper was so kind and pu another scoop on and he gave me one for free!!! Never forget how nice he was.

I got a free one when the cone snapped in two as the ice cream seller handed it to me - that was an iffy cone though.

If it was my child who had licked the ice dream off I wouldn’t expect them to shove another scoop on, but I would think it was lovely if they did.

Not the shops responsibility but I think they could have replaced it out of kindness (I would).

I used to have a summer job selling ice-cream as a teenager. I'd have given a replacement ice-cream if they seemed nice but if they were rude and demanding they could go whistle.

Def dodgy with Costa. I've seen people come back in and say bloody hell just dropped it can I buy another and the shop has replaced it for free but again I think it was a tea rather than a soy milk mocha frapp with syrup and cream and a golden egg on top

Read my post.. to clarify he gave me a ice cream for free not a shag!

Why does it matter that it was an Italian ice cream shop and the child had an England top on..?

@Lovemusic33

Not the shops responsibility but I think they could have replaced it out of kindness (I would).

Shame

The child is ultimately 'to blame', but depending on their age, the parent takes the hit and pays to replace it. That goes with the territory of being a parent, not a stranger, however kind a stranger.

Dropping/spoiling it is completely out of the hands of the seller - indeed, most parents would be extremely put out if the seller tried to take over and dictate the manner in which their child should eat the ice cream; therefore, if the seller has no right to insist, they also have no responsibility to replace a dropped one.

In fact, even if they did decide to be kind and replace it, they could just as well run the risk of angering a parent who might have decided to use the experience to teach their child a lesson in taking good care of nice things they have; just imagine: they've come back to allow their child to learn the hard way that they will have to use their own pocket money to replace the ice cream that they were given but careless with - and then a stranger completely undermines them by giving them a free replacement anyway.

I have run a ice cream business for many years selling scooped ice cream, as a rule I teach my staff to replace the ice cream if it drops off, it could be the servers mistake ? especially if the ice cream is hard but 9 times out of 10 the kid isn't holding it properly.

Typical behaviour of a man when he tries his had at parenting.

*hand

I wouldn't expect it but I'd be hoping they would do it for free. Especially as they witnessed it.

@Toottooot

Why does it matter that it was an Italian ice cream shop and the child had an England top on..?

I mentioned it was Italian style gelato type place to differentiate from a mr whippy type soft ice cream- the hard scoop falling off the cone was integral to what happened. The “don’t get any ice cream on your England shirt” was just a funny aside- hence the I don’t think my DD has ever successfully managed to finish an ice cream cone without getting some on her T-shirt, it’s a notoriously messy food. I’m assuming the girl was wearing her England shirt ready for the match later and the dad was concerned about her keeping it clean for then.

I had this happen when I ordered my DSD who is 10 an ice-cream. She had just been handed it and as she went to lift her arm to eat it, it fell off.
I was going to order her another one (no adults had one, otherwise I would of given her one of those.) When the lovely lady at the counter saw what happened, spoke to the girl serving her.
She then showed her how to push it down for children so it doesn't fall off and asked DSD what i she flavour she had then gave it to her, free of charge. I offered to pay but they said no its fine.

I wouldn't say they should, but I think most places would, as a gesture of goodwill.

She is 9, not 10 yet.

Sounds like the ice cream wasn't packed into the cone properly...

If the dad had comforted the child and said he'd get her another, I suspect it might well have been offered free. It was the indignant huffing and puffing entitlement that blew it.

Child and parent were both learning something here. And let's not forget how badly small businesses in seaside (and other) places have been hit by Covid! If you're hanging on by the skin of your teeth and didn't qualify for any of the government support, you can't be giving product away.

Wasn’t that overpriced one on Hove seafront by any chance?? I’ve seen that happen there before…
Give the kid a free scoop! If it fell off that quickly then it doesn’t sound like it was put on properly in the first place plus for the sake of a scoop of ice cream they’ve lost that family’s business forever.
If I owned a seafront icecream stand or shop being friendly and welcoming and having a reputation for being a bit kind to kids would be something I’d value above all else…