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

I think it should be pretty obvious to servers that they need to push the ice cream down with the scoop so it isn't just balanced on top. I think if it literally happened on the first lick they should have replaced it.

I'm an adult and had this happen to me and the place was nice enough to replace it for free. Of course I was going to pay for the replacement though and they told me I didnt have to.

In St Ives last year there were signs in food places telling people that if seagulls stole the food, they wouldn’t replace it free so clearly people are trying it on

I was sat in a bar in Greece once and a strong gust of wind blew about 100 euros off the table of a family of tourists. They called the waiter over and complained that they'd lost their money to pay the bill and now they shouldn't have to pay!

I don’t think there’s any obligation on the shop and the dad was rude / entitled to expect it. Nice thing for the shop to do at their own discretion, but nothing more than that.

The severs are the ones with the scoop to properly push it into the cone. I think they should replace it if they haven't done that properly.

I bought an ice coffee the other day and the sever hadn't put the lid on properly. When I picked it up, the lid flew off and it split everywhere. They apologised and replaced it. As they should.

I guess they shouldn't have to, so yanbu. But the several times it's happened to us, it's been replaced free of charge. That being said I've never expected it and have always just gone to purchase another one without any expectation, so possibly his attitude was the problem.

@Toottooot

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

Boom! 😉

I’ve had a few shops replace things before when my DDs I’ve cream dropped snd when I as an adult dropped my coffee and it’s so kind but they definitely don’t need to and it was probably the parents entitled reaction that resulted in them not replacing it.

If dad came back and was just asking for another and explained his dd had dropped it and there was no rudeness or expectation I would probably give something for free. Huffing, puffing, rudeness, asking, entitled then no. You pay again.

Some small kids are just useless with ice creams - mine were.

But aged 8 you'd think this one would have cottoned on, wouldn't you, it's not exactly rocket science.

No I would expect to pay for a replacement just like I would in a bar if I spilled my drink

Why should they? People are so entitled!

Certainly don't think they are under any obligation to give another for free but I do think it's really mean of them not to!

I used to work in an ice cream parlour and I would say if the scoop fell off being licked the ice cream was either too hard, the cone too small or the ice cream wasn’t put into the cone effectively and that the shop should replace it. The entire scoop should not fall off just from licking it if the correct cones are used for the size and consistency of the scoops being served. If the scoop falls but the child still had hold of the cone the shop should replace.

If the child dropped the whole thing (Eg: dropped their hold on the cone) that would be different and I’d say the onus would be on the parents to replace.

No way, they'd go out of business if did that everytime somebody dropped icecream! This is not the shop's fault and an older child as well!

No, but a shop that did would get glowing reviews and lots of repeat custom. We still talk about the National trust lady who stopped and asked us how our day had been. Dd was v young at the time and told her she'd tried an ice cream but hadn't liked the flavour. NT lady went and got her a new one (we hadn't the change to buy another). A small gesture but one that has contributed to us donating a lot to the NT during this last year, even though we couldn't use our membership to actually visit anywhere.

@Newrumpus

Is this a stealth fan bashing post?

Huh? I don't get it. How is a fan involved?

@Newrumpus

Is this a stealth fan bashing post?

the paranoia is real!

It would be nice… but no obligation

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

Most places offer the hard 'grown-up' ice cream in cones or tubs and plenty will also offer the child-friendly whippy stuff. If you decide against the one or two options that eliminate this potential problem - the safer choices for a child - and deliberately choose the risky, more adult-orientated one, why should the shop bail you out? I'm a middle-aged adult, but I still choose a tub (of the 'grown-up' quality stuff) so that I don't have to worry about losing it.

What next: people buying a delicate antique crystal vase, giving it to their children to hold and then expecting their money back from the seller when the child does what everybody knows a young child is very likely to do?

Maybe ice-cream sellers should routinely offer clearly-advertised optional 'drop insurance' with their products - 5p to insure a tub, 10p for a whippy cone and £1 for a 'grown-up'/gelato-style cone; its chief purpose would not be in actually ever being bought/sold, but in providing a prompt to parents to make the sensible decision in the first place when buying for their children

@Middlesboroughgirl

Generally when this happens it is because the ice cream has not been secured on the cone properly. It was the shop's fault. They should have replaced it.

if it fell off on first lick sounds like shop didn't out it in cone properly and should replace it.

However if she tripped and dropped it etc then the parents should pay for another

I've never seen a shop/ice-cream stall NOT replace when this has happened.

Like PP have said, if they're scooping properly, they should be pushing the ice-cream down hard enough so that it doesn't fall off with just one lick. 8yo's tongues aren't that strong

That being said, if you have a clumsy child, a tub is probably the sensible option!

Those &£!$^)&!!!! Italians - coming over here and introducing us to their all of delicious foods at reasonable prices

They should have replaced the scoop, it would cost them next to nothing.

Well I guess I am a softie as I replaced an ice cream for free in similar circumstances when I had a job selling it. I'd served a man and a swan came up behind him and swiped the ice cream from the cone! I took pity on him.
That only happened once, if it happened all the time it would eat into the shops profits and they wouldn't allow it.