Big Brother experience at the ice cream parlor today (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

I walked by Cold Stone on my way out of work and noticed something interesting...The camera faces the front of the store...There's a back entrance with tables and such. Usually when people go there with kids, the kids sit at the tables and the parents order from the counter (where the camera can see).

Now I was thinking, how did the manager know my co-worker didn't have a kid sitting at one of those tables? Is it possibly because he saw us come in (the camera can also see the front door)??? Now THAT thought really freaks me out!!!

Watching us walk in, watching what we order, studying the transaction....TOO FREAKY! I think they've lost a customer.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Mark: you should write a letter to that guy's superior as well. Include how "creeped out" you are about the whole spycam thing. They should know. They should also know all about how stupid that guy was and how they've lost you both as customers and how you will be telling your friends and also acquaintances on internet forums. Customers have got to let store management know this stuff whenever it happens.


Did "they" win the lottery?!? Them things is expensive!

 

[Harpozep]

I'll have to look at my local Cold Stone too see if they have a similar camera setup. I kind of don't mind cameras at cash registers for security. It seems that manager crossed a boundary with his actions towards your transaction.

Me? I travel a bit far to get good ice cream. We have a Cold Stone and I find it a bore ( no offense ). Corporate sameness, songs if you tip, expectant stares if you don't, a lot of $ for what I find a ho-hum product. It is OK, just not great in my book. I've been doing ice cream for a long while, and unfortunately show it
So I travel a hundred mile into the interior of Western Massachusetts to Northampton. There resides Herrel's Ice Cream parlor and a spot more than worth the travel time and distance.
Steve Herrel revolutionized Ice Cream retailing in the 1980's with Steve's Ice cream parlours going coast to coast. Legend has it he invented the "Smoosh -in" . He certainly made them fashionable! YUM!!

So his ice cream is worth the haul for me. He just runs his own under the name Herrol's. He sold off Steve's long ago, and the Steve's chain went away soon after.
At the other end of the state on Newbury Street in Boston, Emack and Bolio has been giving me calories since I found the place in 1979. A small hole in the brownstone/retail wall, they rule in Boston for me. Two blocks away JP Licks Ice cream parlor makes a mean frappe!
Anyway, I guess I prefer the smaller chains or single stores when I can find them. No bosses with a Big Brother complex at these places

 

[Mike Frezon]

Road trip! Not kidding!

 

[MarkHastings]

Nah, I don't mind. I don't think it's the best ice cream, the only reason we go there is because it's right across the street and we can go and get back real quick, but other than that, I'd go other places over Cold Stone.

 

[DonRoeber]

Heroll's makes the best ice cream on the east coast. I'm in Philly, but find myself in the Happy Valley at least once a year, and always stop in for a smoosh-in.

 

[MarkHastings]

I was gonna ask if anyone in the NY area has been to Maggie Moo's because I thought it was only in the tri-state area, but apparently they're all over. I've only been once to the one in Port Jeff and it wasn't that bad...kind of a cheaper rip-off of Cold Stone.

 

[Cees Alons]

I do if that's where I have to type my PIN-code.
(At least they need to warn me about it!)


Cees

 

[ThomasC]

There's a Maggie Moo's in Columbus. Rip-off is probably not an accurate term - Cold Stone's first store opened in 1988 in Tempe, Arizona and Maggie Moo's started up in 1989 in Kansas City, Missouri. Marble Slab Creamery, which also mixes stuff with ice cream, was founded in 1983 in Houston, Texas.

 

[MarkHastings]

Around here, Cold Stone opened WAY before Maggie Moos rolled around, so I assumed it was the first. I guess the name "Cold Stone" suggested (to me) that they were the first to use the frozen marble technique.

 

[Harpozep]

I think that idea goes back to Steve Here the smoosh-in guy again if I'm not mistaken.

Cold Stone has refined their approach to a circus art though. I thought it over after I wrote my last post, and though I think they make fine enough ice cream, I really don't want a vaudeville show with my confection.

Just me of course, obviously Cold Stone markets well and draws folks in just fine. The one in my area has a 45 minute wait a lot of times. I've been there four times and can never make up my mind in their land of too many choices. I can make my mind up at other places with a lot of choices, but find myself paralyzed in Cold Stone. Don't know why. confused: Just the way it all works with me. :

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, the one near me always has a long wait, but I think that's mainly because the workers SUCK and go really slow! Too bad the manager doesn't call to yell at them for horrible service!

Also, I agree about that "Circus Approach" - I've actually stopped tipping because I hate when they sing - Kinda sounds like that tactic backfired on them

As far as being confused, I avoid the 'creation' menu and just make up my own concoctions. My favorite is Cake Batter ice cream with Cookie Dough and Rainbow sprinkles. Mmmm! Sometimes I'll do peanut butter as well, but the aforementioned is sweet enough! It's definitely not something I'd do all the time...Cold Stone is more like one of those rich chocolate mousse deserts - Every now and then, when you have a craving, it fits the bill, but it's not something you'd do every time you want to fill an ice cream craving.

I think that's why people find it to be gross - just like those mousse deserts, if you're not in the mood for one, it can be 'too much'.

 

[Jay H]

We have a Maggie Moos in north Jersey, it opened about a year before the first CSC that I know of came in....

I like CSC, but still don't understand why they are so expensive, it's not like it's twice as good as a local homemade ice cream shop. The pumpkin ice cream with white chocolate chips and coconut was good.

My favorite ice cream shop was the Old Milk Bar Milk Barn which was in Wayne, NJ but now is no longer :frowning: The car dealership next door expanded... I used to get a pint of ice cream on a cone for less than CSC... It was huge servings and they were famous for it in the area.

Jay

 

[MarkHastings]

As far as their ice cream being higher quality than others? I can't see that, but I do have to say that the name brand toppings makes perfect sense to me. I hate when you get 'generic' candy at the other places. Peanut butter especially! I hate that fake sugary stuff that some places have. And the sprinkles, most places have the waxier/cheap ones. I do have to admit that CSC's toppings are top notch, but is that worth the extra price??

 

[David Range]

As a store owner of a competitor of CSC, I get a good chuckle when I see them get dragged through the mud. That being said, if they use similar flavorings and chocolates in their ice cream that we use, it gets expensive. Pure vanilla extract from Madagascar was over $100 a gallon on my last invoice. The ice cream mix used is a higher butter fat content than the average DQ ice cream, which also increases the cost. Once you factor in the food cost, man hours put into making the ice cream (all our ice cream is made onsite) paper goods, payroll, rent, equipment cost/upkeep,royalties, advertising, etc, there's very little left in profit. Even less on a kid size. I don't agree with the manager calling and yelling at the employee while the customer is present, but I would take the employee aside(and have done so) and explain the policy. I have video cameras in my store to keep an eye on my employees, and they are aware of them, but also for security, and traffic count reasons. If I notice that during a certain period of time that there are more customers that the number of employees can reasonably handle, I can add more staff during those times in the future. Probably one reason why we've never had a customer have to wait 45 minutes. Let's face it, you can't reasonably walk into a retail store and not expect security cameras anymore, can you?

 

[MarkHastings]

but there's a fine line between security screening and spying.

 

[Joseph S]

and both of the above are more geared to spying than security or customer satisfaction. Whatever happened to managers actually helping out the staff so we don't have to wait an hour for service rather than trying to make sure we don't eat five kiddie cones? Seems like a far more appropriate way to know what's going on than hiding in a closet watching a camera.

 

[DanielKellmii]

A friend of mine owns a few Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robins. In his home office, he showed me one of his stores. There are 8 cameras. They focus on the register and the inventory. Obviously, this is all done via the internet, so that gives him a lot of flexibility on viewing options. He can have 8 at the same time, one taking up the screen or any combination in between. He also keeps a record. Why? Because his employees steal. This just helps reduce the amount of theft. Most of his employees are part time high school kids and don't really have to have the job. Since he can't be in three places at the same time, this is the next best thing. He also checks the donut inventory and reminds them to put out more if necessary. I can't blame him, even though it is creepy.
At my place of employment, there are multiple cameras at each entrance and a badge reader that registers every time we enter or leave the building. Yes, this aggravates me. I don't like it. It is necessary because I work on military stuff, but it is also an illusion. When a 300 gig usb hard drive can fit in my pocket anything short of a full search is worthless IMHO. And the idea of my time in and out being registered also aggravates me because I don't get paid real overtime. When I get time and a half, then I will be glad to punch a clock.

 

[David Range]

As the original poster stated, the manager wasn't in the store, he accessed the cameras from his home, not a closet. The simple fact is, unless the owner or manager works every single hour the store is open, security cameras provide information on what the employees are doing when they aren't there. I've had an employee plug in a curling iron and curlers in the food prep area and fix her hair while on the clock, giving out free product to friends and family, money theft, clocking in and leaving the store for an hour, etc. The cameras not only allow me to catch these instances, but also to have proof should the police be notified or the employee files for unemployment. I have a large amount of money and time invested into the store , while the employees don't. I'd prefer not to have the cameras, it's just one more thing I have spend my free time on(what little I have)and I like to believe that most employees are honest, but I've been burned too many times not to have them.

 

[MarkHastings]

Guys, I'm all for watching your employees for either theft or carelessness, but watching the customers (without warning them) is POOR Management!!!

If they want to watch their employees, then keep the camera pointed at the employees. The camera at this Cold Stone was mounted on the far wall so it could view the entire store (including customers) as well as the entrance.

Now, I understand that lots of places need to monitor because of theft and safety - and I also wouldn't have much of a problem if this camera was used to catch thieves, but what about the situation I just described???

How does the manager know that my co-worker wasn't getting the small for a child? It was packed in a to-go container! How ridiculous is it that the child must be present in order to sell a kids size??? If that's their policy, they really need to post a sign.

And sure you might say that the employee was the one getting in trouble, but in order for the manager to know if the employee was doing something wrong, he has to know the customers situation. So either he was listening to us or was assuming.

Either way, I consider that spying because there were no signs stating that the place was under surveillance...again POOR management!

It just seems like this manager was using the cameras for a little bit more than catching a thief. As was explained, this place is not your typical ice cream place. Everything is so "By the Book" there - their toppings are practically weighed to the last ounce. It's definitely not a customer friendly experience.

If you want repeat business, you have to be nice to the customers and adhere to the "The Customer is Always Right" rule if you want return business.

This experience definitely crossed the line from just a simple "making sure the employees aren't stealing" to a case of freaking out the customer and losing business.