At premium ice cream parlors -- something that Nuggs is trying to be, given its high price point -- free tastes are the norm. But apparently the employee scooping our cones didn't think so. "What are you trying to do, fill up on tastes so you don't have to buy a cone?" he barked. I was so taken aback, I didn't know what to say.
I can't think of the number of times I've watched servers at Bonnie Brae patiently hand out tastes to entire soccer teams. And when I called Sweet Action to ask about their policy on tastes, I was told, "Try as many as you like!" What these companies know is that happy customers are repeat customers.
But it's hard to be happy when you've paid nearly $20 for two single cones and three kids' cones with scoops no larger than golf balls, and have been accused of freeloading. I felt like I had gotten mugged at Nuggs, and put in a call to find out the official sampling policy there. And it sounds like my server had gone rogue.
"I've had people try close to every flavor, with no limits" says Justin Norris, an assistant manager at Nuggs. "I'm really sorry about that; that's not acceptable. We try to instill the fact that it's all about the customer."
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