Karen is breaking up with Ben & Jerry’s because one of their managers defiled “Free Cone Day,” by deciding to cut it short. Here’s the tongue-in-cheek Dear John (or is that, Dear Jerry?) letter she sent them.
Well, Ben and Jerry’s, you ruined my day. I love free cone day and have been going for many years. I once waited in line for over an hour to get a free scoop in Boston on Newbury Street. I was so excited for this particular Free Cone Day, because it’s my first one ever in New York. I sent an e-mail out to all my co-workers to let them know about it, too. I got out of work and raced to 34th street, because this is one of the listed participating store. I flew up the escalator to the 4th floor, busted through all the tacky prom dressed, and almost shouted “HALLELUJAH” when I finally got to the B&J only to be turned away.“NO MORE FREE CONES,” the frizzy haired girl was yelling.
“WHAT?!”
I instantly grabbed for my blackberry to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Yes, 34th street is a participating location. Yes, it is free cone day. Yes, I am on the 4th floor of Macys. Yes, I can smell the sweet scent of victory.
But no, I would not be served a free cone. Nelson, the store manager, was telling everyone (there were 20+ people crowded around) that Free Cone Day is over. So, I called the store in Astor Place. They happily answered the phone and verified that Free Cone Day is all day, which I remember, because I
A) did not read ANYWHERE about any time limitations on Free Cone Day or honestly, I would have left work 30 minutes early just to bask in the glow of some Chubby Hubby
B) remember standing in line until almost midnight one year in Boston
C)it was advertised on the signage of the store that today is free cone dayFREE
CONE
DAYNot free cone until 6pm or free cone until my arm is tired of scooping or free cone until I get a sprained eyelash and no longer want to give you a free cone. It says FREE CONE DAY!
So why, Ben and Jerry’s were you so cruel to me? I have been a loyal customer for years. I have sworn you off for making my thighs too big, only to consume pint after pint at a time after a breakup or when Aunt Flo is coming to town.
Why would you treat me like this?
Ben and Jerry’s, it’s over. For real. Are you happy that you lost a customer for life over a $2.50 scoop of ice cream that is probably $0.05 cogs? Anyway, Hagen Daaz is just as happy to have my money and they deliver what they say they will when they will.
I just hope you truly know how disappointed your customers were. A little girl was literally CRYING because they were being so mean about it. There was no apology. No, “I’m sorry if we misinformed you. However, Free Cone at this location is over”
I felt like I was doing something wrong by wanting to partake in the festivities. You suck, Ben and Jerry’s and I’m going to tell everyone I know what a crappy experience I had. If this is a marketing flaw, then you should fire whatever idiot doesn’t know how to properly convey on the signage and e-mail blasts you give out about Free Cone Day.
Even if this particular Ben and Jerry’s is technically owned by Macys, then you need to tell Macys that they suck too, because they do.
But nobody sucks more than you-you hire people like Nelson to manage stores. He hires rude employees and doesn’t adhere to a customer loyalty program. Honestly, how much would free cone day have cost him?
Let’s talk numbers for a moment-I used to be a Starbucks manager for 7 years and have lived through many “Free (fill in blank here)” day
Even if the average Ben and Jerry’s pulls in $1500 a day, that’s a lost profit of $1500 for that particular day. HOWEVER, if you make new fans who are dying to be faithful for the next 50 years (say they eat an average of 20 pints a year at $4/pint, so for 50 years that one person will spend an average of $4,000 of their ice cream eating life, you make it back and then some.)
Well, I will not make a dent in your profitability, but you definitely threw the monkey wrench in my day. You are cheap, you are mean, and you deliver false advertising, which is actually a CRIME!
Dude, you don’t cut Free Cone Day short. Unless you ran out of cones. In which case you should be nicer about it. And next time, get more cones. You’re in the freakin’ Macy’s flagship, and it’s Free Cone Day. Stock up.
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Appalling. only in America would someone who voluntarily lives in one of the most expensive places on earth bitch about not receiving their free one inch diameter scoop of ice cream.
Thank you Consumerist. A day very well spent.
Always remember, the people who work in these stores are minimum wage morons, the managers are even BIGGER morons, as they are lifers. When you hire morons, you get morons.
I am Karen’s aunt, trust me, she is very serious about her desserts. Has any one noticed a change in the taste of the ice cream? The Chocolate chip Cookie Dough and Cherry Garcia doesn’t have the same taste.
B&J has not been the same since Ben and Jerry sold it years ago. The quality is not the same, the stores come and go, and I find the scoopers are generally rude and act like you are ruining their day. If you’re in Vermont – try Island Ice Cream in Grand Isle. It’s what B&J once was.
@purplesun:
I don’t think that’s what they mean.
I doubt they don’t care about where the ingredients come from or the quality of them, especially since the ice cream is good quality. When you have multiple suppliers that change, while the ice cream may be gluten free right now, it may not be gluten free tomorrow or may not have been gluten free in the past. That doesn’t mean they don’t know anything about the ingredients they get from their suppliers, it just means that the gluten content of the supplies is not something that disqualifies a supplier. At any given time they should be able to tell you if all the ingredients that are being used are gluten free, but that’s not much help since the shipment tomorrow may come from a different supplier which contains gluten (which they’ll likely know about).
I somehow learned in past years (but don’t remember exactly how) that Free Cone “Day” was over at 8pm (in NYC anyway), and even though this time I couldn’t find any mention online, I assumed it to be the case. I bypassed Macy’s since I didn’t know where B&J’s was in it, but the Times Square location had signs posted on the windows.
I don’t think this is new, but they really should announce the end time since “Day” could pretty reasonably be interpreted as “until regular closing”.
I live in CT, and the Ben and Jerry’s near me (Canton, CT) also cut off Free Cone day at 8pm — I arrived at 8:05, needless to say I was pissed.
@ChChChacos: Whoops, my bad. But still… $0.31 ain’t bad!
@NeutralKate:
RTP. Did you miss the arbitrary shut-downs? The at-their-whim dispersal of the freebies?
Are you just thick in the head?
Aaron writes:
“I can chime in the Ben & Jerry’s at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles also closed a half hour early on Free Cone Day, with a crowd of people outside still. (No, they didn’t run out of cones.) Since the entire store is glassed in, you could see the employees and manager talking behind the counter, while one unfortunate employee had to deal with questions while sweeping in front. In general, the management of the Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops in Los Angeles has been really bad – dirty shops, uncaring/uninformed employees – so this doesn’t surprise me. A shame, considering B&J used to be a very well run, concerned company from the top down.”
@That-Dude & @lightaugust: 20 pints is 2.5 gallons. That’s a lot for one sitting, but spread out over the course of a year it’s really not that much.
@Brian D:
I have the email to prove it!
Nothing at all in the email I get every year about there being limited store hours on FCD.