I know this sounds petty but it is an issue at my store. What should the policy be for replacing an ice cream that has been dropped? Right now it is... If Isee you drop it and it was truly an accident I will replace it. But it gets touchy when kids are rough housing and drop it. What should I do? Or when people eat a portion of it before check out and relize they are three dollars short. What should I do? If you could help me with a firm policy that I could post I would appreciate the help . Thank you.

I feel for you on the dropped ice cream policy... Its difficult because there are definitely circumstances where you would or would not want to replace the dropped cone. Maybe just make it at the discretion of the manager, thus legitimizing your current policies. As for people who eat the ice cream and can't pay for it, that's simple. Call the police, its theft. Post a sign saying that people who eat their ice cream and don't pay will be treated to a free ride in a cop car...

My great aunt owned an ice cream parlor, so following in her footsteps I would do a single replacement per person per visit across the board regardless of cause to a) make the customers happy, and b) have a consistent policy. But, then I would also track the number of replacements and increase prices somewhere to cover the costs of replacement. I think I could also structure the payment remitting process so that payment is received before the ice cream is delivered, such as ordering and paying at one end of the counter and receiving the ice cream at the other. I'm also opposed to threatening confrontational signage as it detracts from the fun happy time the customers should be having, and some people like myself would think less of the establishment for it.

Is this something that is happening a lot at your store? Or, is it just a once in a while occurrence? If it is something that just happens once in a while, I would opt for the method of keeping your establishment fun and not-threatening. If it is certain kids that are causing the problem, I think that a verbal warning to them that they will have to pay should suffice.

If young kids are ruff housing and drop it because they cause it, no I would not do anything, in fact I would ask them to leave the store since it would be bad for other customers.