Spring Fever

It's a nice January spring day here in West Central Indiana, so I took my family to the park. My 28-month-old son had a blast on the swings and the slides. He just loves to go down the tall spiraling slides that some kids bigger than him avoid. His mommy goes crazy watching him climb to such heights.

After the swings and slides, we went on a hike through the woods, my little boy leading the way. It was his first hike, and he loved it, stopping to pick up sticks along the way.

We then went into the Nature Center, where he got to look at all kinds of animals. He's quite an animal lover.

To reward him for being such a good boy, we decided to take him to Dairy Queen for a vanilla milkshake. He loves ice cream (don't all kids), and it's an easy way to give him ice cream with no mess. I ordered a Brownie Earthquake and my wife ordered a Reese Cup Blizzard with extra Reese Cup in it. As we pulled away from the drive thru, my wife commented that her "extra" Reese Cup was non-existent. I pulled back around and went inside to have the matter corrected.

Inside, I explained that we had ordered extra Reese Cup and that there were hardly any candy pieces in it at all. I asked that a new Blizzard be made. The clerk said, "I'll just have to let my Manager know." A few moments later she returned holding a small styrofoam cup and said, "She told me to just give you some more Reese Cup pieces in a cup." I said, "Well, after leaving and coming back, the Blizzard we got is kind of melted. I'd like to get a new one made." She disappeared out of sight again to confer with the Manager.

Someone who may or may not have been the Manager came back out with her and asked how she could help me. I explained the situation, and she said, "That is extra," pointing at the nearly virgin vanilla ice cream in the cup. I said, "I could get vanilla ice cream at McDonald's, if that was what I wanted." She refused to make me a new Blizzard, so I took the cup of crumbled candy and asked for a number or address that I could contact to complain.

There are a couple of things I don't understand about all of this. First, I can't imagine that a four ounce cup of Reese Cup candy cost less than a new Blizzard would have been. The ice cream can't be that expensive. When you factor in the cost of losing a customer, I think that makes all the difference in the world. Second, there are several DQ stores in town, and this is the only one that seems to have trouble making a good Blizzard.

Of course, I'll be calling "Dusty" (the name she gave me to contact) to complain about my experience, and I'll file a complaint online as well. I'll probably make the slightly further trip to one of the other DQ stores in the future, as well.

Joe