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That is just ridiculous.
That is just ridiculous.
What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away.
This is a no-brainer. Very simple - read the \"fine print,\" then go somewhere else. And, let the appropriate consumer agencies know.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-414437-100x100.png\")
Isn't there some stipulation that it has to be \"clearly posted\" to be enforceable? I would argue that that is not at all clearly posted.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-244548-100x100.png\")
I suspect this is a low-profit promotion decided at the corporate level.
Since the note is hand written, I suspect it's the local manager (franchisee?) trying to avoid people who say no ice to get more soda.
The post makes no mention if the Joanne tried to contact corporate. They might be upset to learn that at the store level their promotion is being modified.
This is similar to McDonalds insisting on $1.00 beverages and value items over protests of franchisees.
Here's the contact info from Hagen Dazs' website: [www.haagen-dazs.com]
Haagen-Daz is pretty good about protecting their brand; you think corporate would bring the hammer down on them?
What if she asked for 1/2 ice? Would that be pro-rated? While the legality may be in question, it is no-doubt a shady practice. They should have added another sign about the no ice policy instead if trying to fit it on the very bottom of the original sign.
I'm not sure that they would need to list a no ice surcharge on the sign. Sure, most places let you order no ice, but I can't believe they are required too.
On the other hand, I would have asked for easy ice or something to try to get more than 2 oz of drink.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-72554-100x100.png\")
Easy squeezy: order your drink with a single piece of ice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-184148-100x100.png\")
Haagen-Dazs Coprorate probably made the sign, sent out the sign, asked the sign to be posted...but this store manager decided $1.00 was too cheap for a whole cup of soda.
I may be wrong but I thought the markup on soda was something like 500% anyways, which is why sit-down restaurants give you free refills and nice waiters/waitresses sometimes don't bother to charge you if they're looking for a bigger tip.
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I know in PA it's illegal to quote a price \"Including tax\". Is that the case in NY too, and as such, isn't that a bigger problem that really tiny small print?
Ask for the drink with no ice then when they hand it to you and ask for $2 tell them to put some ice in it and charge you only $1.
Considering the cost of the syrup vs. the cost of running the ice machine, is it really that much more expensive to give the extra 2 cups of soda?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-110455-100x100.png\")
@SkokieGuy: Agreed - report it to the franchisor. They are going to be a lot more concerned with franchisee violations, which is what this looks like, than the appropriate state agency, and the upside is the complainant is pretty likely to get coupons for free stuff or at least decent discounts.
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Ice is cheaper than soda. Haven't you ever noticed that the large drink you order at most places is almost all ice? Chains figure that kind of stuff into their profit margins and act accordingly.
Wonder how they would have reacted if she just said, \"Only a little ice, please.\" She's still getting ice. Just not much of it.
I presume that these were fountain drinks which makes it even more of a slap to the face. Fountain drinks are nothing more than the syrup, some CO2, and the local water supply. As I recall from my food service days (and this may have changed) the profit margin on those is pretty damned hefty.
I dunno where it is now, but I thought I read an article about how the cost of making the ice (water plus energy to freeze it) costs more than the actual soda portion of a soft drink, making fun of how franchises seem to try to short customers by packing on the ice. So basically, this manager trying to charge more for more soda would have actually saved money by allowing no-ice-soda for $1. I'll see if I can find the article...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-196743-100x100.png\")
That's crazy. When I worked in a place that served drinks like this, our management told us that the ice and paper cup cost more than the drink itself.
A customer asking for a drink with no ice was actually a more profitable sale.
That is so stupid. That just sounds like one stupid manager thinking he is a burly proprietor trying to invent some \"clever\" rule to boost the bottom line. Idiots like that just don't realize that the prices are set the way they are for a reason and that changing things and adding mindless small print like that actually pisses people off.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-342263-100x100.png\")
I take soda pretty seriously, so this sign disturbs me on several levels. Can you ask for \"light ice\" instead of \"no ice\"? Will they charge you double then? I hate when a place overloads my drink with ice - especially if they don't have refills.
@quail: Fountain soda is also pretty cheap as well. I don't remember the exact cost, but I believe it is less than 1 cent per ounce. It is by far the most profitable of all fast food items.
That's funny. I wonder what ethnicity the owners are, or the majority of their customers are. Indian? Not to be stereotyping, but when I used to work as a waiter for several years, I particularly remember Indian customers always ordering \"coke, with no ice.\" But we never had a problem with that request. No ice? no problem. Go figure.
@harvey_birdman_attorney_at_law: In the world of accounting it's the syrup, water, CO2, and cup that gets tracked. Ice is a fudged concept who's true cost is hidden in the over all water and electrical bill, and machine maintenance. As far as that cup of soda goes the cost of ice isn't worried with.
Helpful handbooks that consumers (those of you on the outside ;) )can scan through for these types of situations
NIST HB130 (Uniform Laws and Regulations in the Areas of Legal Metrology and Engine Fuel Quality)
NIST HB44 (Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices)
NIST SP 1020 Series (Consumer Packaging Labeling Guides)
all can be found here; [ts.nist.gov]
In addition, each state has its own Weights and Measures law that usually adopts one or all of these in some form. For example, New York's info is here; [www.agmkt.state.ny.us] and the person in charge is;
Ross J Andersen, Director
New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
Bureau of Weights and Measures
10B Airline Drive
Albany, NY 12235
(518) 457-3146 or FAX (518) 457-5693
He is very knowledgeable and approachable.
@dieselman8: You speculation on the ethnicity of either the owner of customers is so wrong.
You ARE stereotyping.
I you wish to study ayurvedic medicine, you'll understand that the temperature of food of beverages is a health issue and not related to being cheap or trying to scam someone.
personally, i dislike the way ice waters down the soda, and how it hits your teeth when you drink. so i whenever i order a drink i always ask for no ice. as for the sign, it says 22oz of soda for $1. the buyer should expect 22oz of soda if they want it. in most cases, shops located in mall food courts usually charge higher prices.
@dieselman8: I dunno about ethnicity, but I know that a nutritionist friend of mine never gets ice in her drinks, because in the course of her studies, she found out that the ice machines are never cleaned, and are therefore by far the dirtiest places in restaurants (sit down and fast food), and best breeding grounds for all types of bacteria. As in worse than a toilet bowl.
So there are other reasons to not want ice :p
Also - who in the hell gets ice in their juice?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-225365-100x100.png\")
Ice machines do get cleaned. The problem is that this is an issue at all. I do agree that they are probably trying to make a buck by packing it with ice and use as little soda as possible, but its soda. If they water down your cancer medication, complain.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-93244-100x100.png\")
Agreement with steveliv: the sign clearly states that you get a \"large 22oz\" juice or soda. Unless \"special\" means \"ice to the top\" that's deceptive advertising no matter how you slice it.
@BloggyMcBlogBlog: The last time I knew my prices in the 80's, a mega cup at the movie theatre cost the company around $0.16 for the cup and soda. They sold that mega cup for around $3.00 (80's remember). At the time, the cost of ice was negligible. Someone told me it cost a penny to fill five cups with ice or some such thing.
I know that those numbers are no longer applicable. Business accounting and real world, societal accounting are different things. I wouldn't doubt that in the real world giving a full cup of ice is a monetary and ecological waste vs. giving a cup of soda with no ice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-90329-100x100.png\")
Its really deceptive advertising as it was written on by hand and could easily be modified at any time. They have a reasonable complaints, as from the distance the picture shows, you are not even able to see a possible \"fine print\" which is typically required.
Most people don't stand right up at a poster to read them. This places need to clearly make it bigger and easier to see. Even being up close it is hard to make out, what about people with bad vision? The sign needs to be clear to everyone for it to apply to everyone.
As always, this is their attempt to overfill your drink with too much ice and not enough soda or juice, nothing more, nothing less.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-351903-100x100.png\")
@BloggyMcBlogBlog: Same thing with coffee if I remember correctly.
The local Cumby's gas station sells 32 oz cups you can fill yourself with either ICEEs or soda for just $0.79.
@scoosdad: Except the customer who has to come back and order a second drink because the first didn't have enough sugar water is the even more profitable customer. But really I agree with you. Just serve the drink w/o ice.
This reminds me of the story i read on consumerist of the guy who ordered a drink with no ice and got half a glass full. the manager refused to give him more saying that the amount was the same as he would have received with ice. either way, maybe ask for little ice. I have gone to places that i know cram as much ice as possible and have had no problems when i ask for only a little. They fill it up halfway and i still get a full drink.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-181116-100x100.png\")
@dieselman8:
A lot of Indian people come to the United States after living in the UK. In the UK, as with the rest of Europe, ice is generally not served with cokes. They are simply ordering what they used to. Hell, I lived in London for about a year and got used to cokes without ice, but with lemon, so that's they way I order them.
I've never been to India, but it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't serve ice with cokes there either.
Americans use scandalous amounts of ice in their beverages compared to people elsewhere.
Just say \"two ice cubes please.\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-348745-100x100.png\")
Instead of putting up any fine print about additional cost for no ice, why don't they make the assertion at the time of sale that a drink is defined as a 22 oz cup, ice, and beverage. No one can argue that a reasonable person would assume other wise. If you don't like it, take your business else where.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1504-100x100.png\")
While the sign isn't the most forthcoming, the employee did warn the person first, so I really can't fault the store for being deceptive.
That can't include orange juice or you'd be charged $12 for no ice (at least how most places do it).
My brothers and I ran a concession stand at a baseball park when we were teens. We hated the \"no ice\" people, not because it cost more, but because they thought they were getting over on us (back when 8 oz. of soda cost you 15 cents to buy).
Next time beat him at his own game. Ask for \"light ice\" or \"very little\" ice. That way there is technically \"ice\" in the drink.
@RandomHookup: Actually the employee did NOT warn the customer first. The customer only found out when he presented a dollar to pay for the beverage. As the post states:
\"I asked for a large root beer with no ice.....When I gave the owner a dollar for payment, he said it cost more with no ice.\"
(Some) Thai restaurants in Atlanta do this all the time. Order your Thai tea with no ice and you get a smaller glass for the same price as the bigger glass with ice. they seem to think you are trying to get more to drink. I get cold easily so I never want ice in anything. it's a little offensive to be treated that way.
What's really awful is that 22 ounces of soda probably costs them next to nothing to dispense so even @ $1.00 for an actual 22 ounces they're probably making 200-300% profit based on the cost of syrup.
With juice they might have a point but carbonated soda is NEVER a high expense - especially for franchises since they tend to sign exclusive dispensing deals (that's why you can only get coke OR pepsi but never both at a fountain).
Additionally you might be better off ordering a bottled beverage in most places anyway. When I worked in the food industry, one of the least cleaned & maintained areas was the soda fountains/ice machine. And just because they may wipe down the dispenser pumps so they look clean doesn't mean they are clean - mildew loves to show up on and in syrup tubes and ice racks and I have yet to see anyone make those a priority on any cleaning list.
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She needs to take a container with her that will measure ounces. Pour the soda, without the ice, into the measuring container. If it is not 22 ounces, they need to make up the difference. They are selling soda, not ice.
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@BeeBoo: Most drinks are dispensed cold anyway. I ALWAYS ask for no ice.
Occasionally I will get a warm drink but, eh...it's worth it.
This happened to me with McDonald's sweet tea. I visited one location and asked for sweet tea with light ice, since they usually give you a ton of ice and very little tea. The cashier said it would be 50 cents extra for light ice. I gave the manager on duty a piece of my mind. I sent an email to McD's corporate and of course all they had to say was \"franchisees can do whatever they want\" basically.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-474558-100x100.png\")
That is the best! I can just see them dumping out their precious soda/juice to make room for ice.
@LostAngeles: Exactly! When I was 15 and working at a McD's, I was told that the cup cost 3x as much as the soda that was put into it.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-159178-100x100.png\")
I got my first fridge with an ice maker recently. I went on a Coke and Dr.Pepper on ice binge.
For some reason, at home, out of a can, over ice from my own freezer, the sodas were just the greatest thing.
Anyway, the manager that did this is very misguided. I am not sure, but the percentage of people who order no-ice, is probably pretty low. Yeah, they may be low margin customers, but a low margin is not worth ending up on Consumerist getting your rep smacked down.
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My local WhataBurger and Sonic put so much ice in the drinks there is little room for soda. I took only 2 sips from my Sonic Iced Coffee before getting the dreaded sucky sound. When I complained to the manager he said that I asked for an Iced Coffee and that was the ice. PS: My local Sonic uses magic ice that never melts and tastes horrible.
There may be less leeway for the store with a measure sited, i.e. 22 oz. Given that water has more volume in ice form than as a liquid, a drink that has had a few minutes for the ice to melt could get them in trouble with the local weights and measures authority.
It's a franchise which means that to some extent they can do what they want, but not to the same extent as an independent operation. If they use corporate signage, it should be in line with how it is meant to be used. For instance, the Taco Bell Express in Landmark Mall, Alexandria, VA, recently had an item that, while it was advertised on TV for 89 cents, was priced there at $1.29; they said because they were an \"Express\" the pricing was different. But they still used the corporate signage, ironically featuring the words \"Why pay more?\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-103994-100x100.png\")
The sign says 22oz of juice or soda - so you should be able to get up to 22oz of juice or soda.
Now if it said Juice or soda in a 22oz cup with ice, then that would be better.
I would then say - Fine, keep the ice but I want 22oz of soda... not just 10 oz of soda in a 22oz cup
I would just order it, tip it over on their countertop, and walk away without paying.
I would have walked away from the counter. Since they can't hand the same cup of soda to the next customer, it would have cost them even more. I know the cost is negligible, but you get the idea.
what costs more the soda or the ice? Ice takes energy to make. I wonder if anyone has done a test.
1. No consumer protection agency is going to spend time on this; I wouldn't waste your time pursuing that angle.
2. I don't agree that the price of a \"22 oz. Juice/Soda special\" refers to the price of 22 fluid ounces of undiluted juice or soda. It's the price of a 22-ounce drink as they serve it, which is as soda mixed with ice. You were not, in fact, \"deceived\"; you understood that their standard 22-ounce soda would be a combination of soda and ice, which is why you made the substitution you did. You assumed they wouldn't charge more to substitute additional soda for the ice -- and with soda at least, if they had any sense, they wouldn't charge more -- but they did. They're stupid and cheap, but they're not lying, in my view.
3. If indeed it's a national promotion being tampered with by a cheapskate franchise in a handwritten scrawl, THAT is an angle worth pursuing, because the national office probably doesn't want this done.
4. For the store to do this with soda is absolutely knuckleheaded, because soda is made of water, and costs almost nothing.
5. Juice is substantially more expensive, and it doesn't surprise me that they'd charge more to serve you probably twice as much juice as you get in a 22-ounce drink as they typically serve it.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-175166-100x100.png\")
I like the stantions and tension-ropey things that keep the line too far away from the sign to read it.
-If you go back with a sharpie, in 3 seconds that little disclaimer could be gone!
I work part time in a restaurant and I have never seen the ice machine or soda lines cleaned. I do pick a lot of little black specks out of the ice bin, though. And you can see the mold buildup in the soda lines. They are supposed to be transparent. Yum.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-10572-100x100.png\")
They should put it in large letters. That aside, I can understand why they'd charge more since they are giving a lot more of the drink than with the ice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-58183-100x100.png\")
@battra92: Hang on there a minute. \"Cumby's\"? Really? I'd only ever heard that used in their commercials. Did they start using it because their customers said it first?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-188304-100x100.png\")
I tested this out at my local one and they didnt have that small writing but did say they dont like skipping on the ice because...
\"when we put ice in the cup you only get 1/3 of the soda you pay for\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-328254-100x100.png\")
Reminds me of a sign that I saw at the \"carnival\" lately. It said in bold letters \"NO DRINKS WILL BE SOLD WITHOUT ICE.\"
The lady at the concessions booth wasn't really a jolly woman. You would think working at a carnival would be fun! No reason to be angry!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-100023-100x100.png\")
With ice, it is not a 22 oz. soda/juice. It is maybe 8 or 10 ounces of soda in a 22 ounce cup plus ice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-479888-100x100.png\")
So - nobody threatened to punch anyone in the dick?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-46738-100x100.png\")
Are you guys unhappy because the print is so small? Or are you guys unhappy because they're charging twice for no ice?
I somewhat get the 1st reaction, but given the fact that if you had ordered this special drink w/o any extra instructions, they'll just charge you $1 and include the ice.
Only if you specifically order it w/o ice (unknowingly) and get charge $2 would this become an issue. And even at that point, I'm pretty sure they'd accommodate you and pour half of your drink into a cup with ice and charge you only $1.
For those who don't understand why having ice is half the price, someone above already mentioned that ice is cheap and takes up a lot of space. If you have a cup full of ice, pour soda into it till it's full, then remove the ice, you're left with only about half a cup of soda. Given juice is more expensive than soda, having to serve twice the quantity in my opinion deserves to be twice as expensive.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-254999-100x100.png\")
For a damned soft drink. That's retarded. They can't bend it for one customer every once and awhile.
@snakeskin33:
So if you order a quarter pound burger you would be okay with the restaurant using the weight of bun and condiments and veggies to make up the quarter pound? (and yes i realize the weight is measured before cooking)
Either their selling 22 oz. of soda or they arnt, if they want to play games with ice they should just use small, medium, large.
actually it seemed that most people were of the opinion that soada was cheaper than the ice
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-77175-100x100.png\")
Ah! People do this at bars all the time. Give me a jack and coke, no ice. I always tell them, no problem but you know you are just getting more soda right?
They somehow believe you will fill in the extra room with more liquor.
The manager is probably looking to get hired on at United, US Airways, or Bank of America with that clever fee addition.
There is nothing wrong with charging more for an ice free beverage, but the sign disclosing the charges must be of the proper size and font to be readable from a specific distance AND/OR to be printed in size porportional to the primary text.
Just report the sonofabytch to the State Weight and Measure Board or Consumer Protection division of the State and let the law enforcement guys teach the store a thing or two about fines and surcharges.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-128001-100x100.png\")
@vildechaia: It's not a no-brainer if the fine print is so small customers aren't even aware it exists.
Simple solution: No more fine print.
I don't want to sound like a fascist, and I'm politically about as far the other way as you can go, but I don't see any reason why it needs to be legal for signs to have most of their information in six-inch-tall letters, and then a disclaimer in 8-point print at the bottom, and all the information on that sign is considered \"equally binding\".
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-480472-100x100.png\")
does anyone know what store this was? my dad works for haagen-dazs and he'd like to know
this is from the PDF :
\"All of an ad's PRINT SIZE should be read-able-no smaller than 10-point type.\"
i am not completely sure what \"print size\" means, but the handwriting is pretty small, but 10 point font is pretty small too
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-485396-100x100.png\")
Signage that has fine print at knee level irritates me to no end. I wear bifocals and to read something like that I need to get down on my knees to tilt my head back to see. Although crappy in action I don't see anything wrong with this. I would have left the product on the counter and walked. A couple times of pouring the drinks out would cost them much more. If I would have seen the fine print on the sign I would not have read it and left.
@SkokieGuy: You're right. The 1st mention of it makes like the customer was warned before it was poured (which is a less deceptive way of doing it). I've internet learned not to read anything I can gather incorrectly from one glance.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-159466-100x100.png\")
In Europe, there is no ice. Good luck finding it. What you're suggesting can apply to hundreds of millions of people, and especially not to just one ethnicity. I find your post insulting.
This owner might actually be doing himself *out* of profits. There was a time that ice cost more than soda. The soda mix itself + water was actually cheaper, by volume, than the ice, since the ice required copious amounts of electricity to make.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-462541-100x100.png\")
Hmmm...whether or not corporate would allow this franchise to edit their sign, I think it certainly qualifies as deceptive marketing. They're advertising 22 oz of soda, not some amount of soda (of their choosing) served in a 22 oz cup. I could care less what cup it's delivered in (I'd bring my own!) but the sign entitles me to 22 oz of soda, for $1.
Certainly, if the store wishes to also give me free ice, they are welcome to. But I want my 22 oz of soda.
On another note, kudos to the OP for not holding up the line. I know that a lot of the time it's the principle of the thing, and I fully support fighting for your rights (particularly when dropping $$ on big purchases), but for the other 6 poor schmucks in the line who just want something to eat, it can get really frustrating. (I always end up in lines like that, but only when I'm really in a rush!) This is the perfect situation to suck-it-up in the moment, and then investigate and fire off emails to corporate later (as the OP will hopefully do).
Penny smart, Dollar dumb. In this case it actually is a dollar. If they had not have been shysters about it you might be a repeat customer instead of a one time only customer. Arby's did the same thing a few years ago \"oh it says it right there.\" That was a company generated sign and I let the company know how I felt about mice-type where I ate. (If there is mice-type I wont eat there).
Here in Texas, maintaining a working ice machine in the summer and filling up the cup completely with ice costs far more then just filling the cup with soda. I worked at a fast food restaurant once, and we would have problems with the ice machine 2-3 times per month (about when it hit 100F outside). When that would happen, we would have to have a third party company bring in (relatively expensive) ice. Ironically, we were told to skimp on the ice.
Most likely this story is the result of some lower level manager thinking he has some great idea to increase his profit margins.
Seriously though, I would have held up the line. I'm not about to give up on that extra 10 oz of Diabetes-rendering tastiness.
You do get twice as much soda w/o the ice. Ignoring the real cost of the soda, think about these prices as seen recently:
$1.59 @ 7.95¢ / oz - 20oz Coke bottle
$1.69 @ 2.5¢ / oz - 67.76oz (2 liter) Coke bottle
This case:
$1.00 @ 4.54¢ / oz - 22oz Fountain drink
$2.00 @ 9.0¢ / oz - 22oz Fountain drink
No matter what, you're getting ripped off for 'convenience'. That's your choice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-489432-100x100.png\")
Several of the previous comments speculate about the \"corporate\" perspective and involvement, which is why I am writing.
Häagen-Dazs® ice cream shops in the United States are franchised by The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc. - \"Shoppe Company.\" Shoppe Company did not provide the sign which is the subject of the above article. However, we do permit our franchisees to promote approved menu items, as long as they do so professionally, and lawfully.
Using a professionally prepared sign to offer soda at a competitive price is perfectly acceptable to Shoppe Company. However, we do not permit the use of any handwritten signs, which we consider unprofessional. Moreover, we expect any consumer communication in a Häagen-Dazs Shop to be legible and not misleading. We do not condone, nor would we authorize, the use of any sign that is likely to mislead consumers; and agree with those persons who feel that a sign, otherwise visible from a considerable distance, is misleading when its primary message is significantly modified by a much smaller, barely visible message.
We have discussed the above article with the franchisee who owns the subject Häagen-Dazs Shop. The facts are a bit unclear. The franchisee contends that the handwritten notes were not placed on the sign by the franchisee. A Shoppe Company representative observed the sign yesterday, at which time the words \"with ice - without ice 2.00\" were not present.
As some comments have noted, soda is a relatively inexpensive food item. Our franchisee, who has been part of the Häagen-Dazs Shop system since its inception more than 30 years ago, is quite aware of this, and understands that it makes no sense to alienate consumers in order to save a few pennies.
We do not expect or want any Häagen-Dazs Shop customers to have an experience like the one described in the article. We are proud of our franchised Shops, our franchisees, and the great Häagen-Dazs products our franchisees sell. Consumers having a poor experience in a Häagen-Dazs Shop are encourage to contact Häagen-Dazs Consumer Relations. [www.haagen-dazs.com]
The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc.
Michael S. Levitz, Associate General Counsel
500 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2040
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Several of the previous comments speculate about the \"corporate\" perspective and involvement, which is why I am writing.
Häagen-Dazs® ice cream shops in the United States are franchised by The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc. - \"Shoppe Company.\" Shoppe Company did not provide the sign which is the subject of the above article. However, we do permit our franchisees to promote approved menu items, as long as they do so professionally, and lawfully.
Using a professionally prepared sign to offer soda at a competitive price is perfectly acceptable to Shoppe Company. However, we do not permit the use of any handwritten signs or notations, which we consider unprofessional. Moreover, we expect any consumer communication in a Häagen-Dazs Shop to be legible and not misleading. We do not condone, nor would we authorize, the use of any sign that is likely to mislead consumers; and agree with those persons who feel that a sign, otherwise visible from a considerable distance, is misleading when its primary message is significantly modified by a much smaller, barely visible message.
We have discussed the above article with the franchisee who owns the subject Häagen-Dazs Shop. The facts are a bit unclear. The franchisee contends that the handwritten notes were not placed on the sign by the franchisee. A Shoppe Company representative observed the sign yesterday, at which time the words \"with ice - without ice 2.00\" were not present.
As some comments have noted, soda is a relatively inexpensive food item. Our franchisee, who has been part of the Häagen-Dazs Shop system since its inception more than 30 years ago, is quite aware of this, and understands that it makes no sense to alienate consumers in order to save a few pennies.
We do not expect or want any Häagen-Dazs Shop customers to have an experience like the one described in the article. We are proud of our franchised Shops, our franchisees, and the great Häagen-Dazs products our franchisees sell. Consumers having a poor experience in a Häagen-Dazs Shop are encourage to contact Häagen-Dazs Consumer Relations. [www.haagen-dazs.com]
The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc.
Michael S. Levitz, Associate General Counsel
500 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2040
Minneapolis, MN 55415
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-481537-100x100.png\")
Wait, my mouse needs to put on her reading glasses to see that one!
YIKES!