I had a Free Birthday Scoop reward to claim on my Baskin-Robbins account. With so many…read moreBaskin-Robbins in the area, I chose this one since it was on the way to where I was planning to pick up dinner.
First and foremost, don't get this location on Atlantic Ave confused with the location by the now-closed Vons in the Bixby Knolls Shopping Center. This Baskin-Robbins is in Bixby PLAZA on the southwest corner of Atlantic and 36th. CVS is the anchor store there, but Baskin-Robbins is on the other end of that strip mall, adjacent to Atlantic. I made sure to clarify the location when I gave them a call to confirm they would honor the birthday scoop.
A couple reviews of the *other* Baskin-Robbins said that location doesn't honor the birthday scoop, a confuzzling mind boggler as I believe such a dishonorable act reflects upon the stinginess of a grumpy owner/manager. This location, fortunately, does honor the birthday scoop, but the girl over the phone (Amerie?) mentioned I'd need to show ID. Okay, I guess.
When I got there, there was already another customer inside the shop deciding on what to get, but there was luckily a second employee, Amerie, to assist me and answer my questions. There were about 3 ice cream chests that ran the length of the shop, so you have plenty of different flavors to choose from!
I thought about the Oreo 'n Cold Brew flavor, but when I asked if it had caffeine in it, Amerie answered affirmatively. It was about 6 PM when I went, and I definitely didn't want caffeine at that time of day.
They do have two flavors that are NSA (No Sugar Added): Caramel Turtle Truffle and Pineapple Coconut. However, I've tried both before and was willing to try something sweeter even though I had been trying to cut down on sweets. The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was calling my name because Reese's have been my favorite chocolate candy ever since I was a kid. The tub of Reese's was just about full, which almost made me wonder if nobody liked it as much? I was more than willing to give it a try, however!
Amerie asked if I'd like a cone or a cup, but I went with a regular cup, though it confused her a bit when I accidentally called it a bowl instead. She also offered a lid as well as a takeout bag, both of which I accepted even though I would have been willing to sit inside at one of the few empty tables by the windows.
As I went up to scan my rewards code, Amerie asked to see my ID. But then she muttered that she needed to write down my name and birthdate on a slip of paper. I didn't think much of it at the time after going through a pretty long and tough week, so I was like whatever. After I enjoyed my birthday scoop, I couldn't help but wonder why would they even need to keep track of my birthdate? I've been to several other Baskin-Robbins before, but this is the first time I've been asked to do this. If I had known that she'd need to write down that information first, I probably would have chosen a different Baskin-Robbins to go to as well as a different place to get dinner at.
As for the ice cream itself, I took it back to my car to eat. I liked it! I could definitely taste the Reese's in the ice cream, though I thought there could have been a little more flavor without fringing into the "too much good is no good" zone. The pink spoon I was given was small, but surprisingly sturdy enough to use for my takeout dinner that evening.
However, I didn't get to fully enjoy that scoop because I kept wondering why they needed to write down my name and birthday when the other locations I've visited before didn't do this. I sent in an inquiry to their customer service team, who passed it onto the team overseeing that shop and requested them to contact me. But get this, it was the *other* location on Atlantic that tried to reach out to me, so even they get their locations confused.
I was also offered a receipt, which doesn't always happen when you redeem a free reward, and on the bottom of the receipt, there's a survey code where if you fill out the survey, you can save $1 on your next purchase of $4+. It's similar to what Dunkin' does on their receipts where you can earn a free donut with a drink purchase. This doesn't come as a surprise because Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' are owned by the same company, hence why my Baskin-Robbins receipt looked exactly like a Dunkin' receipt!
With Baskin-Robbins being a dime a dozen, I don't foresee a return visit to this location. It was nice to try, but my next birthday scoop will be redeemed at a different shop instead.
