Having to give this establishment 2 stars is really unfortunate since it's the only self serve yogurt place I know of in the valley, but tonight's visit was the straw that just broke the camels back.
When you enter the shop, you see it's a standard, run of the mill, self serve fro-yo. Absolutely nothing special, nothing to catch your eye and draw you in. I've NEVER seen them busy, I'm typically the only customer any time I go. However, it is simply a welcoming treat when I'm craving something sweet and delicious. Only as of late, they already lose points because in order to use their new rewards program, one has to pre-pay on their gift cards. Only then will one begin to accrue points towards free yogurt. Maybe they need Yogurtland's or Menchie's marketing agents to come mentor them on reward programs?
They should have about a dozen flavors but they always have multiple machines off early. Sometimes they're out of a few flavors, or the machines are just simply out of order for the umpteenth time. If the skinny, unpleasantly-sharp looking, teenage girl is there it's always inconveniencing her if I ask what's going on with flavors that I may be interested in. Sometimes she may turn on a machine that was previously shut off early and tell you to give it a minute or two but then gets impatient with you if you don't try it within 30 seconds. She also told me she would scoop my toppings for me because she'd already cleaned the dispensary catch area. It's awesome that they attempt to keep the store clean BUT that's not really the idea behind "self-serve". It was also only 6:15-30 when I went to the shop, and they close at 8... Kind of early to clean and makes me feel like I'm walking on eggshells through the shop.
There's another teenage girl who works there who is softer looking and has a sweet disposition every time I see her, she asks me questions to make chit chat like normal conversationalists do, always asks if she can get me anything, and makes a point to provide top notch stellar service... but she's hardly there when I go lately.
So at the end of my visit I went to the register to pay. I reached in my wristlet and gave her my debit card. She ignored my hand and said "Cash... It's $3.76" I was a little confused, and tried to give her my card since I knew I didn't have enough cash and again she ignored my hand and stared at me. A few awkward seconds go by, then she said "Uhm do you have cash?". I then figured that she may need change... I looked in my wristlet and found $1 and some change and said "I'm sorry no" and tried to give her my card for the third time. It was only then that she states "Our limit with debit is $5. You need to spend $5 to use debit". If she had said this to begin with rather than putting me through that rude and uncomfortable experience, I might've attempted to get $5 worth of yogurt or to go find change in my boyfriends car. (I'm typically buying more than $5 worth or using cash so I forget this policy) Instead I said, "You know, I think I ought to come back at another time... I don't have the cash." and I backed away to head out the door. She then waves her hand at the yogurt and spits out "Ma'am, You can just have it" and puts her hands on her hips. By this time I was just over it. Fro-yo is not worth this awkwardness. I shook my head and said "I'm sorry but no thank you" then turned to exit the premises and as I did so, she rudely hollers out "Uh... Oh-Kay then" obviously so I can hear her disgust with me. I was so embarrassed for not only myself to have had to deal with a stranger treating me this way, but for her to think its ok to be this way to a stranger.
I don't think I'm going to go back anytime soon. More than likely, not ever again. This is just one more reason I dislike the valley, and I'm beyond thrilled to be moving back to Anchorage this spring/summer. My last few experiences with the snarky skinny teenager were not this awful, but have been similarly unpleasant and it stems from the awful customer service that she consistently provides. My boyfriend jokingly said that "At the very least, she's being consistent."
Oh my word. I'm so over Wasilla. read more
