Ah..., the magic of the Tangled Garden...We arrived for an Tangled Garden ice-cream after we visited the Port Pub (highly recommend) and had hiked Cape Split at the end of last week. (I had actually paid to use the Tangled Gardens as the back drop for an engagement shoot 3 years prior.) Thinking it was the perfect end to the day. We were met with a sign that said we had to pay $5.00 to walk through the gardens so we decided to take the ice-cream to go and forego the walk. The ice cream is in a 2oz container for $2.50 a piece and the best homemade ice-cream with real, fresh ingredients, leaving you wanting more. My suggestion is they serve baby waffle cones with two baby scoops as the whole beauty of licking an ice-cream cone while strolling mindlessly through the tangle would be perfect. Instead you are left licking fresh ingredients off a wooden stick from a plastic container. I would have also preferred if they let us walk through the gardens for free putting more of our money towards purchasing some of the beautiful products so elegantly displayed. Some real artistry goes in to these products and the kitchen is beautiful. But this is where it ends. Alas we did not get to enjoy the shop as...... I take a minute to quote
"Every great business is built on friendship". ~ JC Penney
"You are serving a customer, not a life sentence. Learn how to enjoy your work". ~ Laurie McIntosh
The negative air that existed as we stepped into the shop with the presence of an older gentlemen shop keep who appeared out of no where was enough to make us not want to return. However we wanted that ice cream! We thought we must have walked in at closing time, this accounting for the shop keeps odd, negative unspoken behaviour, but we think he grunted 6 when we asked if he was closed, we were there at 5. He seemed so disinterested in us being in the shop he truly made it uncomfortable to explore the products. He seemed to be the owner but did not care enough that we were there, yet to old to be a staff member. We were very confused. We laughed that he had just chopped up the previous customer he was so blank. He seemed to reply in grunts. I tried to relay my Martha Stewart experience and the Tangled Garden he did not care. Almost bothered by the fact I was speaking. I then remembered this was the reason I had not returned from three years prior as both this man and the owner always appeared less then happy to engage with her customers. Flashback... Must have blocked the experience so perhaps the staff or owners are tortured artists at unrest with themselves. There is little sense of them appreciating the customers that are their bread and butter. They did not speak the day I did the photo shoot three years ago and the owner at the end of my session waited on me while I paid her for the use of the gardens and could barely crack a smile. I am not sure if the older shopkeep last week had just had news of a death or perhaps we interrupted his afternoon nap. I tried giving him the benefit of a bad day but this was bad. We were given the ice-cream, telling him I would like to pay with Debit. He then took my debit card and tapped it himself with out my permission instead of allowing me to enter my own pin number. Leading me to check my bank records when I arrived home. Weird ending to the day.
I will give up the ice-cream the next drive through the valley (which happens often as the in laws live that way) at this stop as I had enough chills from who ever the shopkeep was that day to cool down. I would suggest venturing a little further to other local business owners who know how to say thank you for supporting local or at least crack a smile. I would suggest to the Tangled Garden they hire a young passionate student who has manners and a personality who could put a friendly face on what they are offering.
And so I leave you with the words of Mahatma Gandhi and quote
"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so" read more