Cold Stone Creamery - Aliso Viejo

Worst experience I?ve ever had at any ice cream parlor. First of all, when you walk in there is no direction for the line so everyone just clusters around and doesn?t know where to go. There was a girl and a guy working there. The girl was finishinghelping a couple and the guy started helping a large party of around 7. When she finished helping the couple, the girl proceededto start refilling everything in the store right in front of us as we waited for 10 minutes for the man to finish with the largeparty. We expressed our frustration to the guy and ordered our ice cream. The girl then came up to us and asked us if we hadbeen helped. We said yes after waiting 10 minutes for you to restock everything which is unacceptable. She then said ?Yeah butthat?s part of my job? without a single word of apology or sense of remorse. We replied with no, that?s not acceptable to leaveus sitting there and she continued to argue and say that restocking everything was more important. Unbelievable. About to pay $7for a shake and you are arguing with me? I don?t know if this is the management?s fault for not training them to value thecustomer or if they truly are incompetent people.

I try not to write bad reviews and I have a pretty high bar of tolerance but I was pushed over the edge. I got to the store intending to get a to go container with some ice cream for me and some for my mother. I could not see pricing or advertising forthe take home options because there was a large group of noisy teenagers in front of the counter (non customers). I asked aboutit and the employee started helping me. It was hard to communicate as the teenagers were directly in front of the counter andextremely disruptive. They appeared to be friends of the employee helping me. I wanted two different ice cream combinationsnext to each other in the largest take home container, which I have done before at a different location. If this wasn't possibleI would have just gotten two smaller sizes but I wasn't told this. Both orders were just mixed together. I was prepared to suckit up and take it anyway. But now a non worker showed up behind the counter, wearing a Steak Shake uniform extremelyunprofessional. Also, the employees were not wearing gloves. I don't know if this is standard practice or not but I saw himtouch my ice cream with his bare hands. At this point I just wanted to leave as soon as possible, between the unprofessionalbehavior and the extremely noisy teens. The employee rung me up and it seemed high. I could not verify the pricing as thiswasn't displayed anywhere. I asked for a receipt so I could double check but what I received wasn't itemized, making it uselessfor what I needed. When I got home I checked online but pricing isn't displayed there either. I am very disappointed. Coldstoneis my favorite ice cream but reserved for a special treat due to the high prices. I did not receive the order I wanted, my foodwas touched with bare hands, and I was probably overcharged. Do better.

And the icing on the cake was when the employee brought over an iPad to ask for a tip afterward. You expect us to pay $9 for a scoop of ice cream and then ask for a tip too?! If it were $3.99, that might be a different story. No thanks!

I visit this place every time I have a special occasion because their cookies and cream cake is simply the best. The employees are incredibly friendly and always understanding. I absolutely love Cold Stone – it's amazing!

I would advise against visiting this restaurant. The staff solicit tips and their attitude leaves much to be desired. I won't be returning!