Revival rude staff turns away customers before closing time
I am disappointed that I am having to write this review, though it is important. This evening, my partner and I waited in line before Revival Ice Cream closed, arriving in line at 8:49pm. Revival Ice...Cream is supposed to close at 9:00pm on Monday evenings. As we get near the counter, the woman staff member (woman appearing, there are no name tags, so cannot note names) working there comes up and talks about having handed out tickets and she will not be serving us.
This is problematic for many reasons - first, flaw of their "policy" implementation on when they close, and another important related issue of lack of customer service especially by this woman staff member. First, this woman staff member handed out tickets before the ice cream shop closed at 9pm. This woman staff member was incredibly rude, and when we asked about the time of when they handed out tickets being prior to 9pm, the woman staff member had no response. After this staff member's rude explanation, they proceed to lock the doors behind us. This woman staff member is unable to serve us ice cream. My partner does ask about getting pints, and that is all that was possible. This is a really odd policy that was not well-communicated - not on Revival's social media, website, or even the door about these "tickets". The woman staff member said she told the customers in front of us to let the rest of the line know about the tickets and policy, which is a bad way to implement the policy. When we said that the woman staff member's explanation was the first time that we heard about it, this individual said that it is not their responsibility if other customers do not share the information. That absolutely makes no sense. It is up to Revival and this individual to communicate this information fully. This individual truly was on a power trip.
Please note - what occurred regarding what time they stopped serving is something that I will also flag for the Better Business Bureau. When a business notes their hours, they need to honor them. This woman staff member was making up their own rules as they saw fit. We arrived before 9pm.
Additionally, what occurred this evening felt racially discriminatory. The woman staff member is a white-facing individual, and tone of language used was very condescending. Everyone in front of us in line was also white individuals. Upon checkout, we inquire about the policy, and the woman staff member says that it is closing time and they are closed. This person obviously does not like their job. Also, at this point, they locked the doors, so don't understand their response. There was no one behind us at this point.
There was another male staff member, who appeared to show some understanding that this policy did not make sense. However, this staff member was responsible for checking us out for the order and was not scooping and thus, did not hold the power of the ice cream scooper.
This is the type of (lack of) guest experience that Revival has to represent their company?
Regarding additional notes to highlight, a pint of ice cream was $12.50, which is pricey compared to other artisan ice creams out there. Additionally, they are card-accepting only, which is discriminatory towards people that may not have credit cards or use credit cards for a multitude of reasons, which is often generally, people of color.
We have been to Revival during our trips to Monterey area over the last few years and was really looking forward to this ice cream experience. My partner and I had especially enjoyed the "Bees Knees" ice cream and traveled all the way from Seattle. This woman staff member had no compassion or customer service. Getting ice cream should generally be a happy experience, and this was quite the opposite. We arrived before closing, and we were not able to be served ice cream. In all of the years that I've visited dessert and especially ice cream shops, I have never experienced such horrid customer service. We were two guests that have supported Revival throughout the years (noted in our loyalty account). We are truly are disappointed, and will no longer support them.More