Ainslee's Salt Water Taffy — Local services in Depoe Bay

We stopped in here today to show our three year old daughter how salt water taffy is made. My wife commented on how they had black licorice ice cream and how surprised she was by that. We struck up a conversation with the workers there about how great that was. For context, I’ve been unemployed most of this year, and it’s been a bit of a struggle for us. We have mostly cut out eating out and luxuries like buying ice cream out. My wife mentioned something about how we’d have to talk about it to the girl behind the counter when she asked if we’d like to get some. The guy that was engaged in making the salt water taffy immediately pipes up and says that he’s going to buy us one. So he pulls out his wallet on the spot and buys us an ice cream. Then, the girl behind the counter decides she’s going to do the same thing! They bought all three of us ice cream! We couldn’t believe it! It was the most touching, sweet thing that’s happened to us in a long time. It brought tears to our eyes. Please, everyone reading this, go in there and buy as much as you can. Fill up their tip jar, buy the next person in line their ice cream, whatever the case may be. When our fortunes turn around, we’ll be back to do the same. To the people that were there today: thank you, to say you made our day is an understatement. P.s the ice...

I always make a point of getting popcorn and candy from this shop when I go to Newport. I go out of my way to go to Depoe Bay just to give them my business. As a small business owner myself, good service is so important and I rely on repeat business. I would think the owner appreciates customers like myself. There are plenty of candy shops they compete with for business. I had the "riptide" popcorn sent to my home as they were out of it the last few times I went there to purchase it in person. It wasn't a big order, but it shouldn't matter as I spend way more when I come to the shop in person. When I followed up on my order to see if it shipped, I called a few times with no answer and finally left a message in their voicemail. I received no return call. When I called the next day at the end of the work day I was told it shipped out. They had plenty of time to take a minute and let me know the order shipped, but at this point, I wasn't annoyed yet, I know they are busy. I was sent the carmel flavor which was not what I ordered. I have tried calling several times with no answer and finally left three seperate messages regarding this error over a course of a few days with no response back. I guess business is too good to take the time to respond to me. Such a bummer, as they have lost a long time...

I have changed my review based on the response to my previous review of this business to hopefully make it more acceptable to them. I recently purchased divinity from this store while on a trip home from a very emotional and stressful visit with my father, who had just been placed in a memory care unit. I was looking for a small comfort, a bit of nostalgic sweetness to lift my spirits as my father, brother and I had spent a lot of time on the Oregon Coast during my childhood. Unfortunately, the experience was very disappointing. While the texture of the candy was fine, the nuts had clearly gone bad, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste that ruined the overall experience. Given the price and the specialty nature of divinity, I expected much better quality control. I never thought to call the store because it was a food product and I knew I could not take it back as I was about 180 miles away from the store. Considering the tone of the response to my review, I’m actually glad I didn’t. If a business reacts defensively instead of calmly offering solutions or showing a willingness to make improvements, I doubt a phone call would have led to anything productive. Given the circumstances, I was really hoping for a better experience. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet expectations, and I don’t...