Ginesi’s Artisan Gelato — Restaurant in Scotland

As a family we have been coming to this ice cream shop for years, long before the Ginesi family took over, and have always loved the flavour of the ice cream. That said, there’s been a few accounts where I’ve went in and had an awful experience with the staff however have kept coming back due to the history we’ve had with the shop. However, this is the final straw.

I went in the other day with a smile and unfortunately was greeted by the older lady, which if you notice in the shops lowest reviews, most people’s experience tend to be tarnished by her specifically. I asked politely for a 2 litre tub of vanilla ice cream as I had family coming over the next day. The lady told me she was not serving 2 litre tubs today and to my mistake I thought it was due to a lack of availability of packaging. However, I admit, I misunderstood and it was in fact due to a lack of ice cream. Continuing to think it was a packaging issue, I then asked if I could have two 1 litre tubs for the price of a 2 litre tub but the lady said she wasn’t allowed to do that, not because of the lack of ice cream, but because ‘I was asking her for a discount’. She started giving me attitude and when I told her I was asking for 2 litres of ice cream for the price of 2 litres of ice cream (and not a discount) she pointed at me and rudely said she ‘was beginning to getting fed up with my backchat’ as if she had some sort of authority over me and could treat me like a child despite me being a fully grown adult? What a way to speak to a customer. She told me that two 1 litre tubs is £18 and by me asking for it for £16 (the price of a 2 litre tub) is asking for a discount. That is not backchat, that is a genuine question as to why I have to pay more money for the same volume of icecream. Still thinking it was a packaging issue (again my mistake) I said it was hardly a discount if the company couldn’t provide 2 litre tubs. She then said she had the 2 litre tubs but there is not enough icecream. Thats fine, although why did she tell me earlier on if I wanted two, 1 litre tubs it would be £18? Why is it okay to give out two 1 litre tubs but not a 2 litre tub? Especially at a higher price? Thats just a con! Not to mention this was a rainy night, not long before closing, I highly doubt a rush of customers were going to come in after me demanding 2 litres of ice cream 🤣

Also, the shop doesn’t take contactless payment and I never had a card with me so going to an ATM machine was not a possibility. I only had enough cash for a 2 litre tub (not two 1 litre tubs). I’m also not a local customer so I couldn’t just nip home and grab more money.

Don’t get me wrong, I have been served by other staff members, such as who I believe to be David Ginesi, who have treated me really well, yet whenever I’m greeted by this particular women my experience is always rubbish as she looks at you as if you’re her worst enemy. With the extra money she charges by not giving out 2 litre tubs you would think she could afford to crack a smile 😂😂 Why work somewhere that requires good people skills if you don’t like people??

Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be back again, which is a shame as we having been coming here ever since my dad was wee boy and have always continued to drive a bit further to have this particular ice cream. Crazy how one person can ruin your whole experience...

I have been buying from this Company for over 25 years and from the previous owners (Bruno and the twins) for over 25 years. I have noticed before that on busy occasions (Especially Eid) they remove their 2L sized tubs from sale. Not because they are short of ice cream but because they want you to buy 2 x 1L tubs and pay the extra. If you are incompetent with the ordering of packaging then do not penalise the customer. Give the 2 x 1L at the same price. When I questioned the older lady she said I had to pay the full 2 x 1L price but when I said that was not good business she said she had ran out of ice cream. This was not the case. I saw people coming out the shop with tubs as I was parked outside. It was near closing time so how many more customers was she expecting? Ways to improve this business. Get rid of the older lady who is rude and obnoxious. This is not ageism it is fact....she is old. Recruit someone with a personality and a friendly face. Do not rip off customers. If it hurts to sell 2L tubs at a reduced rate at busy times then just do away with them. Prepare for busy periods. Whether it's Christmas or Eid or Diwali or any other occasions when families will gather then make sure you can meet the demand. Have some tubs pre packed so customers don't have to wait unnecessarily as parking is atrocious outside. Take card payment. The fees are not as bad as you make out. Don’t water down the ice cream on sunny days. Answer your phone. Rang about 6 times before I travelled a long distance as I feared I would encounter excuses when I got there.

After leaving here in disgust I went to The University Cafe on Byres Rd and the experience was refreshing. Welcomed with a smile and treated courteously. The Ice Cream was smooth and milky/creamy and they gave me 2 tubs of raspberry...

The ice cream right enough was good taste. The service from the young girl seems ok, we had the service from the mature woman and was odd... We arrived on Saturday 18:00 and the ice cream trays were nearly empty. It is a popular ice cream place but they have no replenishments.

The selection of the cones was strange we pointed what we wanted... But we were shown something else.. I guess she was out of the cones we wanted... But was odd how she gave us a different type.. Was cheaper anyway...

The other odd thing is that there are some trays that you can see with the name on it but on the other side they are covered with a lid and again they did not tell us what flavour they were... The lady was firmly only on the ones you could see... Maybe the others hidden are for the customers in the know... We asked what one of the flavour ice cream was made of... Because the name and color was unfamiliar and we had some odd response.. I certainly did not understand...

The ice cream was charged ok for two reasonable size scoops around 2+ pounds... In the defence of the mature lady she propped up little bit one scoop flavour as it was smaller... So she makes sure you get the size scoop you pay for which is nice...

We wanted the ones with the waffles scones and are around 4+ for two scoops... But as above we did not get those so no idea if they are any good or worth the prices....

BE VERY VERY CARFUL IT IS CASH ONLY... Goodness knows what happens if you have card payment only... And you are served by the mature lady... Not sure it will end...