Bruster's Real Ice Cream — Restaurant in Bowie

My family and I visited this store on Sunday, June 6th at 8:10pm. Upon arriving, the line was moderately long, with about 8-10 people ahead of us. However, shortly after that, the line became EXTREMELY LONG, extending from the window of Bruster's to the street, with at least 40-50 people in line. When we finally reached the window, before placing my order, I asked for the manager, and I was told that the gentleman next to the cashier was the manager. I then asked him "I see that there are two windows with the 'Order Here' sign, however there is only one window open, as it has been the past 6 times we have visited within the past week, no matter how long the line is, especially right now. Customers are complaining, so is there any way that you can at least open the second window until the line goes down a bit?" The manager then responded "I have the line covered so lets just take care of your order". His response felt a bit dismissive with lack of concern for his customers. I then responded "I understand, however I don't want you to be ok with the customers being inconvenienced, especially when SO MANY of them are expressing dissatisfaction with the wait time and the lengths of the lines". He stated that he understood, but never asked my name, and asked the young lady to finish taking my order, which she pleasantly did so. Unfortunately, the power went out immediately after she took my order, so she had to wait for the computer system to reload. Due to this, she was having difficulty pulling up my rewards points. When she was unable to locate them, she then called the manager back over. He stated that I did not have any points despite me telling him I did, and had $3 off. We kind of went back and forth regarding if I had points or not until I went into my phone, and pulled up the email reflecting the points that I was referencing, and at that point the young lady informed him the only reason he was unable to locate the points was bc the system had not fully loaded back up from the power outage. At that point he handed me a receipt telling me my total, and I asked were my points reflected. He responded "So I gave you $5 off and I think I've been more than fair”.

After this exchange, I contacted corporate, and received a call from the manager. I learned his name was Jose, and we actually had an AWESOME dialogue! He was incredibly nice, as well as apologetic. He took the time to explain the logic behind the window determination, and even went on to explain how they are working to address this going forward. I understand that managing a store is hard work, and though you can’t please everyone, he is DEFINITELY invested in his job and community, and working on pleasing the customers as much as possible. Talking with him was such a pleasure, and I’m glad we were able to converse and clear up the miscommunication. I will now forever be a customer of Brusters...

The manager at this location was extremely rude to me after a simple request to simply change the flavor of the ice cream that I ordered. The young lady that I requested to change the flavor of my ice cream with did not know how to handle the situation so she went to talk to the manager, the manager comes to the window, (the same window that I've been standing at outside for almost a half an hour in 90 degree heat because they closed the inside window and only have one window going outside even though there's a line down the street) very irate, rude and aggressive and asked me "what is the issue" as if I were complaining. I explained to him that I had not been given the ice cream therefore, I did not touch it and that I just wanted to exchange it for a different flavor. He proceeds to tell me in a harsh tone that the ice cream was just made. It was not hard enough to serve and they don't serve soft ice cream. I said "no problem, she could've told me that this did not warrant the need for a manager" he proceeds to yell at me and say "well she's a teenager ma'am! She's a teenager!" at that point, my children and I just walked away, and I heard him slam the window. At no point did I yell at this man or the young girl that was helping me, at no point did I take a harsh tone with either of them. my children really wanted this ice cream, but if it were not for them really wanting this ice cream. I would've asked him to refund me my money, that is how nasty aggressive and rude he was to me in front of my children over a trivial matter. Disgusting customer service. When we got in the car, my children asked me why "was he yelling at you like that?" Is this what Bruster's stands for with their...

The manager at this location was extremely rude to me after a simple request to simply change the flavor of the ice cream that I ordered. The young lady that I requested to change the flavor of my ice cream with did not know how to handle the situation so she went to talk to the manager, the manager comes to the window, (the same window that I've been standing at outside for almost a half an hour in 90 degree heat because they closed the inside window and only have one window going outside even though there's a line down the street) very irate, rude and aggressive and asked me "what is the issue" as if I were complaining. I explained to him that I had not been given the ice cream therefore, I did not touch it and that I just wanted to exchange it for a different flavor. He proceeds to tell me in a harsh tone that the ice cream was just made. It was not hard enough to serve and they don't serve soft ice cream. I said "no problem, she could've told me that this did not warrant the need for a manager" he proceeds to yell at me and say "well she's a teenager ma'am! She's a teenager!" at that point, my children and I just walked away, and I heard him slam the window. At no point did I yell at this man or the young girl that was helping me, at no point did I take a harsh tone with either of them. my children really wanted this ice cream, but if it were not for them really wanting this ice cream. I would've asked him to refund me my money, that is how nasty aggressive and rude he was to me in front of my children over a trivial matter. Disgusting customer service. When we got in the car, my children asked me why "was he yelling at you like that?" Is this what Bruster's stands for with their...