Son's — Restaurant in East Hempfield Township

*Response to owner- Respectfully why would I come in when I was denied by your employees and given excuses with an outburst/attitude? Idk why you think it’s impossible to be overcharged it’s quite simple when we order an avalanche with two mixins but get charged for 3, when I order a large cone and get handed a small size etc. Like I said this is not the first time and I’m not the first person. With how you’ve retaliated against past customers I don’t know if I feel comfortable coming in. Maybe check your security footage before questioning my integrity. ONCE AGAIN your ice cream is GREAT but your service is NOT so maybe just take your customers experiences as is and not be so combative. No one is perfect so take the criticism as a teaching moment for you and your staff and apply it to your business not wait by google or FB to argue with people. Thanks.

Edit: After reading the owners responses to other reviews I am adding this bit. Your ice cream is great but your service is not. The reason I never left a review prior is because of that fact. After this visit and years of seeing that nothing has changed and getting attitude when you complain in person, I then felt like leaving a review. If your ice cream AND service was great I would have left a review prior. From someone who has worked in similar environments with young kids I feel as though they hire these kids because it’s cheaper. That’s great and I’m sure those kids appreciate having a job they can come back to every summer but that does not discount all these people with similar experiences unfortunately. Original review: Yesterday was our last visit to Sons and it’s a damn shame. We have been coming here for years and I mean waited in that drive thru line for an hour and more on the regular but in the last two years we’ve had to stop coming here. When I tell you we came every week sometimes a few times a week during the pandemic, it was a dark time for all of us. I don’t know if it’s the kids they hire or what but the service has been abysmal. Multiple times we’ve had issue with being overcharged, given half filled cones and rude employees. Before someone replies to this with “it’s busy and we hire kids” I get that and that’s why we continued to frequent Sons after these instances. We looked past the continuous price hikes because everything is expensive now BUT if I’m paying 15 bucks and tip for a small avalanche with two mix ins and waffle cone with a twist and jimmies, I at least expect my cone to be filled and not broken in half. When I told the employee that my cone was broken in half and almost fell into my lap she offered a new one so I said yes. She then turned to her coworker and explained the issue and then that worker freaked out and grabbed the cone shouting” it’s a cone they’re supposed to break!” Then she chucked the cone in the can and went to get a new one. The second one I was handed had half the ice cream and toppings so I asked about it and was told we’re just really busy right now. When I asked if it was an issue I got a new cone when she offered she just said again they are really busy. Yes it’s an ice cream place on a nice day so of course you’ll be busy but we’ve been there when it was busier and had no issues in the past. So we left because why am I as an adult going to argue with teenagers who are clearly not cut out to run a busy ice cream shop. This recent visit really left a bad taste in my mouth and reaffirmed why we stopped coming I. The first place. It is unfortunate but with so many ice cream places in the area we will survive. So long to Sons we’ve had many great memories but hopefully you’ll take all these reviews and mine into consideration because the ice cream is pretty good but I don’t know if that will prevail over being ripped off and screamed...

I’ve been a loyal customer of Son’s Ice Cream for over 10 years, so loyal, in fact, that I drive an hour each way just to grab my favorite scoop. Not anymore, because the quality has taken a serious nosedive over the past year.

On three visits in the last few months, I’ve seen a steady decline in flavor, texture, and presentation. The last two times I ordered a large hard‑packed cone (their special flavor, no less), I was handed a dish of ice cream with a cone awkwardly plopped on top, apparently because “hard” ice cream is now somehow softer than soft‑serve? It’s sloppy, lazy, and insulting to someone who’s supported this place for over a decade.

Son’s used to be, in my opinion, the best hard ice cream in South/East PA. Now I feel like I’m stuck with sub‑par scoops and inattentive service. If they can’t maintain the basic standards that made them great, I’ll happily take my business (and my hour‑long drive) elsewhere. Fix it, or say goodbye to another longtime fan.

Response to Son's reply: Thank you for your reply, though it really misses the mark.

Your dismissive tone comes across as unprofessional. Instead of offering any genuine solution or even acknowledging the issue, you’ve focused on questioning my review and implying I’ve been unfair. Just because I haven’t left a glowing google review in the past doesn’t mean I’ve been anything but a loyal, supportive customer for over a decade, recommending your shop to everyone I know.

I’m not here to "assume" things are wrong, I’m sharing my experience. The quality has declined, and the way my orders have been handled recently has been disappointing. I’ve been clear about my concerns here, but instead of addressing them, you’ve chosen to deflect or asking if I’ve spoken to a manager (as if that would make a difference as it sounds from reading some other negative reviews).

If you genuinely care about customer feedback, owning up to issues like these would be a good first step. Dismissing valid complaints doesn't help anyone. I’m hoping for a bit more professionalism and accountability from a place I once...

Publicly shames customers for having a negative review. Extremely unprofessional

Edit : yes I have been to the store, it’s average. Nothing outstanding. The prices are high. But so is price of living right now, so that’s understandable. It’s not about the prices, it’s about customer service. Which is lacking for sure. I guess if you have an opinion, other than theirs, they will blast you on FB. Tacky, and sad.

Edit 2: see what I mean when I say lacking customer service. His reply speaks for itself. It’s clear he can not take criticism of any kind. The sundaes are packed with ice cream, which is great. It’s a sundae, you expect ice cream. But the toppings are barely there. So it’s just soft serve ice cream, and the toppings hardly there. Can’t wait to see what his excuse is for this one, I’m assuming it’ll be “ have you ever run a business”

I’d go elsewhere that has same quality Ice cream, but top notch customer service....