Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Ephrata Township

I ordered two Bahama Mama smoothies at this location recently but they were disgusting and flavorless. It was as if one or more of the ingredients was left out. I assume the customer associate who made them was rather new at the job because I watched the rushed and sloppy manner in which he made and served the drinks while leaving them dirty on the sides.

After I left and tasted the drinks, I quickly came back to the store, returned the drinks on the counter, and asked the associate to remake them because they didn't taste right, which he did, but they didn't taste any better/different. Mind you, I've had smoothies from this exact store multiple times before (this is the first time I've ever encountered this specific crew), been a customer of the franchise for over a decade, and know what the drinks should taste like. This one tasted sugarless and like nothing but ice.

When I returned the drinks for the second time, I spoke to a different associate and asked for a refund. He said he would call a manager (none were on-site, only 3 teenagers/young adults). When he returned, he said that because they had remade the smoothies they were unable to issue me a refund. I asked him if he'd ever tried their products before which he confirmed he had. I then told him to take a straw and try the nasty smoothies which they tried to serve me which he never did.

I asked him to call the manager back so that I could speak to them directly, which he refused. I told him that this whole situation was unacceptable and that I'd call his corporate office/customer service and stepped to the side while I proceeded to do so on my mobile phone in the store. He then proceeded to tell me that all drinks are made by a standardized process and assured me that they were made correctly. I asked him how can he validate that it was made correctly when he wasn't the one who made either of the two batches nor did he sample them when I offered. He stood their speechless because in that moment he knew he couldn't retort.

I followed the process to file a complaint about the product quality, poor service, and lack of management on staff, but I have yet to be contacted from the company, and so I am leaving this review here which sums up the...

I placed a mobile order when I was a few miles down the road and would arrive right around when my order would be ready. But there was an accident closing the Ephrata exit so I had to drive down to Brownstown and come back up through. This plus the standstill traffic added 20 minutes and my food had already been sitting there for 10. I called the store to explain what happened and ask if it could be remade. The manager said it wasn't their fault so they couldn't do that. I said it's not my fault either. She said they'd be losing out on money twice if they remade it. I said no they wouldn't because the original meal is paid for. She still refused to remake it so I told her to cancel the order and refund me since I'm unable to pick it up due to the accident closing the road. She then said she'd be willing to remake the smoothie but not the food. I said I'd like my food to be hot since I paid for it. She said she'd rewarm it. I said this is horrible customer service if her primary concern is not losing out on $7. They are currently giving out free smoothies all week with every food purchase, so I don't think the few dollars they'd lose from remaking my meal is a huge issue. She was very rude and disrespectful, and repeatedly stated that she'd be losing money if she remade it. As expected, my smoothie was melted (so it's currently in my freezer), and my food was mediocre and luke warm (I had to microwave it). This is the manager who is always in a bad mood and speaks so rudely to everyone. She sighs and slams things around like she hates her job and hates helping people. I never had a direct issue with her before today, but her poor attitude is...

Tropical Smoothie makes amazing smoothies, I will give them that. But the Ephrata's location has such poor customer service that it ruins the whole experience for me. My fiancé and I were craving a smoothie late one evening and decided to go to Tropical Smoothie. I looked on their website to make sure they were open, and it said until 9:00. We drive all the way to the store and find the sign on the door says they're only open until 8:00. I understand that sometimes hours posted on Google are incorrect but I checked on Tropical Smoothie's website. I then emailed Tropical Smoothie and let them know what happened, received confirmation that they received my email, but got no response back. Fast forward to last night my fiancé and I decided to try once again to stop in for some smoothies because on Saturday nights they actually are open until 9:00. He knows what he wants to order but I'm not ready yet so I tell him he can order awhile so the cashier can start making his Smoothie and not have to wait on me. The cashier responds rudely and says "yea because we need to close soon". I was already being courteous to us coming in the evening and she had to be rude about it. After we finished ordering the time on our receipt said 8:36. They were going to be open another half hour! I work in retail as well and I can understand what it's like to have someone come in literally 2 minutes before you close but they were open another half hour. It's a shame to see great restaurants/stores ruined by bad employees and bad management, but no matter how good their smoothies are I'm not going back to spend 12 dollars and receive bad...