Cold Stone Creamery — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

Do not go to this Cold Stone location! I repeat, do not go to this Cold Stone location. Each Cold Stone is individually owned and operated, so you may be able to avoid a similar experience by driving a little further to another location.

On August 7, my husband and I went in because we were craving the ice cream tacos we had seen circulating on TikTok. Unfortunately, we were told they were no longer available since they had been a limited-time item. We decided to order something else instead. I got one of their menu options and my husband chose a caramel apple. He reasonably expected that it would be made fresh, as caramel apples do not require much preparation. Instead, it was pulled directly from a fridge.

We paid and went outside to enjoy our desserts. My husband’s apple was pre-sliced, so he ate the slices first and then lifted the portion still on the stick. That is when he noticed a quarter-sized spot of mold on the bottom. We immediately brought it back inside. Shockingly, the two employees on duty were completely unconcerned. They treated the situation as though it were no big deal, showed no genuine customer service skills, and acted as if we were inconveniencing them. They processed a refund and said they would contact their owner/manager, Devon.

Later that evening, around 6:00 p.m., we received a call from one of the employees, who said she had spoken with Devon. His solution was to offer another caramel apple free of charge. Nothing more, not even a sincere apology or a commitment to ensure this does not happen again.

On August 9, I filed a complaint directly with Cold Stone customer service. On August 10, I received a notification that they had received my complaint and would reach out accordingly. However, no one from corporate contacted us. Instead, it was the owner/manager reaching out, which should have been done from the start and not just having an employee relay information. When Devon eventually called us, he did apologize, but it felt rushed and insincere. He continually interrupted while we were explaining what happened and was clearly more interested in getting his own response out than actually listening to us.

We left this experience not only disgusted by the moldy product, but also by the lack of care, accountability, and basic customer service from both the staff and the owner. Not to mention, my husband was unwell for a couple of days after eating this molded apple. This situation should never have happened in the first place if proper precautions were being taken. We now have zero confidence in this location and are sure we should not return.

I am currently in need of an ice cream cake for my son, but I will do everything in my power to avoid this location, including making it myself if I have to.

My recommendation is to avoid Cold Stone altogether or, at the very least, steer clear of this location. There are plenty of ice cream shops that take pride in both their products and their customers, and this one is...

I am an elderly disabled hard of hearing person. I called the store at 12:00 to inquire if they had a certain item in stock before I made an online order so I didn’t waste my time. The person who answered the phone would not speak above a whisper. After asking several times for him to please speak up I asked for a manger. He said no, I then asked to be transferred to a different employee, he then hung up on me. I called back and asked his name, I think he said Amir. When I asked him to speak louder he hung up on me AGAIN!!! tried calling back several times and went straight to voice mail. I found out my number was blocked because I used a different phone and got right through. When I got through I immediately asked for a manager. After hesitantly giving me what they said was a manager I very politely asked for HER NAME. She asked what the problem was as I wanted to tell her about my earlier experience. I again just said may I please know who am I speaking to, she then again said what’s the problem, I once more asked for her name, her next response was “WHAT ARE YOU RETARDED” and proceeded to HANG UP ON ME AND QUICKLY BLOCK MY HUSBANDS NUMBER AS WELL. When I called the complaint line they of course would not give me the name of the owner or the general manager. Never being told the name of the so called manager I can’t properly report HER and it will be easy for her to deny the allegations unless the call was recorded. If I knew I WAS GOING TO BE CALLED RETARDED I WOULD HAVE RECORDED THE CALL MY SELF. So here we have the Cold stone in Kentlands MD who has employees who refuse to help s someone who is hard of hearing and a manager who was on duty on June 21 at 1:00 who refuses to give her name, CALLS A CUSTOMER RETARDED, HANGS UP ON CUSTOMER AND THEN BLOCKS PHONE NUMBERS. I WANT ALL OF GAITHERSBURG TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF EMPLOYEES WORK HERE AND HOW THIS BUSINESS TREATS CUSTOMERS. A BUSINESS THAT CALLS PEOPLE RETARDED.I AM SHAKING AND CRYING TO BE CALLED SUCH A FOUL DISGUSTING SLUR. I SERIOUSLY...

Devon Basdeo, store manager, you have to read this because this is possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever had to complain about. For the cake that I ordered, I had written in the special instructions for baby pink icing. To match the color theme of the party. I'm not sure why they decided that I would want "Happy Birthday (name) Baby Pink Icing". It looked ridiculous! No one ever called us with any questions. If they weren't sure if they should write that why didn't they call? The cake was picked up and delivered to me via third party and so it had already been outside for 15 mins and I noticed the mistake as I was putting it into the freezer. When I called them to notify them about the mistake they sounded annoyed, as if somehow this was my fault. Got to the store and they said there wasn't a manager, apparently there never is one. My only options were to pick another premade one, mine was a custom made, or get a refund. My cake spent an hour outside of a freezer and by the time I got it home it was melting off the sides. This store is constantly having employees with very odd attitudes and lots of the time not in the same world as us. Always dazing off and having weird behaviors. This store needs to crack down on their employees because there's no reason for this location to have the completely different attitudes than their Germantown location. Truly disappointed and is giving the company a...