Cold Stone Creamery — Restaurant in Vernon Hills

To the owner of this business or a manager in charge !!!!! PLEASE CHECK YOUR CAMERAS FOOTAGE from the night of July 5th, 2025 (10:30pm-11:00pm) - please see how all the employees behaved and the way they performed their orders and the way these kids treated and handed out orders for customers. We have been coming to coldstone for many-many years and we love this brand of ice cream very much, but we had the worst experience today and honestly it has been going on since this summer started. It was about 30 minutes before their closing time and I came in with my kids, there were 3 younger kids working - 2 girls and 1 guy. We placed our first order which was taken by one of the girls. It was obvious from the start that these kids can care less about customers or work ethics or any responsibilities that they have. First of all, the girl was too busy flirting with the guy and joking and playing around , ice cream spoons or utensils kept falling, ingredients spilling , mess everywhere …. Employee did not even bother to add the ingredients with a spoon, she just kept pouring them from the large containers, everything was falling, sloppy and dirty… just see your cameras for full picture of this nightmare. These younger employees are kids and without an adult manager they act corky , talked to me like I am nobody and acted very rude and unprofessional, they seemed very entertained and did not pay any attention and kept laughing - very poor treatment of customers and they show a very bad example for my kids or any kids who see , heard and witness this situation. My first order jar was almost thrown at me , the jar itself was dirty and had ice cream all over just dripping from all the sides. I’ve asked this girl if this is a way she would like to be treated and to be handed her order?! Her answer: For my response I have received a nasty attitude and she rolled eyes, she started talking behind my back but in front of me and my kids to other employees …. With angry look and hate she unhappily took the jar back and sloppy wiped the jar and literally through it back at me on the counter. At the time of payment I have asked for the name of this girl. I was presented with more attitude and another rude replied “You can ask her yourself….” These kids cannot be left to work without on adult supervision/manager, if this kind of behavior and treatment of customers will continue this business will lose a lot of their customers. Also, I understand they have friends coming to visit them at work, but those friends should not be allowed behind the work counter! Otherwise we love this place but owner / manager need to make some enforcement on the rules and importance of following these rules and guidelines for...

We bought a custom-made ice cream cake in celebration of a family member's birthday. When cutting the ice cream cake, we found two long, straight blonde strands of hair embedded within the cake. Nobody at the birthday celebration has long, straight hair and the hairs were completely embedded within one of the layers of the ice cream cake. So, they had to come from Cold Stone. This discovery of two long hairs inside of the ice cream cake put an immediate end to our enjoyment of the cake. That's bad enough, but what happened next is unacceptable. I contacted the Vernon Hills store twice asking for a refund, but I received NO response. I also contacted Cold Stone Customer Service and received no response. When I followed up with a phone call, I was told that they would respond within 3 days but there was no response after 4 days. This incident would have been an opportunity to display exemplary customer service and make it right. But completely ignoring the customer and breaking promises only compounded the problem. At this point, I can only say that Cold Stone Vernon Hills has a sanitation problem and a customer service problem.

Update: Nearly three months later, still no return call from the Vernon Hills Cold Stone and no return call from the Corporate customer...

Ordered 3 bowls of ice cream tonight at 8:23 pm. One was received with the mix in on top, and not mixed in. If I were eating in the car, it would have been a miss as just opening the lid caused stuff to fall out. I called to complain and the woman who answered told me that sometimes they just put the item on the top when they are busy. She said she had never received any complaints before, and I said I was officially complaining. She then went on to say that they technically did nothing wrong as I got what I ordered. I said that I ordered ice cream with a mix in, and it was not mixed in. If I had been physically present and standing there in line, they would never have done that. For the price of Cold Stone, I expect to get better service than this.

Update: The manager called and agreed that this is not supposed to happen and compensated me with a free ice cream the next time I come. I let him know that this was not the first time this type of laziness has happened and encouraged him to have a conversation with his employees. Once I order again during a busy time and see that the service has improved, I will...