Airing of Grievances: “Mr. Softee Screwed Me on My Birthday!”
I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)
Photo of a Random Mr. Softee Vendor (Not the one being complained about)
Here’s a particularly bad email I got yesterday from a guy who was ripped off by a Mr. Softee truck yesterday, and on his birthday of all days!
“So yeah, the guy at 36th and 7th in the Mister Softee truck is a monster prick. I went up to him, asked him for a small cup. He hands it to me and I thought to myself “wow, that’s a huge small” – he didn’t tell me how much it was, but I gave him a 20. When he handed me $13 back, I said “$7? For a small?”
He claimed that he showed me the large cup and I said that’s what I wanted (that NEVER happened). I said “well, do you have a small cup?” and he showed me the smaller (presumably much cheaper) cup. I said “that’s what I wanted. I asked for a small cup.”
He then proceeded to get in my face about it…”
“I didn’t want to get hit in the face on my birthday (yeah, it’s my birthday), so I paid frickin’ $7 for mediocre ice cream. Would’ve been cheaper to order ice cream from room service at the Plaza!
But bottom line, this guy is a prick and should not be representing Mister Softee. I say boycott the bastard!”
That suuuucks. Although this lesson might be about how to pay for something, rather than how to order. The same thing happened in Midtown to a friend of mine who ordered a Gatorade, and gave the vendor a $20 bill without asking how much it was. He had already opened it and started drinking by the time he got his $15 in change- so it was too late to complain, or try and get his money back. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy jacked up the price the minute he saw that cap come off.
So let this be a lesson to all of you… make sure you ask how much somethig is *before* paying. And whatever you do, don’t crack open a drink (or take a lick of ice cream) until you’ve been quoted a price.
Posted: 2:45 pm, July 9th, 2009 under Airing of Grievances, Mister Softee.
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30 Comments
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Next time…when they hand the cone over….hand over a $1…….scream “there’s a bomb….a bomb…a bomb on the truck!!”
You could also take a shit right outside the serving hatch.
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I would have bombed that $7 cup right back in his face and ran. Worth the money.
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The same thing happen to me at a hot dog stand by city hall about 2 years ago. I ordered a sausage and a soda and he said $7 after he gave me everything. I told him I wanted my money back and started to give him back everything when he said ok ok $6. I told him I’m not paying you more then $4, paid and left.
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You should go back tomorrow, order a large one this time and give him $1….if he says anything back, just say,i over paid yesterday so…
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has to be posted, lol http://iminyourface.ytmnd.com/
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Speaking of pricks, I just got in a verbal fight with the street vendor selling tourist tchatckas on the NE corner of 53rd and 6th. I was saying goodbye to my wife and baby after lunch and decided to pull over to move out of the way of other pedestrians. Was there about 20 seconds and out of nowhere the guy starts cursing out my wife for standing in front of his wares. Was all I could do to keep from punching him out right there. Some of these guys are real lowlifes.
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See… THATS when someone should call the cops on a vendor! Man, I woulda got really loud with that guy! I’d even try to report his ass.
$7 for a P.O.S. cup? I pay less at COLD STONE and they sing for the extra buck there! -
WHY — WHY — WHY — WHY do otherwise sane and educated individuals residing in New Yawk City patronize these dives on wheels?
Are you people starving to the point of desperation?
Are you unable to find a grocery store?
Are you unable to act like intelligent humans (who walk upright) and put these charlatans out of business, once and for all?
GAWD! Give me a break!
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uh – you realise what site this is right?
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jerkface – don’t feed the troll.
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Chuckie is just mad because “Mr. Softee Screwed Me on My Birthday!” is exactly what his wife said on her big day
She also called him MicroChuck on their anniversary
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You need to bring some friends with you to the Mr. Softee truck. Violence is always the key. That is freaking bs. And yeah, the freaking vendors (hot dog guys, not the reputable trucks) will take you for a ride if you don’t ask the prices first. Someone got my brother a month ago in front of the Garden as we were heading to Port authority. 6 bucks for 2 hot dogs. I almost punched the guy in the face when he said the price, after he handed the food over of course, but my brother told me to let it go. He is 10 yrs younger, and is far more sane–or less averse to getting in a scuffle. I figure my lawyer background will only serve me well when the cops come. Hitting is ok when people rob you….at least that’s my interpretation of the law.
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And when I am in New Yawk City on business (two weeks from now) I would be most happy to buy ‘adamprato’ a $7.00 “softee” should he be willing to appear in public licking his $7.00 “softee” instead of running his two-bit mouth.
Or, on the other hand, maybe we should not feed the ‘adamprato.’
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Sorry to hear this happened to you, I thought I was the only sucker they try to pull this Sh*t on (I’m talking to you Rafqi and the hot dog vendor in front of Nat. Museum of History)!
Fortunately, yelling and cursing at the guy got me my money back.
Now I have to add Mr. Softee to my list of buyer beware.
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I prefer whiskey over icecream. Why would I be unwilling to appear in public? I was at the SMP2 event with 30 other midtownlunchers…
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Goats, the attorneys in my family (yea… 3 in my near-immediate family) have advised me to never throw the first punch. ALWAYS, always ALWAYSSSSS let the other guy throw the first punch. Anything after that is self defense and therefore, fair game.
I had a zeppole guy swear I gave him a $5 when I gave him a $20, therefore I owed him $2. This was in my younger days, and my then-boyfriend told me to drop it. What I should have done was drop-kicked the bf and raised hell because I know for sure I gave him a damn $20. The zeps weren’t even that good. Total bullsh*t.
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WHY, ‘adamprato’? Because you have a ‘two-bit’ mouth and you NEVER have anything to contribute to this, or to any other blog — that’s WHY.
Shouldn’t you be spending more time looking for a legitimate job and less time in your feeble attempts to insult other posters on this forum?
Just askin’
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…if there was anyone who ever knew the absolute truth of what is means to never contribute anything of use to any blog, it’d be DocChuck.
He is also an authority on how to barter roadkill, food stamps, and government cheese for moonshine in rural Arkansas.
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“WHY, ‘adamprato’? Because you have a ‘two-bit’ mouth and you NEVER have anything to contribute to this, or to any other blog — that’s WHY.”
DocChuck, did you mistakenly reply to my post thinking you were talking about yourself?
“Shouldn’t you be spending more time looking for a legitimate job and less time in your feeble attempts to insult other posters on this forum?”
I mean, really? *you* are asking *that* question? Really?
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Incidentally, are we going to meet up next time you visit NYC?
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Doc Chuck, you’re in NYC in two weeks? I was planning on dousing you in kerosene and accidentally dropping my cigarette in Maryland, but since you’re in my neck of the woods…where exactly will you be staying?
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Hey now–let’s keep the hostilities towards those who deserve it–those goddamn good for pretty much nothing crooked hot dog cart/Mr Softee vendors (of course there are a few cool hot dog vendor cart exceptions to this generalization–some are ocassionally honest and not total jerkoffs)!!!!
@ Yvo: True, self defense would protect you if they throw the first punch, but in the case described above, I think it was justifiable to open the back of the truck (or go in through the side door) and rip the money out of the asshole’s hands….and if you happened to punch the loser in the mouth, no foul called…Not too many cops would take the side of a Mr. Softee vendor–at least the ones in my neighberhood.
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DocChuck, i have no malevolent (or homoerotic) intentions. So if you’re afraid to relay your whereabouts when your in NYC, feel free to contact me directly if you’re actually interested in meeting up.
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They all try this crap. Always get prices up front. I needed to take a cab today and was in such a hurry, I let a damn gypsycab pick me up. He tried to charge me 20 for a 5 cab ride. I gave him 10 and told him to be thankful.
If you have the money, you have the power… And they are much less likely to even try if you ask up-front.
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@Goats – not to make this an issue but really, if you enter their truck, and there are witnesses, that’s also… I dunno if that’s trespassing or breaking and entering, and I’m just so not interested in having a record. Sure the cops might not take Mr. Softee’s side, but if Mr. Softee *really* wanted to pursue legal action, you’d be in the wrong… Also in this digital age someone’s bound to be snapping pics or video! I’d watch a YouTube video of Mr. Softee fistfighting someone :)
Of course letting them throw the first punch also runs the risk of roshambo… If you’re a guy you’re screwed!Then again, Mr. Softee being a business, if you appeared to actually be about to act violently, they would probably just give you your money back instead of hitting you.
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BAN ALLL MR SOFTEE trucks in Midtown..as the photo shows, they mostly park in the crosswalk and often block a fire hydrant as the guy opposite MSG at 32nd & 7th Avenue does every evening. Numerous complaints to local precint has yielded zero results.
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ALWAYS ask any vendor how much their products cost, if prices aren’t listed. I often get a can of soda from hot dog guys and they WILL charge $2 for it (should be $1). If they respond anything over $1, I’ll either walk away or dictate to them “$1 – do I look like a tourist?”
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The Good Doctor is coming to NYC? I think we need to organize a ML happy hour meet-up at the Times Square Applebees.
I may be alone in this, but after the countless hours of entertainment DocChuck has provided me, I feel the least I can do is buy him a beer at his restaurant of choice.
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Did you see this article? It was posted the same day this complaint was posted. It’s about “imposter” Mr. Softee trucks that go by similar names.
http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/urbanite/blog/2009/07/cracking_down_on_immitation_tr.html
Guy, this is because these scammers try to rip off the foreigners/ immigrants. They have a lot of money and don’t know any better. So they try it on everyone. It is a percentage game to them. Its similar to the guys trying so hard to sell there cds. Happy B-Day regardless!!