A Massachusetts woman thought she’d get herself some Oreo ice cream only to receive a scoop of limited-edition Rapunzel Swirl instead. Even with photographic evidence of the movie-length strand of hair being pulled out of her cup, it doesn’t matter. Apparently, refunds are against “store policy.” But don’t worry, she made sure to casually name-drop the culprit.
What did she find inside her ice cream?
Sarah Frank (@sarah.frank) and her unearthing of the jaw-dropping hair in her ice cream have triggered people everywhere. Her wordless eleven-second clip gathered 8.7 million views and over 7,000 comments. It takes a full five seconds to pull the fair strand of hair from a scoop of Oreo ice cream in a cup. The text overlay reads: “But apparently a refund is against store policy??? shout out to melt icecream in salem.” Paired with this short but shocking clip, Sarah’s caption simply states, “Absolutely disgusted.”
Most of the thousands of viewers are angry on Sarah’s behalf. One viewer says, “Since a refund is against store policy I think a call to the health department isn’t.” A second adds, “When will companies realize a viral post costs them more money than a refund.” However, the Melt Icecream team doubles down.
The Debacle that Ensued with the Store Owner
This is where the story gets even more convoluted. In the caption of the original TikTok, Sarah adds an edit days later, saying, “Update: just posted the receipts of my interactions with the owner because imo it’s even crazier than the hair itself.” Her following video is an almost four-and-a-half-minute-long TikTok, full of screenshot receipts. The clip currently has 466,000 views.
Sarah begins the clip by saying, “Guys, oh my God. I like, actually, cannot believe her reaction. Let me just show you.” She then shows a screenshot using the TikTok green screen feature. First, she shows how she tried calling the store’s number five times right after she recorded the original clip. She says none of the calls went through, so her next course of action was visiting the store the next day and asking for a refund. This is where they tell her face-to-face that refunds are against store policy. Sarah then gets recommended to speak with the owner and gets her email from one of the employees.
It Gets Worse
Sarah sends the cordial email detailing the situation and why, for obvious reasons, one would prefer to get a refund rather than, per se, a new scoop of ice cream. The response she gets baffles her even more. The owner, named Brittney, replies with something along the lines of how this situation is something that can “unfortunately happen this time of year with having so many people in the store.” She then doubles down by saying refunds are against store policy. Sarah stares at the camera, stupefied, and says, “Does your store policy allow you to serve ice cream with hair in it? Maybe a policy should allow a refund if you mess up and serve somebody ice cream with hair baked into it.”
Sarah responds by saying it is “pretty clear” why one would warrant a refund in this case. She mentions that her “appetite is gone” and her “trust is gone.” This is where the heat ramps up. Brittney responds, “This is a lot of drama over a $6 scoop of ice cream. I’m asking you nicely to please stop having your friends review bomb us or I will contact my lawyer for slander.” Sarah makes sure to state clearly that she never asked a single person to review the store.
@sarah.frank absolutely disgusted ?? update: just posted the receipts of my interactions with the owner because imo it’s even crazier than the hair itself?? #foodreview #icecreamreview ♬ original sound – ?ᝰ.ᐟ
Legal Action Threatened
Again, Sarah explains how it was unsafe to eat ice cream with hair in it and to refuse to refund only $18 (one scoop of ice cream and a sticker she had bought). She again kindly asks for a refund. Brittney then responds by saying that she would have given her a refund if Sarah hadn’t left “two nasty reviews” first and lied about one of her employees wearing a hat. This is where the doozy is. Her last lines read: “Since I’ve been accused of being rude, I might as well be- you are delusional if you think anyone would give in to you after all that. I’m blocking you now. You are not welcome in my store and any further slander of my business will result in legal action.”
Sarah scoffs at the response and replies, “As if I would want to go back!” This was the last email interaction, but not the last update from Sarah’s end. She posted a third TikTok with a full five minutes explaining other aspects of the situation. She mentions that she reported Melt Ice Cream at the health inspection office. Sarah also called her bank and filed a dispute against the charges for the ice cream. She then dives deep into the lore surrounding the store, apparently with previous reviews also mentioning rude encounters or hair in the ice cream. The story has snowballed into a bewildering situation.
And Finally, What Do the Viewers Think?
It seems everyone is equally puzzled. One viewer says, “Imagine losing your business over $18.” Another viewer shares, “They really embarrassed themselves on Facebook. Like if anything THEY created wayyyyyy more drama!!!”
Others are perplexed by the nonchalance of the store. One viewer says, “I live in Salem! What I find most concerning is her comment that things happen at this time of year. If you are relaxing your hygiene practices because it’s busy?? That’s wild to me!”
A second viewer adds on to this notion, saying, “I think my favorite part was in the last video, she said all the employees were wearing hats and that she checked the security footage…. A hat does not = a hairnet.”
Last but not least, one viewer captures the situation perfectly: “Why is it so hard for them to just refund it? Like damn did you spend the $6 already?”
The Mary Sue reached out to Sarah and to Melt Ice Cream via email.
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