Yopop Frozen Yogurt

My husband and I moved into a house very close to the intersection of Falls of Neuse and Durant, and were very happy to notice a yogurt place very close to us. It is in a shopping plaza that gets a lot of traffic, and they were doing a «grand opening» deal where each cup was a flat fee of $ 3.50, so we figured it would be busy, and went at 9 PM on a weekday. The website says they are open until 10, but when we got there the hours posted on the door said they closed at 9:30. No biggie, how long can it take to eat some fro-​yo? Well, it didn’t take us very long at all, for a few reasons:
1) The girl working there was less than thrilled to see us. She started cleaning up the second we walked in. Having worked in retail ourselves, we think it’s far friendlier and better customer service to start your close-​down procedures once the customers have left. And again, we were there 30 minutes before closing time.
2) Most self-​serve yogurt places have sample cups available so you can try something before you buy. We didn’t notice any sample cups over by the regular cups or on the toppings bar, so we asked the girl if there were any. She said yes, and pulled two sample cups out from behind the register. She asked us what we wanted to try, and when I said «umm, there’s two I’d like» she informed us we were only allowed to try one flavor each, and she filled the cup herself with the teeniest drop of yogurt imaginable. Again, not very customer friendly.
3) The majority of the machines were empty. There were only 6 flavors available when we were there. She said the «machines were down», which could either mean they were broken, or just not turned on. I dunno.
4) There were a few toppings that she kept behind the register that, like with the sample cups, you had to ask for and then she would dole out your ration of hot fudge, or what have you.
I understand new businesses take time to turn a profit, and you want to be prudent with your expenditures, but this was just ridiculous. There are probably 10 other frozen yogurt places within a 5 mile radius of this place, and we have been to many of them, and this is the only yogurt place we’ve been to that had these practices. Everywhere else has more than 6 flavors, allows you to sample, and allows you to shake on your toppings yourself. Since they were running the $ 3.50 per cup deal, maybe these are policies that will change once they begin to charge the regular price by weight, but this was a horrible first impression. The employee was unfriendly, clearly wanted us to leave ASAP, and then there was virtually no choice in terms of flavors, and the sample and toppings policies are beyond stingy. If I wanted someone to tell me I could only sample one flavor and count out the M&Ms on my yogurt for me, I’d revert back to a 5 year old and go there with my Mom. But, we’re adults, who were paying THEM for a product, but we were made to feel like we were a nuisance.
I went back a few days later to see if there was more variety of flavors available and get myself an afternoon treat. This time there were only four flavors available, two of which were sugar free, which I can’t eat (allergic to artificial sweeteners). I asked the girl behind the counter – a different employee than the first time we went – if there were really only 4 flavors available and she said yes and gave me the «machines are down» line again. I asked if they were broken and when they think they’d be fixed and she said «Umm, I don’t know». Honestly, I’m thinking the machines ARE working, they just don’t want to buy the mix for 12 different flavors right now since they’re doing the $ 3.50 a cup special. If that’s really their choice, their initial expenses will be less, but they’re never going to get any repeat customers, and the business will fail entirely.
There are so many of these yogurt places open now, I cannot see this place surviving for very long if they keep up these practices. It’s a bummer for us, since we’re within easy walking distance, but until I see reviews that indicate things have changed, I won’t bother going back.