Dairy Queen - Surrey

I have fond memories of visiting this restaurant between 1972 and 1974 when I was just 2 to 5 years old. It's amazing to see that it is still open and thriving today!

While I waited, I realized I may have been overcharged, as my coupon was for $7.99. After accounting for tax, which should have brought my total to around $8.40 with the 5% GST, I was perplexed by the charges on my receipt. I noticed I was charged a Single Use Bag fee along with a charge labeled Combo PST 0.22. Initially, I found this confusing, thinking it was a tax on tax. Eventually, I understood that this was the soda tax, which really should be clearly labeled to prevent misunderstandings. I was further taken aback by the bag fee, especially since the cashier didn’t clarify whether I was dining in or taking out. When I mentioned I was eating in and didn’t require a bag, she explained that they had a limited number of dine-in trays, prompting them to charge everyone for a bag instead. It also appeared that I was shortchanged. The cashier rounded my change down to the nearest nickel, which left me a bit short. Although I don’t mind losing a nickel, it still feels like a sneaky way to take advantage of customers. While I was finishing my lunch, another regular customer approached me to voice his frustration about the bag fee for dining in. Looking around, I noticed that all dine-in customers were given bags, which felt wasteful both economically and environmentally. Providing plastic trays for dine-in customers, as they have done in the past, would have been a much better alternative. In conclusion, I believe several changes are necessary: 1. Rename the Combo PST 0.22 to Soda Tax for clarity and to avoid confusion about being double taxed. 2. Update the rounding policy at the register; rounding down rather than up is outdated. 3. Clearly inform customers about any charges for a paper bag instead of automatically adding it. 4. Improve the availability of dine-in trays to enhance the experience for those eating in. Given this experience, I don’t plan on returning to this location. The questionable practices regarding rounding changes and bag fees for dining in are unappealing. I think I will choose to visit other DQ locations instead.

We will NEVER go back to this location and can see why it often stays empty. We genuinely wanted to support a local business, but this experience was disheartening. I gave them one star just to be able to leave this review.

The service at this restaurant was exceptional before the new owners took charge and brought in a new team. However, since then, the staff has not greeted customers or shown any appreciation, and their friendliness is noticeably missing. I’ve encountered this disappointing experience three times in a row, which has led me to decide to stop visiting. Furthermore, the restaurant is quite dirty, and the entire back parking lot is overrun with rats because of the overflowing garbage bins.

I visited the restaurant with a seven-year-old, as the website indicated they were open until midnight. We arrived at 10:23 PM, only to find the restaurant closed. There were others waiting outside, and an employee told us that they had already shut down for the night. The website information was wrong; they actually close at 10:00 PM.