Before I get into the review of this week's cookies, it might be a little ironic that the week I finally post a review of the cookies actually available this week, it might be my last week for a regular Crumbl run. Yeah, yeah, I've tried that before and it didn't happen. The main reason I might actually break up with Crumbl for longer than 12 days this time is a trifecta of higher cookie prices, the addition of a service fee and the consistent inconsistency of not getting good-quality cookies.
Anyone who knows me knows I've always been a major proponent of small businesses. And despite Crumbl as a corporation being a multi-million dollar company, their stores are franchised and I consider franchise owners to be small business owners because most of them are. So I understand when they have to raise prices as they've got to run a profitable business or they wouldn't be in business at all. The prices of ingredients have gone up and I want their workers to be paid a livable wage so payroll costs have to be covered; I get it. Plus these cookies are a luxury item and if you can't afford a luxury item, you don't buy it. I'm less blase about the "service fee" which is 2.95% of my total. Are you passing along the costs Visa and Mastercard charge for using a debit or credit card? If so, do I still get charged that 2.95% fee if I pay cash? I suspect so but I haven't tried that out yet. It's also lousy timing to raise cookie prices and institute the service fee the same week, not to mention a sneaky way to nickel and dime the consumer and hope they don't notice a double price increase (spoiler alert: I noticed).
But those things I can suck up because again, luxury item, cookies, don't buy it if you can't afford it or don't want to pay the price, yada yada. What's harder for me to swallow (ha) is the diminishing quality and greater level of inconsistency of the cookies I've been getting lately: more dry, worse texture and, in a few cases, definitely not as advertised by Crumbl when filled cookies don't have filling, toppings are skimpy or whatever else when a $4 cookie is now a $5+ cookie (I always tip; don't suggest I could get the cookies for less if I stopped tipping because I won't - that's a personal choice) so I'm paying more for what may or may not be a good cookie. So that's my 3-paragraph lead-in that (silver lining) I really will be cutting back a lot more on Crumbl and only making it an occasional purchase when the flavor is worth it in terms of the expense and the risk of getting or not getting a good cookie.
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| Peanut Butter Blossom |
On to this week's cookies. Only for me to tell you I don't know what the Peanut Butter Blossom tastes like because I didn't have any. I bought this for my niece and her boyfriend since they're the peanut butter lovers. The cookie looks good and matches what Corporate Crumbl advertised this week so it has that going for it.
I had never had the caramel popcorn before so I was curious to try it. I only ate 1/4 of a cookie as the taste test and shared the rest with my mom, niece and her boyfriend. This one was okay but I think the caramel popcorn on top as a garnish was unnecessary. The caramel drizzle on top softens the popcorn so when you eat it, it comes off as stale since it's soggy from the caramel. The frosting was a little thick for me and sweet so it almost overwhelmed the cookie.
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| Caramel Popcorn |
The cookie itself was good but I wouldn't get this one again. The cookie base wasn't anything special, the frosting was too sweet and the popcorn garnish comes across as stale. This wouldn't be worth it under the old, cheaper pricing structure and definitely wouldn't be worth it under the new, higher prices.
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| Lemon Poppyseed |
The Lemon Poppyseed was the one I was most interested in trying as I like the flavor combination. Below is the picture and description from Crumbl's website. The description reads: "A zesty lemon cookie packed with yummy poppy seeds then stuffed with a lemony filling and smothered in a lemon almond glaze (Now containing real almond extract)"
The outside of the cookie I got matches the Crumbl website pretty faithfully. The inside does not. The pictures speak for themselves. Apparently my Crumbl either forgot to put any lemon filling inside the cookie or put in so little it baked into the cookie. Either way, it didn't meet my expectations or deliver what Crumbl promised. This happened with the
Molten Lava cookie as well; hence my earlier comment about the consistent inconsistency isn't worth the price anymore. Sometimes the cookies are amazing, sometimes they're not. The lack of consistency is a disincentive for me to keep getting their cookies. The quality isn't there consistently but I'm still paying for the cookies and now I have to pay more for the risk that it will or won't be a good cookie. This isn't a risk that I won't like a flavor; this is the risk that the cookie doesn't have what it's supposed to have (filling) or that it isn't made the way it's supposed to be (overbaked, in the warmer too long).
Someone online who I think works or owns a Crumbl suggested I contact my local store about the lemon poppyseed and get another cookie. While I appreciate the suggestion of giving the store the opportunity to make things right, I don't really do that kind of thing, especially for something like a cookie. It's not worth the gas, time or drive back to the store (I didn't discover the no-filling until I got home), I don't want to make the always-nice-and-polite store employees feel bad about it because, hey, it's "just a cookie".
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| Picture from Crumbl's advertising of the lemon poppyseed |
On one hand, it's good I'm not a "Karen" who is high maintenance on a store. On the other hand, I think this makes me a worse kind of customer for Crumbl because I ended my transaction with them on a bad note for me and because of it, I will be giving them less business in the future. I'm sure my local store would rather I give them the opportunity to make things right and keep on being a frequent customer. But the reality is I'm not going to complain about every cookie I don't feel was up to standard and they had their chance the first time to sell the "right" cookie that was advertised. If this was the first time it happened, I'd cut them more slack. But it isn't the first, second, third or even fourth time. At some point, it isn't worth the hassle and as a customer, I'm going to move on. I think I'm at that point with Crumbl.
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| Picture of the lemon poppyseed I got |
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