'I was thinking maybe it was a mistake'| Arlington woman says her family was charged $88 for four small cups of ice cream on the National Mall

WASHINGTON — We all know ice cream on the National Mall can be a bit pricey, but $22 a cup may take the cake.

On Sunday, Melissa Hayes and her family decided to go for a bike ride, from their home in Arlington to the National Mall. Once there, they decided to stop and get some ice cream from one of the food trucks that were lined up.

"We found one that was at the end and it didn't have a long line, which the rest did. So I was like, well, that's weird, but OK. We thought we were really lucky for the shorter line," said Hayes.

She said she ordered four cones of vanilla ice cream. 

"I said, 'can I get 4 ice cream cones vanilla?' and I said, 'how much is that?' and he just turned around and started doing, you know, getting it together," she explained.

As he began handing her the ice cream, she says she asked for the price again. 

"I said, 'and how much was that, sir?' and he took my card and then he swiped it and he was I felt, like he was overwhelmed because there was a lot of people and so he didn't answer me again," said Hayes. "He swiped my card, gave it back to me and I thought I was just like he's busy, he's frustrated. I'm just going to get out of the way. So we took our cones or our cups. They didn't even have cones and left."

Hayes said she thought nothing of it at the time but soon realized a hefty charge when she checked her bank statement, for $88, that's $22 a cup.

"I was pissed. I you know, was thinking maybe it was a mistake. I got my receipt and started Googling like the invoice name trying to find him," she explained.

"My jaw dropped," said her daughter, Ace Denton. "It would have to have a lot of fancy stuff on it to be $22."

"I wish it was the best ice cream ever. It wasn't, or it would have made me feel a little bit better," said Hayes.

Local food truck vendor Sam, who operates near the National Mall, explained to WUSA9 that $7 is a price he charges ice cream. 

"That's like normal price. Anything above that is like robbing people," Sam said.

He was disappointed to hear what had happened to Hayes and her family. He explained that bad vendor behavior is harmful to those who follow the rules.

"That's like I like robbing people. That's all I think. This is like a robbery. This is like bad for us, so I don't like that," Sam said.

"That is an exorbitant fee, even in a high demand time, even on the National Mall,"  Tiffany Crowe, the department's director, said.

Crowe further emphasized that food truck vendors must clearly display their prices to avoid misleading customers. 

"Going to the National Mall and visiting a food truck has been part of the culture for a lot of families for many years," Crowe said. "We absolutely want people to recognize that there's a difference between a vendor who is operating within the law and one who is not."

While Hayes has since spread the word about her experience to warn others, Sam, a licensed food truck vendor, encouraged fellow operators to be transparent with their pricing. 

"Don't make it difficult for us. Don't rob people. Don't scam people," Sam urged.

Hayes has since offered a word of caution to others: 

"I just wanted to make people aware...make sure you're asking the price up front, get it, even if they're busy, make sure you're getting that price, make sure you're getting a receipt. I failed to do that, so I kind of, you know, took it as shame on me — lesson learned."

In a positive turn of events, after Hayes shared her story on social media, the owner of Toby's Homemade Ice Cream in Arlington sent her family vouchers for free ice cream. 

"It was nice how many people reached out," Hayes said.

The D.C. government encourages anyone who has experienced similar issues with vendors to file a complaint, by filling out this form.