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February 2024 by Carol C.
Girl Scouts Cookies was one of the many vendors at the fans' fan fest yesterday at Bloc 15 in the Jack London Square area. I remember many years ago purchasing their cookies when they were $3.00 a box. That was like back about 30 years ago. I still purchase a box or two every year. My favorites are thin mints and trefoils. Thin mints taste great coming out of the freezer. I try not to eat too many of them. Trefoils have 7 grams of sugar for one serving of 5 cookies. I just have 3 of them with hot tea. I purchased Trefoils for $6.00 and gave this organization a $5.00 donation. The young lady forgot to say thank you until her mother reminded her to do so. I'm okay with the young lady's forgetfulness. With the excitement and the crowd of people around, I was only glad to continue my support of the Girl Scouts.
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August 2023 by Christine P.
It depends on what city you live in within the council. Some are wonderful while others treat it like an HOA to get in a troop. Our daughter was in a Diasy troop initially and has decided to be a Brownie on her own (which is allowed through GS) because of how unwelcoming the new area we live in was with finding troops to join. She's happy with the overall GS program. We could be doing a lot more girl oriented programming. The NorCal programs seem very invested in money money money and lots of rules that seem to take the fun away from the girls. It's not as enjoyable, unfortunately.
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June 2022 by Daniel B.
For one of my nieces, this is her first year being a Girl Scout. She's eight years old. According to her, she couldn't wait to sell "the cookies." Well, I love her so much, I couldn't wait to buy some from her. She's a member of the Girl Scouts of Northern California. As I mentioned in my review of the Girls Scouts of Greater Atlanta last year ( I've occasionally supported various Girl Scouts over the past 20+ years by buying Girl Scout Cookies. In that review, I ranked the cookies as follows (descriptions from Girl Scouts website, updated for this review): 1. Do-si-dos - crunchy oatmeal sandwich cookies with peanut butter filling 2. Tagalongs - crispy cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolaty coating 3. Samoas - crisp cookies with caramel, coconut, and chocolaty stripes 4. Thin Mints - crisp, chocolate cookies dipped in a delicious mint chocolaty coating 10. Lemon-Ups - crispy lemon cookies baked with inspiring messages Needless to say, this year, I didn't order Lemon-Ups again. I also didn't order Samoas, but only because my wife wanted me to order Girl Scout S'mores instead. And wow, we both have a new favorite Girl Scout Cookie: S'mores. Here's my Girl Scout Cookie ranking for 2022, separated into tiers: Tier 1: 1. Girl Scout S'mores - crunchy graham sandwich cookies with chocolate and marshmallow filling Tier 2: 2. Do-si-dos Tier 3: 3. Tagalongs 4. Samoas 5. Thin Mints Tier Bottom: 10. Lemon-Ups My wife described the Girl Scout S'mores cookies as "S'mores Oreos" because of both taste and texture. They reminded her of Oreos, but with S'mores flavors. To me, the S'mores cookies are a step above all other Girl Scout Cookies. It tasted higher-quality. I noticed the packaging was different too. Instead of a box, the S'mores cookies came in a bag. Also, the S'mores packaging had Little Brownie Bakers' logo/branding on it whereas the other packaging only mentioned "Manufactured for Little Brownie Bakers" in the fine print. What's up with that? The S'mores cookies ended up selling out, so I'm glad I ordered early. The Adventurefuls cookies also sold out. They are "indulgent brownie-inspired cookies topped with caramel-flavored creme with a hint of sea salt." I didn't order the Adventurefuls because they were available for local deliveries only and my wife and I live on the East Coast. We would have definitely ordered them if they could be shipped because they looked and sounded delicious. The Adventurefuls are new to the Girl Scout Cookie Program in 2022. Each pack of cookies was $6.00. Shipping and handling was $12.99. Money spent on my niece's cookies, via the Girl Scouts of Northern California, are to help homeless people.
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March 2022 by Kathryn Holper
Note that the one star is only for the store, not the Girl Scout organization. Very disappointed that the store hours are so limited and that I traveled for almost an hour just for the store not to be open during the posted hours. They also don't pick up the phone when you call.
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February 2022 by Kelly G.
I ordered cookies online and noticed that the order was incorrect immediately after I got the receipt (within 2mins of placing the order). I contacted girl scouts customer service immediately to ask to replace the order. Within the hour they claimed it had already been processed and was ready for shipment. I wrote back and said it was unlikely as the entire exchange was immediate. I got an email the next day saying that all sales are final, I checked the tracking number and the cookies still haven't shipped. Awful, unneighborly, uncharitable, unyielding hot garbage excuse for customer relations. Happy to give kids money outside of this org but I don't see myself ordering from girl scouts again. What kind of model is this for a community program?
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May 2020 by Ivy S.
So I had heard great things about the Girl Scouts. My daughter is a little joiner and they were starting a new troop for her age group at her school. I have nothing to lose by joining, so we did. I guess I joined the wrong troop? I was so incredibly disappointed. I get that I have to volunteer for positions in order to be a member. I had never participated in Girl Scouts and I had expected a little better direction from the organizers of this troop. No, the person who was the leader literally did nothing. I didn't sign up as troop leader and do not have time to lead the group. Why would you sign up to lead a Girl Scouts Troop and be almost completely hands off? In the four or five months we participated she never once led a meeting for the girls. She left it all up to the other moms. I was wrong. I thought that Girl Scouts were similar to Boy Scouts. No its not. If you have a daughter and you look at her and say to yourself, "I have no idea how to interact with this person so Ill join this group to do something with our time together because in reality I don't know what to do." I don't need this group. I do all kinds of things with my daughter to teach her life lessons that I don't need to pay the Girl Scouts to teach me. I take my kids camping. I show my kids how to do all kinds of things like cook, sharpen knives, plant trees and gardens and flowers at my own house. I do all these things by myself as a single mom. I heard one of the other moms say out loud "I don't even go in my backyard, I'm definitely not going camping." This is not the group I want to be a part of and don't want my daughter a part of. Now the cookies sales. I also realized I don't have time for this. They preach to you as this will teach your girls how to be entrepreneurs. Not really, they are selling for a corporate entity. Guess what? I'm using my precious time to commit to going and selling these cookies. Yes, the troop gets the money for doing things but I would rather teach my daughter how to sell for herself and be her own business person. This leads in to the lack of effort from the troop leader. We had a bank account that money from cookie sales went into. What were we going to do with that money? I never heard he really give any inspiration as to what the troop would use it for. I'll admit my expectations were pretty high. None of my expectations were met. This was an incredible disappointment.
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March 2020 by John V.
Went here to pick-up my daughter’s Golden arrow.
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October 2019 by Lila S.
Age Discrimination: If you are a former girl member over 30 and never got a life time membership, forgetting about getting a lifetime membership, and if you have no girls don't even buy any Girl Scouts cookies, and you must avoid donating money to Girl Scouts. They believe people over 30 are worthless. Advice to girl scouts, you should charge $300.00 to all former girl members for a lifetime membership.
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May 2019 by Helen L.
Just and FYI - there is not much organization for the uninitiated, for for those who have no contact with someone already in a troop. I was just lucky there were great troops that met at our school! You might google about "GS Troops in SF" or whatever city you are in, rather than relying on the NorCal sites, which don't give much info at all about local troops. There are apparently lots of local troops within a city. Once you find a good troop, it's really a nice experience to share with your daughter. Good luck!
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December 2017 by Dara T.
I have been trying to enroll my daughter in a troop since August. NorCal Girl Scouts are the most disorganized organization I have ever met and we still don't have a troop. I'm requesting a refund of my $40 registration fee and giving up.
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November 2017 by Thuan T.
I sent my daughter to a 1 week camp at SugarPine this past summer 2017 with 6 of her classmates because I heard so many good things about the Girl Scouts from their moms. On my daughter's second night at camp, my daughter slept wrong and sprained her knee a little. The following night, I received a call from a counselor saying she had injured her knee but she is fine. It wasn't until my daughter came home did we find out the whole truth. Yes she slept wrong and sprained her knee a little but she was still able to walk and do things on her own fine, but it wasn't until HER CAMP COUNSELOR (a teenage kid!) PUSHED HER OFF THE HORSE PLATFORM did she injure her knee so badly she was on crutches for the rest of her trip. I've emailed the Girl Scouts multiple times, and was always assured that someone would get back to me about this. I was not asking for my money back, I was not complaining that I wasted all my money for my daughter to do absolutely nothing there (no horseback riding, no rope course etc), I was not rude, and I was patient. What I wanted to know was the Girl Scouts' protocal when they have a staff person that was endangering a camper. I found out that a counselor who was cussing alot was let go of in the middle of the camp week, but the counselor that injured my daughter badly was free to go and hurt another camper. It is now December 2017, 6 months since the incident, many emails later, and still NO ONE EVER GOT BACK TO ME. I will NEVER EVER SEND MY DAUGHTER BACK TO THE GIRLS SCOUTS AGAIN. THEY HURT MY DAUGHTER & ARE ALLOWING IT TO HAPPEN TO OTHER CAMPERS! THAT IS NOT OKAY!!!
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November 2017 by David N.
Girl Scouts are selling Holiday cans of treats. I cannot resist buying GS stuff if they are wearing their uniforms. I don't buy them from parents. Your daughter should be selling, that's the purpose of earning her badge. I purchase two items and and asked how much. The kid added it up using her fingers LOL and it was $13. So cute! I teased her and said it was $12. She added it up again, counting her fingers and of course, it was $13. Her Mom tells her that I was trying to cheat. She's not kidding?!? Humm? With a $20, I asked how much change I should have. Counting fingers again, $7. So cute! Mom makes the change and gives me $2 and a $10. $12 not $7? Humm? I realize this walking away and returned to exchange the $10 for the correct $5. I told the GS, "I didn't want to cheat you."
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March 2017 by Mary H.
Girl Scouts of NORCAL are thieves!! I signed my daughter up for a camp this summer and didn't realize it was over night (honest mistake, site was hard for me to navigate). She's only 6 and is too young for 3 days away. I called back within an hour of making the reservation and was told my $150 was not refundable (I understand that). When I called back later to see if I could take the deposit and save for next year when she will be 8 and the overnight will be easier, they refused and said I had to use it within the year. No negotiation, no understanding from these people. When I told them that since they are so willing to take my money in this way that I will no longer have my daughter participate with them, the woman was "Okay that's fine, bye!" Completely unprofessional! Shame on you! What a complete contradiction of what Girl Scouts represents.
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August 2016 by Laura S.
Great organization for girls. I appreciate that they focus on safety and fun for its members. Some are quick to criticize policies, but in place for a reason. If you are struggling to find a troop for your daughter, why not start a troop yourself. I was a leader for 13 years with my daughter and the memories we share are priceless. Kids grow up fast, and once time is past you cannot get it back. Organization is primarily run by volunteers. Fortunate to have many camps to chose from. Getting outdoors is a huge bonus for our kids where they can disconnect from electronics.
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May 2016 by Mark S.
Simply bad service. If you are not already in the 'club' you cannot get in.
