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A rant about service.

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    A rant about service.

    I don’t want to name the retailer. I’m sure he has a good business. But, y’know? Every freakin’ time there’s something wrong.

    My first order was about a year and a half ago. The quality was excellent. The price was okay, not great but about right for the quality. My $500 shipment arrived on time, but partially thawed. This retailer doesn’t use styrofoam, and doesn’t use dry ice, but uses those soft-insulation boxes and gel-packs. This was in January. It should be frozen, I’d think. I sent an email asking about it, and he replied that it should be fine, just re-freeze it. And of course, it was.

    My next shipment was this February. It was a "mystery box", and it had a mix of good cuts and strange cuts. The price was right, but again, it was shipped the same way, and half of it was thawed. Again, I sent an email, but I also left an honest internet view, that the shipping was problematic and the quality was mixed. And THIS time, I got an email chiding me for leaving a bad review, and not giving them a chance to fix it before complaining. So I started an email exchange explaining my position, and, unsolicited, he refunded my money. Which, I didn’t ask for and didn’t want; I wasn’t taking an angle shot, I had an actual complaint that I didn’t thing the product was all that good, and that it arrived thawed. IN FEBRUARY. But, he insisted, so I took the refund.

    IDK, fool me twice, whatever. I got an email a couple weeks ago, and I couldn’t resist: 60% of assorted super high quality Wagyu. Like olive beef, snow beef, etc. And, it was specifically stated, "FREEZER SALE!" So I bought two steaks. And I kept my eye on that sucker. I ordered around mid afternoon. It shipped that evening. It arrived the following morning. Total time between order and box on the doorstep was 17 hours.

    And the steaks were packed in fiber insulation, with gel packs. And one was 40.8*, and the other was 39.3*

    So I took pictures of my IR thermo, showing the temps. And I emailed him, asking for guidance: NOT a refund. NOT an angle shot. And his return email was the same: just refreeze them, they’ll be fine. And I wrote back, "With no loss of quality?"

    And this time, I got a pissy email telling me about all the other times I complained. And pointing out that I’d left a bad review. And pointing out that he’d refunded my last order, and that if I wanted my money back he would send me a return authorization and I could send the product back.

    To which I replied that I didn’t want a refund. That I didn’t want a refund last time, but he’d insisted. I wanted good product delivered cold. And then, I told him that he should "fire me as a customer". Because for some reason we just haven’t been able to click.

    If you’ve made it this far, this is where I’m going to have to trust that my reputation stands for itself. I don’t pretend to be someone else; what I write here, this is who I am. I’ve been in sales my whole life, dealing with difficult customers. I know that sometime making people happy is hard, and I know that mistakes aren’t spread evenly among your deals, but that errors tend to "clump". But jeez, man. I’m not complaining just to complain! You’re selling a super premium product! Pack it in a super premium package!

    And, here is my proof of premise. I placed an order with Cheshire Pork on Tuesday. The shipping label was created Wednesday afternoon. The product was picked up (by UPS! Uh-oh!) Wednesday evening, with a promised delivery between 12 and 2 today. At 2:30 the time was changed to 5:30-8PM, so Mrs and I want to the movies; the box arrived at 5:57, and I got to it at 7PM. It was packed in that same fiber insulation, but with dry ice, and those ribs were FROZEN SOLID. Like I could hammer nails with them.

    Whatever. I had to tell someone who would understand. I’ve ordered from many internet retailers. I don’t know why this went down like it did. Well, I do, but this is just my side of the story.
    Last edited by Mosca; May 27, 2022, 06:19 PM.

    #2
    That all sounds unbiased and legitimate. You'd think after all this time, and your questions back to him, that he'd realize he should upgrade his methods. Shipping food stuffs is risky enough without bordering on unsafe temperatures and tempting fate. Makes no sense and is certainly not business-savvy.

    I'm not asking this lightly, I know you don't want to trash the guy's rep and business, but I also feel like you should share the business name so we can all take appropriate care if we order from there. Not out of malice, would you consider sharing the name?

    Comment


    • Mosca
      Mosca commented
      Editing a comment
      I’ll PM you. I might be .01% of his customers that has a problem.

    • Bruceski44
      Bruceski44 commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks.

    #3
    So, I hear you and won't justify the guy's actions.. BUT:

    And the steaks were packed in fiber insulation, with gel packs. And one was 40.8*, and the other was 39.3*
    That's perfectly safe. It's not like things go bad the second they hit 40F. 40F is a guideline, that's all. I know you know this, but sometimes I think we over emphasize food safety standards without talking enough about what they really are. For the most part, they're very conservative guidelines to ensure safety. You CAN cook that chicken to 165F... but of course it's safe at 160 and even 155 etc as long as it's there for enough time. Same here in reverse (it's fine at 40F, just not for days and days)

    But yeah, I don't get why some businesses do just the minimum.
    Last edited by rickgregory; May 27, 2022, 06:53 PM.

    Comment


    • Oak Smoke
      Oak Smoke commented
      Editing a comment
      Mosca Good grief! At that price they should have been delivered by Brinks. I agree supper quality should have been packaged with dry ice. My wife uses one of those nationally advertised weight loss programs where they send you the food you eat. The frozen food arrives in a styrofoam cooler with dry ice. I assure it’s isn’t nearly as costly as what you are ordering.

    • rickgregory
      rickgregory commented
      Editing a comment
      To be really clear, I'm on your side. But, well, you ordered $300/lb steaks from a place that had screwed up 2x?

    • Mosca
      Mosca commented
      Editing a comment
      rickgregory Honestly, I didn’t think they could screw it up that many times.

    #4
    I think just out of respect to the animal make sure to ship it with enough care that it won’t thaw. I’m no PETA member, but the animal lives and dies so we can eat a meal and that is worth some deference. And its parts end up in the trash?

    Comment


      #5
      So the places that say items may arrive partially thawed, I'm down with that. I adjust my order appropriately so I don't order more than I can cook and consume in a given period and assume the whole order may be thawed. But if it's a high end place that says stuff will be frozen, I'm making an order on the assumption I'm stocking the freezer. I don't want to refreeze partially frozen meat in my consumer grade freezer.

      I'm always willing to give a buisiness a second chance, like my recent experience with Click. But I've seen their packaging and know I can't order from them again until winter time to give them a second chance unless they change their packaging.

      Comment


        #6
        When he refunded you he established false expectations because it implies he thinks your service was not in line with his expectations. So based on that I understand why you think your experience is not the norm. Unfortunately, it is the norm for you (3 times).

        Who wants to refreeze a premium product like that. It's not the point whether you can taste it or not. It's that when you shop at that tier you obviously care about the details. I think the service is not in line with the product. 😑

        Comment


          #7
          I'm just not a fan of "gel pack" for cold/frozen shipping, even with short time interval shipments the packs are never cold and the protein is always less than full on hard frozen. I'm sure the retailer has some rationalization for choosing that method, but it's a deal breaker for me...............dry ice is my preference.

          Comment


            #8
            That is very frustrating. I guess the good deal is offset with bad shipping.

            Comment


              #9
              What we have here is a failure to communicate. Or at least on his part a failure to hear. I once ate at a restaurant that specialized in breakfast. When I payed the bill I was asked the classic question, "how was everything." To which I answered, everything was fine except the sausage links were not hot. To which the response was that’s because we precook them. Obviously, the question wasn’t for the purpose of improving service. The guy you emailed was trying to satisfy you instead of addressing the problem of partially thawed meat arriving. He completely missed the point.

              Comment


              • Bruceski44
                Bruceski44 commented
                Editing a comment
                Great point!

              • Mosca
                Mosca commented
                Editing a comment
                Yes, that’s exactly what I thought. I didn’t want a refund. I wanted to be satisfied. Money didn’t do it. I would have been satisfied with a discount on my next order accompanied by a promise to make sure the product arrived solid.

              #10
              Originally posted by tstalafuse View Post
              That is very frustrating. I guess the good deal is offset with bad shipping.
              There’s a truism in retail: "Price, Quality, Service. Pick two." So when I pay the price, it’s only fair to expect quality and service. I guess the price was only substantial to me, not him.

              Comment


                #11
                I felt the same as Mosca when I got my recent order from Click Akaushi. They were quick to give me a refund, but what I wanted was the meat!

                At the risk of beating a dead horse, Wild Fork Foods.
                Overnight delivery standard.
                Packed in a foam cooler with dry ice.
                Frozen like rocks every time.
                Great quality product.
                Very competitive pricing.

                Comment


                  #12
                  These are the reason why I am scared to order meats online or with shipping invloved

                  Comment


                  • Mosca
                    Mosca commented
                    Editing a comment
                    I’ll tell you right now, you can’t go wrong with Creekstone Farms, nor with Cheshire Pork. The product and the service both exceed expectations, at both places. And, I’ve never had a bad order from Snake River Farms, and I’ve been ordering from there as long as I can remember. I trust them with my Christmas dinner roasts.

                  #13
                  This story saddens me. My only online meat experience is from Wild Fork Foods, and their brisket arrived frozen rock hard in a cooler with dry ice in it. If they’re selling $4.99/lb brisket and shipping it with dry ice, there’s no excuse for anyone not to do that, especially someone selling wagyu steaks for hundreds per pound.

                  Penny wise and pound foolish doesn’t begin to describe it. Thanks for sharing.

                  Comment

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