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Porter Road-my first order

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    #16
    Well, my second order from Porter Road is on the way, and was SCHEDULED to be delivered today, based on the tracking information, but will actually not be here until "Wednesday end of day".

    Somehow I think all that frozen stuff won't be frozen with an extra day of shipping.

    The first shipment made it from Kentucky to north Alabama in 12 hours (overnight), leaving them at 5:30pm, and was here at 9:30am the next morning. This one looks like it will be in transit for 48 hours to make the same trip....

    Comment


    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      fzxdoc I am sure if it is all thawed they will make it right.

      rickgregory I took a risk on their current "stock up" sale as the last time, due to the proximity from where they are to where I am, the standard shipping was overnight. This time, it got stuck in the corner of a depot in Nashville, and missed the 3AM truck to my local distribution center.

    • fzxdoc
      fzxdoc commented
      Editing a comment
      Bummer. Let us know what happens. I ordered from Porter Road last month and had no problems. I wasn't impressed with their hot dogs, BTW. But the rest of the package I liked so far.

      K

    • rickgregory
      rickgregory commented
      Editing a comment
      jfmorris - oh yeah, I don't blame you for diving in. I almost did. But its still 80+ along the southern US from coast to coast and given that I'm 2000 miles from them... I'll wait.

    #17
    Well, Fedex showed up with the Porter Road box around 3:15pm today.

    The verdict?

    While the Gel packs were still frozen, and were pretty large, they packed stuff WAY too loosely inside the box in my mind, with some brown paper to take up some of the air space.

    7 of 10 pounds of ground beef were above 40. The hotdogs were 50. The bacon ends were 50. 3 pounds of the ground beef were below 40, the chili beef was below 40, the butt was no longer frozen, but was below 40. The only thing still frozen was the beef osso buco, which was right on top of a gel pack.

    I sorted it out, and put the stuff below 40 into one freezer in the garage, and the stuff above 40 into the freezer on top of my beer fridge, then went to give Porter Road a call.

    They are resending me everything that was above 40 degrees, with upgraded shipping. I would have preferred everything remained frozen all the way to me, but as long as it was below 40 degrees using the IR, I'll deal with refreezing it. That was their cutoff really - he said they would not guarantee it remain frozen, but that it should arrive at food safe temperatures. I can't complain about that, and if its as warm as this week has gotten, will do expedited shipping next time, rather than the free option. I was just spoiled because the first shipment came pretty much overnight - shipped on Monday, here on Tuesday at 10:30am. This time it shipped Monday afternoon, but sat in a depot at Fedex for 36 hours, before heading to me today, and got onto the afternoon rather than the morning truck. The guy at Porter Road did say 2 days was acceptable for the standard shipping, and it would be, if it had arrived this morning probably.

    So I feel their customer service is good, depending on how the re-shipment looks when it arrives.

    Here you can see what I mean about being packed way too loosely in a oversized box - if this had been tighter, I think it would have all been good. A lot of the warm stuff was in the top of the box, not touching an ice pack.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_3209.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	2.81 MB ID:	927443
    Last edited by jfmorris; October 21, 2020, 02:53 PM.

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    • Donw
      Donw commented
      Editing a comment
      Your analysis is spot on. My past two orders have had some, but not all, items over temp. They are great on customer service with prompt reshipment or refunds but the standard box is just too big to keep everything cold. The smaller items just can’t stay cold in that large space. Also noticed that when they used UPS we didn’t have problems but their switch to FedEx ground makes every order a gamble now

    • klflowers
      klflowers commented
      Editing a comment
      I had that same problem with some sausage orders from Black's earlier in the summer. The order sat in a FedEx depot in Nashville of all places for 36 hours. I could have driven to Nashville and picked it up. My Creekstone order was shipped through UPS; better service for that order anyway.
      Last edited by klflowers; October 21, 2020, 03:05 PM.

    #18
    My PR orders have come packed the same way. Looks like they just threw the items in the box. They really need to work on that part of their operation. Maybe a little training for the shipping department is in order?

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      #19
      Yeah, my first order was just 2 smaller cuts - a pork brisket and a tri-tip, in a box that was just about the right size for those 2 pieces of meat. This order needed a smaller box for sure.

      I'm going to email a suggestion to their customer service, as the box size is what did this order in, plus the extra 36 hours in Nashville.

      Comment


      • klflowers
        klflowers commented
        Editing a comment
        You could have picked it up in Nashville too lol

      • jfmorris
        jfmorris commented
        Editing a comment
        klflowers yeah, if I felt like driving 2 hours each way. It would have all still been frozen.

      #20
      So many of these meat vendors are having to re-ship orders. I see a lot of it here alone, but surely it's happening to everyone not just PMC members. I wonder how their profits are doing and how many meetings they've had with their box packers.

      Comment


      • Jfrosty27
        Jfrosty27 commented
        Editing a comment
        Has to be costing them a ton of money. PR could fix their packaging very quickly but don’t seem to be concerned about it.

      • rickgregory
        rickgregory commented
        Editing a comment
        Honestly, I'm way less offended by the hit on their profits and far more offended by the waste. I mean, I'm a carnivore but I try to be respectful of what I eat and they're wasting the harvest of living animals all because they won't fix their packaging. Their site is all about the respect they have for the animals and 'raising it right' and then they do this?

        Not impressed.

      • Huskee
        Huskee commented
        Editing a comment
        Great point rickgregory. I hope folks are able to fridge the thawed meats or have a couple big cooks so it's not a total waste.

      #21
      I do wonder how many people actually check temps vs just throw it in the freezer. Obviously people like us do but id bet the majority of people do not. I know the reason they dont ship on dry ice is because they ship many items fresh and never frozen but there has to be some sort of happy medium that can improve packing conditions. That said, its probably more on fedex/ups than it is porter road.

      Comment


      • rickgregory
        rickgregory commented
        Editing a comment
        But if they're going to do the 'fresh, never frozen' bit, they need to ante up for speedier shipping and only ship early in the week so it never sits over a weekend. They can even pass this on to customers if they want - "Fresh meats require next day shipping." etc. But touting that as an advantage and then shipping in inadequate packaging is inexcusable.
        Last edited by rickgregory; October 22, 2020, 11:01 AM.

      • grantgallagher
        grantgallagher commented
        Editing a comment
        rickgregory i dont disagree with you there. They need to plan for shipping delays and package accordingly.

      #22
      I had two shipments in a row come thawed and partially thawed, one from Compart and one from Allen Brothers, but neither were their fault; both times I got trapped at work and didn’t get the package until 9PM. Everything was still under 40*, but the order from Compart was more than we could eat comfortably in the recommended refrigerator time, and I wound up giving about half of it away. The ribs that were partially thawed, I refroze, and they have been fine when I’ve cooked them.

      The thing in my case isn’t whose fault, that was obvious. It was the disappointment. All that anticipation!

      Now I always order with expedited shipping, and specify Tuesday delivery, because that’s my day off. I’m spending hundreds of dollars, I’ll pony up the extra $20 to get it when I want it.

      Comment

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