We buy our beef and pork from a local farm that raises a wonderful product. The meat is all natrual , no hormones or extended antibiotic use. The animals are well taken care of and the owners really care about what they do. We enjoy doing business with them. Our challenge is with the local meat locker that our wonderful farmer friends use. We ordered a quarter of beef and I went in to the locker to let them know how I wanted it cut etc. One of the owners filled out the form and said he would let us know when it was done. Five days later we get a call from one of the workers,wanting to know" how we wanted this meat cut". The caller was a little put out because we had not let them know how we wanted it cut. We informed him that I had been in the week before and filled out the info. He wanted to know "who the H*** took the order". I dont' know their names so I couldn't tell him. We did a quick order over the phone. The man lacked customer service skills. His attitude(in my opinion) should have been "Oh So Sorry" but instead was"what a waste of my time". A few days later we got a call,our beef was ready. We went to pick it up and a third charming fellow waited on us. He brought our beef out of the freezer in two trays and dumped them into two boxes which my husband loaded into our truck. We have some friends who are recently out of work so we dropped off some beef to them,went home and proceeded to put the beef in the freezer when we noticed half of the packages had a different name on them. The charming fellow had givin us someone elses beef. So we call the locker , explain the prob and their responce was "Oh S*** bring it back in and we will find yours" Off we went back to our friends to retrieve the beef we gave them and then on to the locker to get the right beef. No "Oh I'm so sorry" Just a silent surly exhange. We had also ordered a whole hog from our wonderful friends and they let us know when it would be taken in. We went in to fill out the cutting form and waited for the call that it was done. They didnt' lose our form this time. We got the call the hog was done and the next day we went in to get it. It seemed to go off with out a hitch and my husband checked the name on the packages before we left the locker. We got home and was putting the pork in the freezer when I noticed that quite a few of the packages had smashed,torn corners. It looked like someone had taken the package and dragged the corner across concrete. I held up a package to my husband to show him and he told me that when the same charming fellow that put our beef in the boxes unloaded our pork from the trays he didnt' just dump the trays in the boxes , he took each package and threw it down into the boxes on the floor. I asked him why he didn't say anything and he said at that point he had decided we would not be using that locker anymore. When we got to the bottom of that box we found this.
The package wasn't even sealed shut. We decided next year we would just pick up our hog from the farm and take it to a different locker. There is one south of us that is family run and has wonderful customer service. The meat we get from our friends is wonderful so we will just figure out a way to avoid using our local locker. We totally believe in supporting our local economy but I see no point in funding awful customer service. In todays economy a store of any type should not allow a lack of genuine customer service. I've also noticed an alarming trend in the young people who are working behind the cash register. They mostly ignore you and if you do request something they act like your anoying them. I have mentioned on several different occaisons that they needed to realize that the customer was in fact paying their salery. In reply they have rolled their eyes, given me blank looks and even a snort or two. We work hard for our money and I'm not going to spend it someplace that treats me like an anoyance. What we usually do is mention the problem the first time and if we encounter it again we just stop shopping there. Anybody else run into this? How do you handle it?
Comments
Monday, March 31, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by gabbie427
Wow. What a story! I would personally write the owner a letter telling him how displeased you were with the service the last two times you were in and send a picture of the meat not even wrapped up you showed here. If you hear no response, then obviously they do not want your business. If you hear a reply such as we will give you a very large discount on yoru next order, then I would give themone more try to see if the owner has had them change their ways. The owner may have no idea the guys in the office are treating customers like this and should be told. The sad part is, he may very well be one of the guys you talked to, or just doesn't care, and in that case, go elsewhere.
So sorry you had such a bad experience. We had a whole hog processed and had a great experience with the locker. Gary, the owner talked to me and walked me through it since this was the first time for me and when we asked if there was any way my hubby could pick up the meat at 5:15 when he normally closes as 5 he said sure. Then he called back at about 5 and said he was going to be driving through the town hubby works at and asked if he could get ahold of him and drop the meat off for him at work in a few minutes. I said sure!!! So he delivered it right to Matthew's car as Matthew was locking up at work.
God's Blessings,
Amy Jo
Monday, March 31, 2008 - Here, here!!!
Posted by ourlilhomestead
I totally agree that we should not have to tolerate poor customer service. There are web sites that you can post reviews of local businesses on. Maybe find some & give this locker a review? Youngins don't realize (or don't care) that word of mouth can either make or break a business.
How would I handle it? I'd demand to see a manager or owner right away, show them the poor quality of their packaging, customer service & make sure he/she dealt with it immediately. Not only should they reprocess your order & take any financial loss that comes with doing that, but they should also compensate you for your wasted time.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by gokings13
I would not write a letter or send an email.
I would make an appointment, with the owner (s) face to face and tell them everything you have told us, including photos.
You will know by their body language if they care or not. THEN go to the other locker. Tell their owners of your experience and ask what are their customer service policies that are in place that will protect you, the paying customer, from being treated like this at their locker.
Unfortunately, the younger generation is lazy, and has no work ethic (minus the very small minority of well raised children :-). I deal with this every time I go to work.
Laura
Monday, April 14, 2008 - Farmer's perspective
Posted by Jim Cutler
As someone who raises beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and milk, I have had to deal with this same problem recently. And it cost me dearly.
Please carefully let your farmer know what happened, so they don't get a customer who is less forgiving, who might require a refund from the farmer (I know - it's not the farmer's fault the locker messed up, but that's not the point. The farmer recommended the locker by taking the animal there.)
Also, it's not just the younger generation that is rude, pompous, arrogant and lacking customer service skills. I was dealing directly with the owners, and they were completely uninterested in the fact that they misrepresented the ingredients they used in making their pork sausage (stating it was "salt and pepper" seasoning, when asked what they put in the sausage). When we received our second batch of pork, the label had changed, and listed preservatives and other so-called inert ingredients. They said the FDA/USDA did not require them to disclose those ingredients. They also said I didn't ask them if those things were in the mix.
Anyway, we will not use them, and will warn others.
Thanks for giving the details. Please help your friendly farmer by giving them to him.
Jim Cutler
pilgrimsacres.com