| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 08:09:20 AM
And I'm bummed about it, girls. If we're not actual farmers on this forum, we all try to do our part to support local farmers and agro businesses, I know.
Saturday, I stopped at the poultry farm, just down the road from my house. Been in business for 90 years, with a small retail poultry store located on site.
I asked if I could have 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts--he said he bags them with 6. I asked him to weigh them for me, so he went round the corner and yelled, "that's $14.00." That's way more than I would usually pay, honestly, but I was there, so I said, "ok". I also looked at the pricing board, and asked if he had any ground turkey @$2.50 lb. "I'll need a pound". He said he only had them in 2 lb bags, but then found 1 pound, so that was a go. He quoted me "$16.00 even", to leave off the .50. I handed him my debit card, which they've always taken, and they promote that as a convenience.
He took my card around the corner (wearing large purple rubber gloves the whole time) and while I waited, 3 more customers came in. He yelled, "This card isn't working, do you have another?" I didn't, and it had just worked at the four other placed I'd been...he continued to sound flustered in the back, then came out and said, "how much did I say it was?" "$16.00." I said. Then he said, "No, it's $18.00" One of the customers that had come in a few minutes prior said, "I heard him tell you $16.00..." and I mentioned it again. And still he said, "No, $18.00." He came back around the corner, tossed my card across the table at me and said, "Your card has been declined. I had to run it about 18 times for it to even work and now it's been declined."
So, I'm embarrassed, and frustrated, because a) I know I have money and b) I know that he overcharged me and c) I'm wondering why he's being such a jerk....
I give him the cash that was in my daughter's birthday card (that I was taking next, to the bank to deposit into her savings account) and I walked out with my tail between my legs.
I went to the bank to make sure everything was kosher (it was!) and that he didn't charge me 18 times, then went home and started to prepare the chicken for the freezer. THE SMALLEST CHICKEN BREASTS I'VE EVER SEEN. Certainly not worth $14.00 and MOST certainly not worth the treatment I received.
With these days of online reviews for everything, including farms, I decided to call them instead of posting on line where everyone could read it. The owner's wife answered, I explained, she apologized but said, "what do you want us to do?" I told her that in future, a bit of discretion and customer service would be a good thing. But, unfortunately for this farm and me, our future is limited...I won't be going back. 
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| FARMALLChick |
Posted - Mar 07 2012 : 1:27:57 PM
That man was rude and to handle your card while wear the rubber gloves that he handles meat with - GROSS!!!! I don't care how long some one is in business - if they are rude - I don't go back. I let everyone I know what happened. Word of mouth can be a business' best friend or worst enemy. That farm certainly does NOT deserve to get any more of your business or your money.
Lora
If it ain't red, leave it in the shed.
www.CountryFriedAcres.etsy.com
www.farmallchick.blogspot.com
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| frannie |
Posted - Mar 07 2012 : 09:30:22 AM
so sorry to hear these folks did ya wrong, jonni, and they did. i can imagine all kinds of reasons why it happened, but none of them have anything to do with you.
i probably wouldnt go back. would i post about their business, probably, but i would wait a while, cause unlike you, i can be a real hot head!
once again, i am just sorry that you were mistreated.
love
frannie in texas
farmgirl sister#807
home of "green"crafts,
where no scrap is left behind
(http://abunnystale.wordpress.com/)
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| rough start farmgirl |
Posted - Mar 07 2012 : 05:43:28 AM
JOnni,
If you have any reason that you might want to use this farmer again, I would call back and talk to that woman again with a request in mind. Perhaps you would like her to see the breasts that you were over charged for so that she could swap them for some premium ones ...
If you don't care to have to pass this vendor without stepping foot in there again, go ahead and post.
I think you did the right thing in letting them have the chance to make good before you posted, now that you have had time to think about it, maybe you do still want to patronize their establishment?
Good luck!
Marianne |
| goneriding |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 10:19:00 PM
Sorry you had a tough time. Like you, I wouldn't go back either. Actually, now that I'm rather cranky when things like this happen, I don't have much problem with tossing it back in their lap. I'd prolly just get my card back, thank them and leave without the product. Yeah, I'm that snarky at times...
Once, in Wmart, I used my card, it worked. I walked to the jewelry counter and it wouldn't work. Used hubby's card (on the same account), it worked. Then, we were leaving and I remembered something, grabbed it and walked to the outdoor cashier and thought I'd see if my card would work. It did!!
http://www.bonanza.com/booths/irishwin
http://www.etsy.com/shop/wingriffin
http://lostadventuresintrucking.blogspot.com
http://lostadventuresincooking.blogspot.com
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| Alee |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 7:56:58 PM
What do you want to bed the machine wasn't even plugged in? LOL ;) I am so sorry you had a bad experience. Life is so much nicer when people treat each other kindness even in stressful situations. It must be the phase of the moon or something because I swear someone has been putting cranky juice in everyone's coffee around here lately too!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
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| katmom |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 7:03:44 PM
I am of the understanding that if you re-swipe the card more than 3 times in a location(consecutivly) the card will atomaticly cancel out... I did this once while at a shop,,, I swiped it, typed in a pin#,,, it said wrong pin so I re-swiped & again entered a pin,, again... 'wrong pin... I did it a 3rd time & it locked out my card...I was typing in my computer pin instead of my debit pin... duh! When I called the bank and told them, they said it was a security measure... so could it be, the ornary old cuss,,,had swiped it through so many times that the bank locked the account, in case it was afradulant use of your card? not excusing his behavior,,, just wondering why he ran it through rather than typing in the numbers.
>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom.
"Is it time for my Dirt Manicure yet!"
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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| laurzgot |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 1:46:50 PM
Jonni, Sorry to hear that you had a frusterating experience with the local farmer. True he could have had a bad day and not tech. savvy. But that is no excuse for bad customer service. No matter what kind of day the bussiness person is having, you always have a smile on your face and be considerate of others.
Laurie
suburban countrygirl at heart
http://www.etsy.com/people/lauriescott60
Aprons and More |
| Miss Bee Haven |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 1:46:31 PM
If there's a place where you can post it online, do it. And I wouldn't go back. That woman had a perfect chance to fix things and she showed that customer service isn't what they're about.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
| LuckyMommyof5 |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 1:16:14 PM
Jonni - I am so sorry to read of your bad experience. This guy was completely in the wrong - and so was his wife. The answer to a legitimate complaint from a customer is not "what do you want us to do about it?" The answer a vendor should give is, "we are so sorry, what can we do FOR you?" Any business can make a mistake, but treating customers badly is unforgivable in my book.
I can't tell you how many bad customer service experiences I've had in recent years and they seem to increase as time goes on. I try to buy local as much as I can, too, and my girls and I often frequent a weekly farmers' market in a nearby county. Some of the vendors are great, while some act downright hostile (not unfriendly, HOSTILE) when I ask them any questions about what they have for sale. I always avoid those who are like that on subsequent trips.
I also had a similar experience last year when I went to an outlet mall and tried to buy some clothes for my girls. We were the only ones in the store at the time, but the saleswoman seemed visibly peeved at helping us out. When we went to check out, she seemed to be having a hard time with her scanner and she had to keep clearing out the sale and starting over. I tried to defuse the situation by making a joke about technology being a pain sometimes, but she didn't even crack a smile. She finally told me she would have to move us to another checkout, and stepped over to one - leaving me to grab all our merchandise and truck it over there myself (while shifting my kids and baby!) By this time, the store was getting busier and when she finally finished ringing us up, I handed her my debit card and she swiped it, but nothing happened. She swiped it three more times and then started YELLING that it had been declined - for everyone to hear. I knew she was wrong because I had just been at my bank the day before, but she wouldn't even let me use the phone to call my bank (I had inadvertantly left my cell phone in our van before we went in)! I asked to see a manager, but she informed me she WAS the manager! We ended up leaving empty-handed because I didn't have any other means of payment with me that day. I felt humiliated. I called my bank when we got back to our van ad retrieved my cell phone and the rep said my account was fine and no payment request had ever come through from that store. I've never been back to that store and I never will.
I think customer service has really gone downhill a lot of places, and it is so aggravating and sad.
Farmgirl Sister #3243
"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong." - Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 09:14:46 AM
Jonni: I am sorry that had to happen to you. It seems sometimes we all try to do good in helping, shopping with the local farmers, etc... and then something like that happens.
Just remember, it is not like that in all places or with other local farmers. Hugs to you.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 09:05:57 AM
Jonni, sounds like the guy was having a bad day. But he needs to be careful with what he says or let someone else come wait on customers. That's a good way to lose business. I always say when someone is like that that there is a reason. But still. He is a business man and should not talk to his customers like that especially in a room full of others. I don't thnik I'd go back for awhile. Or maybe you should go right back and talk to the man.
I go to a local slaughterhouse to get my dog food and bones. They also sell beef and pork. I get there bacon and sometimes sausage. The bacon is $3.50 a pound. I just noticed the other day that on one package it had .78 pounds. So I am going to talk to them about that. They are nice enough to give me the bones but they just throw them away so I don't feel bad. And the beef hearts too. They throw them away. It's not like they need my business. Every time I go there are at least 2 other people there buying meat or picking up their own meat. But still, that can add up. I think they need to be fair with their prices. Just because they aren't a big store.
I hope you can get this worked out and continue to buy from them. You are a good person for supporting the local economy and farmwers. Thank you!! I am a farmer and appreciate you and all the others who support the "little people" out there. It really means alot.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 08:53:10 AM
I think you're right about that, Dorinda! Guys have trouble with technology and cooth! I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt--having worked retail my whole life as a second job, I know there are times when cards don't work, when cards are declined because they've been shopping up a storm and the bank enforces security measures (that was in the fine print of their agreement that they didn't read) and sometimes, when they're just plain over their limit, but there are SO many other ways to go about it than throwing my card back at me and announcing to a full room that it was declined (he said it 3 times!) and act like I was an inconvenience. I'll give it some time, but I probably won't hurry back any time, soon. It doesn't appear they have a shortage of customers, so they won't miss me :)
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
| Dorinda |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 08:42:43 AM
I hate it when things like that happen. We do alot of debits in our business.. When the guys pump out a septic for someone they get their debit card number if they are not paying with a check or cash. They bring me the numbers in the afternoon and then I sit down and run the numbers. Every once in a while I get one that is declined and I have to call the customer. Most of the time it is because the guys have wrote the number down wrong. But it still makes me feel bad to have to call them and explain that I think my guy wrote the number down wrong. I am very discreet about it so as not to hurt the customers feelings or embarrassed them. I will only communicate with the person that owns the card not anyone else that answers the phone. But Jonni that sounds like something a guy would do. No cooth.... That is a little expensive for chicken breast. It can be the machine some times. I also have had that happen and have had to call the merchant that we have our machine through. He always just brings me a new machine when he comes just in case. I would probably go back after a while. I work with all of these men and I swear women are so much brighter when it comes to handleing business matters. They are loud and abnoxious. Okay prime example . The guy that has some of his cows on our property came by yesterday. He was going to castrate one of his calves. He has 2 other guys with him. I am in the back yard at my garden. He starts yelling at me from across the way Hey do you have any cow pellets over around your shed I need to corner this calf so I can cuts his balls off and by the way your dog is out here eating cow s--t!!!! The 2 younger guys with him start laughing. I am just standing over there thinking oh lord give me a break....LOL.. I think the yelling thing is just bread into the farmer men...
Seize The Day!
Dorinda |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 08:26:44 AM
I'm not so sure, Julie--they've been in business since 1911 and there is another "up and coming" generation to run the farm. I've been waited on before, by a younger man who is very easy going and good natured, so perhaps I just came on a bad day and the old guy isn't used to dealing with people or technology. I do think the chicken breast were really puny for what I paid, though--his wife said, "well, I think you'll still like our chicken." and I replied, "if it doesn't go down with a bitter pill!"
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
| FarmDream |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 08:17:19 AM
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. It sounds like he was very busy and flustered. That's not a good excuse for poor customer service. It sounds like he got your card mussed up with those gloves. I've been to several places and my card hasn't worked, due to the machine being old and not my card being declined. Since the wife doesn't know about customer service either, the other customer heard/saw him overcharging you, and the quality is not up to what one would expect, I think he won't be so busy in the near future.
~FarmDream is Farmgirl Sister #3069
Live Today, Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow
http://naturaljulie.etsy.com
http://julie-rants.blogspot.com |
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