TERRIBLE Experience with Garden Grocer

[LeCras]

We have used Garden Grocer in the past and have been completely satisfied. In fact, we have placed another order for when we go back to SSR on 30 September.

Charlotte

 

[lkjasd]

We tried to use GG for the first time last night (prior to reading this thread). We could not get the delivery day we wanted due to the delivery slots being all full. A very nice person (Brian?) talked to my wife at 11:05 PM (She was calling just to get the hours so she would know when to call back) and the phone was answered. They were very nice and explained the situation and why they were now limiting deliveries. They recommended that we have delivery the night before and that Bell Services would keep the order until the next day for us.

Sounds like they have fixed their problems (hopefully), but I will report back as to how my experience goes.

 

[Mickeygolf]

So how far in advance do you need to get your order in to beat the cut off? I have no problem having the groceries delivered to Bell Services. Saves me time from having to wait around for my room to be ready. I like that you can pay in advance and not have to be there when groceries are delivered.

 

[mbhoxsie]

Brian's quote:
"We are extremely polite and professional to people who treat us that way as well, not so much to those who don't"

I believe was WAY out of line... In the customer service business, you can NEVER drop one-liners like that... As I've said before, I am a Supervisor in customer service job, and would have to let go of any of my employees that let something like that drop... Brian, no matter how upset he gets or no matter what kind of email or phone call he receives, is in no position to act like that.

No matter how many satisfied customers you have, it's the unsatisfied ones that you need to pay extra attention to and work with.. (Especially when your business relies on word of mouth and recommendations like his..)

 

[2 princes 1 princess]

"I'll never use you again. Service was TERRIBLE. Order arrived 6 hours late after too many phone calls to count and rude and unprofessional attitude on your part. What's up with "Satisfaction Guaranteed". I still was charged the full amount. I feel I at least deserve a refund of my delivery charge for my inconvenience. I am a DISBoard member and I have also posted my dissatisfaction about you there. "

This is the e-mail I replied to. Some may feel my response to be a little harsh but we did not receive a phone call during or after the trip to ask a simple question or express displeasure. The person sent this e-mail and posted on the board without discussing this at all or asking us to do anything. Even when the order was delivered to the Bell Stand later that night there wasn't a mention of my being rude or anything like that. That is why I said "I don't specifically remember your order" in the e-mail.

I am not going to engage in a arguement with a former customer here but there are ALWAYS 2 sides to EVERY story and I have been reluctant to state mine. Sure I got a little emotional with my e-mail response but I feel as though if the situation was THAT bad we could have discussed it without all the drama.

This will be my final post on this thread but 99.9% of our customers are VERY happy with the service we provide and about 5-10 out of over 5,000 may not be, some for good reason. We work VERY hard but are not perfect.

We have never to my knowledge refused to deliver any pre-paid goods, so I don't really know what that comment was about. As a matter of fact many times we get payment after the goods are provided.

Brian Coleman
GardenGrocer

Well, this post inspired me to cancel my order and either use another service or stop at the grocery with 3 kids, and my in laws waiting in the car. I will not support this guy in his business if this is how he treats customers.

You sound ridiculous Brian. I am not comfortable with a person like you handling groceries for my family. (I'm sure I'm the one who is out of line now so I guess everyone can flame away). If you are going to sit and argue with a customer who paid extra for groceries just for your service to deliver them within a specific time frame, (which you did not do) you are not going to get my business or the business from anyone I know.

Good luck to you and may you have fun working on those "customer service skills" we Disney people expect when we are there on vacation.

 

[NMW]

I debated about whether or not to post this reply to my complaint to Garden Grocer, but since you asked, here it is. For the record, I was NEVER rude. I was however extremely disappointed. I think their response speaks for itself. They did after a subsequent email from me refund my $10.00 delivery fee.

We had more orders than we could do during that time, we had people working 20+ hours per day and still weren't able to keep up. We apologize for the inconvenience but don't remember your order specifically. We are extremely polite and professional to people who treat us that way as well, not so much to those who don't.

We will gladly delete your account so that all your information is gone from our system.

The GardenGrocer.com Team

I think that response is very rude. I would never, NEVER use a company that spoke to it's customers that way. The "not so much to those that don't" sounds like a child speaking.

 

[disneyjunkie]

So how far in advance do you need to get your order in to beat the cut off? I have no problem having the groceries delivered to Bell Services. Saves me time from having to wait around for my room to be ready. I like that you can pay in advance and not have to be there when groceries are delivered.

Our next trip is during President's Day week. Week. I just spoke to Brian and he said I could place my order now to beat the cut off.

He was very helpful and friendly. He patiently answered all of my questions. Even the silly ones.

 

[mbhoxsie]

Have you used WEGOSHOP on a Sunday?

Bobbi

We used Wegoshop a few weeks ago, and had delivery set on Sunday...

Marge was very upfront that she had church and that the delivery was going to have to be in the afternoon... (Which we didn't care because OKW didn't have our room ready until after 16:00 anyways...)

Marge called both our cell phones and room phone at 16:15, and had the delivery to our room by 17:00...

Personally, I can respect that Marge puts her religious obligations first... I get annoyed that these days everyone is chasing after dollar signs and stores and businesses are often staying open on Sundays and holidays just because their competitors are...

 

[NMW]

We used Wegoshop a few weeks ago, and had delivery set on Sunday...

I get annoyed that these days everyone is chasing after dollar signs and stores and businesses are often staying open on Sundays and holidays just because their competitors are...

Just curious, where do you live that all or mostly all stores are not open on Sunday?? All stores where I live are open on Sundays. The only place I have ever lived or lived near, where stores were closed on Sundays was Paramus in Bergen County NJ. It had nothing to do with religion either. The residents complained about the traffic the two malls (Paramus Park Mall & Garden State Plaza) brought to their streets. In addition to hundreds of other stores in strip malls and on RT's 17 and 4. I believe they were called "blue laws" or something like that. I had no idea that other parts of the country did this as well.

 

[mbhoxsie]

Just curious, where do you live that all or mostly all stores are not open on Sunday?? All stores where I live are open on Sundays. The only place I have ever lived or lived near, where stores were closed on Sundays was Paramus in Bergen County NJ. It had nothing to do with religion either. The residents complained about the traffic the two malls (Paramus Park Mall & Garden State Plaza) brought to their streets. In addition to hundreds of other stores in strip malls and on RT's 17 and 4. I believe they were called "blue laws" or something like that. I had no idea that other parts of the country did this as well.

I live in a major metropolitan area, and most stores are open on Sundays where I am at... Holidays too.... I've actually worked retail at a few of the larger discount stores.. (Walmart, K-Mart, and the like..) I have also worked on those days... Easter.. Thanksgiving.. Christmas Day... That is where my dislike stems from...

There are days we would stay open... Absolutely NO CUSTOMERS would be in the store, and here the company was, wasting money, making employees miss out on family events, simply because our competition decided to stay open...

All of us are working harder than ever these days... Our lives are get more hectic as technology gets faster and time just seems to slip through our fingers...

Isn't that why we bought into DVC in the first place?? To get away every now and then and remember the important things...

For that reason... I can understand Marge not delivering until Sunday afternoons...

 

[mcorbo]

Just curious, where do you live that all or mostly all stores are not open on Sunday?? All stores where I live are open on Sundays. The only place I have ever lived or lived near, where stores were closed on Sundays was Paramus in Bergen County NJ. It had nothing to do with religion either. The residents complained about the traffic the two malls (Paramus Park Mall & Garden State Plaza) brought to their streets. In addition to hundreds of other stores in strip malls and on RT's 17 and 4. I believe they were called "blue laws" or something like that. I had no idea that other parts of the country did this as well.

I live in Bergen County, and yes, I believe that this is the only area left in the country with blue laws. Paramus, located in Bergen County, still has the strictest of the blue laws and It's amazing, that in a 10 square mile town, with 5 major shopping malls, that they are still the top retail zip code in the country and closed on Sundays. The laws were originally religious in nature, but currently are still in existence to keep peace in the town 1 day per week.

 

[Dean]

I live in Bergen County, and yes, I believe that this is the only area left in the country with blue laws. Paramus, located in Bergen County, still has the strictest of the blue laws and It's amazing, that in a 10 square mile town, with 5 major shopping malls, that they are still the top retail zip code in the country and closed on Sundays. The laws were originally religious in nature, but currently are still in existence to keep peace in the town 1 day per week.

They are still common in the south though less stringent and less well enforced from what they once were from what I've seen.

 

[DiznEeyore]

I think that response is very rude. I would never, NEVER use a company that spoke to it's customers that way. The "not so much to those that don't" sounds like a child speaking.

No kidding!!

I had considered using GG as well, but now, NO WAY. His replies have left a very bad taste in my mouth. I appreciate the OP and others sharing their experiences so that we've been able to see the "true colors" of GG's owner.

 

[bmalonef45]

We used GG in June and were very pleased. I will use Brian's company again someday.

It is too bad that this got to this point here on this thread. Did GG miss quite a few opportunities to step up and make a statement for his customer service? You Bet!

Has his company displayed effort to correct some of the problems? It appears so.

I'm sure he learned a lesson to take care of problems directly and not post on this board. I think the proper response would have been to resolve the problems with each customer and then wait for them to post a positive comment regarding how well it was handled.

Being a business owner I understand the emotions that obviously came to the surface. They only hurt in this situation. I hope it all works out and those who read this will be open minded and use their best judgement. Everyone makes mistakes but the where the difference is made is when those making them actually learn from them. To me it sounds like Brian has and may, for his business' sake, do some bridge mending.

Brian still has my business and hope he keeps up the good work he displayed on our last experience.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am annoyed that Brian did give some compensation to someone who he described as rude, and had ignored us completely. Last week, I sent out a letter through the post office and have not gotten a response from that either, although I did enclose my phone or e-mail address as well as my home address.

I will let this go now....but if I do hear from him privately, I will mention that.

Bobbi

 

[DreaminDisney]

We are extremely polite and professional to people who treat us that way as well, not so much to those who don't.

The GardenGrocer.com Team

WOW!

 

[Scotch]

I don't check the DIS boards regularly now, so I'm adding my experience very late. I used GG this past June during our visit visit to VWL, and we also had the late delivery experience. I had requested delivery at the beginning of a delivery window, but I would have understood even if the delivery arrrived at the end of the window. I planned to cook dinner that first night after a day of eating fast food on the road. However, after several calls (after our arrival) and promises to arrive shortly, we gave up waiting because we have a toddler and he was hungry. The grocery was finally delivered to the bell desk a bit before we returned to our room after eating dinner at Roaring forks -- the bell desk message indicated the food was delivered around two hours after the end of our window. However, what makes our experience apparently unique amongst the experiences posted so far on this thread is this: Without prompting on our part, Brian left a voicemail message for us saying he was refunding our $10 fee to make up for the delay and inconvenience. That did not make up the frustration we had experienced and the extra expense we incurred since we had planned pretty tightly how much food we would use for cooking in and how many nights we would eat out -- we had purchased the dining plan for the rest of the trip starting the next day so we ended up having to toss food away because of the extra night out. However, his unprompted refund of the service fee did take away some of our displeasure and the gesture was appreciated.

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

How much are the prices at GG marked up? All of the prices look quite a bit higher than we pay here in NE but I am guessing this is the case in the store also. Just trying to decide if the mark up is enough that we should shop ourselves.

Mike

 

[lkjasd]

Well, we used GG for our trip last week and everything went fine. We arrived Saturday and everything was waiting for us in the "backroom" at the Poly. Everything was correct with only one item substituted (We ordered two of the Krispy Kreme mini donuts but the one of the regular size was substituted. We weren't sure on whether this was an "even" trade of two small sizes for one larger but figured it wasn't worth arguing over). Also, as a bonus, if you order refrigerated items, they come in a hot/cold bag that you get to keep (obviously paid for in the delivery charge and increased food costs). We used it at the park everyday to keep our drinks cold.

If anyone is worried about delivery, I say to have your stuff ordered a day early so there won't be any issues. We were very happy with the service and would use them again.

We tried to use GG for the first time last night (prior to reading this thread). We could not get the delivery day we wanted due to the delivery slots being all full. A very nice person (Brian?) talked to my wife at 11:05 PM (She was calling just to get the hours so she would know when to call back) and the phone was answered. They were very nice and explained the situation and why they were now limiting deliveries. They recommended that we have delivery the night before and that Bell Services would keep the order until the next day for us.

Sounds like they have fixed their problems (hopefully), but I will report back as to how my experience goes.

 

[dis-happy]

Wow, I had to read through the whole thread after leaving off at the first page when it was initially posted.


Conclusions:

several people have had similar compaints about GC

GC has bad customer relations, especially when there's a problem (the best defense is an attack??? and I'll erase you from my databank??? sounds kind of childish to me)

eschew shopping services and continue making my our own runs to Publix and blame dh when something from the list is missing when we get the groceries to the room (besides, how else will I stumble across great finds such as the Flake Bars from England for half the price that Epcot charges???)