TERRIBLE Experience with Garden Grocer

[Santa]

The delivery person is a representative of the company, not an innocent third party.

No kidding Dean?
I tipped him & thanked him for a job well done also.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I do not understand at all the previous 3 posts. I am glad that someone had good service. It is because of posts like that that we decided to try them. I do not see flames (The flaming reference is in Santa's title), and I don't understand about innocent third parties.

Each day, I hope to hear from Gardengrocer, because I don't understand a company that relys on the public treating the public the way it has, but it doesn't seem likely. I read this thread because I am curious, but perhaps there has been PM's.

Bobbi

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I know people freak cause they say they are way overpriced, but we had no problems with Goodings! Everything was as stated, and on time. We even ordered a customized birthday cake and it was beyond what I ever thought it would be, and it tasted great also!!

Goodings

 

[Lori in CNY]

I'm so sorry to hear about this.

We do our own shopping every time we go to WDW but this next trip we're a little shorter on days and I had concidered using these guys.

I'm going to rethink the idea for sure.

When will people realize that customer service is so important and that if you accept you made a mistake and take responsibility for it, people will move on and forgive you. Lack of response or making excuses is never acceptable and DIS board people talk to each other and can make your business (as his was growing almost out of control) or break your business. Too bad.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I know people freak cause they say they are way overpriced, but we had no problems with Goodings! Everything was as stated, and on time. We even ordered a customized birthday cake and it was beyond what I ever thought it would be, and it tasted great also!!

Goodings

Oh, another choice, thank you.
Bobbi

 

[Dean]

No kidding Dean?
I tipped him & thanked him for a job well done also.

Sorry, I don't know what happened. Maybe I just have a brain lapse or maybe you had edited your note in between when I opened the thread and when I quoted and it no longer made sense. Regardless, sorry for making no sense and I was not intending it as a flame.

 

[twinklebug]

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

Thank you for sharing your letter from GardenGrocer littleowensmommy. It shows a distinct lack of professionalism on their part to even add in the second half of that line.

Also note, that not returning calls, responding to claims or following up on a promise to deliver prepaid goods are more bad signs. I will never use their services again...

Oh, for anyone interested, I did a quick price compare between GG and the Merchantile at Wl and the prices were within a few cents of each other, so if all you need is milk, cheese, some quick microwave stuff etc, you might be better off hitting the Disney owned store.

 

[GardenGrocer]

"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

 

[Dean]

"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

It appears the info you have provided is c/w what the OP has posted. I know you said you wouldn't respond so this will be rhetorical. As I understand this, there was an order scheduled at 6 PM and not delivered until after Midnight with no extenuating circumstances on the side of the customer and no uncontrollable acts of God on your side. You simply accepted more work than you ended up being able to perform in a reasonable fashion, it happens to the best of us at times. The OP states they called regarding the missed deliver and implied they expressed their displeasure at the time and they did not like your attitude or response (I paraphrase). They got their delivery eventually but had to track you down with an additional phone call when it hadn't arrived 4 hours post arranged deliver time.

They then sent you an email voicing the concerns and posted on this BBS. They then posted your response to their email which I frankly didn't think was all that bad though it was a missed opportunity on your part, I believe there were several missed opportunities along the way regarding this matter. The deliver charge should have been waived without request as a minimum.

 

[Ruth B]

I also had a bad experience. 2 hours late and still no call, i called them and said they would be there within the hour. No show!
it ended up 5 hours late and then some of the order was wrong( normal drinks compared to diet etc etc) not happy as i added on a 20%tip when i ordered to make life easier!

 

[littleowensmommy]

"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

Brian,

My order was not delivered to the Bell Stand. It was delivered by you personally to my villa after midnight and after you had stung me along for over 2 hours always insisting that you were 15 minutes away. You never apologized when you finally delivered the order. In fact, you looked rather annoyed with me for having the nerve to expect my order that was paid for in advance in a timely fashion. I said nothing to you at that time as I had 4 small sleeping children and I was afraid of getting into an argument with you as you raised your voice to me over the phone several times throughout the evening. I NEVER raised my voice to you or spoke rudely to you. I definitely consider you to be unprofessional. It was not my problem or fault that you had too many orders to handle. The fact that you accepted too many orders for a specific date is due to your own shortcomings. I felt that my email complaint was appropriate and I had hoped that it would have initiated an apology phone call on your part. It did not. After reading the subsequent posts from other members on this thread, it appears my situation was not an isolated incident. A sincere apology and a courteous attitude on your part would have gone along way with me.

 

[Esmerelda]

Let sleeping dogs lie... A few of us had a bad experience, the other 95% of us had a very pleasant experience. We are all individuals, this is a fact of life. I think this thread should be closed as its turning into a he said, she said. Maybe it could go private between GG and the OP.

Mr/Ms Moderator...nuff said
Esmerelda

 

[littleowensmommy]

I don't think this thread should be closed. Both positive and negative opinions deserve to be posted. I don't think this thread needs to be closed simply because I and a number of other people have negative reviews of this particular service. I look to the DISboards for recommendations for all kinds of things related to my Disney travels. I don't think it would be right to close any thread simply because it contains negative reviews. I believe that we as members have the right to hear about the good and the bad without censorship so we can decide for ourselves who deserves our valuable business.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The OP had a 6:00 p.m. delivery to her villa scheduled with GardenGrocer. But GardenGrocer repeatedly provided misinformation before finally delivering after midnight — over 6 hours late — without even apologizing. Because the owner of GardenGrocer did not provide honest information about how long he was actually running behind, the OP did not go to the resort's market to buy milk for her children. She had to wait... and wait... and wait.

As far as I can tell, the OP did nothing wrong. My guess is that, under these circumstances, any of us would have expressed our displeasure when the order finally arrived — and that many people would have been extremely angry.

If the way to use GardenGrocer successfully is "to work the system" — to have the groceries delivered to bell services earlier in the day — then GardenGrocer should say so on their website.

I'm glad GardenGrocer responded to this thread. I agree that stories have two sides. But even after reading GardenGrocer's side, I think the OP was completely justified in her use of the word "terrible" to describe the service she received from GardenGrocer.

 

[Jeremy&Susan]

Hey at least Brian is using this as a learning tool.

1. He is limiting the amount of work he is willing to take in based on how much he can handle. GOOD THING

2. He is coming to the realization that openly disareeing with a customer in a public forum is never a winning combination. VERY GOOD THING

3. He probably will need to refer back to lesson #2 a few more times or his business will not last. CONTINUOUS LEARNING OPPORTUNITY

What do you think Brian?


Just kidding, wanted to see if you really would stop posting.

Customer service is extremely difficult in America. We expect what we are promised on-time, correctly and cheaper than anywhere else.

Try traveling to European Post-Soviet Era Countries. Tell the hotel manager you have no hot water; first you get the look like you must be a total moron, next they send somebody to your room to show you how to turn the hot water faucet on, and finally they look at you and say "You have not hot water" then leave. Now that's some killer customer service.

 

[dznymom1]

Brian delivered my order as promised this week. As a matter of fact, when I placed the order I was unable to get the date I wanted due to the change he made to his website limiting deliveries. He called me at home the night before I left and offered to deliver on my preferred date due to a cancellation.

He called me on the day I arrived to see when I wanted delivery, and I requested that he wait until I got my room assignment. Since this was BWV, it was 4:25 (grrr) before I got my room. He arrived at my door at 4:45 and I received everything I ordered. I was very pleased, and I will use him again next month. I used the COD option this time to protect myself in case there were any problems, but next time I will just charge it and he can leave it with Bell Services which will simplify the process. I had a much better experience with Garden Grocer than than the other company often referred to here.

I am glad this thread is here, and I hope that the people like myself who are pleased with the service will post. I also hope that anyone traveling with children or those with special needs never put themselves in a position where they are withut formula, medication or food. You never know what can happen.

 

[drakethib]

I don't believe this thread should be closed as people have a right to express their opinions of a service.

I also agree that there is always 2 sides to a story but of the responses I have seen from GG, they seem to have a "Poor Me" attitude. This is IMHO and it is based on their explanations in this thread and I may be totally wrong.

There is no bigger supporter of a small company trying to make it on their own, but the "without the drama" comment stated by GG concerns me about using them.

Hopefully, things will turn around for GG and all will be well.

 

[cnids00]

We had an excellent experience with GG, ordered online with COD for delivery on 9/9 between 3-5PM. Brian called me to arrange for payment etc 3 days before and a day before I called to make changes, no problem. I called him when we got our room around 1:30PM to let him know that they could deliver any time after our phonecall, our order was delivered at 4PM, everything we had ordered was there, the put the cold things in fridge for us and frozen in freezer.

We had excellent & professional service with them and will use GG in a heartbeat for our next visit.

I think that maybe the DIS-boards helped spike the ordering volume and instead of 2 ppl Brian now has 5 to help out during very busy days.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I was surprised that this thread is still around.

I had to check my e-mail to Garden Grocer, to be sure that I was not rude. I wasn't, but he never responded to my e-mail regarding my bad experience. We got no compensation, and so, it seems to me that this company does repsond to rudeness, but my letter didn't even merit a reply.

Maybe because I didn't mention the Disboard.

That is very unprofessional.

Bobbi

 

[SoCalKDG]

No problems with Garden Grocer. Even had special items ordered. Love their online ordering form. That was one of the reasons we didn't use Wego(plus they were having problems as well at the time).

If GG is now limiting the number of orders they take each day sounds like a good improvement over the previous method. 6 hours late, yeah that would bother me. 2-3 hours, nope.

I'm pretty sure that every delivery company I have used, from pizza to furniture, cable guys, newspaper, magazines, washer/dryer, etc, and I mean everyone has been late. Then again the wife and I, along with the kids always seem to be running late as well when the four of us need to get somewhere. Seems like a trend.