Fresh Direct Sucks!! (Part 2 of 2)
I will never order from Fresh Direct again.
It turns out that their 100% satisfaction guarantee has a little wrinkle: they guarantee your satisfaction, except when they don’t feel like it because the item is too expensive. As described in my previous post on this topic, I had afforded Fresh Direct a huge amount of slack in terms of the quality of their products because they always seemed willing to credit my account for anything that arrived rotten, broken, stale, moldy, etc. Based on this policy I had become increasingly willing to venture further afield of the products that I would consider “safe.” My general tendency would be to avoid any product that might suffer from sitting in a truck all day (even a refrigerated truck), but I had begun to experiment with more fragile items — more delicate greens, prepared foods, seafood, etc. Why not? They will always take it back if it’s no good. It was in this spirit that I added $40 worth of King Salmon to yesterday’s order.
Even before it was open, there was something about the leaky fish-pack that emerged from the delivery box that did not bode well. Inside the package, the filets were just… wrong. They had none of the shine and firmness that fresh fish is supposed to have. Instead, the flesh was a kind of pallid coral color and seemed to fall apart in my hands. We won’t discuss the odor. So, I did what I always do when this happens: I chucked the offending foodstuff down the building’s incinerator chute and got on the phone with customer service lickety-split. But, no, this was not like the other times… The customer service rep informed me that their in-house “microbiologist” would have to pick up the stinky fish and determine the cause of spoilage before they would issue me a credit. I protested that, in previous cases, an actual return of the item was never required and was not possible in this case because it had already been discarded. I was informed that I should have read the Customer Agreement, in which Fresh Direct clearly reserves the right to require return of the product before issuing credits. Gimme a break.
I’ll spare you the rest of the saga. In the end, I was able to pry a 50% credit out of them, but not before raising a stink that was, ironically, comparable to the stink of the discarded salmon. Here’s what should have happened:
— In every previous communication regarding a spoiled or broken item, Fresh Direct should have reminded me that, although they might not be exercising it at the moment, they reserve the right to ask for the item back before issuing a credit to me. In other words: “Don’t through it away until after you speak with us.” By failing to do this, they, in-effect, trained me to do the opposite.
— The customer service rep should have taken the 4 seconds required to look up my customer record and see that I am a regular customer who is admittedly picky about certain things (based on my record of returned items), but is probably not trying to cheat the company out of $40 worth of salmon.
Now I am as frustrated and furious with Fresh Direct as I was pleased and satisfied with them prior to this experience… All because of a vaguely defined, poorly communicated, and inconsistently implemented customer service plan.
NG
January 29th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I have had very mixed experience with Fresh Direct. Today - they ar ean hour late…it’s absolutely infuriating. I gave up on the fish, cold cuts andvegetables a LONG time ago…very random. They suck - that’s the bottom line. The prices have gone up - there’s a fuel surcharge and the delivery charge went up a dollar a long time ago. Basically- they are NOT worth waiting around for when you live in NYC.
March 29th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Fresh Direct SUCKS!!!! they have messed up every order we have placed and told us three times they would send someone to pick up the times in the evening. I have paid employees to stay and wait a little later in the evening for a driver and three days straight they did not come and NEVER CALLED. only when I called did they say I was to be told WHEN I CALLED that they werent gonna make it. WHAT? that happened three days straight. So I sit here with rotten food waiting for a refund on items they won’t come pick up. And of course refunds can only be issued AFTER they pick items up. DO NOT USE THEM.
August 4th, 2006 at 11:27 am
I ordered from FD for delivery today. They came earlier than scheduled, which happened to be fine, but could be a nightmare. It was an order for more than $300.00, and they didn’t include a box, roughly 1/6 of my order was missing. I called customer “service” and was told there was no way for the missing items to be delivered today, even though the missing items were the entire purpose for placing the order in the first place!! I expressed that I REALLY needed the items TODAY and they said all they could do was credit the missing items, which have yet to be credited, or deliver tomorrow. If I had wanted/was able to have delivery tomorrow, that is when I would have scheduled it for!!
This is the third time they have messed up, including broken items (sour cream- all over everything else in the box….) and delivery SEVERAL HOURS after the scheduled delivery due to “traffic.”
Frest DIrect is a good idea in theory and when it works, but the practical aspects suck about once every four deliveries from my experience.
August 7th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
Yea, I’m not a huge fan. First, I can’t stand waiting around for my groceries to show up - half the time I don’t show up and lose the money. But secondly, Saturday I got peaches and today (Monday) I came home to find that they were rotten. Not pleased.
Fresh Direct is a crap shoot. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not. But to be honest, I just would rather go to Fareway or Whole Foods these days. It’s a bitch, but the inconvenience of dealing with Fresh Direct is the worse of two evils.
The only benefit I had of ordering Fresh Direct was I could order loads of water and not have to carry it back from the grocery store. Well, on my last order, they did not send the water. Er.
August 29th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
i have used fresh direct for years and i am sick of it. i have had the same experiences as all the other posters…yogurt broken and all over everything in the box, leaking milk cartons, spoiled deli meats i was scared to eat(slimy(, and so often missing items. BUT TODAY was worst of all. they were running late so they sent the order over in an unrefrigerated van!!!!!! all the frozen items including 4 pints of ice cream were COMPLETELY DEFROSTED…I mean drinkable!!! and you cannot refreeze ice cream it makes big yucky crystals….and all the milk was room temperature…the who;e order was WARM…not even chilled…room temperature!!! i will NEVER order from them ever again. even with the credits back, not worth the trouble. they have removed the phone number from their website…GEE TOO MANY COMPLAINTS????? well, here is the phone number: 866-771-5272
October 7th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
FD is terrible. I used to live in Chi where they had Peapod which is muc better.
October 9th, 2006 at 10:05 am
I am tired of Fresh Direct’s arrogance. I have had a few bad products and they are quick to make restitution but the most annoying part about them is that they have removed their phone number from their site so when a delivery is late you are totally screwed. Well their number is buried in their customer agreement. Call 866-283-7374. The arrogance of making it impossible to make immediate contact when you are waiting for something to be delivered is so high handed and unwelcome. For me it is off to the Farmers Market on Saturday, more exercise that way and I intend to support my local supermarket.