What I love:
My family and I have been using Good Eggs weekly since the shelter-in-place orders of Santa Clara County. We chose them over other services because they offered employees living wages. Their service has been a lifesaver for my family of four, and we've been able to avoid the grocery store since using them. We've decided that even if this pandemic ends, we will continue to use the service regularly because we've grown to love many of the products and vendors Good Eggs carries. While many of the vendors are local, it's convenient to be able to order their products all in one place and have them delivered to us instead of driving all over the Bay Area.
With Good Eggs, we've developed new family traditions, like roasting a small chicken from Mary's Free Range Chicken each Sunday; or during busy week nights, using a delicious pre-cooked protein from RoliRoti, like their pork carnitas, with yummy tortillas we make from Alma Semillera's masa harina. We've also grown to absolutely love the croissant bread and brioche loaf from La Boulangerie de San Francisco and every single pretzal bread product Pretzilla offers. Pizza Politana's dough paired with Hobbs Applewood Smoked Meat's perfected uncured pepperoni is now my family's go-to for Friday movie nights, too. For a decadent snack, we love pairing Cypress Grove Chevre's purple haze cheese with Firehook Bakery's sea salt crackers and Inna fig jam.
What I'd Return to a Regular Market for:
We order a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables each week, too: zucchini, squash, apples, oranges, avocados, tomatoes, kiwis, watermelon, bananas, cucumbers, lettuce, pluots, etc.---and they've all been really good. We also order a variety of wines each week as well as other drinks, such as cow's milk, tangerine juice, and almond milk. If the pandemic ends, my family would likely return to farmer's markets and Trader Joe's for those things, though--except for some of the wines Good Eggs offers under $15, like Sol Real's Vino Verde Rose.
Delivery:
We've never had any major problems with deliveries--although they have been late several times. However, we always get a text telling us that they will be late with an approximate arrival time. Since my partner and I are working from home and always use a daytime delivery window, it's never been a problem for us. We also have precise delivery instructions that the drivers always follow, which is to call me when they are downstairs and meet us at a specific corner (we live in a huge complex with multiple buildings). The drivers always do these things.
Damaged Goods and Refunds:
We have had 3 or 4 instances where we receive damaged goods due to poor packing, such as crushed berries and ice cream cones (surprisingly, we've never received even one broken egg--and we order two dozen each week!). We also experienced not receiving an item we ordered. When I've submitted a complaint, it took an extremely long time for a reply. However, I received refunds each time with no questions asked. Due to these very long response times though, when I recently received items that went bad due to compromised packaging, I didn't bother sending in a complaint. I just didn't have the patience to find the link to write up and submit the complaint and wait for a response. So, yes, they could improve on their email response times. Another annoying thing is that we regularly receive a box with literally just one to three items in it. It's such a waste, especially because the items can fit in one of the more filled boxes.
Replacements or Cancelled Items:
Because we order from Good Eggs each week, we've regularly experienced replacement or cancelled items. We chose to accept replacement items, and we understand the risk: we could potentially get something we don't like. This has only happened once, when my kids received drinkable yogurt as a replacement for frozen yogurt by the same brand. The kids weren't fans (the consistency was chalky)! Every other replacement we've received has been totally fine. More often, though, instead of a replacement item, we will receive a cancellation and refund for items. This can be a bummer sometimes, especially when you're looking forward to a certain item. However, we order about 48-50 items each week, with multiple items in each food category, so it's never been a huge deal.
Price:
Items at Good Eggs are more expensive than you would find at TJ's or a regular supermarket. However, for my family--with two small children and two members with asthma--it's worth it with the threat of COVID-19. Good Eggs has recently began charging higher delivery and jobs fees, but again for me and my family it is worth the price. read more