I've been a regular and loyal customer for the past few months but today is probably the end of my patronage. I typically buy the chicken salad and a few other items here but recently inquired about the meatballs and acting on their recommendation, I removed a bag of frozen meatballs. I asked how much they were and the cashier told me they were $10.95. Upon checking out, she told me she made a mistake and the meatballs were $16.95. Annoying but probably an honest mistake so I paid for them. The cashier suggested I cook them with their pepper jelly but I was afraid to ask how much that would add to the bill and my kids like plain meatballs so I passed.
I took the meatballs home and prepared them for dinner. Despite being frozen, the cooking directions indicated heating on 350 for 6-7 minutes. I thought, geez these must be pre-cooked because I usually need 12-14 minutes to bake meatballs in the oven. But I followed the directions and baked them for 7 minutes and took one out and bit into it and yep, you guessed it...still cold and raw in the middle.
I threw them back in for another 6-7 minutes and removed them and although they were fully cooked, they tasted very rubbery and just felt like poor quality meatballs. Now, I knew they were a pork-beef blend but I could make better meatballs from Walmart pork-beef blend. They certainly didn't compare to Central Market's amazing pre-packaged fresh meatballs.
So on Monday I returned to Festive Kitchen to let them know about my unfortunate experience and let's just say the reaction I received was...not so FESTIVE. I walked in and told her that I love EVERYTHING I've bought there but the meatballs were a big letdown and no one in my family would eat them. Even the dog hesitated at first.
Immediately the cashier -- the same one who knows me by name -- knee-jerk responded that she could NOT take them back just because I didn't like them.
Well, under what circumstances WOULD you take them back, I asked.
"If they were INFERIOR," she replied.
So with other customers browsing around the store, she felt that I was required to say something insulting about the meatballs other than being kind and just saying that no one in my family enjoyed them.
Ok, game on!
I raised my voice and said, "Ok, let me be very clear. I usually buy my meatballs at Central Market but since I buy things here regularly, I purchased your meatballs in the hopes of not having to go to Central Market anymore but as it turned out your meatballs are totally INFERIOR to Central Market in every way!"
I was hoping that was good enough use of the word 'inferior' in a sentence.
In the end, I had to invoke the name of the owner Sandy Korem to get them to agree to allow me to exchange the meatballs for more chicken salad. I even heard them muttering under their breath that there was gonna be 'hell to pay' for allowing the exchange.
I was more than a little shocked at the appallingly low level of customer service afforded to a regular customer. One of the other Yelpers had previously commented about the rude staff and while I always detected an underlying smugness, I had never witnessed anything overtly rude until I came face to face with a business telling me 'Tough shit' over a package of crappy meatballs that couldn't have cost them more than $2.
Needless to say, they won't be getting my business again. read more