Garden Grocer - Big Disappointment!

[donmil723]

I'm sorry that the OP's experience with GG was not good. I have used them 3 times myself with good results each time and plan on using them again in October. Between my experience and what I have seen posted here on the Dis, most of the experiences with GG have been very positive. I can only remember 2 really bad experiences. Considering that many are more willing to post about a bad experience, I think GG has a very good track record.

Donna

 

[LisaS]

Sorry to hear about the problems the OP had with Garden Grocer. We had excellent service from them on our trip this past May. The order was delivered within the time window we selected and we received everything we had ordered. We were especially pleased with the quality of the fruit they selected for us. I have already placed my next order with them, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Squidrific]

We've used Gardengrocer 4 times now and never had any problems with them whatsoever......and we had several changes to our order as well. All 4 times were 100% accurate orders and ontime delivery.



Actually I believe it IS posted on their website that they're unable to accept any more orders to be delivered this week because they ARE so busy.....my guess is they're striving to be 100% cyber-communication ONLY especially during a very busy time for them. Maybe they don't have a good system in place for when people need to change their order and these changes overwhelmed them. Not sure why they'd hire a surly phone worker though. LOL
OP, sorry your experience was less than good.

Actually their posted busy time was several days after I arrived and after the experience occurred. Irregardless of their business volume, there can be no excuse for questioning the customer by phone so many times, rude treatment and above when found to be at fault - to not apologize. They admitted they weren't busy when this occurred because I asked if perhaps the driver was so busy that he forgot to drop it off. Nope!

 

[Madi100]

Are there any other options besides Garden Grocer?

 

[jarestel]

I don't believe the OP's actual point is that GG is incapable of delivering groceries without problems, but more so that when there are problems, GG is not real proficient at handling them. If one hasn't experienced problems with GG, there would be no reason (hopefully) to have any first hand knowledge of their seemingly less-than-stellar customer service and problem resolution skills.

Of course those who have had problems and were pleased with the resolution process could definitely provide some valuable input to this discussion.

 

[JimMIA]

Are there any other options besides Garden Grocer?

The main other option is wegoshop www.wegoshop.com It is a very similar company.

I haven't used either, but from what I've read here, both of these companies have many satisfied customers. Both companies have also had some bumpy spots in the road, but I think I've seen a difference between them.

If I recall correctly, Wegoshop had some problems during a change of ownership. They had some pretty unhappy customers, but it was for a short period of time, and I don't think I have ever heard any complaints about rudeness or disrespectful treatment of their customers. And since that one short period, I have not heard any complaints about Wegoshop.

GG seems to have occasional recurring problems. We occasionally get delivery issue complaints, and probably nobody is surprised by the attitude issues that prompted this thread.

Any business can fall short of customer expectations once in a while -- "Pobody's Nerfect." But the attitude problem at GG keeps coming up.

In answer to someone's question about why a company would put up with such rudeness to its customers, my experience with those kinds of problems with small businesses is that you are usually getting the attitude from the owner.

 

[Madi100]

The main other option is wegoshop www.wegoshop.com It is a very similar company.

I haven't used either, but from what I've read here, both of these companies have many satisfied customers. Both companies have also had some bumpy spots in the road, but I think I've seen a difference between them.

If I recall correctly, Wegoshop had some problems during a change of ownership. They had some pretty unhappy customers, but it was for a short period of time, and I don't think I have ever heard any complaints about rudeness or disrespectful treatment of their customers. And since that one short period, I have not heard any complaints about Wegoshop.

GG seems to have occasional recurring problems. We occasionally get delivery issue complaints, and probably nobody is surprised by the attitude issues that prompted this thread.

Any business can fall short of customer expectations once in a while -- "Pobody's Nerfect." But the attitude problem at GG keeps coming up.

In answer to someone's question about why a company would put up with such rudeness to its customers, my experience with those kinds of problems with small businesses is that you are usually getting the attitude from the owner.

I believe no one is perfect. And, I believe sometimes the customer thinks that they should be right no matter what. It's too bad that this company thinks it's okay to be rude to their customers in an Internet world. The same word of mouth that got them going could kill them. The mistake doesn't bother me. The rudeness does.

 

[mikayla73]

Everytime DW and I discuss having food delivered another thread like this comes along
seems like everything goes well until we get ready to use the service. Guess I'll skip it and just take a cab, or remortgage the house and buy from Disney..

I feel the same way. Everytime I think about having groceries delievered, I hear some bad stuff about GG. I think if we have groceries delievered, we'll try wegoshop.

As others have said on this thread, miscommuntications and mistakes are forgivable and can be understandable, rudeness is neither.

 

[Jets fan]

At Christmas we used Marge from wegoshop and she was great. Our groceries and a christmas tree were delivered iwthin one hour of us arriving at OKW and everything was correct, even down to a pre-lit Christmas Tree. She had shopped around and got us an amazing deal.

On Christmas Eve Marge delivered more groceries along with a huge turkey.

Cannot praise her enough.

 

[TAKitty]

We just used Garden Grocer for this first time for our girl's trip. When I originally ordered I had the alcohol we wanted in the comments section. My credit card was charged for the groceries and the tip as I expected, however, I didn't get a confirmation or any kind of acknowledgement.

The week before our departure, we had a change of plans and decided to fly in a day early. I immediately called Garden Grocer and the rude lady informed me that I need to e-mail the new information to them she wouldn't take it over the phone and then she hung up on me while I was in mid-sentence.

I e-mailed that I wanted the groceries delivered on Friday to SSR instead of Saturday at BWV and I also cancelled the alcohol I ordered in the special comments, because I had a bad feeling about the whole order situation and no acknowledgement. We arrived at SSR and no groceries. I couldn't do anything about it because it was after midnight anyway and figured I would clear it up in the morning.

The next morning we transferred to BWV - well our groceries had been delivered there on Friday instead of SSR which I had completely specified. Our room was ready at check-in and so we went to the room and the bell man brought up the suitcases, owners locker and groceries. He mentioned that he double-checked the groceries against the list when they were delivered and none of the breakfast items were there and that he had mentioned it at the time to the delivery man.

I immediately call Garden Grocer and was practically accused of lying. Did you check your bags? Umm, yes. Are you sure they were all delivered? Yes, the bell men double-checked. Ok, well we will check with our delivery person and see where they are. At this point, I mentioned that I had asked for it to be delivered on Friday and he said well we did deliver on Friday to BWV. I decided against pointing out that it was the wrong resort. Well this is our breakfast food so now we will have to buy breakfast. No sorry - nothing but accusations and rude tone.

I got two more calls during the course of the day, asking about was I sure the food wasn't delivered. I was a bit frustrated at this point. NO - I don't have my orange juice, cream cheese, bagels, etc.

Finally at 4:00 p.m. they call and say that they are going to do me a favor and have the items that I am disputing delivered to the hotel. Again, no apology. I paid a $12.00 delivery charge plus the $15.00 tip that I had included for just $60.00 of food - I expected to be treated better than this.

Sorry folks, but the hassel wasn't worth my time. I received lousy customer service and will never use them again.

I had the same thing happen with our breakfast items this past Jan. I called to tell them about it but they never delivered the items. I had to go to the SSR store and buy stuff.

 

[kcdisneymom]

Another explaination you might consider. In January we had arrived early and checked our backpacks at the concierge desk. When we went to reload them at the end of our stay we noticed our DVD case was missing. Only 20 store bought DVDS, 17 of which were Disney Favorites (Cars, Mary Poppins, etc...). I was the one who put the case in the back pack when we got off the plane. I'm almost sure everything was zipped in. So myself and the concierge crew were the only ones who "touched" the bags supposedly. I called the airline and they said they found no such case on the plane. Doesn't mean someone else couldn't have walked off the plane with it though. I'm sure crime does happen at WDW. Even if it is just a hungry criminal. We'll never know for sure. I'll be taking my valuables to a locker from now on. And I think we'll be sure to be there when the GG guy arrives. I guess the old adage- If you want it done right, do it yourself- still stands true.

 

[disneynutz]

We used GG on our last trip. A couple of weeks prior to our arrival we wanted to add a couple of items. I called them and got the same short tongued girl who informed me that they only accept emails. I emailed our additions. Never received a reply.

Upon our arrival at the resort our food was delivered. After the delivery man left we noticed that some items were incorrect and some missing. I called and got the same girl. Same story, email us. I explained that our order had just been delivered and we had some problems. Same response, email us. I went on and told her that we didn't have email access. She got very upset and acted put out. She took my information and said that someone would get back to us.

The next day I called again and this time the owner answered. I explained our situation. At first he acted like he didn't believe me, but after I explained why the order was wrong he agreed to make it right. I packed up the incorrect items and took them the the Bell Desk, this was on a Friday. I called a couple of times over the week end and left messages on on their voice mail. Still no call back on Monday so I called the Bell Desk and they confirmed that the delivery man had just left our order.

Well four days later and our order is now correct. For our next 2 trips we have rented a car. We will be shopping for our own groceries and eating off property at some DIS recommended restaurants.

 

[GiGi30]

So you do not have to be there when they deliver even if you bought alcohol? I am heading down in 2 weeks and my Dad and brother ordered some beer and we thought we would have to wait on them to deliver!

 

[tink4ever]

Sorry to hear about all of the problems. We have used them the past 2 trips and everything was perfect. We had ordered groceries for 12 people both times and we received everything and on time too. I am surprised that they have been so bad.

 

[pennst8r]

When I'm really unhappy with a business, and get nowhere talking with them I file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org). They handle it from there. At the very least, it will be on the record for others to see. This is a big deal for most companies, who want clean records and you might get a refund.

 

[DisMN]

I believe no one is perfect. And, I believe sometimes the customer thinks that they should be right no matter what. It's too bad that this company thinks it's okay to be rude to their customers in an Internet world. The same word of mouth that got them going could kill them. The mistake doesn't bother me. The rudeness does.

I completely agree with you. Overwhelmed or not, there's no excuse for rudeness.........I hope someone at GardenGrocer takes a peek at threads like these and considers making adjustments as needed.

 

[disneynutz]

I completely agree with you. Overwhelmed or not, there's no excuse for rudeness.........I hope someone at GardenGrocer takes a peek at threads like these and considers making adjustments as needed.

While talking to the girl, I got the impression that she has difficulty processing information. Her boss probably wants everything in writing, trying to avoid mistakes, thus the demand for email. Sometimes rude people are rude as a defense mechanism. She really shouldn't be used in a customer contact position.

On another note, their prices on all of their products were marked up above retail. Some items still had the original store price tag on them. By the time we paid for the delivery, the tip, and the mark up, it is cheaper to rent a car for a day.

 

[DisMN]

While talking to the girl, I got the impression that she has difficulty processing information. Her boss probably wants everything in writing, trying to avoid mistakes, thus the demand for email. Sometimes rude people are rude as a defense mechanism. She really shouldn't be used in a customer contact position.

On another note, their prices on all of their products were marked up above retail. Some items still had the original store price tag on them. By the time we paid for the delivery, the tip, and the mark up, it is cheaper to rent a car for a day.

That's too bad you sensed the girl struggling......and that could explain the "rudeness" right there. She very well may not have been rude but confused and needing to sound firm on the phone in her request that people email her.

As far as their products being marked higher than retail, we thought the prices were fine and didn't care if something cost less at the retail level because GG is after all a business....their profit isn't based on delivery charges alone.

 

[Disney Ron]

GG wants people to email them but here's what it says on our order confirmation: If there are any discrepancies or if you have any questions, please call us (toll free) at (866) 855 - 4350 and reference your invoice number.

But when you call they get snotty and tell you to send an email.

What gives?

 

[irish dancer]

We have not used GG but we have used WeGoShop with both the old owner and now Marge. I just found the order process a bit easier on WeGoShop. In 2005 the store we asked Marge to shop didn't have enough Diet Coke (DH won't substitute) and she made an addt'l stop without being asked and no extra charge. Last June our flight down was delayed and again no problem, called her and adjusted the delivery time for later that day. Used her this June too, not a problem. She goes through the entire order as she unloads it and gives you the receipt from the store so I don't think there is any mark-up other than the delivery charge. Which by the way if you are in need of another delivery on the same trip she discounts the delivery charge.