Gourmet Secrets review: Misleading/Scam 21

I have ordered over the phone some meat and seafood that never arrived. When I called to check if my order was shipped, apparently they were out of stock and since they could not deliver the order for the scheduled date I cancelled the order. The person I spoke to told me that I will be refunded, but three months later the amount was never put back into my credit card. When I called to check the reason, before I could say anything, the person over the phone required an order number before he could speak to me! The thing is that I never got an order number! Apparently the order number shows on the credit card statement, which is not the case. This company is a total scam, I have ordered for $300 that I will never get back! I will report them to the BBB to have these people checked out. I wonder how they can sleep at night while racking all this money, the saddest part is to discover that I was not the only victim of this scam.

Like anonymous above - I haven't received anything yet either. I joined the sampler club through SwamJam should have received 3 orders by now. First I didn't get the codes sent to me in a timely manner, then when I try to order things aren't available. I can only order when I'm going to be in town to take delivery -but from some comments, orders when they do come can take weeks, so how can I even order if there's no knowing when it will arrive? Trying to get my money back - we'll see if Swarmjam/CityExpress as they now are/ will refund me according to their policy.

I signed up for their sampler club. You join and then get one box of meat every two months out of 6 choices. It is June and i still haven't tried their food. My first box was lost by purolator and delivered after about two weeks, completely rotten. They tried to convince me that it was still fine to eat, but eventually refunded one sixth of the price of membership. The second box has still not arrived though it was ordered in April. When i finally called them at the beginning of June, they told me it was because they had a special on beef and got backlogged. I ordered chicken. I asked to cancel my membership and they said no. They offered to add another month, or refund another sixth of the fee, but in order to get a refund, i would have to give them my credit card number. Now, on June 15, they are not even letting people order their May/June boxes, but saying that ordering will be back up next week.

Do not give these people your money!

So I've been ordering from here for about three years, about eight orders of >$250 overall, and my experience has been consistently negative.
Customer service - Abysmal.
I placed an order at the beginning of April and it still hasn't arrived in June, despite several promises that it will. One "customer service" rep even hung up on me when I called to question them about the whereabouts of my tardy order. Their website is sub par, and even though you enter your payment data and shipping information on the site, they will not process your order until they contact you to repeat your info - often over a week later.
Quality of product - I was initially drawn in by the promise of free range and hormone free products, but lately the grocery stores have been carrying these at better prices - just check. The sausages are good, but the various steaks are not, and the packaging leaves room for improvement as the products do develop freezer burn.
Cut your losses, don't order their "coupons, " or if you have, dontdon't feel the need to use them all up.

Ordered from here and what a mistake. Food took over two weeks to arrive. Order did not arrive as scheduled and when I complained it was shipped the same day. Guess they forgot.

The crepes are disgusting. Not real chicken but pressed processed sandwich meat. So gross. False advertising as it says cooked chicken in the ingredients and also shows chunks of actual chicken in the photo on website.

French onion soup is mediocre and can get better at costco for less!

As with Patty I am totally shocked and somewhat pissed at the comments above. I've been dealing with this company for almost 2 years. I find them most professional and their products great.

Products - I love the options for things I cannot always get readily or locally including Bison and some very gourmet items such as the Salmon Caviar. The only products we were not happy with are a couple ready prepared items and when I called they quickly refunded us and yes it was in the form of a credit but since I am frequently buying from them I was fine with that. At least it's not some big box store locally (Superstore) who gave me crap and wouldn't refund me for very smelly scallops. They have great Tourtiere - their rack of lamb is incredible. As with Patty above I love their European Weiners (taste like I'm there again) and the gluten free options are great for my issues.

Delivery - incredibly timely and in good order. I can get it delivered wherever I want which for me is work. It arrives in a nice sized Styrofoam container with dry ice. I have a long drive home and everything is still frozen and I have never had an issue with anything.

Customer Service - can't be better. They call when I have questions. They email me promptly. They even call to see how my order is. Amanda is just the best!

I'd have to end this with the comment that some people are very critical with little evidence of any real issues. I think for instance telling folks to go the BBB as RS did is a true exaggeration of ones rights. Use the BBB for what it is intended for. This is a good business trying to be just that - a business not a charity; nothing is free but you do get great deals if you know how it works - just talk to them and don't give me that crap that they don't respond.

Natasha you lost out - don't always believe everything on the internet. I find everyone so easy to criticize and make comments they would not make to ones face so they let loose on the typing.

I have been dealing with Gourmet Secrets for almost 2 years now. I am surprised at the comments. Amanda is customer service and she is so friendly and always responds to me. The delivery is so fast and efficient. Their bacon is to die for. I love their frozen clam meat for my Christmas seafood chowder and their chicken is excellent as well as their ground beef. I will admit their steaks are cut too thin and too costly so I just don't buy them. I don't buy any of their processed food, but their butter tart squares were very good. Also their gluten free European wieners are the best and so are their Gluten free Farmers Sausage is so tasty and juicy. They are not perfect but they are definitely very friendly and efficient. The quality and the packing of the meat is so good. Do I go to a local butcher?...yes, of course, but the items I love I will continue to purchase from them. They are not inexpensive but they do have some very good quality products. And free range is definitely better than the hormone filled and antibiotic filled garbage we get from the average grocery store.

Sadly hadded by this poor excuse for a company. Anybody who believes in the power of saving, either using groupon, dealfind or simply finding oppurtunites at store level know that this is without a doubt a total scam. RESTAURANT PRICES ARENT EVEN THIS RIDICULOUS! My advice to anyone who does have a complaint or has been SCREWED by this "offer", report it to the BBB because franktly I'm beside myself trying to comprehend why they have an A+ rating.

Anyone who writes that this is a good deal like the "person" above, is obviously either the trash who is running this little scam, or is related to that piece of garbage. Who goes to the trouble of going to complaint sites to praise someone who is obviously ripping people off, other than the guy who can sleep at night while ripping people off. I'm guessing this meat is just as good as the stuff you buy at the grocery store... because he probably buys it from the grocery store and then puts it into his own packaging to ship it out.

I got the $25 for $200 worth of meat/fish/chicken/etc. deal on Dealfind and it is totally worth it. The trick is to order 8 of anything. My order $$ were getting up there until I ordered my 8th item and then the total went way down. The meat is fantastic! I ordered pork chops, pork tenderloin, beef steaks, bison steaks and free-range chicken. Everything has been superb! I highly recommend this vendor and, you really should take advantage of the Dealfinds

Gourmet Secrets is a total rip off. I see that many are complaining, but the bottom line is that the company raked in all the money that is not being refunded. This should be reported as FRAUD. Canadian authorities take FRAUD very seriously!
I have asked for a refund from Dealfind, but have heard nothing from them.

Very dishonest business. The small print is what kills you. You need to buy 2 packs of meat at a minimum, four times, paying shipping each time - plus the meat itself is overpriced. Avoid!

I'm glad I'm not the only one that really did not like their meat! I ordered 8 packages to get the deal. I also had the deal through Deal-find and it really isn't worth it. I would never use them again. The meat was not great. I had the prime rib roasts and they were very tough not what you would expect for Prime Rib especially at the prices they charge. The only meat that was good was the ground turkey. You would be better to buy it somewhere else though at the price they charge and the shipping costs! Ridiculous prices!

I totally agree. I bought mine from dealfind. Same deal. You get coupons and can only use one a month and the shipping costs are crazy. Beef is expensive too. I asked about a refund... Yeah well within 30 days. I didn't get around to checking the details until it was past then. Last dealfind purchase for me. Definitely don't buy this one.. It's No Deal!

THANK YOU ALL OF THE ABOVE COMMENTS!. I was just about to complete an order for a deal through WagJag for this company. You saved me a lot of money and headaches. I am glad of the option to look things up on the web before buying so as not to waste my time and hard earned money on a product. In the old days in Toronto you got(if you were lucky) Silverman's Help..lol. Tks again for all the above feedback and reviews. I guess that the "Gourmet Secrets" are out and I will stay away from them.

THANK YOU ALL OF THE ABOVE COMMENTS!. I guess the I was just about to complete an order for a deal through WagJag for this company. You saved me alot of money and headaches. I am glad of the option to look things up on the web before buying so as not to waste my time and hard earned money on a product. That or in the old days in Toronto getting (if you were lucky) Silverman's Help..lol. Tks again for all the above feedback and reviews. I guess that the "Gourmet Secrets" are out and I will stay away from them.

I agree completely. I ended up paying $12/steak. Yes, TWELVE dollar for one little steak. What a rip off. They charge huge delivery fees and the only way you get a deal is to order huge amounts of meat. Even then it no deal. STAY AWAY! Go to your local supermarket and get you meat from there. Trust me. This was a huge mistake and I don't want anyone else making the same mistake I did.

I'm really unhappy with the service from Gourmet Secrets. I had ordered the ribs and 1 of the packages started getting freezer burnt after 3-4 weeks. I contacted the company and received a call back quite quickly. I was asked to send in pictures and that was the last I heard. I have send at least 3 more emails and none were replied to. Very poor service. They were probably hoping I would just go away. The rest of the food was good except the ribs. The other packs of ribs didn't get freeze burnt but they weren't not that nice either. I spent around $400 too.

I recently ordered from Gourmet Secrets with the Groupon coupons, I have to say I am extremely dissatisfied with their customer service, and the product isn't any better then what you can buy in your local grocery store. I tried calling several times regarding my order and either the line was busy or they did not answer, and they do not reply to e-mails. I believe in supporting Canadian producers but at this price with this customer service it just isn't worth it.

And their meat tastes terrible. They say they have money back guarentee but they refuse to honour it. Avoid this place!

I feel like this is a scam as well. It's not just that you can only use 1 coupon/month. Every time you use one coupon you must buy 2 more packages in order to fulfill their requirement of minimum 3 packages per order. And for the 2 other packages are not included in their coupon, there is a shipping fee of 28.99/package. So extra $56 for shipping along with the 2 other packages you must buy to use the coupon (per month). This is a total scam