ComplaintsforArandano Farm

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On April 28 2021 I answered an ad for 1/2 share of 'pasture raised pork' from Paul G*****/ Arandano Farm. Website stated that whole share pig/pork averaged 200lbs and netted an approximate 70% return. Our 1/2 share was 85 lbs (165lbwhole) and yielded 44 lbs for a 53% return - of which all the bacon was .. rotten? just foul and inedible, not to mention the strips were an inch wide? Very concerned that the pigs were not fed correctly/humanely and instead were solely pastured. I don't know this for sure though. When I brought my concerns to Paul's attention, he in essence passed it off as the butchers fault (****** ***** *******, ********** NH ) and passed the responsibility onto me to contact them, which I did multiple times w/o any contact back. The butcher did leave a message for me on February 1 2021, that there was 'a mistake' with the bacon portion of our 1/2 share and that he still had some of our bacon, and that he would deliver to us. I returned his call on 2/2/2022, and never heard back from him or Paul. We signed contract with Arandano Farm on 5/21/21, butcher date was 12/12/2021, 16 lbs fresh pork picked up 12/18/21 at the farm and had to pay a 20$ fee for him to pick up- for ice and time- It was literally a half a grocery bag of meat that certainly did not require any ice! Then and picked up 28 lbs smoked meat from butcher 1/22/22. So the issue with Arandano Farm is definitely linked with the butcher, which should have been handled by the farm that contracted with them. Total amount paid was 433.67- 4.00 lb hanging weight, plus butchering and smoking fee and bogus ice charge.

  Business response

  03/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/02/28) */ ******, I'm sorry you chose to pursue this route after several discussions between us after your pickup. It seems that none of the information I provided during those conversations was satisfactory to you. It's worth mentioning that you did not respond to my last attempts to give you more information about the mix-up between the butcher and smokehouse, and to make sure that the issue had been resolved between the two of you. I'll respond again to your points one at a time here. - Regarding the 70% yield. The yield received by a customer is completely dependent on what they request from the butcher. 60% is about average for customers who select "meat-only" cuts (no organs, feet, leaf lard, etc.). You received less than 60% because of the mix-up with the butcher and smokehouse, which the butcher tried to resolve with you. I will be more clear in the future about expected yield being based on the customers' selection, but I would expect you to know this based on your past experience raising pigs. - Regarding the "rotten" bacon. Again I'm very sorry to hear about that. The pigs are alive when they leave our farm. I can't make any assumptions about what could have happened in your case, however I have not received any negative feedback from other customers, including from the 1/2 share customer that received the other half of your pig. I requested information from you about the quality of the other cuts and you did not respond. The fact that you chose to transport your cuts without ice is a concern. - Our operation is as transparent as possible, which is why we offer two open houses during the summer - one of which you attended. Our pigs are well-fed, from pasture, from grain, and from our organic vegetable scraps. Additionally, we go above and beyond by supplementing minerals into our pigs' diet, which is not a standard practice. The size of a pig depends on many factors, most importantly including age and genetics - neither of which we have control over. As we say on our website, we /target/ 200 lbs, but the final weight of the pig is out of our control. At no point did we say our pigs will /average/ 200 lbs.. In 2021 We only had access to a late litter and your pig was on the smaller side of that litter. Based on their age at the time of butcher, our pigs were an appropriate weight for their breed. As a reminder, you paid by the pound and did not pay for a 200 lb pig. - Regarding my involvement in resolving your issue. Again, because the pig was not in my care after leaving the farm, and because I have no knowledge of the cuts you selected from the butcher, and because I have no knowledge of what you received from the butcher, and because you did not report back to me on the quality of the other cuts, my involvement in resolving your problems with the butcher was not appropriate. However, after our discussion, I did follow up with other customers and when I learned that one received more than their share, I contacted the butcher to confirm, and he subsequently did contact you. I will note that your complaint says both that the butcher did not contact you and that he /did/ contact you about the mix-up. - Regarding the pickup. Normally customers pick their order up from the butcher directly. I made an exception in your case because of the distance you would need to travel. The $20 convenience fee covered two hours of my time, gas, and ice (at $7.50/bag). You agreed on the fee ahead of time. Again I had no way of knowing the amount of meat that was smoked or unsmoked and did not know how much I'd be delivering to you, however it goes without saying that any quantity of meat needs to be refrigerated while in transit. - Regarding your statement about the issue being with the butcher. Again, I'm sorry that there was a mix-up with the butcher and smokehouse and that you were negatively affected by it. We use the same butcher for our own pigs as for our customers. Your experience with the butcher was unique. Based on your comments, I understand the mistake was identified and acknowledged by the butcher and he attempted to resolve the dispute. Neither you, nor the butcher told me (until this complaint) that you were in contact about resolving the problem. Based on this, it's not clear why you continue to involve me in this issue. * Regarding YOUR uploaded documents. File ********************************.jpeg includes details of payment and pickup, confirming what I've said here. File ********************************.jpeg shows that you agreed to the $20 delivery fee. File ********************************.jpeg shows that you: 1. Agreed you needed to test more meat before I would tell the butcher that it was all bad (and also that you did not respond with results). 2. You didn't respond to my comment saying I had good news (early info about the mix-up). 3. You didn't respond to me asking if you had heard from the butcher (even though you claim I did not in your complaint). File ********************************.jpeg shows that I have already responded to these issues, explaining yield from your share and why dealing with the butcher would be more effective. * Regarding the "Desired Resolution" of this incident being "Billing adjustment: Billing adjustment". You paid me $4/lb to raise a pig for you. You paid the butcher to process and smoke your chosen cuts. I can't be held responsible, financially or otherwise, for something that you did not pay me for. If you have any remaining issues, they must be resolved between you and the butcher. In closing, our reason for running our farm is because we don't believe in the unethical treatment of animals from the industrial farming system. There is nothing more important to us than proper care of our animals and our customers' satisfaction. Baseless accusations about our treatment of our animals do nothing to help your case or resolve your issue. Furthermore your decision to hold us responsible for an admitted mistake by the butcher is both misguided and unfortunate. I wish you more calm and clarity in the future. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/03/07) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Smoke and mirrors and finger pointing. I still have not received any bacon -which I paid for, or heard back from the butcher- that Arandano Farm contracted with. In exchange for my money, I was promised a product -that did not measure up (literally) or deliver resulting in a complete waste of time and money.

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