Menu
Login
I would be very careful of a company roaming around the Ottawa and Toronto area, they are called NutraFarms. They will try to provide you a sample and even heard they take back the sample if you don't sign up for a $3000 contract. NutraFarms seem to have been setup to deceive people.
The company has not being honest when I started asking questions such as where are the farms, where are the certification to back all the free range, no antibiotic claims. Nutrafarms Regional Manager provided excuses saying the farmers are shy and want to remain anonymous. Also their web site is "under construction" I was told after an email to someone in the "contact us". So any affiliations or certifications are not present on the web site. That actually makes sens because they don't have any. When you buy from NutraFarms, there is no way that you can verify what you are feeding your family. Also when looking at various trace on the internet it seems Nutrafarms started operating only in May 2008, before that, they must have operated under the name Canadian Select Farm because they both share the same postal address.
Maybe Nutrafarms is truly what they claim but it is not possible to verify because the company is not being transparent at all and also uses many deceiving tactics. Maybe the "blast freeze" makes the meat better as oppose to free range, etc.
Did you notice those that ordered, that you actually don't know the quantities you ordered until you receive it? This is quite a weird way of buy goods and from what I could see you will get about 160lbs of meat for the cost of $2895, that is probably 3 times the price you get from the real "free range" farmers out there that has all certificate and you can visit the farms.
Nutrafarms uses another deceiving tactics, they will provide you with a certificate with a big "Free Range" stamp. Unfortunately that stamp is an illusion because the small print shows "Free Range Canada Inc". That company is a whole seller no certification at all see www.freerangecanada.ca.
Anyways you have 10 days cooling off period to cancel in writing via registered letter. Beside the cost of registered letter, NutraFarm can't impose any other costs since they didn't provide you yet with any products except the free sample. see http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Cancel_a_Contract.aspx
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
We decided to give Nutrafarms a try in Spring 13, but will definitely not be renewing. The primary reason is that the meat did not last us anywhere near the predicted time, and some of the cuts were very disappointing. For example, we were out of back ribs in less than two months, chicken breast in about five months, and hamburger in about seven. We still have a number of strip loin steaks left, but that is primarily because we did not feel that they were of sufficient quality to serve to guests. The tenderloin was excellent, but the strip loins do not even come close to FarmBoy beef. Some of the steak cuts looked they were cut by an amateur butcher - very uneven thickness and way too thin to bbq in some cases. The bacon was far fattier than anything we would ever buy and the packaging was horrible - the fatty end was folded over itself making it very difficult to separate. It was tasty though, as were the pork chops and hamburger. The roasts in general were not that great. It is nearly impossible to gauge value as the package we received contained so many changes from the order list - I would guess that this is intentional to make an honest price comparison very difficult. The sales pitch emphasise the quality and the 30-day exchange if you are not happy with anything. 30 days came and went and we never got a call from anyone to see if we were happy or if we wanted to make any exchanges. If the company cannot walk the talk, then they are not deserving of any future business from me. Here it is Jan 14, and we have almost no Nutrafarms meat left and are still stuck with our $143.75 biweekly payments for another 4+ months!
We've been customer going on our third year now and we just received our third order actually. I also have problem with Nutrafarms but in a different way. The quality we found was great. Yes we did get the odd chuck of meat that could have been better but then that happens at our locale grocery store also. As for the quantity, I never assumed I was buying one year worth of meat. I looked at this as buying $3500 dollars worth of meat and spreading the coast over 10 months. We still look for sales and take advantage of those. We liked it because we don't need to go get it, don't need to separate into individual packs, don't need to have a machine to vacuum pack it and so forth. Our problem is their paper work. They seriously need to make some advancement with this. We never really could grasp a hold of just what we have purchased. The order form reminds me of the paper world we used to live in. They need to step into the computer age. And when the order arrives there is no one complete list of what we are getting. We need to spread it out on the floor and physically count our meat order. Because this is so vague, we don't know if we are paying 17$ a lbs or 22$ a lbs and this is worrisome for us. They need to change or they will loose us has a customer.
Nutrafarms - came to my house ( new suburb in London ON) today.
The whole thing weekend of "shoddy" as the "farmer" didn't turn up on time - and was 45 mins later that his agreed time! I welcomes the 'farmer" into the house foyer and asked him - Pls take off your shoes - and you can wear these new( still in store wrapped sealed bags) slippers to put on". and that BECAME THE POINT where he started talking to me about my HOUSE! oh nice house but do you have to get people to take of shoes and do you really want to smell peoples smelly socks! WOW > I sat him down and asked if he wanted something to drink since he be talking long time ( I guessed) he said NO I don't other peoples tap water !
So I guess by now anyone can guess the tone of this 'salesman/Farmer' would be! He told me if I had read the website I told him - nothing much about the farms and no REAL INFO - but lots of "general statements"
So I asked him " wheres the farms?" he saod they have a group in farmers ...
> Beef ...so where does the meat get processed? -- wow NOT DONE BY THE FARMERS!
>>Chicken - what is the average weight of (full )chicken that you sell? - oops we don't sell many full chicken -we try to tell people not to do that ! - we process all our meet at OUR FACILITY ...wow - so how does one know if any or only few of the meats comes from their select farms! rest can be bought from " farm mill" and might even be WORSE that the so called 'supermarket trash' you talk of? ...No answer
>> so what defines "natural " in your view or your company's view? how does Nutrafarms DEFINE NATURAL? -- well we follow what Govt oF Canada sets down for farmers to do. -- oh they have inspectors for that - which dept ? which of the areas they go to check? feeding? animal health management? or grass levels? - so what and who does this checking? ... well we can really assure you that all the meat is NATURAL.. so I tell him ANY MEAT is always produced my 'nature' its not yet made in a LAB - but we pretty close to that one I hear !
So who "own" the meat while I am paying off weekly or montly? - YOU DO -- ok > so there if there is like a flooding in my basement and fridge goes off, and meats spoil - ISTILL HAVE TO PAY .. when I don't have that Meat good eough to eat? .. yes but you can exchange it to whatever you don't like - so I can exchange thisBAD MEAT to you guys give me new new lot? -- nope only for first 30 days.
hmmn, , , so Nutrafarms = has NO RESPONSIBILITY for anything after these so called "natural" meats are deleivred ? nope just pay us the monthly sum and we will keep looking after you !
SO I stood up and said thanks for the time and please let you leave and look for other custoimers - as I have already decided to NOT BUY from you guys.
He got so upset that he could take off his "slippers", , , ( they just slide off - nothing needed to take your socks off !) so he kept telling me pls don't write a bad comment on the website pls
>>> note made from RECORDING DURING this "farmer/salesman" talking to me about this "order system"
for my part - Nutrafarms - should be HONEST and OPEN about how they do 'business' they wont even list who own the company, nor their senior management details - just gots of General INFO and nothing specific that would me me comfortable that the famers they deal with are even doing what they claim on their website!
I can understand you being upset by the visit from the Nutrafarm salesman (not a farmer!), however, I would like to point out some things you may not be clear on.
First off, we farmers DO NOT process our own meat. That is against the law unless the farmer also has a government inspected butchering facility on his or her farm.
Next, if you read the guidelines on the CFIA website in regards to the use of the word "natural" when describing farm animals being raised, you'll see it's actually illegal to use that term. Nutrafarms doesn't seem to be aware of that but then, neither are most consumers. So good for you for at least trying to ask.
Sounds like it's best for us to not do business with Nutrafarms as they dont appear to be able to prove their meat is sourced from certified organic and /or antibiotic free farms.
And on that note, any farmer who takes their job seriously will NOT simply allow complete strangers to come "visit" their farm. I know I certainly don't allow people I don't know to come over and possibly make my livestock sick.
So just because a farm is organic/free range, or humane certified(like mine is) does not mean you get to wander through the barn or fields, mkay?
Hi there,
We got a Nutrafarm salesman visit last week (January the 23rd) and he got us signed on Pack #1 (the 2800 CAD) order. I'll leave aside the fact that he arrived one hour later and took three hours to get things done.
Unfortunately, next day when we actually sat down and try to figure out exactely how much meat we eat in one year, we realize it's Nutrafarm contract would either get us too much meat or too expensive.
Bottom line, yesterday, Jan27 (so I'm still in the 10days cancelation period), i called them to either reduce the meat at 50% quantity or cancel the contract. The branch manager tried to offer several options - but none on reduce the size of the order. So, when I told him I'll cancel, he said there is a 15% RE-STOCKING FEE. Could not believe it, there is nothing like that in the papers I have from the salesman!
Really, how can you ask for 15% restocking FEE, when you did not deliver squat?!? The manager said I have signed that paper - which I don't have?! and I asked him to send me a scanned copy of it by email That was yesterday - so far nothing.
Can anybody confirm if they have seen this 15% re-stocking fee?
Thank you very much.
Hey drgl,
I read your comment about Nutrafarms. We've also decided to cancel and on the back of the Agreement there's only the 10 day cancellation policy but no word about the 15% restocking fee. Here is the Government of Canada website regarding cancellations.
http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Cancel_a_Contract.aspx
NutraFarm can't impose any other costs since they didn't provide you yet with any products except the free sample.
Did you hear back from Nutrafarms regarding your cancellation?
We were visited this weekend by a nutra farm sales rep. Very smooth talking, very good at selling the product. We got roped in and signed. When he left he didn't leave us the list of what we were actually getting for the $3000. That made us a little uncomfortable. We emailed the next day and got the list. When you actually calculate the price after all the added costs (on the last page) the price per kilo comes to $34. A little steep. So we decided to cancel the contract. The regional manager contacted us and threw in a free freezer to win us over, but by that time we knew we were scammed. And anyone who throws in a $600 freezer for free must be making some serious money. Anyway, beware, smooth sales person and he pulled some good sales tactics!
Ouch! 34 bucks a kilo is a lot! Glad you figured it out and hopefully you had no trouble cancelling.
You guys are seriously looped. First off I don't know how people who didn't even buy are complaining as they have no first hand experience. Secondly whoever was saying all that nonsense about certification and natural/no hormones etc, we live in Canada and every single food company (retailer/processer/butchery etc) is inspected by the health board and if they are NOT supplying exactly what they are advertising they are SHUT DOWN. Don be so ridiculous we don't live in the 1800's. I have bought from this company for the past 3 years and I think the cost is actually amazing considering the quality of the products they supply. I get the smallest package and pay like $50 a week. Tell me where you can buy natural free range meat on a weekly basis for that kind of money? I used to spend twice that going to places like nature's emporium etc. The reason they don't give you an exact list of what you bought is because they have to fit every dollar you spend into your order which fully customizable and therefore DIFFERENT for everybody. Mine is slightly different every year because I choose slightly different things every year. Sometimes more steaks, sometimes less ground beef etc, all depends on our current eating habits/schedule etc. I for one love the products and the convenience, and find it to be fairly priced. If you don't like the concept then don't buy, but don't come on here bashing the company of you've never even tried it. Do something more productive with your time.
Why is the chicken not yellow in colour?
dmwordsmith
i hope that you get your next order free, or they thank you for kissing the companys @$$ or you get a nice extra bad meat product.
;) they came to our door but after reading this we will send them away we do not want the free sample lol
Hi there, i recently just signed for my second year with NutraFarms. I used to spend around $60 -$70 every week on meat products from sobey s or ZehrS. I find im saving $30 a week give or take. Plus i know where its coming from. I dont understand why there is complaints about Nutra farms when there are stores like Giant tiger an wallmarts that sell awfull tasting meats. Maybe not all of it is awfull but some chicken breats are so salty and seems like its not real. I actually took it back to the frocerystore and asked how they can sell this.?
I use to buys from a butcher but they are over prices compared to what i buy from Nutra farms. Its because the butcher buys directly for farms and marks thier meat way up. My uncle has signed too and is happy with nutra...i heard that someone said bad things about nutra and i had to look it up. Ive been happy with the meat i have boughten and my kids like eating meat now i think becuase it tastes better the. What we use to have to buy. These bad comments are making me wonder what is going on. Im outside of kitchenr ontario and there alway nice and have never been mean. And also once i found a steak that looked like there was air in the package from a rip i do t know if i caused but i called and they stopped to replace it. It was two an a halfs day later...the guy gave me two in return. For all i know it could have been me that tore the package or my oldest who is 8 years old. He likes looking for the meat when we choose what to have for dinner. I dont know. I always thought nutra to be nice and im happy enough to have ordered again. And i have to say before iforget, how many parents are going to mc donalds with thier kids when we know for a fact what they put in there food. Hope this letter gets and honest response. Jason M. :)
The price is fair, definitely a lot cheaper than what I paid at Rowe farms (and they didnt even have grass fed beef). My kids have liked the food more than anything else in the past and thus I only get meat from nutrafarms these days. Every time I've re-ordered it has been the same price as well (3 orders).. dating back two years. They give you a 3 year price guarantee. I recommend them for anyone who is looking to feed their family hormone and antibiotic free meat without paying the costs typically associated with this kind of product - its not cheaper than a grocery store though.. maybe 10% more but you pretty much get that back with the fact that chicken and ground beef wont shrink. They told me they never use water in processing or chilling, so your dollar goes further, it also keeps the meat fresh in a freezer forever.. ive eaten packages past a year old and no problems.
How is $22 a pound fair? That's expensive hotdogs where I can buy all natural local ones for $7-8/lb in a grocery store
How do you know that their meat is really free range? Not EVERY piece of meat is certified. They are not a certified sustainable farm.
Good question. How do you know if the meat is free range or antibiotic free or "natural" or any of those other meaningless terms some companies like to throw around in order to sell you a product. And to be clear, Nutrafarms is not a farm; they buy meat from various farms in Ontario, which is fine, and sell it to consumers in freezer packages like Home Foods used to do.
We are almost done our 4th order of Nutrafarms meat and I will never buy meat from a regular grocery store
Again. The quality and taste of the food, the convenience of the portion size and packaging and the quantities are perfect. Our first year, like most people I was a bit wary of buying from a company selling door to door but
I liked their story and Nutrafarms seemed to address my concerns. I wanted to find a healthier, local and more humane alternative to the feed lots, bse 'mad cow', e-coli scares, food recalls and animal cruelty that is part of the 'normal' way that we shop for our food...Nutrafarms has fit the bill perfectly. In my first year we decided to try a smaller package than what the salesguy recommended even though he advised that it wouldn't last the 12 months and it didn't. The next order ... 8 months later we ordered what the sales guy suggested after taking time to really consult with us to find out what we spend on groceries and how much meat we eat. Since that second order Nutrafarms has provided is with awesome value and the quantity has lasted between 12 and 14 months each time. I find it interesting how many people will go out of their way to rip a company up on the Internet spewing their comments while making no comments about companies whose poor practices have sickened and even killed people. Not one comment about animals being fed ground up other animals, about workers abusing animals, about retailers pumping or soaking chicken and pork with water and then selling it to
By the pound or the many other disgusting and terrible things that the 'normal' commercial meat industry does everyday...legally...and you go out of your way to spend your money on this? In my experience Nutrafarms
Costs about the same as when I used to shop in the store for meat, I would actually say that I spend a bit of a
Premium actually...but when I consider the quality (you can't get beef that has been dry aged for 28 days at loblaws :-), the fact the they support ontario farmers and I know my meat is coming from Ontario, the taste of the chicken, pork and the fact that I don't buy freezer bags anymore or throw out freezer burned or otherwise bad store products or spend the time and gas going to different stores to chase 'deals' ... I'd say I actually save money. All in all, if you like what their story is ... Give it a try, I won't feed my family anything else. To drgl..there is a very clear statement about the 15% restocking fee on the food order sheet, you had to sign right below it..and uh, thistle? Wtf? Socks? Smelly feet? What f are you on about?
How long have you been working for Nutrafarms?
What a scam! Was told 11$ kg. But actually paid 28$ kg. they dont tell u half the package cost is shipping and handling stuff. Dont buy people!
Meatlover. u must work for nutrafarms. naturafarms. Whatever. It really is sad u cant trust anyone these days. Its our own fault because we were in a rush and did not look into what we were actually getting when we signed. He just kept saying its 11$kg. there was no mention that around 1400$ is extra fees. It only says what number package u are getting. after weighing everything we had 110KG and paid $3000. Thats actually 28$/kg This business will die if word keeps spreading so do the right thing and post! check out the pic I posted of our bill after we recieved everything. F U NATRAFARMS!
You pay for overhead anywhere you go. think of the water content, theft insurance, employee income, and electricity...either way you pay for more than just cost...thats what a business is...i mean...i think its interesting you expect to get more for less...who do you think will pay for these cost? its built in the price...ad yes...it comes to 8 dollars a pound...
there is a freezer included, fruits veggies and pantry...why are you calculating based on just meat?
3000 for best quality meat, fruits veggies, pantry, cleaners and brand new freezer is a better price than you would get anywhere getting [censor] food
Strongly disagee. And I'll tell you why.
I worked in the meat processing industry for many unhappy years and was super thrilled to hear that these guys properly process and air chill everything, guaranteeing in writing less than 2% water content, thats impossible to come by. I was pretty much sold by that point but the sales rep kept telling me about all the additional ways they raise their livestock and showed me many photos and farm locations, it's a really impressive process that these guys do. Very few butcher shops go to the extent that they do, I really know of only one in Toronto, and the price is almost twice as much as their per unit costs which the sales rep went through with me on, I'd pay 9 dollars a pound any day for antibiotic free, free range, 72 day old capon chicken without water - that is SO hard to find in the days of inflated prices for terrible quality poultry... in fact it just doesnt exist in the market without going to farms directly anymore.
I did an order with them 5 months ago and I'm amazed at how far the meat goes. One little package of ground beef seems to last forever! Big contrast to the crap, cartilage and water we get in traditional ground beef (I wont even get into it, Id make someone sick if I did). I bought before trying the sample, you can just look at it and tell that you are getting real ground beef, no cartilage, awfuls or connective tissue. Someone needs to show this stuff to Kirkland Signature lol.
I highly recommend this company, as long as you are not on a No Frills budget, its not cheap but these guys are worth every penny, and give you a 3 year price lock, so I don't have to worry about the forecasted 14 percent jump in the next year. Nutrafarms is more pricey than your current grocery stores, but you get it back in the water content alone, let alone quality - make no mistake, this is by far the best raised and processed meat in our province, and the price is fair. Its a shame that most families dont have the knowledge in the food industry that I do or everyone would be getting their meat from these guys (unless you have access to a farm that goes to their lengths. Kudos to this company, they don't deserve to be on the Complaints board.
And anyone who questions the costs on wrapping and overhead on the back, that was actually the most impressive part. FYI guys, when you buy meat in a grocery store only about 20% is the food cost. So I don't know why your complaining that Nutrafarms' food cost is only 60% - are you going to the farms to slaughter, de-feather, butcher, clean, wrap, weigh, store, freeze, box, store, sort, pack, price, and deliver yourselves? Lets all stop trying to be experts please. Take this company off this list.
The shills on this board are so obvious. I understand you posted a while ago but how can you possibly agree with Nutrafarms practices? They charge $22+ a Pound now!
That is what ground beef is supposed to look like, well done.
I just wanted to add that I had a different experience with Nutrafarms. The samples were of good quality. We couldn't pull the trigger on investing that much money up front without knowing exactly what we were getting but Mark at the head office in London was very helpful and cancelled our order as per our request.
A friend of mine ordered the freezer full of meat from them and they gave me a handful of items to take home and try out. I tried the ground beef, chicken breasts, bacon, hot sausages, and porc chops. I didn't get to try the steaks and other items yet unfortunately.
So here is a review of each products quality, not considering price...
1. Chicken Breast - breast bones are noticeably larger compared to what I normally get at the grocery store, and it also appeared to have less fat. Personally this wasn't an advantage to me since it dries out the meat even more than regular chicken breasts since they generally already have a low fat content. It's easy to fix with some olive oil though. I'll say I'm neutral on the quality since I am guessing it is still healthier.
2. Ground Beef - Honestly didn't notice a difference in taste, but then again I added lots of seasoning to the meet. It was a great meal, probably healthier I assume than store bought stuff. I can't honestly say it tastes different though.
3. Bacon/Porc Chops - The Porc products is where I noticed the greatest difference in quality. The fat/protein content I would say is probably the same ratio or very close to what you get in the store. However the difference I noticed is that they don't shrink by like 20%-50% when cooked. When I finished cooking the meat I was in awe that they were still practically the same size as when they were raw. I'm guessing this has something to do with the water content being higher in the store bought items.
4. Hot sausages - Good quality and taste, except they were not hot. I would classify them as mild.
All that said, I am happy enough with the quality that I might place an order. I have a sales rep coming over in a few weeks. It's a little frustrating that I can't review the product brochure online and that part would normally scream "scam" to me if I didn't already know someone with their products. One thing that is in their favor is that their financing/payment option doesn't have interest.
This is a neutral post, but I will post again after my sales rep experience whether I buy or not. At the very least I would agree that they need to improve their marketing and online presence. There is no price listings or shopping cart component on their website, what is up with that. If I had not already tried the products I would have completely disregarded them for this reason alone.
I liked our sales agent. He was very polite, friendly & knowledgeable. Both my husband and I are in the science profession, so we understood how they verified their product, which is in my opinion hard to find all in 1 supermarket (organic, farm-raised, etc.) Going to a local farm just doesn't seems practical with our busy schedule. Now I don't have to worry about shopping for meat & fish, just produce, dairy & shelf staples.
Our delivery came yesterday. Although it seemed overwhelming unpacking 26 boxes into a freezer that came with our order, after a few hours we finally got most of it to fit. Had to give away 1.5 box to family. Probably won't order that much next time, but happy with the cuts & quality. Btw, the free sample of meat was amazing!
26 boxes? Wow! Do you eat food by the box normally? Tell us how many pounds you got and how much you pay for it. My order came in "5lb" boxes which more often then not were closer to 4lbs...but let's assume you got the full 5lbs. 26*5= 130lbs. The minimum order is $3900. So 3900/130= $30 a pound for ground beef and hot dogs...
I had someone come to the door recently and found him to be very suspect. I was currently making dinner and in an effort to get back to my dinner, I asked for a company phone number to call if I decide to purchase through Nutrafarms. The answer that I received back was "I can't give you that as our phone will always be busy with sales people making out-going calls." This might have been the saddest answer that I have ever heard. Perhaps the company is legit and it was just a really bad salesperson. Either way, I'm not buying!
Everyone here should check out a new company called truLOCAL. They are a local company that also get their meat locally to Ontario. The biggest difference is that you can order monthly. It is shipped right to your door the day after you place your order and to be very honest it is amazing. I cannot say enough good things about my experience with this company. Look for yourself and you can try an order. It won't cost you $3000+ to try. My order was $250.
multiply 250 by 12 lol...its 3000...trulocal is cool and all...but its different value for cost...retail is always more expensive than wholesale
TruLOCAL was started by an account manager at Naturafarms. lol.
Difference is, you can pick what you want, you know what you're getting and you are not stuck with payments after all the food is gone. Order a box...don't like it...don't do it again...no harm no foul. Nutrafarms...try it...don't like it...stuck with payments for 10 to 12 months.
No body should ever be fooled by nutrafarms please do yourselves a favour and never buy meat from there I have worked there and they are such a scam you will be wasting your time and money
I had a rep come to the door, and he explained to me that all he wanted to do was take what I already spend on meat, and get it straight from the farmers. Same quantity, but better quality, and for the same price because they cut out the supermarket middle man.
I have just separated from my partner who handled all the grocery side of things, so I don't know my "meat budget". So he sold me the package, insisting I was paying same price for better quality.
He went through a sheet that listed all the different cuts, but didn't list any weights or quanities. We crossed off what I don't use (which is a lot because I'm a crappy cook - see the ex-partner being the cook), and he said the value would be "redistributed to some of your favorites". All without explaining what kind of quantities I could expect.
I get the meat delivered (4 days ago now), and count it all out. Then, I go to the local grocery store where I shop to see if I got the right value. What I received was pound for pound, item for item, THREE (3) times the cost of what I would have paid getting the same quantity from the local store.
So I figured it must be because of the quality difference. So I went to FarmBoy and a couple of local specialty shops to price compare the same level of quality. And it calculates to 2/3 of what Nutrafarms is charging.
So the Monday after the Saturday delivery, I call them and explain that I want to cancel. I haven't used anything from what they delivered. It's all sitting in the freezer they dropped off with it. I explain that the sales rep had grossly misrepresented what I was getting for my money. I didn't want the deposit or delivery fee back, but I wanted to return it all to get out of the year of monthly payments.
The guy on the phone got mad at me. He told me it was not returnable. He called me a liar ("respectfully disagree") about the price differences. He kept telling me the value was there. That my order would last more than a year for me and my 7 year old son. I told him that how long it would last was not the problem. I could buy the same quantity and have it last just as long for A THIRD of the cost. I told him I wanted to cancel. I wanted out of the contract. I wanted them to take back their stuff.
He wouldn't let me. He wouldn't budge. And I couldn't continue to argue because I had to drive from work to pick up my son from childcare. I resigned to having his assistant forward me options for having a few extra items added to the order to bring it "a little closer to what you would be comfortable with". I'm currently waiting for that email.
I don't even know what kind of options I have to get out of this at this point...
The sales rep was helpful and answered all of our questions so we placed an order. It was delivered when promised. After that, the relationship went significantly down hill. They short-shipped items from my order, sent wrong items, and many packages were improperly sealed and displayed freezer burn. When I called customer service, there were NO replies to my messages and enquiries and escalations for THREE MONTHS!
I finally tracked down my area sales manager who was apologetic and promised to have someone call me the following Tuesday (long weekend) to correct things.
A week and a half later, I called him back, again. No answer but I left a message. He didn't return my call but, apparently, sent an email to customer service who called me about a half our later. She provided lots of apologies and excuses about their phone system. If it took me nearly four months to return 8 calls, I think I'd want my money back on that phone system!
After escalating my issue again, their General Manager called me back. He was argumentative and continuously cut me off. He was totally unhelpful and just wanted me to go away. He obviously sets the tone for his staff and the company's culture.
If you're thinking of placing an order with this company, I suggest you run the other way! Their customer service and satisfaction is abbysmal. SHAME ON NUTRAFARMS.
the salesman was arragant and had no options but to stick us with a 3700 dollar bill--what a scam
Just signed up with nutrafarms. So far product I tried was good however I priced out my order with what it would cost Sobeys. Sobeys $1360.91. Product cost according to nutrafarms $2230.54. Plus add in $1600 of service charges. I did get a new 9 cu ft freezer but that seems to be covered in the price. Seems like a tremendous premium. Won't be reordering.
I'll be honest, I work for nutrafarms (canvasing) but I also would like to add that I'm only 16 so please take that into consideration when replying
Reading through this I have seen some complaints about transparency so id like to shine some light on some stuff.
First by doing a run down on how we do business (at least in the Hamilton location).
Step one: Canvassing (my job)
A group of about 5 people go out and knock door to door signing people up for a free sample of our grass fed black Angus ground beef (which I love!). We knock on about a hundred doors and say something like this
"Hi I'm here from nutrafarms. Were working with local farms, doing a promotion on the street bringing around free samples of grass fed beef. Were around tomorrow bringing out samples to some of your neighbors from 4 and 9 when is a good time to stop by and deliver yours?
... Okay make sure to check out our website and when the farm rep comes with a sample he's gonna tell you about our product and how it's raised differently from the stuff in the grocery store" We get some simple information such as: first name, phone number and amount of people are in the house.
I'd also like to add that we don't give out our number because no one ever calls and even if they do we don't make commission off of it. Commission is $45 if farm rep talks for 20 mins at the door (this happens maybe twice out of 15 people)
Step two: Phone confirmer
We have about three people that call the phone number we got to just confirm the delivery time and address. They only call twice by the most and talk for only a few minute's.
Step three: Farm Representative
These are the "sales people". They go to the scheduled appointments with a sample and talk to you about the product and how it would be great for you (other words a sale pitch). Each rep has there own tactic's to selling so if one of them uses sneaky tactic's I apologize but they do make commission so there gonna try to sell as many as they can. if they don't sell they may get frustrated because they wasted time. This is the only reason why I see a rep being rude and I apologize on behalf of the company.
Now let's move on to our farms. We have three:
One in Niagara, one in Sarnia and one in Steayner.
I recommend watching this YouTube video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V6PZ7l83txs
because it's probably more accurate than I.
The farm that handles the beef let's there cows live twice as long as the average life of farm cows. They live on a range eating only pesticide free grass until the last month (I could be wrong) were they eat GMO free corn and wheat to add a little bit of fat and taste.
The farm that handles chicken is I'll admit border line free range because they emulate free range rather then let them live on an open range. That being said they are still healthy enough to be considered organic free range chicken.
As for the farm that handles pork I don't know a lot about them.
Now I want to move on to customer satisfaction.
I have talked to a lot of people who have tried the sample, are customers or used to be customers
They have all said the quality of the meat is great. Some say it didn't last but some say they still have plenty left even after a year. Some aren't customers anymore because they don't like the risk of losing a years worth of meat.
Regarding that last part:
We don't refund meat that has gone bad due to power outage but neither would a grocery store. We also paid the farmer and the sales rep for the sale so we apologize but that's all we can do.
I'd recommend for buck food orders that you buy a back up generator. They aren't too expensive and could really save your a**.
This post maybe a little biased but I tried my hardest to be fair and I hope this post helps people out in one way or the other
Thank you for all these posts. I am cancelling my appt now after this feedback
I can't get past the idea of buying meat from a door to door salesman. I wouldn't buy meat or seafood from the back of a truck. Know what you're eating, and stay healthy folks.
Had a guy came knock on my door saying that he represent Nutralfarms and ask if I know anything about them. Just a short conversation, he said he want to give me a pound of meat and he want me to try out their products. Sound really good, and it's free why not. So I told him I will give it a try and I will buy them if the products are actually good. He ask me my phone number and said he will come back next day with the meat.
Door bell ringing the next day with a lady show up. She start introducing and advertise nutrafarms with grass feed cows, free range chickens, farm pigs none cages and feed everything with organics no bad chemical, no fat no steroid, said everything you want to hear. Very nice job she perform I am very impress. Of course I love farm rise I just need to know that they are honest that's all. She start show me all kind of pictures with all their farms all over ontario . I would give it a try like I said, then she start bring out a list and question me what I like. I just answer yes or no then she cross out all the no answers. It's a long list, I few tire for answer too many questions so I turn around and tell her that I just want to try out a few products. She said all my yes answers are my order list for the whole year. I start to feel weird, I do like farm rise but that doesn't mean I want to make the whole year order. Then she goes why not, it will save me time to go shopping and the food is much better than local grocery stores.
I turn her down I don't want to make a big order. I understand that it's only $85 a week but you multiply with 1 yr is over $4000. So to try out the products you will have to spend $4000 dollars and have no idea how much quantity you will get. Just knowing that you will get a big other that will last you a whole year. Will it be or not who knows, you sign the paper before you see the product. Personally now I think it's might be a scam, she want me to make the order so bad. She thought that she had me, I am glad that I didn't.
I find it highly suspicious that every message board begins with numerous complaints about the company, but is then followed by multiple people spouting the Nutrafarms sales pitch verbatim. We had a saleman at our house yesterday. I was totally on board with the deal until I asked "how much meat will I get?". The salesman then became very combative and by the time I asked a second time he just stood up and walked out. Typical high pressure sales tactics. How can anyone sign a deal, for $3500 I might add, not knowing how much product they will receive? How can you agree to one year finance plan with no agreed upon particulars in writting?
I find it interesting that almost every postive review contains the same shotty grammar and poor command of the English language. I wouldn't doubt that the sketchy salesman on your doorstep and sketchy positive posters are one and the same. It would also seem the people launching their complaints are victims of the high pressure sales tactics I witnessed first hand. Our salesman was writting up a deposit / purchase agreement before I had actually agreed to anything. The fact that he became almost hostile when questioned about the quantity of product we would be receiving led me to believe we made the right decision not blindly signing up. I can't think of one other product you purchase without knowing how much you will receive. The concept of buying without knowing is probably why Nutrafarms has been, "In business for 16 years" and isn't more successful. My fiancé and I are they're products exact target demographic but due to their sketchy system they lost a sale. Nutrafarms, you are not a household brand with a reputable history. You cannot expect people to sign a one year finance agreement based upon a sales pitch. If you are in fact a fair, legit company, please quantify the amount of product a customer will receive. Generate a proper bill of sale with an itemized product list. Have your terms of agreement listed on the purchase agreement. These are all standard business practices and without them you will continue to rely on less than savy customers being your only source of revenue.
I had the rep over to my house. I told him I needed to think about it because I didn't feel I really had a straight answer as to how much the meat would really cost. I wanted to feel comfortable before I decided to give them $400 a month for 10 months. He told me that it would be a good idea to do up all the paper work and give him a deposit cheque and that way he wouldn't have to come back a second time and bother me. I have to admit that I got caught up in it all and agreed but asked him twice if he was going to cash the cheque and he said certainly not. Well the cheque has been cashed and I have yet to commit to the order. I just don't feel comfortable blindly paying for something that I don't exactly know what I am getting . I have insisted that they refund me the amount while I am doing my homework to cost compare. I have also asked for an itemized list with prices from my order. If I don't get it I won't be signing up. The rep didn't have my order and said it was highly unusual that a customer calls before their order and the sales manager thought it was highly unusual that I would be asking for a refund and he has never had this happen before. Clearly the rep didn't listen when I told him that I wasn't ready to commit yet and needed time to think. After all that has happened and I haven't even reached the stage where I want to order, I am leary. I hope to get my itemized list and they had better refund me my deposit! I would like to buy this meat and I hope it all works out but I have to do my homework first and hopefully they are willing to assist me by providing the information I require in order to make an educated decision.
Im going to make a wild guess and say they NEVER GAVE YOU A LIST? They don't want you doing the math
We basically did the same thing. We agreed and liked everything the sales rep said but I wanted to crunch the numbers before signing up to make sure that it worked for us. I think their quality is pretty good, not sure have never tried their products, the 58 dollar freezer was a good arm bender but we did not sign. You have to make sure that it works for you and your budget. The door to door used car'ish sales pitches don't work on me. I am in sales and marketing and see through the attempted closing techniques. I don't like to buy anything under those circumstances. You tend to always feel somewhat violated afterwards and second guessing yourself.
A Nutrafarms rep came by a few weeks ago and we got roped in by the sales pitch which is essentially nothing but a huge lie as far as the amount of product you receive for the price you pay. The sales rep advised that the order typically lasts for 10 - 12 months. After we discussed with him at length what we tend to eat and how often, he said that we'd maybe get a bit less out of the product, maybe 9-10 months, because we tend to choose more expensive cuts and don't eat tons of ground beef. Ok, fine. The math still sounded reasonable, and we expected it would be a little more expensive than grocery store prices, but the quality of the meat would be better etc. etc. and so we decided to give it a try. This was not one of those situations that sounded too good to be true. It sounded reasonable. After we received the order (they also sent a freezer) I packed it away and we started trying some of the items. The quality was definitely good, I have no issue there. After about a week I calculated the value of what we had received. I did this two ways. First, I went through the entire list of what we received and put a price on the each item, adding a buffer of around 10% above what we'd pay generally from Farmboy. Then, I calculated the number of meals that the delivery would provide, for a family of two. i.e. two pork chops = 1 meal. Both methodologies arrived at the same conclusion. Price-wise, we calculated the value of the product we received to be around $1, 600.00. This is around 40% of what we signed up for. Meals-wise, we calculated the product received would provide 110 meals, which is roughly 3.5 months. What they promised was a $3, 600 value which would last 8-9 months. Both calculations indicate they have only provided around 40% of what they promised. Based on something the sales rep said, and some of the paperwork, we were under the impression that this sort of made sense and they would be calling us or we could call them to top-up the order periodically. "Hi, we're out of pork chops and strip steaks" sort of thing, and they would send over the next batch, keeping track of how much we had left. The itemized delivery sheet we received indicates the value of the beef package was $1042.45, chicken was $225.12 and pork was $396.70.
Then there were assorted meats - bacon, sausages etc - that was $219.40. Add that up, it totals $1, 883.67. So, not too far off my calculation of $1600.00. The other thing that suggested this was that the product they sent completely filled the freezer, so it would have not been possible to send the entire order up front. So, what I saw was an itemized delivery sheet of product totally $1, 883.67 that completely filled the freezer with enough meat for 3.5 months of meals, so I expect a supplemental delivery later for essentially the same amount again! I called the sales rep and he informed me his is no longer with Nutrafarms so was not able to help much. Not sure if this was the truth or another lie. But he did not confirm that there was a top-up at all and it seems like we were given all that we are going to get. I'm trying to contact Nutrafarms, but have been unable to reach anyone as yet. I have a feeling doing so will be a challenge. While this is not yet resolved, and they might call back and say "oh yeah, we're bringing another load of meat for you in August, I doubt that will be the case. I would recommend avoiding these people like the plague. I am pissed and will make it my life's goal to obliterate this company.
Update: talked to Nutrafarm rep, she said that nope, what was delivered was our full order. I asked how they can claim that the delivery is worth $3, 600 when I calculate the value to be around $1, 600. She's like "Well yeah but you opted for Tenderloins and those are expensive." I said "Yes, and we calculated them at $25 per steak in our evaluation!" The math just doesn't add up. Waiting for a manager to call me back now.
Update - the regional manager called me back in a timely manner and was very pleasant to deal with and was genuinely concerned with my concerns. He took the time to listen to my analysis. He advised that possibly the rep (who he confirmed was no longer with Nutrafarms) misinformed me somewhat. First, the sales rep told us that the price of Nutrafarms product was 4-5% higher than what you'd pay at a typical grocery store but the manager advised that was way off and that their product is quite a bit higher in price than that, more like 40% above what you'd pay at the grocery store. Which was frustrating. Frustrating that the sales rep lied to us and frustrating that 40% above grocery store price is pretty crazy. He also said if the sales rep suggested that the freezer was 'free' that was incorrect and they do add a charge for the freezer to the order. Which is reasonable but again it would have been nice for the sales rep to be more specific on that and less sketchy. He wanted to do what he could to satisfy my concerns and he agreed to provide us with some additional product. He advised that the customer service rep I spoke to initially would call me back to discuss which she did on the same day. They offered me quite a bit of additional product at no additional charge, and also allowed me to trade in some items I didn't want for other product that I did want.
In summary, at the end of the day, while I still think the price is pretty steep, I am satisfied with the steps they did take to address my concerns and feel like I have received an amount of product more in line with what was promised. So, kudos to Nutrafarms for customer service on this one. I was honestly expecting a big fight and to be basically ignored, but it was quite the opposite experience.
Do your research. There are many smaller companies that will gladly give you a complete list of what you are getting and have open farms to visit. Do not sign anything unless they give you a dollar per pound idea or a complete list of what you will be receiving.
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT order from this company. They powersell with aggressive marketing because they have a terrible rep. I was duped and would say this is just shy of being a full out scam. The order lasted my family 5 months! The idea is fantastic, but DO NOT do it from Nutrafarms. There are many smaller groups throughout Ontario.
Yah no this is dumb. Who would ever spend 4k on meats and not know EXACTLY what you are getting is a [censored].
We were buying from Nutrafarms for years - [protected], but this year it was definitely last time!
Average price of meat was around $35-37 but quality was good on overall, except pork ribs last year which were stinky right after thawing (but they exchange that stuff readily).
Package delivered this year included forced soap we didn't ask for but main issue is that despite being >$200 more expensive overall volume of frozen mixed meat was 33% less! That brought average price of stuff (including chicken wings and bones!) to over $90!
This has become ripoff and adding their shadiness about where their meat comes from (Oh, all over the province!)!
Don't bait this! You are better off buying from organic shelves in regular stores (or likes like Nature Emporium or Longo's) - it's same or better but twice as cheap!
I used nutrafarms last year and reordered this year. I've read the comments with interest. I'm happy with the quality of the food. The ground beef, chicken breast, bacon, pork are quite a bit better than the local grocery store. The packaging on the bacon is not the prettiest as someone said. The beef products also seem good quality. I can only assume that the "organic, no antibiotics, grass fed..." is correct - I didn't dig into this. The sales people seemed polite and friendly enough but I didn't exactly challenge them. I've bought meat from Costco but the mechanically tenderized label on most their cuts means you are supposed to cook them to 165 degrees (well done) like hamburger to avoid a small risk of e. coli contamination. I don't see anything on the nutrafarm labels saying anything was mechanically tenderized so I'm more comfortable cooking their product to medium rare.
The company could be more transparent about the cost breakdown - we got a large order of $4800, which just fits into the upright freezer supplied. We have a mix of striploin, top sirloin, ground turkey, ground beef, bacon, stewing beef, a couple of roasts, chicken legs, drums, pork chops, sausage, salmon, roasts...The first order lasted us 14 months. We are 3 adults, 3 children (5, 8, 10). We eat beef about twice a week, chicken 1-2 per week, salmon 1 weeks, bacon every other week. The bacon ran out after about 6 months, striploin 8 months, had chicken and ground beef still left after a year as well as some cuts like blade simmering steak which I didn't order again. We don't eat huge portions - 2 striploins would feed all of us and was enough. If you order the more expensive cuts, it wont last a full year. If you have a mix of things it should last a year - had to supplement some things from the grocery - like prime rib roast, bacon when we ran out or had a specific preference.
I don't think we are saving money doing this, it does save time at the grocery store and the time separating out large family packs. It's hard to compare pricing with the grocery store as the quality is different. Not using as many Ziploc bags. There is a price for convenience. Individuals need to decide if that's worth the price of admission. I do think the quality is quite a bit better than the local grocery store, big box store.
Obvious shill is obvious. You sound just like manager I spoke to on the phone after I called up when I got my order. Literally using the same lines. Get out of here Nutrafarms
Hello
I signed up yesterday. Payment doesnt start till May of 2019. But talking to my husband we decided not to go threw with it. We noticed the sale rep wrote down our names wrong and my email wrong. So I still not have the contract. Tried calling sales rep to change that. She hasn't picked up her calls and Nutrafarms says we cant cancel till there manager calls us. Any one know a direct number or email so we can cancel.
Thank you so much
You can cancel by calling the financing company directly. Hometrust will cancel the funding and the order will never be delivered or charged.
Yes, you can call the financing company directly and or email them outlining that you wish to cancel your order and that you are within your 10 day cooling off period. That will VOID the financing agreement an in order for Nutrafarms to get this order back a NEW credit application will have to be provided to Home Trust. You DO NOT need to wait to speak to a manager. [protected] Home Trust
Scam scam scam. $31 a pound and no idea what I'm getting. This nearly bankrupt us
You may be able to file a Consumer Complaint based on unfair business practices. You can site the fact that you were not given a copy of the agreement when the sales rep left your home and you were only given a copy upon delivery and as such you had no prior knowledge of what product would be delivered. There are arguments to be made for both sides, however, part of a contractual agreement is that you are aware of the consideration being provided as a result of acceptance of the offer.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/filing-consumer-complaint
If you paid the full order via credit card, you can dispute the charge by calling the credit card company. If you did this through their financing company then your best bet might be a consumer complaint, but you really should act quickly if that is the route you are going to go.
We are paying $400 a month for a. Empty freezer. Never would of entertained the idea had we known the dollar per pound cost. Our math worked it out to $31 a pound..most expensive hot dogs I ever bought. Keep your [censored]ing soap and freezer . What a rip off.
Total scammers
We just placed an order wich they assured us would last a year. $3900 was our cost. We told them we eat a pound of meat a day 5-6 days a week. We received 169lbs...so $23/lb and 8 months of meat best case scenario...yah needless to say we will not be doing this again with Nutrafarms
That seems over priced