Grocery Stores
The Butchers
The Butchers is one of North Toronto's premier stores for high quality, organic naturally raised meats. They also offer some organic produce, seafood, dairy products and prepared foods.
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Saturday, May 26, 2012
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19 Comments
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A very good store try it out, they do free deliveries and they offer 10% discount on the total purchase for people who live in the Yonge and Eglington area but anyone can walk in and say that. I walked in and bought $50 worth of things and told the girl at the cash I have a 10% discount, she didn't even ask me if I live in the area.
My friend is the one who told me about this place and their discount so I won't shop anywhere else. They have everything.
And I discovered why the meat was so "cheap" - they are clearly getting rid of the garbage that their regulars won't touch.
One third of my order was lamb shoulder. I did not receive a hunk of meat - that would have been fine - but what looked like the shell of the hunk that had been relieved of the prime cuts around the middle and the rest given to me instead of being thrown in the garbage.
What I received was based on a solid layer of fat and gristle two feet long and a foot wide from which I had to cut out bits of meat myself with a sharp knife - and the result of that careful trimming was 1/2 fat and gristle, and 1/2 bits of gristly meat.
In other words, the $50 in lamb I thought I was getting for $17 was in fact more like $17 in almost-edible lamb I got for $50. The ONLY way I can eat this with confidence is if I cook it for 12 hours on low heat in a crock pot. I certain;ly cannot serve it to anyone else.
No wonder he was smiling when he handed it over.
I also ordered filet mignon steaks - there, $50 worth is about 6 small rounds about 2 inches in diameter, and I could hold them all - the full "$50" worth - in the palm of my hand.
The price on the rib-eye "MISCELLANEOUS" sticker was in excess of $50 per POUND - more than $110 per kilo.
One more clue that this was a huge promotion on their part was the "free" bright red Butchers bag, one of those deep plasticised grocery bags you take to the supermarket so you don't have to pay five cents per plastic.
So they fully expect that for that price I will continue to advertise their store while I'm "oot and aboot". I'm here to tell you I don't think so...
Judging from the papers in their hands, other shoppers there had similar promotions from other web sites.
So I have to say thanks to The Butchers... I got far too little edible meat in exchange for far too much money, so I have learned where NOT to buy my meat in future.
The quality was by far too low, the price by far too high. I won't be going back there again.
I think I'd rather continue to pay the slightly higher prices at Stewart Carroll in the Farmers Market higher up on Yonge, just north of Steeles at Elgin/Arnold and know that I have possibly the best quality cuts available anywhere - with the waste already trimmed - for my family and friends.
I hope this review/feedback helps someone else...
i called with concerns about my order (which took two weeks from the day i emailed to arrive) and the man i spoke to was extremely angry and rude, and would not listen to anything i had to say. he said i shouldn't have any complains as the deal i'm getting is so good, and i should be thankful to him for his generosity. then he went on to tell me that the lady answering the emails was in a coma and had cancer, yet was still answering the emails, so how dare i have a complaint about anything (?!). at this point i asked for a refund and he said okay do that, and hung up on me as i was in mid sentence, asking HOW to get a refund. i called back again, and he said to take it up with the coupon people, and told me he did not want to serve a customer like me, then hung up again.
the order i got today was missing 2 items, yet strangely added up perfectly to $150 (the entire coupon cost) all i got was two chickens, a cut of steak and a small stew.
so my delivery finally arrived (i realise it was actually 3 weeks ago that i placed it), and my chicken is covered with dirt and hair.
i took a photo: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/5554029489_6136d62ea7_z.jpg
they also gave me 4 times as much beef as i had ordered, and two other items were missing entirely.
i really don't feel comfortable eating anything from this store
"I know the store is adding staff and coolers to carry more stock and meet the additional demand"
How would a harried customer know that, especially after being frustrated by slow service from rude people run off their feet moving the garbage meat out the door?
This place is small, dingy and very worn. They could barely move behind the counter with the smaller "deal", they could not properly handle the volume of $150 meat for $50, and now they are offering $400 meat for $100?
So now you will pay double the previous offer and be served just a little bit more of the garbage they had left over from the previous "offer" - and be served rather more slowly in an even larger crush of bodies in that confined space.
Just give this place a miss, it's not worth the rip-off, crowds or frustration. Take your $100 and shop at your own butcher... with that control you will get more quantity and better quality meat for the same money - and without being crushed, rushed or getting the knowing smirk that comes with the paid-up rip-off package of rubbish.
And "Organic"??? Give me a break. Next thing he'll be calling it "Artisan" and doubling his prices, like the rest of the rip-off scam artists.
And finally, how come the public is being offered meat at a quarter of the usual price? Does this meat all "fall off the back of a truck"? Doesn't this all sound just a LITTLE suspicious? You know the old saying... "If it seems too good to be true... it probably is too good to be true."
http://oppugno.com/blog/2011/04/27/the-butchers-in-toronto/
I read in an article saying the voucher campaign was only a 'teaser' to get people into the store to buy other meat at regular prices. If this is true, why did they not make it a special on, say, chicken, only. Not Everything in the store. If they made a mistake, they need to own up and stop blaming customers for getting angry at what now looks like a scam. They're only getting back what they put out; What goes around, comes around. The article goes on to say how they haven't made any money from this, that they've actually lost money. Really? Do the math, either they're downright stupid and shouldn't be in business, or it's just another 'Poor Me'. It's a dishonest campaign, it's very bad business, it is fraudulent, and I'm now concerned about the questionable source of 'natural and organic' meats that I've ingested. Enough of Give Them a Break, they've had ample opportunity to turn this around, but it seems greed takes precedence here.
I'm being reimbursed through Dealfind. I don't know about the other deal companies, but the negative response has been so overwhelming that Dealfind is honouring their 'satisfaction guaranteed' clause. Check with your coupon company. The Butchers did say they would too, but they're just too abusive, I didn't want to risk my sense of well being.
I have no problem getting a refund from Dealfind for this deal stating the terms of the deal has changed. Therefore, I would suggest whoever still has coupons in hand should check with the company that they got theirs from and just get a refund.
No matter whether you believe any of the stories that The Butchers are putting out on their website or not, I think they just ruined their own reputation! Who in their right mind would buy from them again when things like this happened! Even if I was a customer before the deal incident, I 'll still think twice before buying from them again!!