Before I get into my person beef with these purveyors of fine meats, allow me to state up front: the product is top notch in both flavor and quality. The Wagyu beef strip graded 8-9 we enjoyed last night was superlative. Sous vide prep finished on the grill for a final medium rare sear. Can't beat it for a luxurious birthday dinner treat and a remarkable sale price this week. Additionally I pre-ordered a quality pack #1 because the #6 with dry aged beef was sold out for at least 30 more days. The Quality Pack # 1 consists of 4 Delmonico steaks (16 oz each), 4 strip steaks (16 oz. each) and four tenderloin filets (8 oz each.) These sizes and quantities are specified on their website under the Quality Pack items that are being offered. The price for #1 is $239.
When I returned home I opened the Quality packs. Unfortunately I discovered the sizes of the cuts were all over the place. Not one of the strip steaks came close to 16 oz, with the largest being 10 oz. An additional small 5th strip was added to bring up the weight and was child sized. The filets ranged from 5.5 oz to 10.5 oz. The Delmonicos were fine. My expectation for the other cuts were that the advertised sizes are going to be what you get. Also, such radically different sizes affects cooking times as well. I called the store in Slingerlands and was assured they would replace the meat free of charge. This statement lead me to believe a few different things in their effort to rectify the problem. This involved an additional hour of afternoon drive time (30 minutes each way) prior to my dinner prep, plus the time at the store. So, I thought for my inconvenience...
I met with manager and co-owner David at the shop. Each new cut was weighed in front of me and I was asked if it was satisfactory. The Delmonicos I first received were fine and took them back. Then new strip steaks were weighed out at 16 oz each and were now good. Then came the tenderloins. I was told it is nearly impossible to get exact weights for the filets due to the nature of whole tenderloin. This statement was utter nonsense as I've broken down many whole tenderloins over the years. Also, premium butchers should be able to achieve this as does any quality restaurant monitoring portion control. Afterall, their ad does not say "Total weight of 32 oz." but rather "8 oz. each." And if it takes several tenderloins to achieve this because of the tapering shape, so be it, and sell the odd pieces for other uses such as stir fry, kebobs, or smaller portions for those not wanting 8 oz., but do not include them in the quality pack.
After all was said and done, I was handed back the new packages along with David saying "I'm sorry for any confusion." WHAT? What confusion? THAT statement is why I'm writing this review. He stated this more than once. I corrected him and said there was a mistake, not any confusion. "Your ad is clear." This shirking of owning responsibility appears to be endemic with younger business people who enjoy sidestepping an institutional issue, leaving the problem as something the customer had a hand in and shares. Also, at no time was anything said like "We'd like to do something for you for the inconvenience and the time you took to come back here." No coupon. No discounting. No future incentive to return. No product. It wasn't until I mentioned that I was under the impression that something would be done to mitigate my trouble that I was offered four of their specialty hamburgers. I accepted this gesture but really, you feel like "that person" for even having to ask.
I mentioned this to a friend who spent many years as a pastry chef in a fine dining restaurant in Boston and he was appalled by the attitude at Fred the Butcher and said it was enough for him not to trust this product package or even return. His take was that the pack must be a case leftover assemblage of odd sized bits and that most customers wouldn't go through the trouble I did once they got home.
However the original pack was assembled, I sincerely appreciate the exchange, burgers, and the time taken with me to honor what they advertise. (I am curious, though. Whatever became of the meat I returned that I had opened and rewrapped? Was it thrown out? Re-cased?)
I hope this review helps to clear up any lingering confusion they may have regarding their unfortunate mistake. read more