Having shopped for meat for about 35 years, I am confident I know what good beef looks like and what to avoid. After thoroughly checking out a salesman's wares last week, I highly recommend avoiding this company's product for several reasons beyond just their salespersons' over-the-top, pushy tactics: the meat is overhyped for its quality ("choice" is not that good), it is overpriced for its quality, and the usable amount of actual protein in any given portion is far less than the stated weight of the item because of saline solution (chicken), huge chunks of fat (not just 'marbling' here, folks), and water (fish fillets). The sales person tried to tell me that the meat was all local to Sonoma County and was from organically raised, grass-fed cows. When I told him I'd love corroborate this with a friend of mine who is active in the "buy local" scene here in Sonoma County, he quickly back-pedaled on his statement. It was then I told him "no thanks." If you want to buy salt, water, and suet for $20+ per pound from a pushy door-to-door salesman, knock yourself out. By the way, if you are looking for more reviews of this company be sure to go to their listing on Yelp under "Sonoma Cattle Exchange," where there are currently 23 listed reviews and 26 filtered reviews. read more

Wow, what the F*CK! These people are nuts! They came to my house today and my poor grandma is pretty gullible and will buy almost anything. Thank goodness I was there... This man was insanely pushy and rude. Almost sealed the deal with my grandma until I had to tell her in Japanese that this ish seemed strange.. She is too sweet to say no to some idiot so I had to do the dirty work. He wouldn't take no for an answer!!!! He kept trying to load the boxes into my house while I told him we were not interested... I told him to get the f out and then he FINALLY left with a big dramatic exit. To be honest, I am scared that they know where we live. They are effing scary... And who the f is rude to an old lady???? Sonoma Cattle should be ashamed of themselves for having such disgusting people push their product. Don't let them in or near your house. Sh*t, call the cops. They are SCARY!!!! My boyfriend was even approached by them on the street! Leave us alone, you creeps!!!!!!! read more

A guy in one of their vans stops me on the street in my Mom's neighborhood asking if I want to buy some meat or salmon. I say no thanks, I'm only visiting anyways. He says, "Well, tell you what-I normally only sell in bulk but I can make you a deal on a few pieces just for while you are in the area". I say no thanks and he says, "Aw, come on man, you don't wanna even take a look!?". I say, "That's exactly right. 'Man'... I don't even wanna take a look". He doesn't say anything further (like thank you for your time, etc) and just speeds off in his van as fast as he can screeching his tires. This company is a menace to the community and needs to be shut down. read more

OK, I totally fell for the scam. The usual random encounter with pushy"gotta sell some steaks fast" delivery guy who accosted me on the street led to some haggling and a hurried sale of a package of "filet mignon" that turned out to be ranch steak (a tough and inferior cut). I should have look more carefully at the label but I was in a rush, it was an unfamiliar situation, etc. etc. In fact, in the situation I was the sucker. I haven't tried the steaks yet but I know I way way way overpaid so even if it's good, I won't enjoy it. Perhaps because of Sonoma Cattle Exchange's poor reputation, this truck's label was painted over, though I could still see the brand name on the truck. Lesson learned: don't buy street meat. read more

This story has a happy ending... I'm in the same boat as many of the reviewers - my interaction with Sonoma Cattle started out with an aggressive sales pitch that left me feeling a little bit bamboozled. When I checked online to restore faith in the seemingly extravagant purchase I'd just made, I was not encouraged by the reviews nor the Sonoma Cattle website itself and I contacted the company. The owner Jim responded quickly to my email with a phone call and I walked him through the sales pitch and my experience researching the company online, which led me to question my purchase. Jim offered to extend the return period from 3 days to 7 days and encouraged me to try the product. I thought this was extremely fair because after all, my intention was to like what they sold me. Last night we grilled two kinds of steak and some salmon. While my husband and nanny loved the salmon, I wasn't as sure. The steaks were great - not ultra-premium like the $75 ribeyes I've ordered from Allen Brothers but extremely good, and not nearly as expensive. A solid A, not an A+, ok fantastic. I gave Jim a call back today and let him know the verdict about the steaks and the seafood. He agreed to take back all of the seafood for a refund. He also gave me a coupon for next time and plans to drop off a few extra steaks for my understanding in the situation. All in all, I completely sympathize with folks who felt swindled by the sellers - I did too. That said, I have to give five stars to Jim for his honest customer service and solid product. I will probably order from these guys again - I'll just be more prepared next time. read more

Yea some guy was driving by in a Sonoma Cattle truck and asked my wife if she wanted to buy any meats or fish. We weren't really interested but then he brought out the boxes and showed us what he had. We hesitantly bought a box of beef from him for like $30, normally $70.. according to him. He'd take a check so I figured it's probably a real business. hoodlums wouldn't take a check from you... So my wife cooked some the other night and I tried it. My wife loved it..I thought it was pretty damn good too. It was nice and soft beef. The flavor just hits your mouth. Then my friend came over and we didn't tell him where it came from we just said you want to try it? He took a bite and immediately told us this is some high quality meat! He loved it...and then he kept eating it, which kind of got on my nerves because I wanted some more. We got his card and will be calling him again. read more

Why I am not having a good experience with this company relaying on independent contractors as I'm feeling like a fool. A salesperson stopped his truck when he saw me going to my car. First he said he'd give me FREE meat to try b/c he needed to get rid of his products before going back to the company as some of his clients didn't buy the usual orders. Then he proceeded to open his truck to pull out a box with assorted beef, forgot how much he said but he is willing to lose money for me to try for $145 for 3 boxes of meat. Then $90 for 2 boxes of meat. When I remarked it's a long way to come down from the company, he disagreed the distance. But later on when I asked if he comes down to this area weekly, he said no b/c it's too far. #*^%(%&? Meanwhile, his girlfriend came out of the truck and the salesperson said she wanted to get away for 2 weekends, asked me to please help him out (Is he paying for her weekend-away?). I thought that was strange to ask me to help his girlfriend whom I saw for the 1st time. He said his clients went to spend money on Costco/Dreger's when he didn't deliver by WED. Spending too much money, but he also makes good money selling them delivered meat. All those rambling was to get me to unload his loads so he could make his sales quotas. I ended up buying 2 boxes not happily not knowing the company and not liking what's happening. He did want me to like the products so I will buy from him in the future. I hope he won't come back to our neighborhood. There must be a more genuine way to sell a product, especially if it's a reliable grass-fed meat as he claims to be. P.S. On the brochure, it says "customer service is our key to success," I don't even want to deal with them any more. read more

I bought a box of fillets, strips, and flank steaks - I did not like the one fillet I ate so I called the rep who delivered them since he claimed there was a 100% guarantee on returns. After picking them up from my freezer the delivery rep wrote me a return receipt. Well it didn't turn out in my favor and after sending in my receipt and proof of return I still, a year later, have not gotten my $138.00 back. read more

I don't know what I was thinking when I bought a box of fish from the sales guy that came to my door. I would usually never say yes to something like this, but the guy was a savvy salesman. That is the only compliment I will give. The fish we tried was DISGUSTING! I started looking more closely at the fish packets and some of it has freezer burn on it already. I tried calling the next day to get my money back and all the numbers were disconnected. I learned my lesson the hard way here. I spent $215 on the box and I am throwing it all away. After reading all the reviews (after the fact) I don't think I can even trust this company. They even have an F rating from the BBB. Spread the word people. Don't let this company get away with this anymore! read more

I usually give hard working door to door salesmen the chance to pitch their product to me, but after a heavy lunch, the last thing on my mind was to buy raw mean from a rude and sweaty door to door salesmen. The moment I refused the Sonoma Cattle salesman's offer, he immediately started to racial profile me, telling me that he knew that I wouldn't buy from him cause I was Asian and asked if my neighborhood was mainly Indians and Asians. When I said "no, this is a mixed neighborhood", he immediately asked where the white neighbors are. Sales tips #1- do not insult your potential clients. read more

While I've no experience with your products, this is a review of one of your drivers. On 7/5/13 @ 11:20 am, one of your delivery truck stopped across from my building. The driver exited the vehicle and urinated in my neighbors doorway. When asked not to do so, he yelled back expletives to my husband and I. After he was finished, he got back in his truck and drove off. CA License # 8h77503. That behavior is uncalled for and should NEVER happen. What's especially disgusting is this guy's job is handling food. read more

Hmm.. Interesting reviews. Especially considering that many of the reviews are for people that never purchased from Sonoma Cattle. But based on the experiences I can understand. Regardless, my experience has been slightly different: About a week ago I got the same guy with the same story. "Was making a delivery got some left over stuff in the truck BLAH BLAH BLAH". I told him my GF was vegetarian and that we really didn't eat meat. So he offered the sea food. He had a good selection and some good stories to go with it (as any good sales man would). He had boxes of whiting, two different kinds of shrimp, lobster tails salmon and something else. We ended up buying just short of 10 pounds of seafood from him for $100. Roughly $10 a pound. We went with the Whiting, Salmon and Lobster tails. My GF is quite the cook and I am quite the critic when it comes to eating anything. She has cooked each kind and we have nothing but great things to say. The salmon is cut in to big pieces and is fatter than most pieces of salmon I have purchased. All tasted great! The only thing that keeps this from being 5 stars is whether I actually got the best deal out there. If you can find a better price on seafood somewhere else then get it there. If you cannot beat the $10 a pound average and like the convenience of them coming to you and having it delivered to your door then order from them... We might just do it again... read more

ok, so I never thought I would buy meat from a truck, it does sound a little weird... but this is the best steak I have ever bought. My freezer is now always stocked with either their chicken or steak. The steak cuts are a little thin, but are delicious and make for the perfect serving size. The convenience works perfectly for our busy schedule and now we are having tasty romantic dinners every night. We recommend this meat 100%. read more

Scammed me while selling me some food, pretended I didn't given them money when I did.

Seems to be the way they work. Some guy in a beat up truck gives a sob story about how he has all this meat he has to sell because someone stood him up. The boxes were hammered. Back of the truck looked like he was living in it. This is pure scam. Super aggressive sales tactics. I'm embarrassed I bought even a little. Shame on me. read more

So here's my experience. After getting what I thought was a good deal on meat that to be fair looked excellent , I was horrified to read all the other yelp experiences as my experience with the driving sales person was IDENTICAL to many others that posted. I guess it's because I experienced a word for word scenario w/ others that made me believe I was conned. Also the complaints on the better business bureu weren't a confidence booster. Then decided to call customer service to find out what the official return policy is for food bought from a driver. Didn't get a straight answer which further pissed me off. "Did you buy yet? "No, but can you tell me how return occur if I'm dissatisfied" "It's a detailed process and all the information is included on the receipt the driver gives you" Can't you just tell me the process / policy ? Sorry it's detailed and I have 14 drivers and customers I need to attend to. (There was more but not worth continuing) At this point I had zero confidence in the company, the food qualtiy or safety of my purchase (though if you look thru yelp there's not much posted as to experiences w/ people actually tasting the food). However after all this i wasn't about to take that risk. Time to turn the tables: I called my contact with a swindle of my own to place another order. I figured I'd get all sorts of B.S. (if I was able to reach him at all) if I called to return the product. When he showed up, I had all the meat I bought in hand ready to give back to him thinking 'payback is a bitch'. I have to give the driver (Dave) credit, there was no resistance at all. No need to call customer service, he processed a refund on the spot basically saying the bad rap on Yelp was due to a handful of young, bad apple drivers. He came off as a decent, honest guy. IF he's telling the truth than I feel for the guy. Maybe it's bad sales process in how they train their sales people to sell which is obviously a put off. And then again, maybe I'm a sucker but the 4 starts is to give the driver the benefit of the doubt as he was genuinely good to deal with and really provided good customer service. So, I in the end, I didn't taste the food which I think is what all us Yelpers really would hope to read indapendent of the bad sales practices this company uses but in the end, I got my money back w/ no issue. read more

A guy came to my front door and offering a deal on meat that his boss had told him to just unload, for any price. The salesman was forceful, but not pushy. I agreed to look at his product, wherein he went to the truck and tried to sell me a case at $250, down from $400. When I told him that was too much meat for us, He offered an open case. I purchased a box of 4 t-bone steaks. They were quite thin, and when cooked, the meat was a little tough. I grilled them 1 minute a side on a hot outdoor grill. Flavor was fine - I supplemented with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and olive oil. When I looked up these guys on Yelp, I was taken aback at the negativity of the reviews. I can sort of understand why people feel this way. While I cannot say the salesman deliberately misrepresented his product, he was not entirely truthful either. The box of t-bones I purchased was labeled "Select". This is the same cut as in a low cost supermarket. I did see another box of some other steaks labeled "Choice" - a better cut. I chalk it up to experience. I should have checked the label before purchasing, instead of just going by looks. Bottom line is that I will not be purchasing again. The meat was acceptable, but not any different than the supermarket. read more

About a week ago I had 2 people show up while my door was open and I fell for their sales pitch. Especially because I had recently been thinking about stocking my freezer with white meats (chicken/pork/fish). If my husband finds out how much I spent he will say 'holy sheep shit'. My problem is that they said they had to unload the meat for us, 'company policy'...huh? So I let them. They went to take the boxes the meat came in and I said, I would rather have the boxes to keep them separate. After they were gone and as I started using the meat- especially the fish; I realized that the individual packages are not even marked as to what they are. I know they told me what was in each box, but how the hell would I remember without the labels. I overheard the guy say we mark this down as promotion during one of their conversations. So, I get the feeling the 2 employees keep most of the money. Still finding it odd that they wanted to unload and take the boxes with them. Oh, did I mention that one individual pack of very white looking fish was opened. I pulled it out of the freezer and you can tell that it was ripped open, not on a seam, but in the middle of the package. I'm really nervous that I used a credit card; I've been keeping an eye on my account but I think I'll call the bank and ask them to change our card number. He scanned it on some little hand held machine. read more

I got the normal sales pitch and bought a lot of meat and seafood. After spending a whole lot of money I came on yelp and BBB and looked at reviews and my husband and I decided to return everything. I called the number and it was disconnected. I emailed and got an immediate response. I told the man that I stopped payment on the check and told him I would like to return all the meat. He asked me why and I told him it was a combination of the reviews on yelp, the reviews on BBB and that I usually only purchase meat and seafood that is 100% grass fed finish. Unfortunately I didn't understand from the salesman that the cattle is grain fed at the end of it's life and I don't buy any meat except if it's 100% grass fed until it's dead. He understood and he made a special trip to my house at 8:00 at night to pick up the meat. He was very nice to deal with and I told him that if they ever get their meat 100% grass fed till finish to let me know and I would reconsider his product. I feel bad for the man, he said he and his partner just bought the company last year and since they bought it they have had only 3 reviews. I think he is truly trying to turn this company around. He said they considered changing the company name because of the bad reviews but thought they would stick it out instead. I really wish him well. read more

I gotta tell ya, this company is a HOOT! About 6 months ago, I'm walking home from work. I live in SF, and was walking down a "nice" side street, ( single family homes, million plus, Blah,blah,blah..), when this refrigerator truck pulls over, and this kind of tweaky guy jumps out with boxes of meat! Starts jabbering away about this and that for "only $240.00". I'm, like, What!?, shine him on, and keep walking...seriously, if I want to buy meat on the street I'll stick to the Castro. SO, anyways, today the weather decides to rise above 50 degrees, so I have my windows open, when I hear this voice! I look out and say, "OMG!!! It's Mr. Meat!!!". I hear him slinging his sale to my neighbors...and I think, wait a minute! Let me see what I can do...so I grab my cash and run down the street...I'm all like, Hey Mr. Meat! What's up today!? SO I get 8 bacon wrapped fillet mignon, 8 NY strip steaks, and 16 sirloin patties for......$100.00! He said, "I take credit cards", me? "uh nooo", I just kept pullin' cash outta my pocket. Everything was shrink wrapped, frozen solid...I figured, what the eff! I've wasted $100.00 on crappy food in restaurants what's the worse that could happen? Defrosted a fillet, and OMG! DEEEEEE-Lish!!! My freezer is full, enough excess to make some darn good chilli! So, word to the wise, If "Mr. Meat" stops you on the street......offer cash, and BARTER! read more

So the guy came to the door with a hard sell approach, wanted me to let him come inside and open up boxes of meat on my table. I told him I don't buy anything from vendors that come to the door or call me, that I'd have to investigate first and was definitely not buying anything today. I asked for a brochure which he gave me. He kept dropping the price, and finally started opening the boxes on my front porch to show me the meat. I said I only buy grass fed free range meat which he insisted it was. The brochure didn't say anything about that but when I said I'd go look online he took back the brochure and said he couldn't leave it with me because he had to pay $2.50 per brochure. He told me the company makes him buy all the meat upfront plus the marketing materials and he offered to sell the meat at his cost. Just for the heck of it I said I'd go look on their website. It didn't say grass fed either. Then I found these reviews and told him to forget it--that the reviews on Yelp were all bad. He got his "boss" out of the car who started telling me that Kirby vacuums have bad reviews on Yelp too, but they're good vacuums. "Bye bye" I said and closed the door. Normally I wouldn't have even opened the door to, but the guy read more

A very creepy looking man knocked on my front door wanting to sell me frozen meat products from Sonoma Cattle, which I have heard of before. When I told him that we don't eat red meat, he insisted that he would give me free frozen seafood. He tried to barge in so he could use my floor space and lay out his products. I refused to let him in and I politely asked him to simply give me one of the flyers that he had in his hand. He wouldn't and was clearly incensed that I wouldn't do as he directed. I told him he was rude and pushy. Finally, he left. He looked like an unsavory character and I hope he never returns. read more

These "sales" people are just pushy, obnoxious, 100% commission, ruthless food peddlers. I was bullied into purchasing some of their beef and seafood products. Just horrible!!! The Porterhouse steaks were thin and tasted spoiled. The Salmon just did not taste right either. They said 100% satisfaction guaranteed, but when I called their 800 number, not a single line answered and the only option is to leave a message. They did not call me back. I want to return these wretched products and get my money back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

I was siting here in my home today and a guy rang bell and asked if i eat meat, chicken or seafood because he was making a delivery to a neighbor and wanted to see if i was interested. When i said no he walked away. He said he was from Sonoma Cattle and had a sweatshirt on with that name. I immediately returned to the computer and Goggled the company and found three Yelp! reviews two were similar to my experience. I do not know if legit but I was happy to see the Yelp reviews and thought I would add my two cents. Although I don't eat meat or chicken I would think if legit he would have left a brochure at least. read more

These guys are SCAMMERS to the highest mark. Two guys came to our door in the end of Sept., the day our Poppa passed away. In telling them that we weren't interested and that we just lost our dad, the one salesman told us how he has brain tumor and doesn't know how much longer he has to live. We spent 444.00 that day and the meat was not that much better than Lucky's. BEWARE! They played our heart strings that day and they just need to be called on that tactic! read more

Ok, I have to remove 2 stars because of the hassle it took me to get my refund. I'm leaving 2 because the manager had really great customer service over the phone, but they kept telling me my refund had gone through when it had not. It took me about 2 weeks of calling (many, many calls). I was starting to be concerned I'd have to get my credit card company involved. I finally got it when I was starting to lose all hope. read more

I was very pleased with my service at Sonoma Cattle. I had an issue with keeping all the steak because of a lack of storage in my freezer. When I called them to return the product, they were friendly and wanted to resolve my problem in a timely matter! They are giving me my money back and I couldn't be happier with the service provided :) Thanks Sonoma Cattle!! read more

Me and my husband were stopped on the street by the Sonoma Cattle truck. The guy was super pushy and shady. He kept dropping the price. We asked if we could keep the brochure and look them up online, and he said he needed the brochure back, jumped back in the truck and seemed pissed. read more

I tried the steaks and I have to say they were not bad at all. My husband really liked them. The T-bone steaks were tender and with a lot of flavor. I have to say that everybody here has complained about the guys coming to your doors, but none of you have actually tried the meat. Be fair and judge the product once you try it. Now I have a couple of advice for the sellers of the meat. Don't try to sell the whole cow because nobody wants to buy a lot of an unknown product. Nobody paid me to write this review! read more

Wow..... thats pretty much all we can say. Came by our place of business trying to sell us some stuff. When my boss said he didnt have money right now but wanted a card the guy said he doesnt give out cards, my boss then asked for any info so in the future he could go to them and the guy says hes not coming back and then stormed away like a 2 year old that didnt get his way. When my boss asked him why he was giving him so much attitude the man just made a drama queen exit. What an incredibly rude man, ive seen salesmen before but this guy was a whole other bucket of crazy. read more

If you're reading this, then you probably got the pitch. It worked really well on me because I was hungry, like a deal, and they said they had to get rid of this stuff...frozen food going bad?? well, I was hungry and missed that. High pressure sales can work. I ended up buying $350 worth of beef and seafood that I could store in my empty freezer. Probably a really good deal but I still have no idea about the quality level of this meat relative to Omaha or safeway. Then I read Yelp and got freaked out and deceived. So I called them back up and they said they'd come back to pick up the meat and give me a rebate. Which they did and were very professional about that...so kudos for that. They even gave me a few NY Strip steaks if I describe my story on Yelp. So here it is. I may have been happier to never have read Yelp, they did give me a rebate, and the steak was acceptable, but I still dont have a good recommendation about the quality of the product. I recommended for them to try a different business approach, improve the information about the quality of the product, and keep it honest. read more

There is a reason they have to drive that meat and fish around making cold sales with misleading statements of 'excess product for a discount'. They will find you on your front lawn, stop and tell you how your neighbor isn't home to receive their regular monthly delivery so you can purchase it for a discount so they don't have to take it all the way back to the shop. I fell for it once - it's not a quality of meat I would ever buy again. read more

Today, a salesperson came to my front door inquiring if I would like to purchase steak, chicken, seafood and/or pork. I was surprised and skeptical about making a purchase from a company who knocks at my door nor had done business with in the past. However, I was initially convinced this would be a "good" purchase and completed the transaction. After receipt of the product I decided to look at the reviews on yelp. After reading several reviews, most of which were negative, I decided that I didn't want the product and wanted an immediate refund. I called the salesperson, left a message and in less than 5 minutes he returned my call. To his credit, he appeared that he would do just about anything to insure I kept the product. However, my decision was final and I wanted a refund. I am pleased to say that from the time of purchase to his return with my check took less than an hour. My rating is based upon customer service which certainly met my expectations. read more