Why does it feel like almost every single one of the times I can be lured out, either for errands-running or just for having a couple drinks and breaking bread with friends, something happens that has a penchant to turn my mood from good to bad, relaxed to angry, etc. It especially sucks if it’s a place you’re a regular at (I’m looking at you, Ray Ray’s – When you started cutting corners again your quality suffered – when 7 out of 10 times we had food that was tough/barely edible, we got sick of wasting hard earned dollars on your food). But these kinds of wake-up experiments aren’t only limited to prepared food. If there’s anything I think is the most important part of being a successful business model, it starts and ends with customer service. And not accusing your clientele of theft.
Sometimes you can be a long term customer of a store, continuing to go there because of the great quality meat, decent prices, etc. Schuman’s has been one of our mainstays for us in the last decade, and if you had asked me yesterday, I would have (and I have in the past) recommended Schuman’s wholeheartedly, without any reservations. But what happened to my husband today was beyond the pale. I wrote this earlier today, right after it happened:
Unbelievable. Their staff just accused my husband of theft – stealing eggs one at a time (over a period of months, natch) and putting them in his pocket. They say they have witnesses. They say they’ve seen it with their own two eyes. They say they have it on video. If you’re going to make accusations, they damn well back them up, because not doing so opens them up to a defamation case (since they found it necessary to accuse him of this in a store full of customers). We’ve been long time (10 yrs +) customers who have frequented this store (one of the last remaining locally owned butcher shops) and who spend hundreds of dollars there every month.
Why, on that is good and holy, would my husband (whose salary is in the six figures, btw) steal an egg (worth .20) not just once, but repeatedly over the course of several visits. Maybe in six months he’ll have enough to make creme brulee. If they feel we are thieves, and you say that you have footage to prove it, then put up or shut up. Call the police and get them involved, because he has done absolutely nothing wrong.
We’ve already decided never to frequent their store again, and will also share our experience with everyone we can. If they think so little of us and the business we bring to them, and (in their words, not his) feel the need to “watch him like a hawk”, then they don’t need us in their store – because apparently if they think that we are thieves, then they all are complete idiots.
Contact Information: Schuman’s Meats, 1440 Harrisburg Pike, Columbus, OH (west side), 614-274-2161
