Door To Door Beef

Trying to catch up on the numerous chores here today. While Mrs was working I was able to vacuum the ranch, do a couple loads of laundry (hung outside to dry, of course), cleaned my bathroom and the cat box. Made some progress, but still much work to be done. Mrs and I are hoping to get a good chunk of outdoor work done on Saturday.

The barn swallows have returned to the barn and will likely start building their nests in the next day or so. The Carolina wren has become quite tolerant of our presence in the barn and does not flush so easily. Most times she stays in there, very still. Hoping for some digital captures tomorrow if she agrees.

I had just enough time to give the 4Runner a quick wash this afternoon (with birds comes bird poop) before work and while doing so I watched a small white pick up truck drive by the house slowly and then turn into the drive. I could see there was a business name on the door. For purposes of this post and to protect their business identity and myself from a potential lawsuit, I'll call it Factory Beef.

As the truck made it's way down the driveway (I continued washing the car) I could hear the passenger hailing me and he appeared to be all too eager to get out of the truck as it was still rolling when he opened the door. He was a bit taller then me, certainly younger, with a short haircut and wild-ish look in his eyes. Rather like the ShamWow! guy. I checked to be sure my Buck knife was on my hip.

Our conversation began something like this:

Factory Beef Guy - "Sir! Are you a carnivore?"

Me - "No. I'm an omnivore."

(At this point I think this guy knew he was in over his head, but he continued.)

I now noticed the moderately sized chest freezer in the bed of the beat up truck.

He launched into a sales pitch for the beef he and his partner were going door to door selling for "Factory Beef" and added WAY too many 'sirs' for my liking. He pulled an unopened box of steaks from next to the freezer (yes, they were not in the freezer and were clearly thawing).

FB Guy - "Two-dollar steaks! Do you have a freezer that could handle a couple boxes?"

Me - "I buy a side of pasture-raised beef every year from Vermont."

He looked astonished.

Me - "Where's it from?"

FB Guy - "Texas! They're just like Omaha Steaks."

Me - "Ah. Corn fed?"

FB Guy - "Yes, sir! All natural diet."

Me - "That's not a natural diet for a cow. I am not interested in feed lot beef."

FB Guy - "Well, we have wild-caught seafood and chicken, too."

Me - "I'm all set. I get my chicken from a pasture-raised farmer in upstate New York."

FB Guy - "Well, just reach in to the freezer and grab something. I don't care what you pay for it."

Me - "Nope. All set."

He hopped back into the truck and to be nice I asked for a business card. He had none. "I just have these sales slip things if you want."

Me - "Nah. I'll find you on the Internet."

Turns out, I did find their somewhat vague website on the Internet. My Google search also produced a link to the Better Business Bureau evaluation of the company which made me all the more glad I know a little bit about beef and was not sucked in by these two.

The BBB rating is "F" based on the following:

"Reasons for this rating include:

• BBB does not have sufficient information to determine how long this business has been operating.
• BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business.
• Failure to respond to one complaint filed against business."

"On at least one occasion, BBB sent mail to this company in an attempt to develop a report. The mail was returned by the Post Office; therefore a complete BBB report at this time is unavailable."

The BBB received several complaints about the company including "defective, damaged or incorrect product received", "failure to honor promised refunds, exchanges, or credit" and "sales presentation used dishonest sales practices", but they were unable to pursue the claims because the company could not be located and the company failed to respond to the BBB to respond to or resolve the complaint.

Buyer beware.