one last rant for today

or, possibly, one last mention of why some local businesses are not worth supporting, while others most definitely are.

since coming to lowell, every year i buy a share in the world peas cooperative agriculture / sustainable farming project, and am very happy to do so--not just because it's good for me, the local economy and the earth, but also because the produce is out of this world good--doesn't get any fresher than to be picked locally, and sent right to you.

last year, world peas did us all the solid favor by arranging with c'est downtown here to coordinate the distribution of share boxes every week throughout the summer. can't say enough good things about the experience--friendly neighborhood business, pleasant, convenient experience, coincident convenience of shaw farms milk by the quart... all good.

and then...

this year c'est isn't part of the program, (don't know what's up with the business, but it's missed for sure!), and the world peas distributions are through a certain market on market street, who have succeeded in making this year's distribution an unpleasant and unproductive experience. two weeks in, while i was unable to attend their "four hour window" for box pickup, my share of local fruits and veggies was tossed (the explanation given today was that it was "donated to goodwill") when i was unable to arrive before opening hours the next morning. my bad. (the other explanation was that "produce goes bad overnight, and it wouldn't have been any good anyway", which neither explains why it never seems to go bad that quickly here at my place, or on their own shelves for that matter, but i digress).

so today i show up at 4pm, which is the start of the allotted "four hour window", and i'm told that the delivery is delayed. great. upon explaining my frustration that my last miss of the "four hour window" (which, i'm told, is an important service to the community, because everywhere else they distribute world peas produce there's only a "two hour window", which is bullshit, but i'll let that pass for now) resulted in discarded produce, i was told "i don't like you" and was invited to not do business there. i was also informed that because i had the temerity to complain, they were most assuredly never going to hold my shares beyond the allotted window for any reason just because they could.

well, good news is that i was way ahead of "manager rob" (nods to jonathan coulton and "code monkey") on the "don't do business here anymore" part, but the bad news is that i'm now going to prefer to drive to dracut to pick up my veggies rather than walk across the street and darken the door of my local grocer, even for stuff for which i've already paid. oh, and i'm also going to spend the rest of my efforts dissuading people who may not yet have their mind made up about where to shop downtown from making the same mistake i did trying to get fair and reasonable treatment from a local business, only to find out that it's all about them as the business owner, and not at all about you, the customer.

yes, i know, your experiences there may be different. but mine aren't.

(ask me sometime, and i'll tell you about the rancid deli meat purchased there awhile back, which was refunded, and the wilted produce that sits on their shelves past reasonableness with prices that are still SEVERAL times higher than what you'll pay at the new asia market just a couple blocks back up the street near city hall).

yeah, i'm pissed. anyone else who'd like to get their boxes in dracut, too, just let me know.