Highland Farms. Nice store, just don’t buy the meat.
For those of you that don’t know, Highland Farms is a supermarket chain in Toronto. They do huge business as each store is massive. The store I’m talking about is located on Dufferin Street north of Finch in North York.
As soon as you walk into Highland Farms you think that the store is impeccable. Or just seriously anal. The fruit is stacked in neatly ordered piles. The shelves are well “faced” (to use an industry term that means that everything is lined up nicely). Even the floor is clean. All and all a very nice presentation but, as I found out, looks can be deceiving.
Here is what happened on Thursday, September 19th 2005. My wife, Jennifer, and I just moved to a new place and we needed to go serious grocery shopping. We went to Highland Farms because we liked shopping there (once or twice a week). Our over $200 bill included 5 kilograms (11.0231131 pounds) of ground pork. Yes, that’s a whole lotta pork.
Jennifer has allergies at this time of year so she can’t breath / smell too well. Remember that.
When we got home she divided the meat into portions and froze it so we wouldn’t have to go shopping so often. A point that the keen sleuths at Highland would find very puzzling the next day. She puts it in the freezer and saves a portion to cook for dinner.
So, I’m sitting at the computer working when I smell the stench of rotten meat, getting fried. Jennifer has no idea as she sneezes and blows her nose. I go to the kitchen and confirm that it is off. I get pretty pissed at this point. I feel totally ripped off. I gave this store my hard earned money and they sold me rotten food. Not only did they rip me off but they could have made me sick.
We can’t make it back to the store that same day because of an engagement but we head over on Friday morning.
We walk up to the customer service counter and are ignored for a bit while a few women in tidy green outfits chat about something irrelevant. (Green is the Highland colour in case you’re wondering.)
Finally one of them waddles over to us and says. “Yeah, can I help you?”
“We bought this meat yesterday and it’s rotten. We’d like to get our money back.”
She looks into the bag with a disgusted look on her face. “Why is it frozen?”
My wife and I both explain it to her. Her expression changes to a smirk of disbelief and she calls the meat counter manager over.
He strolls over. “Is the pork in the original bag with the seal on?” He asks her.
Yes. I brought it back because my alternate secret identity has super powers which allow me to smell through a sealed plastic bag.
Some days I really feel like people are just not trying. And I don’t mean at customer service. I mean in life in general. It’s like they’ve switched off their brains and are just coasting on neutral.
He then proceeds to rub the meat. Smells the meat. Tries to twist the frozen meat around in his hands all the time saying that this meat is not rotten. Oh, okay. So now I’m a liar too. The one behind the counter is laughing with him at why we separated it why it’s frozen. She ends with a snarl of her upper lip and a roll of the eyes.
At this point I’ve pretty much lost it. This company not only ripped me off. They sold me something that could make us sick, they insinuated that we’ve lied and laughed at us. Not once did they have the courtesy of apologizing.
But I know, this was all my fault. I’m just a scheming bastard. That’s what it is. I bought over $200 worth of stuff at this place and when I got home I felt bad. I then came up with a brilliant scheme. I went and found 5 kilos of ground pork and replaced it with the pork they gave me. I then wasted money on some Ziploc bags and separated the bags so I could take it back the next day and get my money refunded from Highland. Yup. I am a genius. What can I say?
After a bit of heated conversation with these two people who obviously did not care about us as people or customers, the manager comes over. He introduces himself as the manager and points to his nametag. Ahh…The Omnipotent One!
By this point I’m pretty much in no mood to deal with him. I just want my money back and I’ll never shop here again. I have a few exchanges with the manger. Nothing aggressive or anything but enough to tell him how I feel about his establishment and his employees. No apology once again. Just the same look of disbelief. (Why, oh why, is the meat frozen!??)
What is wrong with these people?
In the end we got our money back but that is really the least they could have done. It is the bare minimum when they ripped us off and sold us potentially dangerous produce.
If anyone at Highland Farms stumbles across this blog, here is a pointer on how it could have gone.
First of all, no company is perfect. I don’t care how careful you are, you are going to make mistakes. Don’t act as if there was no way the meat could be off. It was, and you didn’t seem to care that you could be hurting people. And I’m not saying the whole 5 kilos was off but contamination spreads.
Second. Say you’re sorry. It’s a simple thing but it goes a long way.
Third. Don’t assume that the client is lying. Why would I be trying to scam them with pork? There are many better ways to get money out of a company. I am just a consumer who wants his money back for bad produce. And look at the bill. I’m not exactly making a profit on returning the pork when the bill is $200+. Use your brains.
Finally. Give me a box of Ziploc bags because you made me waste mine.
If those simple things would have happened, we would have kept shopping there. I really don’t understand what was so hard for them. Instead we got cheated. Then laughed at and then called liars.
But it doesn’t stop there.
By the time I got home I was still very incensed at the whole experience. I wasn’t so mad about the pork but rather the way we were treated. And the fact that they didn’t care at all about the health implications of them selling this tainted meat.
So I decide to do something about it.
I decided to contact the city of Toronto’s service for reporting these incidents. Here is their website and phone number in case anyone else is having a food related problem.
http://app.city.toronto.on.ca/food2/index.jsp
416-338-FOOD (3663) between 8:30 a.m and 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.
So I call. They are actually very polite and they tell me that an inspector will look into it and get back to me by Monday. Great I think. Now someone will look into this and maybe Highland doesn’t have to get away with doing this to anyone else.
I get a call on Monday. The inspector tells me that he just visited them and he could not find anything wrong. He looked at all their paperwork and they have a good rotation schedule of only keeping the meat for 5 days.
He then proceeds to tell me that it could have been the pig’s diet which changed the smell.
Holy crap! Everyone has lost it. I’ve been eating meat my whole life and I know the smell of rotten meat. I don’t know if any of you have had the pleasure of ingesting meat that has gone off, but when you have it coming out of both ends for two or three days you pretty much remember what made you sick. What the hell could they have been feeding those pigs to make them smell like putrid flesh? Damn! Go inspect the farm then.
Of course I clearly failed to grasp his argument. I complained about rotten meat on Friday. The government went to the store on Monday and inspected the paperwork. Of course! That makes sense now. Not the meat. The paperwork! Because we all know that when a company puts something on paper, they always tell the truth. How stupid of me.
Basically he found nothing wrong and I am crazy after all. That makes me feel a lot better.
So in conclusion lets think about where we’ve come to as a society. The suspension of reality through bureaucracy, red tape and record keeping. It no longer matters what is real or truthful. If some quasi-official individual writes it down, it must be the truth.
The moral of the story being this: If this ever happens to you, eat the meat, go to the hospital and keep the records and then complain because you’ll at least have paperwork.
In conclusion. Highland Farms sucks.
As usual. Thank you for reading.
November 18th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
Hi! I stumbled over your posting by chance, but serendipity is an awesome thing! I’ve been shopping at Highland Farms (the one at Kennedy and Ellesmere) for 15 years and been pretty happy, by and large.
Imagine how horrified I was last week when I brought home a piece of veal that STUNK so badly when I opened the package, I had to rush to open all the windows! I am very sorry that my week has been so hectic that I did nothing about it except chucking the disgusting thing. But I’ll have a go at the website and call number you are giving, let’s see if the civil servants will notice something now – if nothing else, if several people complain, who knows?!
As a whole, I can say that I did notice over time that I have to be careful with what I buy at HF: same thing may be of different quality at some times…
I used to buy my bocconcini there – no more, the quality has gone down, I now buy them at some (not all) Dominions. And I have other such examples.
No, HF is not a very good store anymore…
November 18th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
Hi Maria,
Thanks for posting. I’m not surprised that you got bad meat at Highland Farms. Though, I am happy that you found this blog and could share your experience as well. Makes me look like less of a ranting lunatic 😉
The most disturbing thing was the way the employees treated the situation with bemusement. As if it had never happened before or could never happen at their store. Couple that with the fact that the health department checks paperwork and not food and you have a great situation all around. Glad to see our tax dollars are going to good use. Good luck with HF in the future. I will certainly not be shopping there again. Not just because of the meat, but because of the way they handled the situation. When did people forget to say sorry? I mean it’s a simple thing isn’t it?
Take care…
December 3rd, 2005 at 8:20 am
i totally agree with your blog and Maria’s comments. i purchased sausages at the Highland Farms on Dufferin years ago and they were revolting. i even froze them! i have noticed though that because i’m over 40 years old, store managers don’t give me a hard time.
there must be a public health laboratory service that will sample rotten meat.
the health inspectors are totally bogus. they operate via bribes. to whit: the salmonella in the bean sprouts. how many hundreds and hundreds of people across the province need to be sick first?
December 8th, 2005 at 4:43 pm
Ok people I am 38 years old but look 25 so I agree the employee’s the one’s who look like they can be my parent’s are rude but it seems that when my Mom goes to Highland farms she is rude also and it gets her what she wants. Do I agree no! About the meat never did I ever have problem with their meat. Shopping at the Dufferin location now since 1999 never an issue. These cases happen too so few. Its hit and miss and trust me these markets do not fool around with meat its a serious issue with the inspecters. I feel bad that about your experience but yea I thought it was stupid you had to deal with losers that day!
December 8th, 2005 at 4:54 pm
I don’t agree that it is such a serious issue with the inspectors. Only if they happen to catch one of the stores at some point. The inspector was a bit of a joke for me. Checking paperwork is not an acceptable response to a company selling rotten meat.
But the real issue is deeper than that. They employees up to the manager level did not care. And these were not some high school punks. They were in their 40s and 50s. The whole company just left a bad impression and I will never shop there again.
When you are the one giving people money, they should treat you with a bit of common decency.
June 29th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
June 29 2006
Trying to find a place to complain and get off my frustration, I see I am not the only one to feel cheat at High Land Farm.
Today at H.L.F. 4750 Duffering st. I bought a package of “Fresh Cod fillet” with 4 or 6 worms in it, image the repulsive reaction of my wife when she was ready to cook it.
Been an Italian like them and costumer for over 4 years make feel worse.
Tommorrow I will call at (416) 338- food, and try to get an inspector pay a visite to H.L.F. together.
As soon as I get any news of it I will post it here for sure.
July 3rd, 2006 at 10:16 am
It’s not just Highland Farms that’s guilty of selling tainted meat.
Loblaws is far ahead in that department.
Furthermore, Loblaws as a whole is disorganized and dirty, with an understaffed, teeny-bopper, part-time staff that are badly trained, sloppily dressed and slow-witted, unlike Highland Farms that is clean and organized, with shelves always orderly and fully stocked and with an adult-aged, multi-cultural staff that are hired on a full-time basis, that are well-trained, well-dressed and intelligent, with some dedicated specifically to keeping the store and its surroundings clean and spiffy.
I worked for Loblaws, while a student during the mid sixties, and always supermarket-shopped at Loblaws until recently. Lately, shopping at Loblaws has become a frustrating experience…The stores may be shi-shied up with phony Hollywood and Disneyland set decor but that’s all distraction and illusion. The reality is that its stores are a chaotic mess, and in a decrepit state: understaffed (Loblaws staff are poorly paid, predominantly part-time teen-agers providing poor service) and unsupervised, with aisles cluttered, shelves often disorganized and empty, and with an overall unkempt,dirty and smelly ambience(largely due to the unfresh state of its so-called “fresh” fish).It’s not just red-meat that goes rotten at Loblaws, its fish taints far faster and is just as fraught with danger.
And as for Loblaws meat…well, it was the tainted meat I found on a regular basis that turned me off Loblaws for good. The store manager (there was no meat manager in the department, just some teenager that looked 13-14yrs old put in charge who didn’t know much about meat, let alone what colour it should be if fresh and natural)when confronted with the evidence, claimed that customers preferred their meat well aged: on the green and grey side.
Imagine!
I now drive ten kilometres out of my way to shop at Highland Farms for my non-perishable groceries and produce. I’ve given up and refuse to shop at Loblaws any longer – neither for the meat, fish, produce or non-pershiable items.
As for fish, I shop at St. Lawrence Market or at several other independently owned fish wholesalers and retailers in and near my neighbourhood. (Where the smell in the shop is salt-water fresh)
And as for meat, I shop at Aurora Meats, a small, independently owned ( ma and pa )shop at the corner of Burnhamthorpe and Dixie Road in Toronto: a distance of fifteen kilometres from my home (It’s worth the drive to Aurora Meats, I assure you!)
Aurora Meats specializes in meat originating from corn-fed animals raised in Ontario. The meat is fresh cut and displayed on the spot – unlike Loblaws that imports its meat from feed-lots who knows where, that feed their cattle animal-rendered-feed, and pre-packages its meat, who knows where, and lets it sit in the display counter at the retail store until it’s well-aged and well beyond expiry date – into a a dark green and grey kind of colouration.
It’s the free-for-all and unregulated regime in the food industry and the lack (and laxity)of government inspection that’s the problem. Government should not allow supermarkets to self-regulate, as it seems to allow them to do at the present time, risking the health of its citizens. Such a regulatory state is out of the dark ages: retrograde and unacceptable in the 21st century.
There’s more tainted meat (and fish) being sold in supermarkets out there than meets the eye. It’s a national scandal. Let’s not just pick on Highland Farms. It’s not the only supermarket chain that’s guilty of the offence.
Let’s have the tainted mess at the meat and fish counters cleaned up everywhere it exists…for the sake of the health and safety of all Canadians.
That should be the objective we all should strive for.
August 22nd, 2006 at 7:11 pm
if the meat was that bad, why is anybody wasting their time with the store. Phone food inspectors. They scare stores far more than an irate self important consumer.
Secondly, any store at any time could have a bad batch. It could be during transport, through unsafe handling and storage.
Highland farms specifically has an open meat counter with their butcher shop clearly visible. Anybody whi has worked in the food industry can see they are pretty goos on the Hygene.
Lose the attitude!
August 22nd, 2006 at 7:18 pm
I guess it would help to have actually read the article but thanks for your comment anyway.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Okay, this was hilarious. Well, not really, but I also feel very justified by reading the bad experiences others have had. (Sorry!)
We used to visit HF at Hwy 10 and Matheson in Mississauga, and the cashiers were (are?) the worst. I swear they hire staff with attitude on purpose, but whether it’s so they won’t have to deal with people or so they go out of business slowly and painfully, I don’t know.
They don’t pack bags any more and if you mention it they give you a dirty look, otherwise they barely look at you and ignore direct questions, and OUR hard-earned money is going towards their salary. Maybe they’ve forgotten what the ‘service’ in ‘service industry’ means.
I also agree with the comment about quality going south. When the store opened initially, everything was beautiful. Remarkable really, considering the size of the store and quantity of goods. Then slowly but surely things started changing … rotten fruit and veg hidden (or not!) under fresh; meat that had to be returned; waiting for service while the staff chitchat about their Friday night plans …
We just got tired of it. Enough is enough. Kudos to you for this blog!!
November 16th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Hello Mr. Editor, I was a former employee of HF, working in the meat department at the Kennedy/Ellesmere store and also the Dufferin store for 2 years as a meat cutter. I can assure you that HF has very good quality meats. I beleive that you have no knowledge at all when it comes to meat, because when meat rotts it becomes very sticky to the touch and yes it has a particular smell to it. I beleive that the meat you bought was O.K, because every night we would take all the meat out of the counters and store it in the rear fridges. In the morning we would prepare the counters with fresh cuts of meat that we prepare the day before, so therfore the meat, that was in the counter the night before would be handled every morning, and inspected to see if it is smelly, rotten, bad looking,stained etc……. and if it is,we throw it in the GARBAGE BIN. So conclusion, your a customer,like many who don`t have a clue as to how much work and dedication is involved in preparing meat,maintaining proper hygene while it is being prepared, and how difficult it is to please everyone, especially when your serving uneducated customers.
November 16th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Sigh…
I really wish people would read the article before they post their angry little remarks. I didn’t know you had to go to school to tell good meat from bad. As a matter of fact I have been making sausages with my family for a very long time and I know bad meat when I smell it. I’ve seen animals slaughtered and butchered pigs so thank you but I have a fairly good understanding of where meat comes from and how to prepare it.
It was the same kind of arrogance at Highland Farms. My complaint is not just about the meat. Meat goes off. Fine. I can accept that. But if something goes wrong, and believe me in this case it did, at least have the decency to own up to it and take care of the problem. That is the real complaint.
So you can believe the meat I bought was okay because you weren’t there and that’s really a ridiculous comment to make on your part.
Thanks for the post in any case. Would you like to take the time to read the article now? How about the posts from the other people that were given bad meat? 😉
August 24th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Stumbled accross this rant…
Highland Farms does have an overall good reputation – that is why it and Longos survive. It also has an open meat counter. You can even watch their wash down if your around when the butchers leave. I am sure if they had a bad batch they would have had numerous complaints on that day. Phone the food inspection next time, it makes a difference – Your rant won’t.
September 4th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
[…] stark contrast to the Highland Farms meat incident a little while back, I found a couple of sites today that were fun and useful. The first is a spoof […]
September 25th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Thanks Bruce. If you actually read the article you’d notice that I did phone the food inspector.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I haven’t had a problem (quality, freshness) in their meat dept so far. Yet I got cheated a couple of times on the price tag. Cashiers also cheated me a few times for $1 to $15. I keep shopping there but now I spend up to 5 minutes of my life time studying the receipts once through the cash register. Thanks to everyone who posted their concerns here. I am getting a more educated shopper, and we have to be vigilant with them grocers. Imagine a shopper who walks into a store being suspicious of the products he/she is going to pay money for. Why do we need to be suspicious? I pay my money and expect an adequate service and quality in return. Yeh, sometimes money is not enough to get a quality product. Now, where do I go to buy meat and fish in Toronto? Aurora Meats must be a good place but I just don’t have time to drive those 15 miles. I am thinking to go vegetarian…
October 8th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Hi Mel,
Vegetarianism is never the answer 😉
But seriously. Have a look at this post.
http://www.penciltrick.com/index.php/food-related/organic-meat-sources-in-ontario/
There are alternatives to the big supermarkets.
As to your pricing comment. I haven’t been back there and never will but when I was younger, I remember my mother and father also complaining about getting cheated. They had to go back a few times and they always checked the bill afterwards. So your comment doesn’t really surprise me.
Thanks for posting.
October 30th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Hey all,
I just stumbled on this page and decided to read the whole story since I shop at Highland Farms quite often, I though that was a somewhat interesting scenario.
I ususally shop at the Hurontario/Matheson location in mississauga, I’ve never had any problems with their meats though, I actually think they’ve always been of very good quality; I’ve bought chicken, pork, beef, steaks and have never had a problem. I also ususally buy a larger quantity and then separate it and freeze some when I get home.
The only think I’m not liking about the store is that they seem to freeze a lot of their fruit (or store at temperature close to freezing). I’ve noticed that peaches, apricots and some other fruits start to turn black around the pit after a couple of days and are really flavourless (they also feel really cold to the touch when you pick them out at the store). I think they do this with other fruit too because my apples and oranges although not turning black are quite often very flavourless towards the center of the fruit. I find it a little unfortunate because I actually like the store, they have a huge selection and its always very clean, I just don’t understand what they think they’re doing with the fruit. Its certainly turning me off from purchasing fruit there since this has happened quite often probably 8 of 10 times I’ve shopped there in the last few months.
November 6th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Here’s a thought, the next time anyone gets mistreated during a shopping experience, come back five minutes later, talk louder and point your chest in the direction of the employee while asking them pointless questions about their company they probably would not know in the first place. The point is to make it look like you are interrogating them and that you are actually from fifth estate or another investigative journalism related program. If we are to be treated equally in a society already over driven by media than we need to ensure to these companies who supposedly value quality service that it can happen at any moment of any day. That should keep them on their toes and back to regulating the issues at hand. Hopefully this comment reaches the masses and can evoke change in how society treats eachother.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Hey, sorry to hear about the rotten meat. To tell you the truth, I have had bad/funny smelling meat from Highland Farms and I didnt go complaining. Instead I ate it! I know, I know, could of made me sick, but it didn’t. I found out that sometimes the meats get mixed up together and the blood or other meat juices (u know what i mean) from the steak get onto the porkchops or whatever. When it starts to seep into the meat its touched, it creates a smell thats not to nice. Anyways, I have gotten actual rotten meat from other places (like Loblaws) and smelled the same as HF’s but how I could tell the difference was with the colour of the meat. Smells bad and looks bad, dont eat it. Smells bad, cook a part and taste it (it wont kill you to have a piece; unless your scared.).
Well anyways that sucked for you. You got to understand one thing: It doesnt matter if you pay for something, it doesnt mean you will get respect for that thing you bought. Especially if you are dealing with employees. They get paid by the hour, not by the meat they sell. So I dissagree with the way you were expecting custemer service from them. You should of first went to the manager then he/she would have went and asked the meat guys. It scares them a bit more, so they care more ;).
Oh and btw, i barely eat meat. Only like 4-5 times a month…And the meat I mostly eat now is game meat. You know where it has been (kindof lol) and basically what is has been eating, and once you kill it, you can tell if its sick or not. And its more “manly”.
Try it out.! Better than spending all that money at Rip-off HighlandFarms.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Yes,there are rules and regulations regarding meat
handling, but meat managers,and butchers break them all the time. I worked at a grocery store (in the deli) and got to see the meat department up close…
The meat manager himself would throw the old ground beef into the new stuff to hide it. He didn’t want to
get in trouble for ordering incorrectly. After seeing
this with my own eyes, I rarely buy meat at ANY grocery store. I do buy at Costco, because they
have a fast turnover, and so far I haven’t gotten
anything bad.
I hear what you are saying about customer service,
and how people should treat others as they would like
to be treated, but that is rarely practiced. Everyone
is looking out for themselves.
December 26th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I shop at Highland Farms in Mississauga. When we pass through the meat isle is smells like something died. It smells really awful. I avoid passing through the meat isle because of the stench. I once looked for ground hamburger and couldn’t find any that wasn’t turning brown. A couple of times I went to buy cold cuts and told the lady to return them because they smelled horrible. I do not buy fresh meat from there. I go to Price Chopper which surprisingly has nice red meat that doesn’t smell.
A side note about the employees. They are the same at this Highland Farms in Mississauga. They are like zombies, they are zoned out all the time. Its really weird. Once they overcharged me, they did the same sneering, checking, double checking, making up dumb excuses to try and blame the overcharge on me instead of just returning my money.
Report them to the better business bureau as well. If enough complaints land on them they might take it seriously. You can also go there read other people’s complaints.
May 2nd, 2012 at 9:02 pm
I shop at highland Farms on Ellesmere and Kennedy for more than twenty years and for sure, the ground meat is terrible. If you buy it over the counter you must consume it the same day. I have been treated kindly though and honestly by the staff.
Last time I got some sweet bread. The sales person took it from the inner part of the store especially to my request. When I got home, half of the sweetbread was black and bruised and of course, I threw it out.
Unless it is dated, I would not buy ground meats there anymore.
My advice is check everything by opening the package before check out.
I love shopping there though but I buy my meats somewhere else nowadays.
December 20th, 2012 at 12:16 am
850 Ellesmere Road Scarborough, M1P2W5 just sent this to the email and will phone tommorow. I bought prepackaged meat today from this supermarket. Dec 19. When i got home an looked at the package it expired dec7. I complained to the family member who runs this place and they sent me a very bad message that i can send you a picture of and i can also include a picture of the meat package and the bill of sale. They should not be selling meat or anything that has expired 2 weeks ago. Here is the text i sent the family member. That meat i bought from your uncles store today expired dec7 they should be ashamed of themselves for keeping it out and making me waste money. And the response she sends me whose uncle owns the store – She sends me -Don’t you dare ever tell me that my family should be ashamed of themselves. They have 5 stores to take care of and if you have a complaint they would be more than happy to accommodate you. But don’t you DARE ever send me a message ever again putting down my family. I would never do that to yours and I’m extremely pissed off that you even said that. My family would never scam any customer out of money and if they make a mistake they’re note than happy to help. Watch the way you speak about my family. I complained because what if i ate it and got sick