Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    My husband worked for one of these companies a couple years ago, so we
    got the perk of X amount of food per month. The quality of the meat and 
    chicken was very good - the firmer fishes, such as sword fish were good
    as well - frozen fish such as scrod or sole can be quite mushy,
    regardless of the vendor. You'd probably do better with fresh fish
    purchases as needed.
    
    The big selling point of the home services is convenience - they
    contend that you won't need to go to the store freqently etc. and can
    budget more efficiently. I could argue differently, especially when I
    prefer to go to the supermarket minimally for milk, rather than stop at
    convenience stores. So, at the supermarket, I figure I can do my other
    shopping, and possibly take advantage of sales.
    
    The disadvantage of home deliver food services is the price markup - it
    is tremendous. Weighed against your living style and convenience
    factors, it may be worthwhile, but understand that you are not saving $
    nor is it cheaper in any way.
    
    As for the freezer, I'd recommend you price shop at some appliance
    stores and then larger stores such as Lechmere, etc. You'll probably be
    able to match, if not find a substantially lower price. 
    
    Just my opinion - good luck in your decision.
    Lynn
    

    
    see also:
    
    CONSUMER
    1342 - freezers/food delivery services
    
    ASKENET
    1146 - your comments on freezers/food delivery
    
    
    -Jody
    

    RE:.0

    	I had this service years ago when I was young and crazy.  In theory
    this system works well and the sales person will surely make it sound
    good, but my experience with it was there was more meat and groceries in 
    the house so the family tended to eat more which was OK but you ran out
    before the allotted time period and had to go to the store anyway while
    you still where making payments to the food service.  Yes I did buy the
    freezer too, between the service contract, guarantees and other charges
    I can't remember now but a $300 freezer cost me $1200, I would definitely 
    go to your local appliance store for a better deal.  Although the
    quality of their products and meat where good I'd have to recommend
    that you skip the service.

    Joe

    
    My wife and I have had a service for 1.5 years and we love it.
    I can't say how much cash we save, but we save *lots of time*,
    and to us, thats worth it. We used to spend several hours a week
    shopping and waiting in lines at the store.
    
    Now, we make out a list every six months. When the food gets delivered,
    the nice fellow even packs our freezer. We did by the freezer from
    them, and it didn't cost too much more than from an appliance store.
    
    We still buy fresh food on occasion, but we go through the express line
    at the registers now.
    
    Oh, and the food quality is great.
    
    Guy
    
    

    
    Well, years ago my parents had this service and *I* loved it.  Don't
    really know how they felt about their college daughter raiding their
    freezer for frozen meat after a weekend home though!  (There just
    always seemed to be so much! ;-))  
    
    I do know they only used the service a year - two at the most.  Quality
    was great, but the cost wasn't and it does disappear more quickly than
    expected... (read: better add any kids into the equation ;-))  
    
    And some parents think it's a hassle when kids come home with dirty
    laundry and leave with cans of tuna.... ;-)
    
    

    I used one of these services for several years.  Hated shopping so this
    made things easier.  They had a basic price that was 10% off if your
    had purchased a freezer or micro-wave or their "quarantee" from them
    for a big fee.  I never bought any of those and paid the full price
    refusing to be suckered into buying a lifetime guarantee.  It was worth
    it at the time.  I don't buy so much red meat anymore and the frozen
    foods would sit in my freezer for far too long to remain good so I
    won't do it again.
    
    (I'll send the name of the service to anyone who asks but won't include
    it in a note.)
    
    ed

    Well, for now it is a "no" vote.  The freezer was going to cost $1300
    from the delivery service.  On the market I could get the same thing
    for $400-500.  That's a big difference!  The service's response is that
    I would get a 10% discount off my food if I bought their $1300 freezer. 
    Over time I would recoup the purchase price and after a breakeven point
    (5-10 years down the road), this 10% discount would be a boon. At this
    point, I do not want to be roped into this service for X years just to
    make the freezer investment worthwhile.  Without the 10%, the food cost
    gets less attractive, albeit that the quality and convenience is a plus.  
                                                                       
    Maryanne 

    I let one of these frozen food delivery services send a sales rep out
    to our house once, because it sounded like it might be a good idea for
    us - I hate to shop anyhow.
    
    Didn't work out well, tho!  For one thing, the guy started off on the
    wrong foot right away by immediately pulling out a cigarette and
    starting to light it, without even asking!  Sheesh!  NOBODY smokes in
    our house - it makes both of us *very* sick.  Even my FATHER never smoked in
    my house, or my brother's house.
    
    That taken care of, the guy tried to sell us the $400 freezer for
    $1300.  We didn't want that either...
    
    Then it turned out that you can't actually order just what meat you
    want, at least from that particular outfit (I have forgotten their
    name, though).  You checked off which meats your family is *willing to
    eat* on their list, and they deliver whatever they feel like/have on
    hand/whatever.  I could just picture ending up with a whole freezer
    full of cheap ground beef, or chicken wings, or something else that we
    would never eat all of.  So, we sent the salesman packing.
    
    Did I mention that he showed up an hour later than the appointment he
    had made with us, which caused us to be real late for something else
    that evening?
    
    /Charlotte