J Bryk

Review of Gambles Ontario Produce

My experience with Gambles/Ontario Produce has alw...

My experience with Gambles/Ontario Produce has always been really good because the people who work there on the floor are the reason I do business there.
The fruit & vegetable turnover is really good as they move lots of product so rarely if ever do you get an aged product unless you knowingly buy it. My issue with the company has to do with the decisions made from higher up that directly impact sales staff and customers.
The ability to use a credit card for payment which was an existing option previously at Gambles has been removed entirely.
Off market wholesalers do not get paid COD from all clients and usually are paid within 30 days which is an industry norm.
The ability to keep cash flow moving is part of any business and during the pandemic, having the ability to use credit cards to complete purchases only helps customers function smoothly within the month without having to borrow money.
The decision to not allow credit card purchases directly impacts a decision of who you buy from in the OFT and my purchasing produce decisions also carry the consideration of dealing with companies that DO provide CC purchase options which is pretty much everyone in the OFT BUT Gambles.
The pandemic will eventually end and things will return to some type of normal but the customers who used to shop at Gambles but had to shop elsewhere because they couldn't use a CC there have been dealing with other companies for over a year now that offer CC purchasing.
Think you'll collectively get them all back?
Not likely because when we needed options to pay that were already in place, decisions were made to remove them and leave existing customers without deep pockets high and dry.
Remember that when your daily customers sales will eventually fall and wonder where did those clients go? They went to all the other places that offer what you used to but now don't.
Fresh Taste for example has benefited greatly over the last year thanks to your decision by simply offering customers the opportunity to SEE what they are buying and using a CC to pay for it.
Also, the ability to provide a weekly price list to active customers regardless of how much they spend is non-existent as it appears price lists are "state secrets" not to be shared easily as they once were.
On the other hand, I receive weekly lists from other companies I do and don't buy from without question which helps in decision making before entering the OFT.
It reminds me of car dealerships advertising really great car deals with no price posted telling you to "call for price".
Electronic and in person Information sharing is a crucial part of the industry. If off market wholesalers didn't provide price lists to prospective and existing customers we would look like we're back in the stone age.
You want honest customer feedback, here it is:
A good and sometimes overpriced company to deal with until the pandemic then internal procedures overrode what was a seemingly smooth process complicating it for existing clients who instead of usually buying at Gambles are now buying elsewhere because they can't see what they're buying and have to pay now to get produce or they get nothing.
Taking customers for granted because they have a good salesman is something that shouldn't be taken lightly because once they're gone it wasn't the salesman that lost them, it was upper management decisions regarding daily customers that caused them to leave.