Coffee arrived open, would you expect a replacement?

I’d expect a replacement. Putting the freshness issue aside, this is a food product, and as such, it’s a reasonable expectation that the product should arrive to you sealed.

Going back to the freshness issue, I think you, along with most of the folks who drink coffee, would say that keeping your beans in a sealed container isn’t out of the ordinary. And I bet that they sell coffee beans in sealed bags as a matter of course. Again, that supports an expectation that the coffee you purchased should arrive in a sealed bag.

I’d ask them directly for a replacement, giving them the benefit of the doubt that they just hit “send” too quickly because of the busy holiday season. If they refuse a direct request, then you can make a decision as to whether they deserve your business going forward.

Should really be fine but if it’s been sitting there for a week in the roastery open that’s not great. If it doesn’t taste off I wouldn’t worry. Being open for a week by itself isn’t long enough for it to go stale or rancid.

I would like to see the pictures that you sent them, or the email. Did you ask for a replacement? It shouldn’t really matter because the product arrived damaged and a replacement should be offered. I do think especially with the royal mail strikes, at the busiest days of the year before the postage cutoff people might be getting some less courteous responses

The cynic in me reckons that was a (shortsighted) attempt not to have to eat the loss from a kilo of beans. If you had asked for a refund directly rather than just telling them it arrived open I expect they would have immediately obliged.

It was the wrong thing for the roaster to do because it has the potential to discourage potential customers from privileging that roaster with their business. They could potentially lose more than the wasted kilo which he should have immediately recognised as just the “cost of doing business.”

The “artisan roasting” market is pretty saturated; there are more beardy hipsters wanting to roast coffee for a living than there are customers willing to pay £40 per kg of beans. And their customer base is pretty well connected what with fora like this - bad news travels fast. A good reputation is valuable, and equally the opposite applies. In a saturated market service and reputation is all you’ve got.

I’d be asking for a refund/replacement. I/you pay for coffee that should be sealed so I/you can decide when to open it. That bag has had at least 2 days of air degrading the quality (albeit minor effects but still).

The reason we pay top dollar is to get a top product, right?

have they just not popped in transit, were they inside another wrapper?

while the company answer is pretty crap, id still use them,

Ernie1 This is one of those stupid situations where a simple mistake develops into losing a customer.

We’ve had bags split in transit from sealing issues be it our side with the sealer or from the bag manufacturers sealing splitting, sometimes couriers just decide to yeet a parcel for no reason and they break/burst, but In almost all instances I just ship a replacement, or at least communicate with the customer to reach a happy solution for them.

The cost of a bag of coffee is far less than the cost of leaving a customer unhappy regardless of their size, and mistakes will always happen…it’s how you fix them that is the measure of your business’ service.

Ernie1

I think its sad that business’ can put an enormous amount of effort to build themselves into something special, and then only be brought down by poor staffing further down the line. I know its a very UK vs USA thing on service but I’ve always admired the Cat & Cloud staff training and ethos, its pretty inspiring. And nothings worse than working in a job knowing that neither you or even a manager cares, at that point just move on…rather than dragging everyone down with you.

Also for alot of business’ especially in a competitive market, its pretty apparant that bad news travels ALOT faster than good news, keeping customers happy and providing good service is part of what we do, its not a chore, it’s just part of the job and its actually enjoyable, and at times when things go wrong its actually benifitial to your business.

9 times out of 10 when we send a bag of coffee to a customer and it all goes smoothly…we never hear anything back, no review, no feedback, no posts on the forum, nothing. When something goes wrong, bag split, lost delivery etc..and we talk with the customer and resolve it as fast/best as we can, they actually often write about it, leave a review, give some positive feedback! Having that chance to work with a customer and understand where things went wrong is an enormous oppertunity for improvement, otherwise we just keep doing what we’re doing not knowing if its right/wrong.

Just for the sake of comparison…

I ordered three bottles of a non alcoholic “spirit” a few weeks ago. I have just received them and they had been damaged in transit meaning all three bottles had been punctured at the lid, not enough to lose all the liquid but enough that they would drip slightly if not stored upright and of course they were no longer sealed.

I emailed the supplier today, they responded immediately to apologise and to say that they would send another three bottles to me.

And another comparison……

I recently bought a pair of walking boots at £195. Second outing I noticed the sole - that is designed to be replaceable- was lifting on the inner edges of each boot.

I emailed the company, they refunded me in full and told me to either keep the boots or bin them.