Beware of using Iowa Steaks in Farmington Hills, Michigan. They are dishonest and downright lie. A man representing their company came to my friend's house and sold her some meat. I have bought meat like this before and paid a small fee of $120.00 for over 60 very good cuts of steak, so I told her to tell him to call me and we would set up an appointment for him to come to my house also. WOW! What a huge mistake!
The next day he (Mike) came to my house. My husband and I were surprised that it was not just steak but fish and chicken also. It was the same amount of steak that I had bought previously from a different place, plus the additional fish and chicken. He said it had to be bought in a bundle like that and could not be bought any differently. That was the special.
Little did I know it was no special. It was $495.00! I talked him down to $450.00, and he said that would not be a problem and that if we did not have all of the money at once, we could write out post-dated checks for however long it would take us to pay it off. It sounded like an okay deal to us, and that is what we did.
The first check was dated two weeks later, but Iowa Steaks did not stick to their agreement and tried to cash the checks early. The money was not in the account yet, so the check bounced and they charged me almost $40 for it. It took several phone calls and the right person to get the bounced check fee removed. Fortunately, I have banked with my bank for 15 years, and they informed me that once you write a check, no matter what date you put on it, it is legal tender and can be cashed as soon as you write it. I had never heard that before, or I never would have written those checks. I called Iowa Steaks to ask why they cashed it early, but there was no answer, so I left a message for them to call me back, but that never happened. The next check was due to be cashed two weeks later. Again they tried to cash it early, and again I called Iowa Steaks about 7-8 more times, but they never called me back. So I had no choice but to stop payment on the rest of the checks I had written them. I knew that once they realized those checks were not going through, they would have to return my phone calls eventually. But that is not what they did.
Three or four weeks went by with them never calling me back, which completely shocked me. Then one day the man who sold us the steaks, Mike, showed up at my doorstep. He was pushy and rude, nothing like when he sold us the steaks. He rudely asked me why I did not have any money in my account when they were trying to cash those checks. I explained that they were trying to cash them before they were due, causing overdraft fees, and that I had called their company a minimum of 8 times, but the girl (Jenny) never returned my phone calls.
He walked into my house, completely uninvited, after I had mentioned that my husband was not home. He also had another man with him in his truck, so I really did feel intimidated being alone. He went on and on about the money and told me I owed him more than I did, and asked what I wanted to do, just give him all the meat back or what. He tried to intimidate me by pushing his chest out, raising his voice and somewhat circling me as he talked. I also felt he did this because I am a woman and I was alone, and I do not appreciate that at all. I told him that was fine, he could take his meat back, I really did not care, and then we would be done with this whole thing. He started to calm down after I said he could have the meat back. I gave him $100 cash, he gave me a receipt, and he called his boss, Jeff. Jeff said he would call me every 2 weeks for me to pay him $100, and on the final week $50. I said that was perfect, but he never called me again.
One month later Mike called when I was not home and told my husband that we owed him $580. What? (This man seems to get a real thrill out of lying and raising the price each time.) It turned out he had never turned in that receipt. At the beginning of this transaction the package was $495. I talked him down to $450, and he broke it down into 5 post-dated checks of $115 apiece, already ripping me off. When I mentioned this to Jenny, she acted like she had never heard of this practice. He said it was for the fees they charged for post-dating the checks. Then they tried to cash them too early. Now it is down to $450 again after talking to Jeff, after Mike so rudely walked into my home, and to Jenny a few days ago. My husband paid her another $200, when all I really wanted to do was return this poor-quality meat. They tell you they will replace anything that is wrong with it, when in fact they do not. I tried that.
Now I have a $150 balance that I will pay, but after the hassle they have put me through, I do not really feel I should have to. I would rather they take it back. We do not like it, and that is supposed to be one of their guarantees. They also did something very similar to what they did to me to my girlfriend, who is where I got their name.
I have read several other complaints about them since I went through this. This is a warning not to buy from this place. If you think about it, please beware and think about it two or three times first! I have never written one of these reports before about anyone, and I have been treated poorly in the past, but never has anyone just walked into my home and tried to throw their weight around like this. Trust me, you would not want someone to walk into your home uninvited like they did to me. There were also the absolute headaches from this whole mess of lies over the money situation, all due to cashing checks earlier than agreed and the lies this man told and continues to tell. It just is not worth it. Go to your local meat market; you are better off.
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