OLiV Tasting Room Niagara-on-the-Lake — Local services in Niagara-on-the-Lake

We walked into OLiV based on a glowing recommendation from my sister. I was with my young son and the rest of my family, excited to browse the unique selection of oils, vinegars, and artisanal condiments. My son, curious and wide-eyed, was reading the labels aloud — fascinated by flavors he’d never encountered before.

As we moved toward the tasting area, he pointed at the small plastic tasting cups, intrigued, and asked if he could try one. Before I had a chance to explain, we were abruptly cut off by an older, blonde staff member wearing glasses. She snapped at my child — "You can't touch those." He hadn’t touched anything. He was just curious. But her tone and delivery startled him — and frankly, stunned me.

Rather than escalate or subject him to further hostility, I told him we’d step outside while the rest of the family continued browsing.

Initially, I wondered if her reaction had something to do with bias — I’d hoped it hadn’t. But as we were leaving, I overheard her speaking to another couple (who weren’t people of color) asking a perfectly reasonable question about the origin of the balsamic vinegar. Her answer? Condescending and dismissive: "Well, since you don’t seem to know, there are only two places in the world where they make it." That’s when it became clear — this wasn’t personal. This was simply how she treats people: with a dated, rigid, and unnecessarily cold approach.

To be fair, the rest of our group was helped by a different, much friendlier staff member, and they purchased two bottles of olive oil and a truffle-flavored salt. The products themselves are high quality — no argument there.

But here's the problem: excellence in product doesn’t give you a pass on poor service. If anything, it demands better. No one wants to spend money in a place where curiosity is treated as nuisance and questions are met with snobbery.

OLiV, you’ve built something special with your offerings — don’t let subpar customer engagement ruin that. People will gladly pay more for the same products elsewhere if it means being treated with dignity, empathy, and warmth.

I hope you’ll reflect on this. Because hospitality should never feel like...

I entered the store to check out their olive products, but I noticed an elderly sales lady who was already busy with a couple who were dressed up nicely. She didn't acknowledge me or mention that she would be with me shortly, and just walked past me without any greeting. The couple eventually left without making any purchases, and the sales lady seemed a bit frustrated as she had provided them with good service. I was disappointed that she didn't ask if I needed help, and I couldn't help but wonder if my Asian background had something to do with her behavior. Thankfully, another staff member who had been occupied earlier came over to assist me, and he was very helpful. I ended up buying two bottles and some of their products, but I have decided to take my business elsewhere in the future. It's essential to provide a welcoming attitude to customers, regardless of their background, and I believe it's unfair to judge someone based on...

I am so unbelievably annoyed at the situation

First of all with a name like Oliv why would I ever think that balsamic is a thing they would brand. Second when I based olive oil at the space (not all the flavours I purchased) why didn't the person helping me mention that I was buying VINEGAR? as additional flavours.

To top it all off I got home opened a bottle of what I thought was oil and added it to a mixture in my bread machine. The lemon balsamic happened to be white so I didn't e ven notice it but the bread is ruined. $2x ish a bottle (in my case 65 ish in spending) and I got 1 bottle of olive oil and 2 vinegar not knowing. You could have kept the olive oil and vinegar in quite different places. Or had something to let customers know the differences. It's a 2 hour drive for us to get there or back so 4 hours isn't worth the gas.

Please consider other peoples time and effort...