Fred's Farm Fresh International Market — Local services in Ontario

Every time I visit Windsor, I make a point of stopping by this market. It is close to my hotel, convenient, and offers a good selection of natural products—something I prioritize in my lifestyle. I have been here many times, alone and with friends, and up until now, I had no reason to question my choice.

That ended today.

What happened to me was not just bad service. It was a blatant display of hostility, an act of deliberate humiliation from someone who has no business working in customer service.

The store was quiet. Two cashiers were on duty. One was busy scanning a large order. The other, a middle-aged woman, was handling a couple buying flowers. Seeing that the first register would take a while, I logically approached the second. The register was open. There was no line. There was no reason to expect what happened next.

Without warning, without so much as an ounce of politeness, the woman barked at me to go to the other register. A crude, jarring, unnecessary command.

Taken aback, I calmly asked if her register was closing. It wasn’t. She wasn’t going on break. She simply refused to serve me.

And this is where the real problem begins.

This was not an accident. This was not a misunderstanding. It was a choice. A conscious decision to treat a paying customer with unwarranted hostility.

The situation was so egregious that a man—who appeared to be either the owner or the manager—immediately stepped in to apologize. And why? Because he saw the obvious truth: I was right. The register was open. I could have been served. Yet instead of basic courtesy, I was subjected to a public display of rudeness, as if my presence alone was offensive.

If only the incompetence had ended there.

Let me be clear: I do not believe cashiers are obligated to bag customers’ groceries. In a self-sufficient, fast-paced system, it makes sense for customers to take the initiative unless their purchase is particularly large. But if an employee does choose to bag groceries, they should at least know how.

She didn’t.

Among other things, I purchased a sliced watermelon. Any rational person knows that fragile items should go in last, so they don’t get crushed. Instead, she threw it into the bag first—before placing heavier items on top. Bottled water. Canned goods. A jar of marinated artichokes.

At what point does incompetence become outright negligence?

So I ask: if an employee yells at customers instead of serving them, if she bags groceries like she’s trying to ruin them, if she is incapable of extending the most basic form of respect—what exactly is she qualified to do?

This is not a matter of personal preference. This is about fundamental human decency.

I walked out of this market shaking, unsettled by the aggression I had just experienced. What kind of business allows its employees to lash out at customers like this? If this woman is this miserable, she should take time off, speak to her employer, step away. What she cannot do is make customers pay the price for whatever bitterness she carries inside her.

Today, this market lost a customer. And not just one. I will be sharing this experience with my friends—people who live here, people who visit. Businesses survive on loyalty. Today, you lose one. Tomorrow, you lose more.

A store that allows this kind of behavior is not just losing money. It is eroding its own reputation.

As for me, I will not step foot in that place again.

And as I leave, I carry nothing with me. Not a memory, not a trace of goodwill. Not even the dust...

I recently purchased top sirloin steaks on Dec 30 for New Year’s Eve here. My first visit ever here. After opening them on the evening of Dec 31 there were lots of brown spots and one had blue patches all over. We were very worried about eating it since it looked rotten and when we looked the hours up it said they were closed that evening so we had our New Year’s Eve meal ruined. I ended up calling them and a woman answered the phone claiming she was the mgr and did nothing but interrogate me with questions as to why I didn’t go in, I said they were closed when we checked the hours and she said they never close, and that I would need to jump through hoops with proof to get a refund. I still had the meat for proof and she said that it would be too old by then even only after a few days since we bought it and I had pics which she said I would have to submit on Facebook etc but due to her rudeness and just giving me nothing but a hard time I asked for the owner and she claimed she was that as well. Since I wasn’t getting anywhere I told her forget it that I would post a review and will post the pic here instead since not once did show any concern for the rotten meat or our experience but just gave me an extremely hard time about it even with it ruining our New Year’s Eve. Horrible management and...

I’ve been shopping at this store for about 3 years, but my recent experience was very disappointing. On Wednesday, I bought cheese that had mold on it. I called the store, and they were polite, but I couldn’t return it until the next day due to work. When I went back, the cashier was rude and made it seem like I was the inconvenience for not having a receipt, even though I only bought a few items (3 to be exact) and wasn’t expecting mold, let alone drive across town to return it.

While exchanging the cheese, I noticed a pack of sliced cheese on the shelf that was translucent with white specks (I noticed it the day before too), indicating it was breaking down. Whether or not it was mold, they shouldn’t be selling it. I even tried flipping it over so an employee might notice and remove it, but it remained there the next day.

The whole experience bizarre. After this, I’m unsure if I’ll continue shopping here.

Ps. I work multiple jobs in the food industry and I have my food safety certification. 2 stars because it was good for the last 3...