Rheo Thompson Candies — Local services in Stratford

My mom & I drove over an hour last weekend to your location in Stratford, we are located in Guelph. We had googled your shoppe to confirm you were open, which your hours state 9am-2pm. There were no additional details on Google, stating “unavailable for walk-in” etc which many places have added to their google accounts. I had also checked your website- that states at the top “We are OPEN for no contact shopping.” This is a very misleading message, suggesting you are open just no direct contact is needed to pay, etc. Everywhere else I have shopped has stated “CURBSIDE PICK UP” which is straight to the point. It should NOT be stated that you are open.

This misleading information was only half the problem. When we arrived, noticing the lights were off, we assumed you were closed for walk-ins. This is when we went investigating further on your website and saw the curbside pick up or local delivery only. While we were looking this up, we were sitting on a bench located in front of your store, as we had just drove a long way and were trying to figure out if we could still somehow order and get it today. That is when one of your employees came out the door near the bench with a bag (for a customers curb side pick up). Then she stated to us that the bench is for pick up orders ONLY and that we needed to move. We politely apologized and explained our situation. She expressed no sympathy and said “no where is open” as if we were idiots and weren’t aware of the global pandemic currently going on. It’s not that we were oblivious of the situation, it’s that your website states you are “open for no contact shopping”. She continued to say that you would not be opening and we could go and order online. As I am standing there trying to look up if the same day pick up was available, she then states that we are not 6-feet away from the bench and need to keep moving. Pushing us away from your business in more ways than one. Startled by the lack of service and understanding- I asked if we went and ordered online now if we could still get it today, or how long orders usually take to fill. She replied that she didn’t know but we could try and suggested if there was something we could go do and come back. With us stating we have driven an hour to get there and she knew “no where was open”, there was nothing we could “go do” especially without her being able to tell us how long it would take or if it would even be today.

I was actually shocked at the lack of service we received. I understand the policies in place but she provided no help or sympathy whatsoever. I work in customer service and wouldn’t have hesitated to asked what was needed, considering I knew exactly what I was going there for. I would have been willing to wait an hour or longer, considering the time we took to get there for my order. If she had offered to try and get it ready then, now that would be OUTSTANDING service and I probably would have been writing this email with a different attitude.

So here we are, left with a bitter taste in my mouth with the interaction that just happened. Starting our hour drive home, empty handed... I sent this email May 16th with my phone number attached- and still have not heard...

Please do not order or buy from this company 🙏🏼 Please instead email or call them to fix their attitude and packaging. I have attached screenshots to show that what I am saying is coming from them directly.

They do not care for the consumer. They would rather their boxes look pretty.

Allergen information is not stated on their website.

An assortment box does not have a legend of what chocolates you are consuming like the rest of the world.

This box includes cashews pecans peanuts walnuts milk and eggs.

It is not obvious to people who are sharing candies during a holiday season and it is VERY detrimental to some.

There is an area they included may contain in bold. So why couldn't they do the rest of the allergens in bold at the very least if they're not going to put it on their website.

I'm flabbergasted that I have to be the voice of reason.

It's very unfortunate that I need to be the one to put down a Canadian company I am not happy writing this I promise you.

They care more about their packaging then they do their consumers .

I have included pictures where there is ample space for them to have included the ingredients in a...

I love this place. I've been to Stratford many times throughout my life, from when I was a kid and my parents would take the family on our annual theatre trips, to now when I take my own family. This place always delivers!

The staff are friendly and helpful, there is a ton of selection, and prices are reasonable. Yes, you'll pay a fair bit more than generic candies and chocolates at the grocery store, but the quality of the candies here are top notch, and in my opinion, totally worth the extra cost.

In our current times of pandemic shopping, Rheo Thompson is doing a fantastic job of keeping staff and customers safe. Though it is inconvenient to limit the number of customers in the store, no one seemed to mind too much as evidenced by the long ling up. We had to wait about 25 minutes to get in. Once we got in, there was hand sanitizer for everyone to use, which yes, was mint-scented! Pandemic life sucks, but it's the small things like this that help make things a little more manageable.

I hope Rheo Thompson makes it, as every time I visit Stratford, I try to stop in the store to pick up at least a few mint smoothies. Highly...