Savenor's Butcher Shop — Local services in Cambridge

So I was looking to buy some pork jowls, and was familiar with Savenor's other location so I decided to try them first. I called them at the beginning of the week, and they said they had a whole animal coming in on Wednesday, and that they'd reserve the jowls for me to pick up that night (and from a 600 lb hog no less!). They took my name and number when I called.

I showed up Wednesday night, and told the butcher (didn't get his name) about my order. He couldn't seem to locate the slip with my info, and looked around for a while for the jowls. After a while he told me that the head had been frozen before having the jowls removed by accident. He said it hadn't been frozen for very long, and that he'd take it out then, to have ready for me the following night, and he'd knock the price down by half. It's not easy to get there from where I work, but I said ok.

I show up thursday night, and it's a different guy behind the butcher counter (despite the fact that the guy who I talked to in the shop on Wednesday said he'd be there on Thursday to personally give me my order). I describe what happened the previous night, and he went off to look... and look... and look. After a while he comes out and tells me it's still frozen, and that I can come back the next day, and he'll give it to me for free. So at this point I've skipped out of work a tiny bit early two days in a row to get here before they close. I'm not about to do it a third time, so I tell him I'll be in Saturday on my day off. I make sure to give him my name and number again.

So that brings us to today. At this point I thought it would be prudent to call ahead and make sure they have it this time. I call, describe why I'm calling, and am met with... confusion. He ends up telling me that the order that was supposed to come in Wednesday hadn't arrived, but that they had it now (but that it was frozen still). This seemed a little weird, because if the order hadn't arrived Wednesday, why were the employees telling me that a head (the one that had been frozen, and presumably a whole animal as well) had come in that day. He says he can thaw it in an hour, and will take the jowls off for me. I don't know how they were planning on thawing it, but the head from a 600 lb pig is unlikely to thaw in an hour. He also tells me he'll give me some already curing pork jowls for free, like he's doing me a favor, when I had already stated that the whole reason I was ordering the jowls was to cure and dry the meat myself. I declined his offer. Not to mention that had I gone ahead and got the jowls, I'm not sure I'd even be able to cure and dry it properly after the meat had been fully frozen.

Overall the place seemed terribly unorganized, and the staff seemed rather apathetic about the whole affair. I'm a really patient person, and work in the food industry myself so I'm predisposed to be a little extra forgiving in areas such as these, but after trekking around in the freezing cold, spending money on bus fare and losing a little time at work, I don't think I'll be doing business...

The food was great, the service was lacking. The service industry is all about relating information in a friendly manner while serving your clients needs. Short brown haired guy with a baseball cap with pins in it.. far from friendly, from a management perspective I would have a conversation with him about how to approach people in regard to the stores covid policy. I took two steps inside (with a mask and freshly sanitized hands already in place) and was promptly yelled at in a demeaning tone about the number of occupants allowed inside. I apologised and waited outside until people left. While outside I noticed their guidelines on the windows opposite of the direction I walked from and far enough from the door that it wouldn't have caught my eyes regardless. Sure enough I was technically wrong as they only allow four people in at a time. Once inside I did my best to obey all the other posted verbiage. I was unfortunate enough to get the same guy helping me, I ordered about 140$ worth of cured meat and dry age beef so I did expect to be treated with a level of just regular human kindness. I was not. The clerk struggled to communicate, and barked at me directions and demands for what I was shopping for. I almost walked out, but I was celebrating a friend's moving in to a new place and needed the food. To his credit at the end he tried to joke with me about icecream. I'm pretty easy going and I work in the service industry around hundreds of new people each day so I know how things can get stressful in today's climate. I'll be back to give the place another shot, but just be kind man and give me what I ask for, I'll obey your rules and give...

I'm not normally one to write reviews but I had such a bad experience here today that I feel compelled to.

I came in just before 1 PM to pick up a few things for lunch. I took everything to the register and a guy with a short beard and dark hair started to ring me up. I wasn't paying super close attention and so I first tried to tap my card before he was done scanning my items, and he told me "not yet". I apologized and then looked at the small screen that shows your items as they're scanned. I waited until all the items were scanned, and then tried to tap my card. When that didn't work I tried inserting. Eventually I realized that the guy probably hadn't hit the button to complete the transaction, so I looked up and he said in a super aggressive tone "it's not ready yet sir", and then promptly pushed the button. There was nothing left to be done on the transaction so I guess he wanted to show me up for trying to tap my card early or for staring at the screen as he has scanning my items? When I finally paid he put my things in a plastic bag (which I didn't ask for and I'm guessing he charged me for?).

I'm not sure what this guys problem was but the way he acted was really uncalled for. I have a disability that makes me lightheaded when I walk around sometimes and so I was probably just a little fuzzy when I accidentally tried to tap my card the first time. I've always like Savenor's in the past but I'm a little hesitant to...