Plymouth Cheese — Local services in Plymouth

A response to the owner: You already had a stack of toothpicks next to the sample cups. My suggestion is simply to omit the cups because after reading lots of bad reviews, they seem to be the issue. Toothpicks also lay flat when dropped and don't present a realistic hazard. I would have been happy with my experience if there were no cheese samples at all. The issue myself and many others have had is one of quality, not quantity. I wholeheartedly agree that kindness, compassion, and hospitality are cornerstones of customer service.

The cheese was good but the customer service was not.

My husband and I spent the weekend camping at Coolidge State Park and saw the signs for Plymouth Cheese so we wanted to make a point to go before we left as we have Plymouth Cheese in our local Co-Op. Unfortunately (for us) we got there at 4:30 when the listed hours are that they close at 5.

While we weren't greeted warmly upon entry, that was fine as there were other customers and (we assumed it had been) a long summer day of tourism. We picked our cheese and while preparing to purchase it, the older woman behind the counter asked if we'd had either before which we had not.

Your clerk made a point to offer samples of both the cheese we were getting and another - since she didn't have second one as a sample. However she did not make any mention that I shouldn't touch more than one cup when SHE invited ME to sample BOTH. I took the first sample and made a point of asking my husband if he wanted one so I gave him one while he got his wallet. Which was apparently a cardinal sin. I got the 4th degree for daring to take two cups and had to explain I fed my husband one when again your clerk asked me to take multiple samples.

After which we attempted to pay and she aggressively took my husband's debit card out of his hand because each store in the entire country seems to have the tap button in a different location.

I understand that she may have had a long day but based on these comments am inclined to believe she may also not enjoy a customer facing position. I worked and trained customer service reps, to have multiple customers going home feeling this way and clearly nothing is being done to rectify the situation tells me the owners either don't care or really see it as a problem.

You've been suggested signage in previous comments which is a fantastic idea or get rid of the paper cups completely and instead simply place cubes of cheese on platters with toothpicks nearby if you really want to reduce, reuse, recycle. This is more intuitive and people will pick up on what you want to happen.

While I've always enjoyed your cheese, this has certainly left a bitter taste that will make me hesitate the next time I'm at the store going to...

I will preface that I love your cheese and still do. I want to make it clear that this rating isn't based on the quality of your product, but the experience I had at your factory location.

My in-laws are visiting from out-of-state and I took the opportunity to take them to your factory (and visit it myself) for the first time.

The factory was interesting, and I enjoyed the museum in the upper level of the factory building. The store was very well stocked, but your clerk? She tainted the experience after getting upset over taking an 'extra' paper sample cup. We did not initially realize that we were expected to re-use the same cup if we wanted to try more than a single flavor. I have zero issue with this, but the way the samples were set up did not give that impression and the instruction came after we each took a sample. One member of our party made the cardinal sin of taking two cups (one flavor in each cup as they were set out on the counter) and your clerk made sure to let us know that we had screwed up.

I get there is difficulty in running small businesses, and this is especially true in rural Vermont. I get that the foliage change can be rough on employees, as it's a LOT of interaction with the public in a relatively short period of time and minor issues can seem like larger ones on a bad day.

That said, after reading your reviews it appears this clerk and her lack of customer service skills has been mentioned more than once and this wasn't a 'bad day' scenario.

Either change how you have the samples set up to make the 'one paper cup' rule clear, or retrain the clerk on how to appropriately interact with clients. We ended up cutting our visit short over the stupidest reason I can think of - a literal...

Went to visit Plymouth Cheese during our visit to the historic Calvin Coolidge presidential site. Our tour guide, who was wonderful, recommended stopping in. According to the guide and the hours posted on their unlocked front door, they opened at 11 a.m. it was 11:02, we opened the door and we walked in only to be chased down by an impolite women who stated rudely, "HOW DID YOU GET IN!, "We're not open yet". This door is not supposed to be unlocked." I apologized and told her our tour guide and the door hours stated the contrary. She quickly snapped "Well, what time is it"? I showed her my watch, which was after 11 a.m. She then added "I don't have the store ready." Not feeling at all welcomed, we said that we would come back. She threw up her hands and said, "You can go upstairs then." Our tour guide also told us about a museum on the second floor, explaining Plymouth Cheese's history, which we were interested in seeing. However, once we ascended the stairs, we thought we made a wrong turn because we came to rooms full of boxes, shipping supplies, and clutter. It looked more like a warehouse. In some areas, we noticed information on the walls explaining things but couldn't see them because they were behind all the clutter. It was quite sad. Needless to say, we left, not buying any cheese or having a nice experience. Hope the shop worker improves her attitude because a little kindness would...