A Taste of Olive - West Chester — Local services in West Chester

WARNING: DO NOT ORDER ONLINE FROM THESE PEOPLE. Here's the situation: I live in PA. I have been a customer of this place for about 10 years. I have a ton of their product in my kitchen and I give it as a gift all the time. This post is about an online shipping experience (not an in-store experience---in-store has always been wonderful). So, I ordered a bottle of fancy olive oil from A Taste of Olive for my best friend for mother's day. Even though money is tight, we've been trying to support the local stores. It arrived at her house on May 4 broken/unusable. So, I use the email link from their order notification and tell them the problem including the picture my friend took of said broken bottle. A few days goes by.....no answer. So, I go to their website and find another email link (it was the same email address as before) and email them again on May 7. Again, nothing. So, yesterday, I call them in the evening hoping SOMEONE will help me. Left a message. Today, I get a call and the person is telling me that it's the post offices fault--she believes "they're getting sloppy" and that she can refund me the cost of the shipping (but not the cost of the olive oil) and offers to hand-deliver another bottle to my friend--but I have to pay for the new bottle. I tell her "thank you for the offer, but I want to talk to your boss". She tells me this is what the boss said to do. Then she bemoaned the trials of being a small business. Said it was the post office fault and not theirs because they package their bottles really well. She lets it slip there were other broken bottles delivered somewhere in California (so obviously maybe they aren't packaging their bottles as well as she said....). I insist on speaking to the boss. Boss is not there. She'll be there Mon afternoon or Tues morning. OH! And it was the boss's email that I was emailing in the first place, so the boss was the one not responding to me. Sooooo, am I ridiculous for feeling like I should be sent a replacement bottle in this situation? I don't know a single company out there that would not send a replacement if something showed up broken, but the woman acted like I was asking for something crazy. So, I'll be talking to the boss on Tues and we'll see what happens, but not so sure I can honestly recommend this place for online shipping right now. They need to work out their packaging issues and stop blaming the USPS. UPDATE: Two weeks later and still no refund or replacement bottle despite me sending multiple emails for help. UPDATE: After I contacted the BBB, I finally got a call from the manager (she left me a message) saying she wasn't sure what happened and they finally sent a replacement bottle and this time they used better packaging and it arrived in one piece. I will not be shopping here again online. That was ridiculous. Worst customer service I've...

Wonderful appearing store with what I’m sure are high quality products. I stopped in - I could hear a woman caterwauling in the back but she never came out to acknowledge my presence, say hello, or offer assistance. I was in the store for at least 5 minutes (obviously long enough to take an excessive amount of photos) and I was not quiet. If there’s a work area in the back, they should have bells on the door or a chime that sounds in the back when a customer enters - that’s pretty basic, if you ask me. I’d have loved to properly check out their products, but customer service is tops for me and didn’t exist when I stopped in. I’ll try again because I feel strongly about supporting small, local businesses and I believe in giving places a second (or, third) chance. Let’s hope for a better...

Park in the High St parking garage and walk south a very short walk,same side of street. Be prepared for upscale prices, but the product is so good I keep coming back. Lambrusco red wine vinegar and lavender balsamic are my all time favorites. "What do you put them on?" people ask me. Anything you'd use balsamic on otherwise. Cucumber salads, tomato salads to splashes in meats, fish and salsa, marinades to seasoning stew. The white pear balsamic on roasted veggies with some salt, pepper, ground rosemary and olive oil is wonderful. White fig & (something) is nice on salads. Bacon oil on green beans...so many things, and such Fun to try new ones. I'm not exactly a foodie but it's...