Coffin Creek Cafe — Restaurant in Clarington

I have not been in to the cafe but was ordering product regularly online. After the customer service I've received of late, I will never do so again.

I have been trying for over six weeks to get a very simple answer to a very simple question: Will Deadly Grounds continue to package its tea in plastic or return to packaging in glass?

I am committed to the zero-waste/plastic-free lifestyle I lead. I work hard at avoiding plastics, so I was thrilled to purchase Deadly Grounds teas in these beautiful glass containers that I could reuse for other things once they were emptied. But then I placed in order way back in November and, to my surprise, my teas came packaged in plastic.

I spent the next three weeks sending 2-3 emails to the email address on the website (emailing Brad) asking whether the plastic was a permanent thing or whether the teas would be going back to being packaged in glass. When all of those emails went ignored, I called the store and spoke with someone named Katie. She gave me her personal email address and asked that I contact her there with my question so that my email could be responded to more quickly.

Turns out that didn't work either, because I spent another 3 emails over another 3 weeks emailing that address basically having to beg for the answer to this simple question and getting ignored.

I finally emailed yesterday and basically said "okay...nevermind...I just wanted to know about the plastic because it was going to determine whether I remain a customer or not. But it's irrelevant now because this horrible customer service has guaranteed that I will not remain a customer either way".

Funnily, Katie responded IMMEDIATELY to that email. Figures...once I say you've lost my business you're interesting in stopping ignoring me.

Well...her response was garbage. It made the customer service even worse than ignoring me for 6 weeks over 4-6 emails did. Her whole email was two sentences: one in which she never bothered to apologize but, instead, made excuses for ignoring my many emails (blaming the holiday season and covid-19), and a second sentence in which she said "we are keeping the tea bottles".

Soooo....your answer to my question "how will your tea be packaged" is "our tea will be packaged"?!?!?!

As you can tell, this does not even answer my bloody question. Obviously I know you'll still be packaging your tea. My questions for over a month and a half has been "IN WHAT?!?!". So I immediately replied "can you clarify whether that means you'll be keeping them in plastic or glass", thinking I would maybe finally get an answer to this extremely simple question I've been asking for over a month and half.

Well...that email got ignored, too. They went right back to not answering me and I STILL have not received the information I needed.

In short, I do not recommend Deadly Grounds to anyone who is eco-conscious because the company seems to be deliberately non-transparent about whether their packaging is eco-friendly. They will ignore your question for as long as they possibly can. When they finally do respond, they will deliberately fail to answer your question by stating the obvious instead of providing the information you actually asked for. When you ask for clarification, they will go back to ignoring you.

I also do not recommend this place if you care about getting good customer service. I am a regular customer and a friend of a good friend of the owners', but I still got treated like complete garbage. I can't imagine the service one would receive if they didn't even have continued loyalty or a personal connection to rely on.

People like this place because it's kitschy and people think that's super cute. But it seems like mine is not the first review to complain about bad customer service. I think folks should think twice before patronizing...

There are a lot of reviews with low ratings for some rather silly and petty reasons. So as a long-time customer of the company (I have been buying long before the cafe opened), I would like to address a few things. I can tell you right now that not only are the owners some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. They happen to have some of the best coffee I have had in a long time. The thing these reviewers seem to forget is that this is a small privately owned and run business. I have been to the café a couple of times despite it being a 45-minute drive inside this unique café you will find an assortment of items you can purchase from small business owners. You see, the owners care about the communities they are apart of and do what they can to help others. My second time there I had left my purse and was an hour and half away before noticing. When I called, they were more than helpful and located and stored it in a safe location, offering to stay after close for me to pick it up. I had someone grab it for me (still my hero!) and am extremely grateful for their quick response. Recently, a woman, lets call her SA, wrote a review about her unhappiness over the packaging her purchase was in and the delayed response from this small business. During a global pandemic no less!!! It seems SA cannot understand that the company is doing everything it can during these unprecedented times to continue to run and keep the business going. What the reviewer fails to realize is that many of the supplies DG and many other businesses require supplies are not available do to the lockdowns and closures for COVID as they are deemed nonessential. SA appears to lack empathy and some sort of sense of entitlement. While I write this review. I am ordering more coffee because I support small business instead expecting them to cater to my needs and the coffee is great. I do not care if it comes in a...

Ordered "Haunted House" coffee. Was really excited to try it out. I like to support local business. Unfortunately it was the most bland coffee I've ever had. Literally like coloured water. I emailed Deadly Grounds letting them know. Maybe I got a bad bag or something. I have yet to hear back.

EDIT: In response from the Owner

My apologies for confusing you regarding the name. I use a family computer with the browser logged in already. Does that clear it up or would you like a more in depth explanation?

At least we agree. Putting this in the public forum is a good idea Here's my offensive disrespectful email, word for word.

"Hello, I got a bag of haunted house coffee and I gotta say it is one of the lightest tasteless coffees I've ever had. I think someone performed an exorcism on the flavor.

It says it's a medium blend but it is is way lighter than that. Even with extra scoops its like coloured water.

I just wanted to let you know. This is my first bag of coffee and I have to say it's a poor first impression. Thanks"

I still stand by my "haunted house" analogy, the flavor was exercised from the coffee. I'm baffled as to why a company that uses the same literal analogies is so melted when similar is used to explain the quality of the product.

As much as I appreciate the useless advice on what I SHOULD have done to appease your response and the thorough explanation of coffee preferences, I'm not the one who sold coffee a customer that was consumed by about 5 people who unanimously agree it was one of the worst coffees we've had. Your lucky they don't give you 5 more 1 stars

I've been drinking coffee from various places around the world for 20 years, I'm not sure how I can tell you its worse than Maxwell without hurting your ego?

Based on your response, and lack of I See your customer service is about the same quality as...