The Honey Baked Ham Company — Restaurant in California

This was my first time ordering from Honey Baked Ham Company, and it was supposed to be easy—I pre-ordered a large half ham three weeks in advance and paid for it. I even scheduled a specific pickup time, which set the expectation that my order would be ready when I arrived. However, when I arrived, they informed me they were out of large half hams. I was baffled—how does a company with a pre-order system run out of an item they should have set aside? The explanation I received was even worse: someone else could have ordered after me but picked up earlier, causing a shortage. This points to terrible inventory management, and a complete failure to honor pre-orders.

The staff’s response was not only unhelpful but also revealed a lack of accountability. Their only solution was to give me a smaller ham and refund the difference. This was an incredibly inadequate response, avoiding the main issue: I committed to a specific product, and they failed to deliver it. It feels like they took advantage of my early commitment, selling the product I reserved and leaving me with leftovers. I won’t be trusting them again for future holiday meals.

I understand that sometimes inventory can run low, but the response to that should be proactive, demonstrating some level of effort to make things right. Offer an equivalent product, provide an extra small ham, or even just acknowledge that the system failed and you care enough to fix it. Instead, I got the bare minimum—a smaller ham and some money back—which isn't why I pre-ordered in the first place. This wasn't about the size; it was about trust.

I was willing to trust them to deliver on something as simple as a holiday meal, but they've proven that even that is too much to ask. I won't be pre-ordering from them again. If I ever go back, I'll do it in person and take my chances. At least then I won't be under any illusion that they’ll honor their commitments.

###Edit 2024-12-06 Following my initial review, I made multiple attempts to engage with the Honey Baked Ham Company to resolve my concerns and provide constructive feedback about their pre-order system and customer service practices. Unfortunately, these efforts have been met with dismissive responses and inadequate resolutions.

Rather than treating my feedback as an opportunity for improvement, the responses I received felt like they were written by an employee simply clearing out their inbox, not by someone invested in the success of the company. The tone lacked any sense of ownership or genuine concern, and the communication itself was poorly articulated—structured with short, one-sentence lines that failed to engage meaningfully with the issues I raised.

Despite clearly outlining the systemic failures of their pre-order system, including the misleading categorization of ham sizes and the failure to honor specific orders, their representative focused solely on offering a small gift card as if that would resolve the matter. No effort was made to acknowledge the broader implications of their process failures or to rebuild the trust broken by their actions.

I had hoped for the kind of thoughtful engagement I might expect from a business owner—someone who would value my feedback, take responsibility, and strive to make things right. Instead, I encountered dismissiveness, superficial resolutions, and delayed responses that further demonstrate the company’s lack of commitment to customer satisfaction.

At this point, it’s clear that the Honey Baked Ham Company is unwilling to take meaningful action or prioritize their customers. Their handling of my concerns has only reinforced my decision to avoid their services in the future, and I encourage others to approach their pre-order system with caution.

Separately, I wanted to make it clear I rated the atmosphere with 2 stars based on a small storefront during holiday traffic. So I am sure they are not...

Pre ordered a Thanksgiving meal through Doordash on 11.24 for delivery 11.26 around 2:30pm

Restaurant never confirmed the order, and the dasher was not assigned. I called and requested that the order be confirmed, but the person I spoke to said that they didn't need to confirm the order and the dasher would do it. Would confirm she even saw my order or had it(obviously a red flag)

Hours go by, and nothing is assigned. Spoke to doordash, and the order was supposed to be confirmed by the restaurant. That them not confirming is causing issues with it getting assigned. The support called the restaurant and were told they don't take catering orders via doordash anymore. So while I am in the chat with the doordash agent I call the restaurant and spoke to the same person I did before and she says it has nothing to do with that and it has to do with them not wanting to wait WHICH wasn't the issue the issue is they didn't confirm the order to begin with so it wasn't being assigned. If it could have been picked up by myself, it would have, but I am not local, and this was for someone who would not be able to. Was given the worst attitude when questioning why they were giving conflicting responses and why they couldn't open the app and confirm it for proper assignment in the system but clearly she either doesn't know how to use the app or they knew they missed the order there when I called earlier and z didn't want to admit it/have the supplies to fill it. Sounds like they over sold and under delivered and didn't even look at my order to begin with to factor it in and given what I see of other reviews for this location they don't know how to do pre-orders. Spare yourself the headache of a ruined holiday and pick up a...

I am disappointed in the ham I got. I pre ordered a ham, and picked up. Saved the ham for tonight's dinner Christmas Eve. When I opened it there was very little glaze on my ham. I always get my ham from here and there is always a nice chunk of glaze and always delicious. But this time, it was nothing like that. I spent 61 dollars for a 6-8 person ham. Also, the slices were way to thick. Also, the young boy doing the pre orders was extremely rude, pretty much through my ham on the counter and was not friendly. I get it it's close to Christmas and I am sure they have been really busy, but no need to act that way. But the lack glaze and the thickness slices of my ham was very disappointing. It tasted like a ham I could have...