Elizabeth F.
Yelp
For years we have ordered a Barber fresh turkey from Thuringer for both Thanksgiving & Christmas and this past year was no exception. However, this will be the last time we frequent Thuringer. They bait and switched our product, refused to admit their mistake and we experienced the worst customer service I have *ever* encountered.
My family ordered a Barber fresh turkey for pick up on December 23rd. When we picked up the turkey it looked different. We asked the employee to double check & ensure it was a Barber. He took the turkey in the back room and came out and assured us it was, in fact, a Barber. It weighed 23.59 pounds & we paid $77.61.
The next day we started to prepare the bird for brining. We noticed that it did not look the same as all the other turkeys we have prepared over the years. For one thing, it was not shrink wrapped with the Barber logo. It also had a pop-up thermometer and the neck, giblets, etc. that are found inside Barber birds were all missing. At that point we decided to call Thuringer. They told us if we were not happy with our turkey to bring it over & they would exchange it for us. They said had a 20 pound Barber turkey available for us to switch.
Within 20 minutes we were at Thuringer to exchange the bird. To make a very long story short, they held true to their claim that it was a Barber, would not exchange it, and we were told that the owner was in back and was too busy to come out and talk to us. We at least wanted an explanation as to where all the stuff found inside the bird went. The only explanation we were given was that the turkey had to be "repackaged". At the least, we wanted to know why our turkey had to be "repackaged" and were told again that the owner was too busy to come out & give us an explanation. To make matters worse, they wanted to charge us a second time for our turkey! Two different employees insisted that we owed another $77 for the turkey when in reality, they watched us walk into the store with it!
We personally called Barber Farms and found out that it definitely was not a Barber turkey. They always come shrink wrapped (identifying it as a Barber) and they NEVER have pop-up thermometers. I was told that pop-up thermometers are a sign of a frozen turkey. They always include the neck, etc inside the bird. The Barber representative told me that it appeared as though I was sold a frozen bird that was thawed and wrapped up and sold as a fresh bird, at a fresh bird price.
Our turkey was the worst turkey we have ever served. It was extremely dry (which is also a sign of a frozen turkey). I firmly believe we were victims of a bait & switch - and Barber, it seems, would agree. I paid almost $80 for a bird that I believe was not a fresh turkey but was, in my opinion, a frozen bird.
We will never buy a turkey (or anything else) from Thuringer again & strongly suggest you do not either. And one has to wonder what else is going on over there with their other products. I was extremely disappointed in them as we have been going to them for years & it makes me sad to see how they have treated long-time customers. I will be finding another meat market and I suggest you do the same.