Last spring we told you all about a new bulk food company called GoDirect Foods. An up and coming company similar to Zaycon Foods (which we love), we were excited to see some market competition and ultimately great deals on meat! GoDirect Foods was founded by JC Conrad who we worked with through Zaycon (he was part of the founding team) so we were excited to see what he offered through his new company.
As a new company GoDirect Foods did a IndiGoGo campaign offering an amazing deal on chicken for pick-up in January 2016. The way IndiGoGo works – you pay upfront for the product to help businesses get on their feet and in exchange you should get an awesome deal.
Well January 2016 came and went. . . and JC Conrad/GoDirect Foods did not fulfill his end of the deal. Many of you paid for chicken and NEVER received the product. I contacted JC repeatedly asking him what the status of the orders was. He assured me he was working on it but he wasn’t communicating that with YOU.
I told him PLEASE contact the people who purchased from you and give them an update. You at least owe them that. But he didn’t. . .he just didn’t do any communicating for a long time to the customers who had purchased product – and I believe this is unacceptable.
After lots of pestering, I heard he finally sent this email to his customers in late January 2016. . .
Thank you so much for supporting our IndieGoGo campaign last July. I was hoping to be delivering products to our original 16 cities and honestly even more by this time. Unfortunately, like many businesses, we couldn’t get enough interest to keep them going, and are currently making deliveries only in the Spokane area.
We realize we haven’t hit our goal and cannot keep our original promise to you of making your product available starting this month, January 2016. I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and WE WILL make this right. We’re working very hard to expand once again to those original 16 locations.
At this time we can only do what we can, so we are offering 2 options for you to choose from … the first of which, is to allow us more time to raise the money we need by building the Spokane market, or to raise it through the sale of ownership.
The second option would be for you to request a full refund and we’ll add you to the calendar of refunds. Unfortunately, we can only refund so much each month. Those who have already requested a refund will be the first on the calendar. If for any reason things happen sooner, we will deliver your product or give you a refund sooner. Again, we apologize for this and wish to make it right. PLEASE add your address and phone number if you choose to receive a refund. We’ll email you the date of your scheduled refund within 2 weeks of receiving your address. Also, please let me know if you are able to pick up your product in the Spokane Area.
Thank you very much for your support and patience. Please let me know how you would like to proceed
But I kept hearing from you – that you weren’t getting your refunds or even a response from JC! I also never received compensation that I was owed. Sigh. What a mess.
First. Let me say, I’m sorry.
I take my blog (and ultimately your trust) incredibly seriously. I take great care in the products and companies I promote – using the “Grandma test” before I’ll post something. In order for something to pass the Grandma Test and make it on the blog – I would have to feel 100% comfortable recommending it to my Grandma, friends or family. I do this with every deal or offer I post on my website.
I had no reason to believe that GoDirect Foods wouldn’t follow through with their products and promises. I had worked with JC for years promoting Zaycon and I had always been happy with their customer service, products and prices. Zaycon is a wonderful company that takes care of their customers – and I expected the same from GoDirect.
But now the GoDirect website is no longer available, the GoDirect Facebook page can be found here, and ultimately it looks like JC is just hoping you’ll forget you placed your order.
This is unacceptable.
So what are our options? I would recommend emailing JC Conrad at jc@godirectfoods.com and ask for a refund. This is the last email I have available for him. I hope he will respond and issue a refund soon.
If that doesn’t work, here is what I recommend. Please file a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office :: Consumer Protection Division! Let me tell you a little about this agency. . . I actually worked here for TWO years while going to college – so I know a thing or two about this free, awesome office.
The Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division is an entire team dedicated to making sure consumers in Washington are protected from unfair and deceptive practices in the marketplace. You file a FREE complaint online here and then the office sends a letter to JC Conrad/GoDirect foods and will basically start a resolution process. They notify the business (on your behalf) of the complaint and requesting a response from the business. “The informal complaint resolution process includes notifying businesses of written complaints and facilitating communication between the consumer and the business to assist in resolving the complaint.” (source)
It’s completely FREE. It’s your tax dollars at work to protect you.
This process is NOT guaranteed to result in payment/refund. The staff in the office will do the very best they can to investigate the complaint and facilitate what is owed to you.
But it is something you can do that could make a difference. I believe that if enough of you file complaints with the Attorney General’s Office than they are fully aware of the fraud and can pursue it further on the behalf of a group of people if they deem it appropriate.
My experience while working in the office was very positive and I saw a LOT of consumers get refunds and/or what was owed to them by a business. No business wants to be contacted by the Attorney General’s office – it’s serious stuff.
So again, I apologize for this fiasco and I am sorry that I ever recommended GoDirect Foods. What a shame.
Please let me know if you get a refund from JC (or if you have?) and if you decide to file a complaint – I’d love to know how it goes. Please keep me updated?
Beth Johnson says
I also contributed, sadly. Sent another email to JC, letting him know that I’m filing with the AG. I also contacted Indigogo, telling them of my dissatisfaction and resulting loss of faith in the process. There have been other ventures I have been interested in but I have been unwilling to repeat the risk.
I appreciate all your work, Heather, and understand that you did all you could to ensure that you were endorsing a reputable company.
Denise H says
Ugh. I wish I had taken a refund early on when I asked him about not having a location nearby to get the chicken. He told me he hoped to get an Olympia location soon and I could just wait a few weeks longer or get a refund. He was very responsive at that point so no reason to distrust and he’d been vouched for on this blog. I Then the January 2016 email came out. No refund here. I would definitely like to know if ANYONE has actually gotten a refund. Filing a complaint now. Thanks for the info. Though I don’t think I’ll be seeing the money.
Denise H says
Ugh. I wish I had taken a refund early on when I asked him about not having a location nearby to get the chicken. He told me he hoped to get an Olympia location soon and I could just wait a few weeks longer or get a refund. He was very responsive at that point so no reason to distrust and he’d been vouched for on this blog. I Then the January 2016 email came out. No refund here. I would definitely like to know if ANYONE has actually gotten a refund.
Heather Clarke says
Hi Denise – I’m so very sorry. 🙁 I haven’t heard from anyone who has received a refund yet, even though he said he was dispersing them. I am sorry to hear you did not get a refund. We will see how this unfolds. . . .
Denise H says
I also contacted Indigogo. They don’t guarantee perks but I also don’t think they should promote any future endeavors by JC at this point. We will see how it goes.
Erin Zwahlen says
Thank you Heather,
I filed a complaint with the link you provided and emailed JC again. I will let you know if anything comes of it.
Heather Clarke says
Thank you for the heads up, Erin! Please do keep me posted. I hope he does the right thing and gives people refunds.
Crystal says
I have been wondering what’s up with this whole situation. I too purchased chicken and I did receive that email back in January. I responded saying I wanted a refund and I’ve heard nothing. Very frustrating. Thank you for addressing this.
I found out about GoDirect foods from you and have never had an issue with any of your recommendations.
Heather Clarke says
Thank you for letting me know your experience Crystal. It’s unfortunate that he’s not even responding to customers emails or requests. The lack of communication is what really, really bothers me.
I appreciate your comment about not having issues with my recommendations – I really try to do my best when it comes to this – so thank you! I’m hoping that if enough of you file with a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office that he’ll start responding and do the RIGHT thing.