BroCrates

I ordered a pizza cookie crate as a Father's Day gift. What my father received was a cheap knockoff version of what I paid for.

Instead of a cookie pizza hand-decorated with chocolates that look like pizza toppings, it was a square cookie with blue frosting and sprinkles with plastic letters. Instead of the nice round cutting board that appeared to be 1/2' to 3/4' thick, it was replaced by two cheap very thin cutting boards that I could find at any dollar store.

I was told it was in line with their substitution policy that I agreed to, but this is more like a bait and switch. They offered me 30% back - I refused - 30% doesn't cover the embarrassment I felt seeing my dad open this, or the huge disappointment when comparing what I thought I was getting to what I got.

If I could leave ZERO stars, I would. Not only did my husband's gift arrive 3 days late, but out of the 8 products I hand-selected for the custom crate, only one item was even similar to what I ordered.

For example, I ordered white chocolate truffles and rainbow white chocolate bark but received solid milk chocolates and a dark chocolate candy bar. Also, instead of garlic and onion gourmet cheese I received GREAT VALUE BRAND pepper jack cheese. After several emails back and forth and a number of phone calls, the company refuses to refund or otherwise resolve any of the issues... standing on their "substitution policy" which states that they "reserve the right to substitute items in your order with similar products of equal or greater value".

I am not sure how solid milk chocolates are similar to white chocolate truffles, or how a GREAT VALUE BRAND block of melted pepperjack cheese valued at under $3 is a similar product of equal or greater value to garlic and onion gourmet cheese. Again, these are just a couple of the products that were "substituted".

I can understand if the exact product pictured is not available, but I cannot understand 7 out of 8 products being substituted with completely different flavors than what was ordered. BUYER BEWARE

SCAM SCAM SCAM-- DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY

THE ORDER WAS COMPLETELY WRONG AND THEY REFUSED TO CORRECT IT.

We're sorry to learn that you are not satisfied with the products delivered. We do take careful steps to ensure that all orders exceed expectations.

However, as per our substitution policy stipulated in our terms and conditions, at times substitutions may be necessary to fulfill orders in a timely manner, especially in the event that an order is time-sensitive and intended for a special occasion.

Substitutions are actually quite common within the gifting and gift basket industry, as products are constantly changing on an ongoing basis after product details and photos have been published. Some items may be temporarily unavailable due to various reasons beyond our immediate control, under which circumstances we reserve the right to substitute such items with similar products of equal or greater value to ensure that orders are delivered in a timely manner without incurring further delays. Degrees of substitution may vary. In some rare instances, the entire contents of an order may be substituted.

Due to the high volume of orders being processed, we are not always able to contact customers ahead to advise them of substitutions.

By placing an order you accepted our terms and conditions, and thus agreed that the order may consist of products that differ from the original product description. Furthermore, you agreed that you are not entitled to refunds or compensation under such circumstances, as per our refund policies: "NOT AS DESCRIBED & SUBSTITUTIONS - Where a package is 'not as described on our website' and/or we have substituted item(s) in a gift/gift basket that are in compliance with our 'substitution policy'.

We appreciate your understanding.

With my gift basket, Brocrates substituted gouda (non-perishable) for a brick of perishable cheese without notification. It was already warm and soft when delivered.

If I hadn't noticed the substitution and looked up the type of cheese before giving the basket to the recipient, it could have caused food poisoning or worse!! When I notified Brocrates, their customer service is TERRIBLE. No empathy, no offers to fix other than refunding the amount of the gouda or CHARGING ME to send out a replacement cheese. I'm left with an opened basket (I had to remove the rotting cheese), no cheese, so I have to replace it and try to wrap up the basket in a presentable way.

Aside from the cheese fiasco, the basket itself was not professional looking.

The card looked so cheap that I threw it away, some stuff inside was packed upside down, the tequila (main part of the gift) was completely obscured by the brick of rotting cheese. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM.

This hamper was an absolutely disappointment. The grooming products are just okay, nothing special.

Also it was supposed to come in the hamper a nail brush and a body buffer, and not two nail brushes. I even didnt want one nail brush and you guys sent me two?! What am I supposed to do with two nail brushes??? Useless!!!

I asked your customer service before placing the order if it was possible to change the nail brush for something else as it wasnt something useful for my fiancé but they said no, it wasnt possible. Also, the Christmas card was nothing special, it was something made in the computer, nothing sophisticated.

But I think the biggest disappointment was the sparkling wine or whatever is that. I ordered this hamper from you guys expecting a fine wine, if considering the price I paid for, and we got a $15.00 bottle of wine?? So basically I paid almost $200.00 for 4 bath products, 2 nail brush and a $15.00 Martini bottle of wine??

That is absolutely ridiculous!!! Plus on the description of the hamper on your website it says another brand of wine, that was completely different from the one you sent in the hamper.

Very disappointing and frustrating. This was a gift for a man that have high standards for fine liquors and beverages in general. And your customer service is pretty poor, I needed to talk to them twice and both the the quality of the call was pretty bad, like is not a call centre that you call to get information, it is some people that you hire and they pick up the phone in the middle of something that they are doing, lots of noise in the background and the ladies didnt sound confident in their words.

Anyways the whole thing such a disappointment and lots of money spent on a piece of crap. Got my lesson.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!

Ordered items for my father's birthday, added on a cake, and writing on cake as it is a special event! Order confirmation had everything on it including the cake, so did the shipping confirmation.

When the cake did not arrive, i was simply told, oops its a glitch in the system, but hey why dont you jump to the sky that you were not charged for it. After explaining that it was for a special event, leaving me with no cake not.. nothing, not even a proper apology or try to make a cake delivery at a later time to try and rectify.

I have never encountered such ignorance towards customers, this is probably why you dont answer calls or call back - just stick to emails since you ruin peoples' special days not enhance them. DONT order from them, stick to the original Man crates in the USA, they ship to canada, have better product and much better customer service!