Sonoma Cattle Exchange

High pressure, door to door sales pitch in west Alameda. Was parked in my neighborhood and a salesperson came up to me telling me about how he had extra product because of a cancellation. After I told him I am in a meat CSA, he tried to push their product on me. Scam!

Strange high-​pressure sales pitch — done on the street. I am from Sonoma, and actually had a customer who worked for this company (I saw him driving the truck around) and thought he seemed like a nice guy, so I assumed it was a just a local meat company — I had no idea this was such a scam. I was approached by the driver of the truck while walking, and asked if I lived in the neighborhood. I assumed he needed directions, but this is his intro for his sales pitch. I actually did need something for dinner, so I let him show me the meat. Even he started by saying «It’s got some condensation on it, so it doesn’t look that great.» He tried to sell me cases of meat, and I said I didn’t need that much, so he tried to sell it to me at half price. I just said no. Lucky for me, he said he had to sell it «by the case.» It looked poor quality. The guy didn’t really push me much, like other reviewers have said. I assume it’s because I told him I knew one of the other salesmen.

Absolutely disgusting, rubbery, cardboard flavored fish. We just cooked the snapper, the white fish and the salmon. I spit it out immediately. I am a fool, but I do know how to cook fish. We’re going to see about getting our money back on Monday. Looking at all the bad reviews, looks like we’re screwed. We’re going to report them to the BBB and drive to their headquarters if they don’t reimburse. Do not waste your money. Will update. Sigh.

Looks like I dodged a bullet on this one. I work in the F&B industry and had talked with our chef about a great rib eye recipe. I had decided to buy steak that weekend, and thought I had a stroke of luck when a truck with Sonoma Cattle Company printed on it’s side pulled up across my driveway. I thought they were looking for directions when they called out to me, but I soon learned they were trying to sell extra meat that «My neighbor, Mike,» didn’t take.
I was in a huge hurry to get to an appointment, so I couldn’t engage. He and his smiling co-​pilot becane irritated. «I’ll just call your company. I work in Sonoma, so I may even be able to pick up.» That irritated them even more, and they kept trying to engage me as I was walking away.
Agreed with the other reviewers: creeeepy. Thank goodness I followed my schedule and instincts and walked away. Shame on these slimy people. I only hope others read these reviews before taking their bait.

They rang my door bell. I opened the door. Sales person said he was making deliveries and had some meat left over and wanted to sell the rest of them at cost. I said no thanks. Then he said, how about seafood or shrimp. I said no thanks again. Then the guy said, Whats the matter, you don’t eat meat? I’m like what? Then I closed the door. What’s the matter? Don’t understand English when I say No thanks?
Then I go online and saw all the reviews. Glad I didn’t fall for this.

OK, so I totally fell for the high pressure sales pitch as well. I had just come back from a 45 mile bike ride and was hungry and tired — nuff said.
On the other hand I have to say my experience with the meat was actually very good. If you follow the cooking instructions for grass-​fed beef, the meat comes out tender, juicy and quite delicious. Here’s what I did: 1) Defrost the meat in the fridge over night; 2) let it come up to room temperature at least an hour or more prior to cooking. 3) Tenderize 4) marinate in a little bit of olive oil 5) salt and pepper just before cooking 6) cook over no more than medium heat in a little more olive oil and a dash of butter for browning, no more than 3 minutes per side for the smaller pieces, up to 5 minutes per side for the thick ones. 7) remove from pan (I used a Dutch oven) and cover for about 10 minutes, 8) meanwhile in the pan deglaze with a mixture of low salt soy sauce, a little red wine and a dash of balsamic.
Serve with the sauce and some roasted Brussels sprouts or sliced and sautéed turnips and enjoy…
I would give them 5 stars if it weren’t for the used car sales pitch…

I fell for the scam Aug 2013. Steaks worse than dog meat.

OK, I totally fell for the scam.
The usual random encounter with pushy“gotta sell some steaks fast” delivery guy who accosted me on the street led to some haggling and a hurried sale of a package of «filet mignon» that turned out to be ranch steak (a tough and inferior cut).
I should have look more carefully at the label but I was in a rush, it was an unfamiliar situation, etc. etc. In fact, in the situation I was the sucker.
I haven’t tried the steaks yet but I know I way way way overpaid so even if it’s good, I won’t enjoy it.
Perhaps because of Sonoma Cattle Exchange’s poor reputation, this truck’s label was painted over, though I could still see the brand name on the truck.
Lesson learned: don’t buy street meat.

Yeah, we fell for it. Called across the street with «I’ll sell you some at cost». He said they’ve done their deliveries and had some extra. Grass fed beef falling off the back of a truck? I’m in!
Thinking that this was high-​end Sonoma grass-​fed beef, which sells for $ 20/​lb in the little markets up there, we ended up spending over $ 10/​lb for what we later realized was only USDA Select (not choice, not prime), like you can get at Safeway on sale for $ 5.99 a pound fresh, not frozen. Oh well, fortunately, it was only four thin t-​bones, frozen, like you might get at a cheap diner for steak and eggs, or at Grocery Outlet, but you got us Sonoma Cattle Exchange!
I was hoping they’d double charge my AMEX so I could revoke the charge, but alas, they did not.
I had a feeling this might be their ONLY sales outlet, these trucks. After all I bought speakers that way in the 80’s for $ 150. They lasted a long time though!

Same story as the rest.
I was at this gas station in Oakland, kinda zoning out. This guy yells «Hey man, do you want some steak?» I’m kinda a smartass and was in a bad mood, so I say, «Uh…now? Here?» He starts a sales pitch. I tell him that I’m out running a bunch of errands so I don’t really want to tote around defrosting meat. He asks me where I’m going!!! So wierd… I don’t really tell strangers at sketchy gas stations in Oakland where I’m going… I’m like «I’m running errands for a few hours». I must’ve sounded rude or pissed because he left it alone. I told him I would check them out online. I’m glad I didn’t buy anything…

These reviews confirmed what I felt. To the reviewers who commented about haters posting without having tasted the meat — would you not be concerned if a guy in a truck drove up and down your street saying 1) they had un-​sold meat (only to find out later that it was NOT due to customers forgetting to pick up their orders) and 2) kept pushing the sale when I had a child with me, targeting the child. Maybe you don’t care. That’s your prerogative.
However, I like to know where my meat comes from. There are plenty of butcheries sourcing locally and transparent about their meat source. You don’t care, again, that’s your choice. I respect that. However, a guy trolling the streets selling frozen meat trucked from out of state. No thank you and creepy. It’s not the same as an ice cream truck.

OK, I’m the current sucker in what appears to be a long list. Last Monday, 4.30.12, I was getting gas with a friend on the way to Napa next to a Sonoma Cattle Exchange truck. The driver said he’d had a customer order 4 boxes of high quality grass fed beef, like Ruth’s Chris Steak House (which I love) and seafood including lobster tails. He said the customer only took 2 of the four boxes and asked if I would like to buy the remaining two at cost. I was skeptical and he said let me show them to you. I did. I ended up buying them. That night my friend and I cooked 1 piece of the John Dory. It was OK … tough and not delicious. The next night I took a 2^nd piece to a different friend’s house. It was worse. It was stiff as a board when we attempted to pan sauté it. The sauce was great; the fish was disgusting. I was pretty clear by now I’d been scammed.
I called Sonoma Cattle Exchange this morning, 5.7.12 (7 days after I wrote my check to Luke Witty, Salesman) and spoke to Andrea in Customer Service. She is very nice. She took Customer Service Report #0614 from me and assured me that Matt, the Warehouse Manager, will call me to arrange a pick-​up of the product in exchange for a full refund within the next 7 to 10 days.
She gave me the #1.800.621.0397 for their beef provider in Illinois. I called them and was told that the beef is fed grass for the first 2 years, then goes to feedlots for 120 to 150 days before butchering where they are fattened on corn — NOT on barley and molasses as Luke said. That alarmed me because it is likely GMO corn since it is not organic.
Big learnings all the way around for me.
Sonoma Cattle Exchange did not want to give me a refund but the sales rep did. He wrote me his personal check. I am very appreciative of his integrity and wish him the very best. AND … I will never purchase anything from this company again.

I’m not sure what I’m missing here, seems to be a lot of haters. Most have not even tried the meat.
Anyway, yes some young guys drove by flagged down, and sold me pork from the back of there clearly marked truck. My girlfriend used to get great steaks from an unmarked van with guys who could barely speak English.
Price was ok, I only got the pork, I’m not a beef eater. So far, its all been pretty good, no complaints.
My only issue was that the kid was pushy salesman, but well, it’s the industry. He did not force the beef on me when I said I don’t eat it, but he did keep suggesting it. I don’t feel ripped off, and am not annoyed that this kid is working hard to make a living.

This is a scam.
They sell food-​service quality meat at astronomically inflated prices.
The sales woman had lots of great lines. She told us they were in the neighborhood making a delivery for our neighbor, and wanted to get rid of the last of their dry aged grass-​fed premium steaks before they drive back to Sonoma. All lies. I noticed later it says right on the box: «grain fed».
We got suckered for $ 40 worth, and I’m very thankful that’s all we lost. She was trying to sell us $ 400 worth at first.
It’s hard to judge the quality of frozen vacuum wrapped steak. After defrosting, there was no marbling, the steaks were not trimmed, and one was folded in half before freezing, so it looked good, but defrosted it was ¼ inch thick.
The steaks I’ve tried so far have been badly oxidized, meaning the meat is grayish brown on the outside. (see photo).
The meat is edible, but only barely, on par with flank steak from a school cafeteria, airplane food, or hospital food.

I have to say, I almost fell for it, if it wasn’t for the fact that I literally had no space in my freezer, not even for half a case that he bargained for. And my friend had already bought packages of meat through Groupon, and wasn’t wiling to go through that again.
He was a talker, I’ll give him that. Overstocked because the 49ers didn’t get to the Superbowl, just sold two cases to a lady down the street, won’t be back if we don’t decide now, he handed us a menu (which we could barely read at dusk), etc.
After ten minutes, we said no, he told us that we couldn’t keep the menu, and we continued walking towards our original destination. It’ll be interesting to tell my coworkers on Monday: «I was approached by a guy on the streets to buy meat off his truck.»

The ONE time I don’t do my homework… and I fell for this. Maybe I was low on iron, I don’t know. He seemed like a nice enough kid. Not pushy. I guess I was thinking «local business» as I worked in Petaluma for many years. The steaks did look good so after some good-​natured haggling I bought some beef and chicken.
The next night I checked Unilocal and my jaw dropped. I immediately did a stop payment on the check ($ 27), unaware that they had already processed my check like an electronic payment because they had my routing # and acct #. And it’s legal.
Long story short, I did get some run-​around, so took the meat to their headquarters myself and eventually got my $ back. I was so mad I was going to take them to small claims court if need be.
These other reviews are horrifying and it sounds like I was lucky, in a way. Had I known this company’s reputation I would have kept walking.

UPdate on my review… I contacted the company and they said they take complaints seriously. I e-​mailed them back and never have I heard from them again and someone should have said they wanted to speak to me by phone etc, instead I get this e-​mail from a customer care rep. They need to be reported to the better business bureau.
AWFUL and SCARY EXPERIENCE!!! Just the other day I had one of the sales guy knock on my door, or shall I say ring the doorbell and knock on the glass and shake the door handle. I answered the door and he said he just sold some meat to one of my neighbors and had some left over and wanted to know if I wanted it, as in I thought he was giving it away. I was on the phone and not paying too much attention, so as he went to get the meat from his truck I had my neighbor come down to see if he wanted any.
After we realized he wasn’t giving it away and wanted us to sell it, we told him we were not interested in buying any today and apologized for the confusion. He then became very angry that we wouldn’t let him go through his sales pitch and he began yelling at us and calling us awful names. We shut the door on him because he was screaming and he then charged the door and began beating on it for several minutes. I had to call the police because he was very aggressive towards us.
I wrote the company to tell them about the situation, and they have not bothered to call me back. I am appalled that any sales person would behave this way and threaten someone because they did not want to buy their product.
If you see any of these trucks or the salesman approach you, I would walk away!!!

This creepy guy just came to our door. My antennae went up when this guys says he has a box of meat in the back of his truck to show me. I told him I wasn’t interested but he wouldn’t go away.
I asked for the name of the company, a brochure, a business card. He refused saying, «people don’t eat paper, they eat meat.» What the heck?
I asked if he was trying to get subscriptions, he said no, he just needed to get rid of the meat out of his truck and just wanted to get his money back, sell to me at cost. I asked what he meant by prime beef? USDA? Grassfed? Organic?
He said he’s a salesman, not a cattleman. He was extremely pushy. He kept asking if we were the only ones home, or were there other «kids» around to feed. I said that my husband was napping. I’m so glad my kid didn’t «out» my lie.
I told him I’m sorry that we already subscribe to a local farm for produce, eggs, and meat. He kept trying to sell to me. Brought IN a whole box and started laying his stuff out on the floor of our foyer.
I just wonder how many of those vacuum packed bags of meat he pedaled to people. how many times had that meat thawed and froze, re-​thawed. I almost bought something just to get rid of him, but I knew I couldn’t trust the meat and would probably have to throw it directly into the trash. I don’t have money to throw away.
The guy tried to then sell his «chicken fritters» showing it to my son asking if he was hungry and don’t they look like chicken nuggets. My son said, no. Then he tried to show him the flavor packed chicken and my son said, «we don’t eat that stuff and it looks too spicy.» With that I kicked him out.
I feel so relieved I didn’t give him any money. What a sleaze-​bucket!

Downright creepy sales technique.
Two men drive around in a meat truck and yell out to strangers on the street. Then they try to sell meat off a truck.
It is creepy to have a man yell out «Do you live around here?» I say «No.» He goes, «I bet you do.» Why would any person with any sense tell a complete stranger where he/​she lives?
CREEPY!!! Definitely a sleazy feel about this.

A couple months ago while parking my car in the garage I rent in the Haight, I was approached by a guy in a pickup truck. «Wanna make a deal?» he asked. «No» I replied, to which he insisted «why not?» Thus began a rather interesting encounter.
First of all, this guy wasn’t taking no for an answer. I was super skeptical to say the least. Buying frozen steaks from the back of a truck is strange, I will agree. Although he was rather pushy, he was friendly enough. He said he had to unload everything he had, and he had a lot of steaks in that truck. It was a refrigerated truck, and all the steaks were vacuum sealed. Initially he wanted me to buy 6 boxes, each being a different cut of beef and containing 4 – 8 steaks depending on the cut. I ended up buying 3 boxes of steaks, and he let me pick them out so I got t-​bone, sirloin ‘filets’, and peppered filets.
The t-​bones are super thin and thaw rather quickly. The sirloin filets are thicker, and we have yet to try the peppered filets. Let me tell you this: these steaks are damn good, especially for the price. I spent about $ 100 for 24 steaks. That’s a good deal if you ask me.
I see all the other, negative reviews, and I would agree that it does seem shady the way they go about it. But I have had nothing but fresh, tender steaks since I’ve started defrosting and grilling their beef. If you’re a fan of quality beef at a great price, look out for these guys. You never know where they will show up.