A letter to the owner of the orchard we went to today...

Hi there! I wanted to touch base with you and inform you of the rather dishonest and tacky customer service I had at the Millington Big Creek Church stand this morning.

I'm a mother of 2 kids, 4 and 6 years old, and wanted to take them to pick blackberries this morning. We drove a roundtrip-total of 1.5 hours from Olive Branch, burned a good quarter-tank of gas, and put up with the blazing heat and humidity to come and support one of our city's only U-Pick farms. I love to teach my children about such things AND I love to support what few places we have like this in the Memphis area.

I've been to the Millington location in the past, as well as to the Agricenter this year for strawberries, and I ALWAYS, always share my happy experiences and photographs with friends and family, urging them to skip buying produce from the larger chains and to support our local growers... or, at the very least, buy them from one of the Farmer's Markets.

We were greeted at the stand with smiles from the 2 gentlemen at the stand, one of which was quite nice and suggested the best places to pick where the pickers hadn't been this morning.

My family and I scurried to the rows of thornless berries and quickly almost-filled our 2 white buckets.

I came back to the stand, sat my 2 buckets on the table, and asked if I could buy a few of the already-picked peaches for my son since my kiddos had gotten too hot and disinterested in picking peaches while out in the heat.

At first, he suggested that I could only buy one of the larger buckets of peaches, not just the few I'd wanted. When he saw that I'd lost interest, he changed his suggestion to allowing me to purchase 5 or 6 along with my berries.

I put my few small peaches in a bag and sat it on the table next to my buckets.

I then told the guy that I needed to go get my money.

When I got back to the table, I had a twenty and a ten in my hand.

I asked him, "Okay, how much do I owe you?"

He looked down at my hands, looked back up, and then said, "Thirty dollars."

I'm sure I gave him a very crazy look because the next thing I asked him was, "Are you not going to WEIGH my buckets first?"

Just as I thought, my berries WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE BUCKETS were only a smidge over 8 pounds ($24).

I looked at him again, wondering why I was suddenly feeling like someone was trying to rip me off and said, "So you're saying that these 5 small peaches are going to cost me SIX DOLLARS?" (Of course they didn't.)

They came up to be $3, or so he said -- so even with that, my total was still only $27 - NOT $30...

I told him to keep the peaches. I would've told him to keep the blackberries, but I felt it would've been rude since we'd just picked them, and I obviously couldn't stick those back onto the bushes from where they came... I also didn't want to disappoint my children.

He also fidgeted and "adjusted himself" inappropriately while I was trying to square up on why he was assuming that just because I had a ten and a twenty in my hand that I was going to give him all of it.

I now feel like I have no interest in going back or taking my children when, in all honesty, I felt like I'd discovered a true gem of a place to let my kids experience something that most kids don't get a chance to do much anymore.

I also feel it's incredibly unfair and unjust to add in the weight of the plastic buckets when the cost of the product is already $3 a pound. I had two of those buckets weighed along with the fruit we picked. I shouldn't have to pay for their weight unless I'm taking them home, too.

Another tip -- having the prices available to the U-Pick folks at the stand is a wonderful suggestion. While I was aware that the peaches were .89 a pound, I'd forgotten that the blackberries were $3 a pound. Any other place I've been that allows people to pick has clearly listed the price on the grounds before the customers left to pick their produce.

I apologize for going on and on, but with the economy the way it is, and especially considering I dropped a quarter-tank of gas to go along with it, I shouldn't feel that I have to "wheel and deal" with the guy at the U-Pick stand. I just wanted to get there, pick our berries, and be on our way to enjoy them.

I've been a proud follower of your Facebook page and I've blogged more than once about your establishment with the highest of regards. I've told many, many people I know to go and show their support for our local growers.

Thank you for allowing me to share several great experiences with my children... I hate that today happened the way it did.

Regards,
Nicole Jeans

JONES ORCHARD