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Friday, July 20, 2012

A Letter To The Editor 7-20-12

Bad Service At Fat Boy's Crabs

Yesterday we went to Fat Boy's Crabs in Salisbury for a bushel of crabs. After we got them home we found out they where small and every poor so I called Fat Boy's and they said to bring them back. We returned back to the store and they where not willing to make it right and where very disrespectful. They wanted us to spend even more money and buy number one crabs. The owner looks at our crabs and said himself they where poor, but he said that what you get when you buy number 2 crabs. At this point he was getting rude and started using the F word. When we told him that all we wanted was to make this right and either give us our money back are some better crabs, and that the crabs where not good. He said if we where such ( again the F word ) crabs experts the we should go catch our crabs and to get the ( F word again ) off his property. I hope this is not the normal way they do business, but I think people should know what that if they buy from them they might get some very small and very poor crabs.

39 comments:

  1. Have found this is the way they do business. Worth avoiding except Skipjacks is so nasty and dirty. Wish we had a decent seafood shop in Salisbury. The closest I've found is Princess Anne.

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  2. There is great place in Pocomoke on Rt.13 just past Sysco. Best crabs I have never had.

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  3. Sorry, but he is right. #2 crabs are trash crabs. But his actions were wrong.

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  4. We bought crabs from there before.. they were small so we called and complained.. we took the crabs back and he refunded our money without a problem... I do not buy crabs from there anymore but I will occasionally buy steamed clams.

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  5. There are a lot of small crabs in the bay this year. Didn't you notice the large population spike being reported by DNR? You don't think they hatch at Jumbo size, do you?

    Prices are lower this year, but the trade-off is smaller crabs. If you want bigger ones, expect to pay a little more than the cheapest retail price out there.

    I'd expect to see the average size of #2 graded crabs to be larger next year because the crabs have lived another year. And if we're lucky, we'll see even lower prices on 2's and also lower prices on 1.

    In the end, you're buying a bushel of crabs. That is a measurement of the crab volume, not the crab's individual sizes. I don't see where you've claimed that you received less than a bushel of crabs, nor that the crabs provided were illegal. So it seems that you received what you paid for.

    While it seems Fat Boys treated you poorly, it also appears that you had unreasonable expectations for your purchase. If you bought 2's, you've got to think that you're getting the lower end of legal sized crabs.

    If you think Fat Boys offers smaller #2s than their competition and that's your main value criteria, then go shop at one of their competitors next time. And shop a competitor if you don't like the way you were treated. Voting with your money is a powerful choice that you have as a consumer.

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  6. There is a Fat Boys on 404 in the Bridgeville/Georgetown area. Are they the same people?

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  7. good for fat boys! im glad they dont take crap off people who expect something for nothing. all too often people think they can bitch and moan JUST to get free stuff. you bought #2 crabs. they are small. dont know what you expected for a cheaper price.

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  8. chesapeake treasures riverside dr
    great people great service

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  9. Again another complaint against FATBOYS, This is the 5th I've heard about them this month. Threatening your customers is not good for business. STOP selling baby crabs mixing them in with the#1 and Jumbos.

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  10. There can be poor crabs in any size. It's how full they are with meat that counts. I've had #2 crabs that were full and better than other bigger crabs that I have had.

    A lot of people don't like female crabs, however they probably don't know that 80% of the crabs picked for crab cakes and other crab dishes are picked from female crabs.

    @11:37
    A crabs size changes many times in one year, you know nothing about crabs. Every time a crab sheds it's shell it's size increases almost 30%, so a medium crab this month will be a large or jumbo crab by Sept and October.

    So 11:37, your theory of a medium crabs waiting until next year to become a large crab just flew out the window you know it all!

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  11. People, please listen. Crabs are bought and sold by WEIGHT not SIZE
    (excluding Jumbos) #1 crabs are full of meat thus heavier. #2 crabs are generally going in or out of the shedding cycle thus lighter in weight (meat).

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  12. So basically when you buy crabs it's a crap shoot?
    Are there no standards whatsoever to determine size and weight?
    Shop owner A decides his #1 crabs are X ins./ozs. but shop owner B decides his #1's are X-1 ins./ozs.?
    Pretty quick way to take confidence of your market.

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  13. Poor crabs are one thing but that type of treatment is uncalled for. There are to many other places crabs.

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  14. Thanks for the tip. I won't be going there. There's a place outside of Laurel, De. that wasn't bad last time I was there, which was couple years ago.

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  15. Looks like to me there is only one side of the story here. I have never had any problems with Fat Boys, we got #2's for Fathers Day and they were what we expected. No complaints.

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  16. We got crabs from there last week and they where like yours small and poor. Will not be going back ever.

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  17. , we got #2's for Fathers Day and they were what we expected. No complaints.

    July 20, 2012 12:58 PM

    Maybe you don't expect much or know what to expect?

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  18. If you google them you will find they have had many complaints.. Don't buy from them. They have apparently never hears "the best advertisement is word of mouth" and" the customer is always right" They won't be around long if they curse and treat their customers that way.

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  19. Hoopers has #1's for 79.00 a bushel right now....fabulous!!!

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  20. A #2 crab is not a trash crab at $80 a half bushel.

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  21. 1 fish 2 fish is amazing , ive been there 3 times now to get bushels of medium males and they were awesome every time!!!

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  22. I've bought #1 and #2 crabs at Fat Boys and always got what I paid for.They have always given me good, courteous service.If you want larger or heavier crabs you have to pay more,plain and simple.If you're not sure of what you will get when ordering #2's,ask the vendor to show you which crabs they will be steaming for you.

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  23. Beach to bay is princess Anne is the only decent fish/crab place around on delmarva!! That's a shame. Wont be going to fat boys. We got a bushel couple weeks ago. They were mushy. And the girl that waited on us acted like we were a major inconvenience on her!

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  24. I bought a 1/2 bushel the same day, I had the same problem. I called them and told them they were small and light and I wanted another 1/2 bushel or money back they said thats the way it was. And wouldnt do nothing! they were very rude. If you want to stay in business and keep people coming you think people will would treat you right and make things right especially with the economy now days. I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH FAT BOYS AGAIN11 And I am sorry the other people were treated that way. Obviosly they dont care about word of mouth!!!

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  25. Its worth the drive to Cambridge. Trotline crabs much better than crabpot crabs. Also I recommend buying directly from the crabber if possible.

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  26. when you buy seconds that is what you get, you said he offered to give you an upgrade but declined so what did you expect them to do give you an upgrade for nothing, people are out there all the time trying to get something for nothing you must be one of them.

    Also what was your attitude like when you were there trying to get something for free i'm sure it was not so cool either, what was said from you when you were there (i wonder) people always want to bad mouth a business when they don't get their way and they never write what came out of their mouth they always tell what the other person said nothing what they said

    Just face it, it didn't work you didn't get something for free and you don't like it so now you had to write about you paying for no. 2 crabs and you didn't get the no.1 crabs as you hoped for free, this maybe why businesses get tired of people like you you want to bad mouth a business but they offered to upgrade but you didn't want to pay you wanted a feebie

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  27. Sometimes a customer's attitude can cause an owner to be disrespectful.

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  28. 2:04pm if it happen to you at any business I bet you would feel the same way. Must be friends of the owner!

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  29. ocean highway seafood in pocomoke has the best crabs. Its worth the drive, and they are cheaper than any place in salisbury. I have never had a bad batch of crabs from them.

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  30. Thanks for the tip!! I wont go there for nothing!! If people are treated this way from a business, obviously this is not good ADVERTIZEMENT!! This business should be glad they were getting customers, but if the public is treated like this and told to leave the propery and not make it right and get cursed at and pay good money with the economy now then WORD OF MOUTH WILL TRAVEL and other businesses will thrive off there rudeness!!

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  31. 2:11 - There are two basic rules in any business:

    # 1. The customer is always right;

    # 2. When the customer is wrong about anything, see rule # 1.

    That's the way successful businesses have always operated.

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  32. Try B&H Seafood on Route 50 in Hebron. Good, honest people. The owner is a waterman.

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  33. Got crabs there this week-140/bushel. Screwed order up, crabs were horrible. Hit or miss with them but thinking we are going to start bypassing them. Not worth ur at all!!!

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  34. They shouldn't have talked to you that way. You were the ones that ordered #2 crabs. What was he supposed to do with them after you had ordered them? Maybe you should educate yourself before you spend all of that money next time. So I'm just saying both of you were wrong.Sounds like you wanted #1's for the price of #2's.

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  35. I bought jumbos one time and most of them were #2 crabs, I won't go back there. Also a bushel should weigh a certain amount and they always give you less then they should.

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  36. He should have never treated you that way period. They told you to bring the crabs back which is what you did. The owner admitted they were crappy. He should have refunded your money. Then again sounds like if he refunded everyone's money he would be out of business (then again putting it on here doesn't help his business either). Here's a tip about crabs: If they are mushy, they are resteamed. Number 2's might be smaller, but if they are meaty then people don't mind picking them. I can't believe he talked to you that way. Well they used to be a good place to go. It won't be long before they are out of business.

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  37. It's been quite a few years, but I used to work as a commercial crabber. #2's and #1's were distinguished by measurement from point to point. It had nothing to do with weight or whether the crabs were considered 'poor'. Maybe that's changed, but I'd be angry if somebody sold trash crabs to me as #2's.

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  38. For all of those out there who are reading this - I hope you hear my story about Fat Boys - because it is true as I was standing just inches away from the black who was complaining.

    A few weeks ago - July 4th weekend - I went to Fat Boys whereby a black girl was complaining about the poor crab count and size. The owner of Fat Boys gave her an extra dozen or so crabs and then discounted the price by $15.00

    Now get this - the black girl pulled out an Independence Card and charged the entire purchase to the State of Maryland taxpayers. I was only inches away from the scanning machine - and the purchase went through with no hitches.

    As for myself - I could not afford the crabs and settled for trout sandwich.

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