Complaint Review: Passanante's Home Food Services - Bristol Pennsylvania

At the State Fair in 2018, I signed an interest card for this company. Many years ago while we were living in Florida, I had a similar home food delivery plan that was an extremely positive experience. The food was above average, time it took to go grocery shopping was lessened, it was cost effective and very convenient to have what I needed in my freezer in the garage.

After I signed up, I received a call asking to set up a time for a food counselor to come and talk to us. The young man was very nice, no pressure, food selection was good. We signed up for payments of 6 months for a food plan at $357 per month. Since we didn't have a freezer, we opted for getting one through Passanante's, 18 payments at $127.65 per month. 

When the time came to place Order #2, we asked for the same food counselor as the first time. We were informed that he was no longer with the company. I procrastinated on placing the second order but then decided to go ahead.

The second counselor that came out was a bit different. I don't remember his name and he never left a card with us or wrote his name anywhere on our paperwork. He signed the contracts but we can't distinguish his name.

Whereas the first counselor was low pressure, this one was high pressure and a smooth talker. My husband is 70 years old and I 66 years old. Many times throughout his visit, I had to ask him to repeat what he was saying - not fully understanding what he was trying to say. 

By the time he left (and we were pleased that he finally left), I put the paperwork away.  When I finally pulled it out, I was shocked at what we had signed --- under much pressure. In addition to the freezer, we had signed for food - 8 payments at $211.00. Then, we realized that all the 'free' gifts he offered, we actually paid for! That amounted to 48 payments of $263.94 each.  So, all together we are in debt to this company for:

$12,669.12 + $1688 + $4594.32 = $18,951.44

I feel that the 'free' gifts we were tempted with were not couched in the sense that we would be paying for them to the tun of $12,669.12. We received pots and pans, an air fryer, some knives and a countertop water filter. Certainly not worth in excess of $12,000.

We are on a fixed income and now realize what we are up against. Don't fall for the high pressure sales by this company without any regard to the demographics of the people they're selling their products to. I feel he took advantage of us, our age, and saw an 'easy mark' on ripping us off.

I don't want anyone else to fall for this company's tactics. Both my husband and I are cancer survivors. We have had serious health issues over the past few years and these past few months have had several surgeries. These payments are creating a hardship for us and jeopardizing our financial situation in many ways. 

What would I like done to resolve this? I will finish payments on the food. Don't even mind finishing the payments on the freezer. But the contract for the "free" stuff (including a discount on future orders), I would like to be released from (minus the cost of the 'free' items). 

This company has caused me much angst, worry, and is affecting my health. Let the buyer beware.