Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In good faith, I paid in advance thru Zelle for a service that was not provided. This woman is a fraud and extremely unethical. I found her through a ****** website search and contacted her by email and phone. We discussed her classes and I told her I would like to do a cooking class that taught me new ways of cooking vegetables and using different spices and herbs. After talking with her, we decided to take a three hour cooking class and we would spend the night in the king size room she had for rent. It sounded so nice with organic vegetable and herb gardens, walking paths, etc. She said it would be a relaxed day and evening and that if we wanted to take another class while there, we would be able to do that as her weekend was free. I told her we would be driving 2 1/2 hours from *********** and would try to arrive around noon. We drove up the morning of August 12th. We stopped in town to use the restroom and took a quick walk thru the small farmers market. She requested that we email her if we needed to talk with her, so I emailed her twice with our ETA of around 12:45pm. Upon arriving, Leslie was very confrontational and was upset we stopped in town. And then informed us we would not be given the complete 3 hour class since we were late. She was so nasty with us, we requested a refund and she said she would not give us a refund. We walked around her gardens and then started class which consisted of a vegan sushi roll and a zucchini ****. The kitchen was dirty and ants were crawling around the counter and in our food. We were definitely not spending the night. We spoke with her that night after our 2 1/2 hour drive back home. We requested a full refund due to her fraudulence and explained it wasnt right for her to keep our money when she didnt provide the services that were paid for. She agreed to send us half our money back the first of the week and then once again did not fulfill her agreement. Requesting a full refund now of $775.00.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/06/2023

  This is to reply to the complaints dated Aug 29, 2023 and Aug 30, 2023 by ************************* and ************************************** 
  
  
  I have been teaching for over 30 years nationally and internationally.
  
  
  I have consistently received positive feedback for all my cooking ******s including from renown health resorts, wellness centers and publications.
  
  
  As a cookbook author, having written 6 cookbooks, I have received accolades from doctors such as Dr ******************** ********************************* among others; plus professors, and renown experts in healthy cooking.
  
  
  They (************************************* and *************************) received a 3 hour hands on ****** in my organic garden and spotless kitchen. And, I incorporated everything they wanted to learn- vegan sushi, cilantro hemp seed pesto, cooking with herbs and edible flowers, fresh picked from the garden and spices including turmeric, and correcting over zealous seasoning, eco-cooking techniques, knife skills, new foods in the kitchen, *******************.
  
  
  During that time, both women were fully engaged, asked good questions, participated, and never expressed any complaints.
  
  
  In fact, they stayed an extra half hour after the ******, and ate most of the food I taught them how to make and took extra food home when they left.  
  
  
  As far as the overnight refund is concerned, my stated policy is no refunds less than 3 days prior to arrival date.
  
  
  Based upon the above declaration, I fulfilled my agreement for the class, and the no refund policy for the room was clearly stated on my website.
  
  
  I conclude that their request for a refund has no merit.

  Respectfully Submitted,

  Leslie Cerier, The Organic Gourmet
  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/12/2023

   
  Complaint: 20539958
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Due to her fraudulent claims. 
  I did not receive what I paid for and had to listen to her berate us for not arriving on time, when we had no set class time.  We told her we would arrive around noon from a 2 1/2 hour drive.  Per our phone conversation, she said it would be a relaxed afternoon.  At no time in our previous conversations did she say that class would start immediately after we arrived.  She had no set menu plan for the class and the class was not what she described on her website or over the phone.  The walk in the garden was my idea to try and clear the air and calm everyone down before beginning the class, because she had berated us so much and just kept going on and on.  She later stated the walk in the garden was part of our cooking class.  
  In our phone conversations before the class, she stated that she had lots of vegetables to choose from out of her garden.  Her garden was a joke.  She had cucumbers, unripe tomatoes and one zucchini.  The biggest plant in her garden was a Marijuana plant.  When I asked what it was, she stated it was a Marijuana plant and that she was great at making chocolate edibles from her plant.  I prepaid for a three hour class that was to include multiple vegetarian dishes with a great selection of vegetables.  We made sushi rolls with one beet, one cucumber and one carrot.  Her vegetable **** consisted of one small zucchini and one carrot with a ton of ginger.  She had to add more oil to the dish to calm the strong taste down because she had put so much ginger in the dish.  She did not appear to be experienced.  When ******* reached into the pesto (for the sushi rolls) to remove an ant, Leslie said no need to do that, it was free protein.  
  We did take the extra rolls with us and threw them away when we got home.  My stomach was so upset from the food and the trauma of her nastiness toward us.  We were her customer but were not treated as such.  
  There was no way we would spend the night in the same house with this woman.  We requested a refund but she refused to reimburse us. So, we had to drive another 2 1/2 hours home that same day.
  Per our phone conversation that evening, we requested a full refund but agreed to half.  She promised she would refund us the first of the week.
  She did not refund us the money.  After several emails and phone calls to her, she finally sent me back an email saying *she was declining our refund.
  This woman is a fraud.  
  Upon further research, it appears she did not attend culinary school.  
  She was extremely unprofessional, rude and in no way made us feel welcome.
  I am still requesting a refund.

  Sincerely,
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On August 3rd, 2023 I paid for a cooking class and retreat (one night stay) at ******** ****** - The Organic GRMT. I was attend this with a girlfriend. The total charge for this was $775 and I paid for 1/2 ($387.50) with my VENMO account.When we arrived for the cooking class on August 12, 2023 ****** was not prepared she did not have any recipes printed out, the kitchen lights were off, and nothing was set up for a cooking class in her kitchen. Leslie is running a fraudulent business.She requested when we go close to email her, which we did twice. She did not check her email. As we were introducing ourselves we stated that we stopped a the farms market since it was right across the street from where we used a restroom at a hotel. She was annoyed with us and told us the class started at 12PM and we arrived at 12:40PM and she was going to deducted this time and she proceeded to tell us we were disrespecting her time. We stated that we were not aware that the class started a 12PM, she did not send us an outline of the class. We apologized to her, but she continued to bagger us. I said I think it would be best for us to leave and for her to refund us and she would not do this. We told her we would stay for the class but we would not stay over night. Leslie proceed to take us out to her gardens which had very little vegetables in the garden. She cut some herbs, and zucchini. We went back inside and we made 6 sushi rolls and one sauteed zucchini which she called a stir fry. With they amount of money we spent this was not acceptable. She asked if we wanted to try it. We did but I had ask for a plates, utensils and napkins.Once we finished eating we said that it was time for us to get on the road since it was going to take 3 hours to get back to my house. While in the car and we able to see things clearly, we decided to call Leslie and to let her know that she did not fulfill on her service and we requested a refund again. After much discussion she agreed to give us 50% of our money back. She said she would do this by the beginning of the week - August 14th. We never received it and then we finally heard from Leslie via an email on August 22, 2023, and she stated that she would not be refunding us. I am writing this compliant and requesting to receive full refund from Leslie.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/06/2023

  This is to reply to the complaints dated Aug 29, 2023 and Aug 30, 2023 by ************************* and ************************************** 
  
  
  I have been teaching for over 30 years nationally and internationally.
  
  
  I have consistently received positive feedback for all my cooking ******s including from renown health resorts, wellness centers and publications.
  
  
  As a cookbook author, having written 6 cookbooks, I have received accolades from doctors such as Dr ******************** ********************************* among others; plus professors, and renown experts in healthy cooking.
  
  
  They (************************************* and *************************) received a 3 hour hands on ****** in my organic garden and spotless kitchen. And, I incorporated everything they wanted to learn- vegan sushi, cilantro hemp seed pesto, cooking with herbs and edible flowers, fresh picked from the garden and spices including turmeric, and correcting over zealous seasoning, eco-cooking techniques, knife skills, new foods in the kitchen, *******************.
  
  
  During that time, both women were fully engaged, asked good questions, participated, and never expressed any complaints.
  
  
  In fact, they stayed an extra half hour after the ******, and ate most of the food I taught them how to make and took extra food home when they left.  
  
  
  As far as the overnight refund is concerned, my stated policy is no refunds less than 3 days prior to arrival date.
  
  
  Based upon the above declaration, I fulfilled my agreement for the class, and the no refund policy for the room was clearly stated on my website.
  
  
  I conclude that their request for a refund has no merit.

   

  Respectfully Submitted, 

  Leslie Cerier, The Organic Gourmet

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/09/2023

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Because we only stayed because she would not refund us our money. She was very confrontational when we walked in and kept saying we are not respecting her time. Well she was not respecting our time by not being prepared to conduct a cooking class, no outline of class, no menu's and very little food. She did not conduct a knife session, she only wanted to sell us her knives. I have researched her business and I found out she never went to culinary school. 

  My biggest concern was after having many calls with her on the way home from her place, is that she committed to refunding us 50% of our money. She is obligated to refunding us our money.

  Leslie, please fulfill your obligation. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************************