Yeah I thought they were sold out first time I looked. Then today I looked again and they were running a special on macs but only had one grade: the ones that are halves. So they are out of whole ones. At least that is what I could fathom.
Well, Gigi. you might want to confirm it with the company tomorrow just to be on the safe side. The problem is that you are ordering nuts on a weekend when no one is probably around to update the website to reflect the latest changes.
In any rate, what you are getting is a GREAT deal. I would order the nuts tomorrow morning after contacting the company myself.
I got an email confirmation from Jane Clive (janeclive@bellsouth.net) from Caromac that Style 4 macadamia nuts (mostly halves) are still available, but the stock is very limited.
So I got myself an early Christmas present -- 26.45 pounds of macadamia nuts along with free shipping for only $99.20 ($3.75 per pound) Woohoo!
the factors affecting price are not only dealer markup, but also quality aspects like size, condition, freshness, source, organic, etc, and these together are often rated somehow (like grade/class), as in the case of Macadamia's, which have a number 1,2,3,4 (one is best).
our last batch of macs. required careful (time consuming) 'pruning' out of rancid spots to the tune of about a 25% 'loss', so this and the time need to be figured in, lol.
so it's not a simple matter of which is cheapest, but total cost per class/grade and time attention available for 'pruning'.
Maybe I should have stick with my original decision to go with NutsOnline. Oh well! I will just see how my order comes out this time only, If there is a potential loss of 25%, I would still end up with at least 20 pounds -- still not bad!
We need to remember one thing about places like Caromac is that they have a higher turnover in inventory compared to, let's say, Whole Foods Store. I do know for a fact that WFS tends to keep the same batches of "expensive" or "not often sold" nuts and seeds in the bulk section without recycling them for weeks or months at a time. Please bear in mind that none of them are refrigerated during the entire time. They are probably much more rancid than expected.
My understanding of Style 4 is that macadamia nuts are mostly halves. There are pictures of both style 2 and 4 nuts in the enclosed link.
Just wanted to say that I'd contacted Clive at Caromac, telling him about how our last batch went bad and asking whether that's what he meant by 'minor imperfections' on his site.
Here's what he replied:
Quote:
Hi Carmella,
Thanks. Sorry to hear you had a problem with your last order. The "problem" with not using pesticides is that there is a particular bug that stings the nut while still green. The nut then tries to seal itself off by converting the fats to sugars which show up as these discolored marks. The current inventory have very few of these imperfections, and to make up I will in put an extra 2 lb's, which will fit into the Priority Mail box, if you want to go ahead with an order.
Regards,
Clive
Now THAT's what I call great customer service!
So Wayne, I think you can relax and enjoy your macs. Should you not be happy with them, they will probably be very willing to work something out.
Wow thanks for posting that info Carmella. Interesting to know the cause of the imperfections. They sound like a really awesome company. I can't wait to receive my order!
I ordered from this company 12/18/07 and have not received my order. I have emailed him countless times and have twice heard back from him. Once he said something about the holidays so I waited patiently. After a few more emails & pleadings, he wrote again on 1/7/08 saying they were held up in a UPS facility in VA. Since then, I've written two more times with no response.
There are several on Alissa's board saying the same thing so I just wanted to caution you. I've ordered twice before with no problem so I don't know what the deal is. I just hate to see anyone else lose money.
You didn't lead anybody wrong. The first time I ordered, I just ordered the smallest amount but because I had had no trouble, this time I ordered 26+ pounds. Had I done my homework, I would have seen he had a record of this kind of thing.
If you don't hear anything and want to pursue it, I can send you the information I've gathered. Or I can go ahead and post it here.
It's such a shame because those prices can't be beat. His site is up like business as usual. I wish I could post a warning on there!!
I ordered from caromac, since it looks like above issues people had were resolved. Well let me tell you, RUN DONT WALK away from Caromac.
They have horrible customer service, and will TAKE YOUR MONEY, not ship you anything and NOT GIVE A REFUND when they can not deliver.. They scammed me out of my money, and even provided Paypal with invalid tracking information to keep me from getting my refund.
Even if their price is good, dont bother, they are a scam and will take your money. Even if its the best price, its no good if they dont honor the price, and ship the merchandise.
here is their information
Caromac
PO BOX 12918
Florence SC 29504
225 Aberdeen Drive Map
Florence, South Carolina 29501
I can say that I will be staying away from them in the future as well. I did receive an order after some 2 months and many emails to Clive in the Spring. The macs were fab so I thought I'd take another chance. This time, I ordered $80 worth of macs and same deal... nothing yet after a couple of months. I contacted Clive except now he claims they've been shipped. Don't think I'll get to see this order...
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