We purchased 2 live lobsters from retail counter of Lapointe's Fish Market, Kanata location in Ottawa, on July 28. First time we have ever purchased fish there, and first time we visited that store location. Sales person assured us the lobsters were received at the store that morning from the east coast of Canada. They are guaranteed fresh, he said. They looked a bit lethargic, and the tank was full of lobster (noon on Saturday).
Took lobsters home. My partner grew up in Nova Scotia, has prepared lots of live lobster. He stored them the way they always did at home, in a bit of cold water, in a cool place. In three hours, they were dead.
My partner called Lapointe's, and spoke to the Chef. Chef was immediately very rude, accused us of not storing them properly. (No instructions were given at all when we purchased. ) When my partner told him we would like a refund, he said he would refund the money, but "didn't want our business ever again!! "
We drove back to the store, and the staff were very rude again. Accused us of improper storage, we were treated in a very unfriendly (nasty) manner by both the Chef (now calling himself the owner) and by the sales girl. She suggested we could still cook them even though they were dead. Money was refunded, then she handed me the bag of dead lobster and told me to dispose of them myself! I refused.
We then went to Produce Depot, purchased 2 very lively lobsters for $4 less per pound than Lapointe's, and had a delicious dinner.
I noticed that at the end of the day, Lapointe's lobster tank was still completely full. They must have sold very few, perhaps only ours.
I have looked on the Internet, and there are several good sites with directions for live lobster home storage. It seems we did make a perhaps fatal error, using fresh water. But Lapointe's did not ensure we knew how to properly store the lobster we purchased. When we had the problem, instead of offering sympathy and friendly advice, and apologizing for not giving us directions, the Chef acted very aggressively and made sure we would not be returning! We felt very upset by the encounter afterwards, and it marred an otherwise lovely day. Why be so nasty? We were polite throughout, but not happy with potentially losing our $25 investment in lobster. If you can't deal politely and nicely with client's problems, then don't be in a business where you deal with clients.
Zeke's mum
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
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