Debunking Beer Can Chicken: A Waste Of Good Beer, And Dangerous
Famous Death Row Last Meals
Photo: Unhindered by Talent, Flickr
For those of you who put off shopping for gifts until the last minute, beware: the one fallback option that you thought you could always count on is in trouble.
Yes, Harry & David is filing for bankruptcy. The mail-order giant purveys an (odd, when you think about it) mélange of perfectly picked pears, chocolate bonbons and assorted other goodies. They always come neatly nestled in a veritable mountain of tissue paper and excelsior and are packed in such an elaborate arrangement of boxes, baskets and bows that the trappings easily overwhelm the recipient into thinking that you far spent more time and effort on the gift than you actually did.
Stumped on what to get your great aunt in Toledo for her 76th birthday? How about the All-Occasion Double Delights Discovery gift box? What about the neighbor who trudged through the snow to feed your cats while you were cavorting in Cabo? Hello, All-Occasion Gift Basket!
But the company is in trouble.
We're constantly strapped for time and our social relationships form an ever more complex but tenuous web, yet we live in a material culture that persists in equating thoughtfulness with something you can actually unwrap. (Face it, have you ever received an "e-card" that made you feel all warm and cared for?)
It would seem the perfect culture, then, for a company who specializes in marrying the point-and-click ease of gift-giving with gifts that actually look like gifts--even if the price of that kind of relief and convenience is a lifetime supply of Harry & David catalogues in your mailbox.
But alas, as CNN reports, the venerable mail-order house that has (somewhat) delighted generations of bewildered gift-recipients with annual enrollment in their Fruit of the Month Club is filing for Chapter 11. The company plans to keep operating, however, as it reorganizes.
You just better hope they get their act together by next Christmas.
Charlie Sheen Gets Back To His Roots
The List #0147: Escape a Car Underwater
WHOOPS! Obama Makes Big Gaffe
Visit the Maldive Islands Before It's Too Late
H&M's Plus-Size Model Jennie Runk Says She Chose To Gain Weight
Jury Foreman: '18 Days Of Testimony Hurt' Jodi Arias
Okla. Sheriff's Deputy Finds Dog Guarding Body Buried Under Destroyed Home
Reptiles Make Home in UK Man's Cable Box
Mariah Carey Curses And Busts Out Of Dress On Live TV
Springtime Budget-Busters -- Savings Experiment
Is This Woman Too Pretty To Work?
What It's Like To Talk To A 2-Year-Old
Mariah Carey Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction on Good Morning America
Parents Face Tough Choice When Tornadoes Bear Down
New Trayvon Martin Evidence Features Incriminating Photos, Texts From Teen
The Story Behind Hairspray
Best Friends Reportedly Die Holding Each Other In Tornado
Candid Portraits Of Strippers After Hours
AMAZING PHOTO: UFO Spotted Over San Diego
Killed Soldier In London Attack Identified
Rapper Accused Of Faking His Own Death To Escape Payments
Danny Tanner Is Fighting With Topanga
Bridge Collapses In Washington State
LISTEN: Terror Inside Elementary School As Tornado Hits
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
WATCH: Police Force Shows Up To Support 5-Year-Old Who Lost Her Dad
Teenager's 'Awww'-Inspiring Drawing Wins Big At Google
Luke Wilson Caught Staring At Fan's Chest
Surgeons Remove Giant Hairball From Tiger
Brave Woman Stood Down Armed London Attackers
PHOTO: Dog Guards Dead Victim's Body After Oklahoma Tornado Disaster
LOOK: Bank Vault Saves 22 Lives During Tornado
3-28-2011 @3:39PM Pat said... I used to send Harry & David to my mother, sisters, and my brother, as well as any other out of town gift. After they had to replace 10 out of 12 Fruit-of-the-Month because of the idiots at UPS, we gave up. We begged them to use USPS and offered to pay the difference, but they couldn't. It's not like they don't get mail. Their loss because of their inflexibility. Their food is INCREDIBLE! We miss them.
Reply
3-28-2011 @5:38PM Rick said... Pat, believe me when I say the USPS way of processing packages is no better and probably worse than UPS method. I am a retired Postal Employee and have worked and witnessed this method in the Postal Service. The customers were lucky if they got their fruit at all during the Holiday season. I myself witnessed oranges, apples, and all kinds of fruit boxes broken open and crushed and fruit rolling all over the extendable conveyor belts! You would not believe the number of packages that were destroyed to the point where there was no visible address to mail it to!
3-28-2011 @7:20PM emevers99 said... I hope they clear themselves up. Http://www.bestbankruptcysite.com I love their salsa, spaghetti sauce, chips and more!
3-28-2011 @3:42PM foxxydrummer said... Sounds like someone's been cooking the books at H&D. For the prices they charge for what they send out, and they can't make money at it? I think the mba twits at H&D should see if they can get a refund on their tuition for their mba's.
Reply
3-28-2011 @3:41PM SkyBlue said... I would imagine their business is very seasonal: Thanksgiving, Christmas and maybe Easter.
Reply
3-28-2011 @7:59PM ell said... This company is the biggest bull ever...thier prices are ridiculous and their fruits of the month were horrible. I sent my parents 1 year of fruit of the month. Only 3 months they received what I was told they would, the other months were all replacements. The bananas wer so hard and they went from unedible to rotten. Their customer service was an absolute joke when I complained. I am happy to see they will get what they deserve...dumb ass snobs
3-28-2011 @3:53PM old enough to remember said... We were sent a gift from H&D a couple of years ago by a relative. There were a dozen very small pears, of which only 3 could be deemed edible. I called H&D to request a new box (I said I would send back the one they sent me) because the fruit was rotten. I didn't even complain about the size of the fruit (I could get larger, at a fraction of the price our relatives paid). They said they do not take returns, that we are stuck with it. We told our relatives, who were very upset, since they also sent boxes to many others. They stopped using H&D after that.
Reply
3-28-2011 @4:23PM guy said... Many years ago my wife and I received a gift of H&D baklava, which we love. My wife was munching on a serving when I heard a loud "crack". She had broken a tooth on a piece of walnut shell that had gotten into the pastry. I wrote to H&D asking for the name of their insurance company and was ignored until I finally brought a law suit against them in the local court. They responded and we ended up settling for the price of the dental work and one future replacement. Around $3500 all together. I am sorry to see they are having difficulties.
Reply
3-28-2011 @4:14PM doc said... It took them four tries to get my order right. They finally did it right after I posted on FACEBOOK. Four attemps for a simple $6 bottle of relish. I can see why they will go under. I will order from them again. But in their defense the english muffins were great.
Reply
3-28-2011 @4:16PM doc said... correction on my comment. i will NOT order from them again. oops
3-28-2011 @4:18PM Schmice said... I never had a problem with their products. The only problem was the outrageous prices they charged to ship their stuff. Once the fruit arrived, the recipients absolutely loved them. I knew they were in trouble when they closed their store in the Northridge Mall. Still, this is not the kind of news I wanted to read.
Reply
3-28-2011 @4:33PM Mike Jones said... Ive been ordering them for business for twenty years and in all that time, out of thousands of orders, they screwed up three..
Reply
3-28-2011 @4:28PM Jennifer said... Good. I'm glad they are going under. They charge too much for substandard goods.
Reply
3-28-2011 @5:12PM gobo said... I disagree. Their pears are bar-none the best I've had, and worth every penny.
3-28-2011 @4:49PM Sam said... Gee, who would ever thought that selling Pears at $6 a pop would fail ... LMAO!. No doubt, their pears give will you an freaking orgasm, but who can afford them? Hookers are cheaper.
Reply
3-28-2011 @6:46PM John said... Well, hookers that go as cheap as a box of pears by not be nearly as sanitary as the pears would be... Anyway, the pears are spectacular. You need to NOT eat them until they get soft, up to a week or two after you get them. Once they fully ripen, they need to be eaten with a spoon and a bowl.
3-28-2011 @4:56PM Grace said... Their prices and shipping were outrageously high, and they never responded to my E-mails to that effect. Their baklava was wonderful, however. I received fruit a couple times from a banker friend. The pears were huge and good. I would only order when they had free shipping, which at those prices was hardly "free." Oh well, they wouldn't listen to the consumer. Se la vie.
Reply
3-28-2011 @6:56PM k said... C'est la vie.
3-28-2011 @4:56PM Betty said... For what it's worth, I received an e-card for Valentine's Day last year from my son, who is away at college. It was shortly after having surgery. It was the most beautiful thing and I played it several times a day throughout the weeks afterward. It always cheered me up and helped get through the post-surgery pain and physical therapy. I have also received some beautiful ones from my sister over the years. (Sorry to hear about H & D, by the way.)
Reply
3-29-2011 @4:14PM Mike said... Good. I hope they fail miserably. Send an expensive gift over Christmas one year and they never delivered it. They couldn't track it and they had no idea if the intended recipient actually got it. They told me to call them up myself to find out! Customer service was a TOTAL joke. They never refunded me, never offered anything at all for their screw up. That was the last time I, or anyone I knew, ordered from those clowns.
Reply