Service Disruptions and What We’re Doing About Them

Dear Imperfect customers,

We hope you and your loved ones are well and safe. These are challenging times for all of us, and our hearts go out to those directly affected by COVID-19.

We’re sorry. 

Some of our valued customers have had their order delayed or canceled this week. We know that delays and cancellations are frustrating under normal circumstances, but they are extra disruptive when you’re depending on a delivery from us in these uncertain times. We are truly sorry about these issues and our team is working tirelessly to protect you from the disruptions currently affecting the food delivery system in the U.S.

Here’s what happened.

A spike in demand combined with labor shortages in our delivery fleet and packing facilities caused a large cancellation of orders. As schools, transportation, and logistics in the communities we serve have been disrupted, many of our staff have had to deal with the same challenges we’re all facing: arranging for childcare, finding a new way to get to work, or taking the necessary precautions to keep themselves safe and healthy. We’re also receiving a marked increase in the number of customer service inquiries, and our customer care team is trying their hardest to keep up.  

Here’s what we’re doing about it.

Our first and foremost priority is to keep our employees and customers safe. We have stepped up our already-high food safety procedures, and are supporting the physical, emotional and economic wellbeing of our employees. See the steps we’re taking to protect you and our team from the spread of the virus at the end of this email. We are also doing everything possible to replenish our inventory and hire more warehouse staff, more delivery drivers, and more customer care team members to support the demand and make sure you receive your groceries.  

While we want to be a resource for anyone who needs groceries delivered, we’ve put a temporary pause on new sign ups so we can fulfill our promise to all of our current customers. As soon as we ramp up capacity, we will re-open our doors to new customers.

You deserve better communication.

We know that a canceled order is frustrating, but we could have done a better job communicating when and why this happened. We will do better next time. In addition to improving our delivery capacity to prevent canceled orders and delays, our team is working as fast as possible to add an order tracking feature to your My Account page. In the meantime, we are responding to your inquiries as quickly as we can.

You won’t be charged for your groceries.

If you see a charge on your credit card for groceries you did not receive, we will refund you in full. In the spirit of transparency, the systems that normally cancel order charges got overwhelmed over the weekend and lagged. As always, our commitment is to charge our customers only for the items they receive. Please make sure you visit imperfectfoods.com as soon as your customization window opens so we can start working on your next order.

Thank you.

Lastly, we want to thank you. You have chosen to get your groceries from us during a time of great need and we take that seriously. We ask that you understand that we are at times imperfect. As every family and company is realizing right now, nothing reveals the limits and shortcomings of plans and routines quite like a global pandemic. 

We cannot change what happened, but I promise that we are learning from this and we’re dedicated to being there for you going forward.  

Stay safe,

Philip Behn

CEO, Imperfect Foods  

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Here are some of the extra precautions we are taking to help keep you and our employees safe: 

• Providing gloves, hand soap, and sanitizer for all employees.

• Putting an emergency sick leave policy in place that offers additional pay replacement for up to 26 weeks if an employee becomes infected.

• Requiring that employees stand a minimum of 6 feet apart from one another at all times.

• Providing all of our delivery drivers with gloves and instructing them to replace after each delivery.

• Instructing all drivers to bring boxes to the front door, text that your order has been delivered, and avoid ringing doorbells or touching anything other than the box.

• Creating a Wellbeing Champion program in each of our pack centers where one employee per shift makes sure their teammates are keeping a safe distance between each other, and are washing and sanitizing their hands regularly.