Chesapeake Crab Connection Co

STAY AWAY from the Chesapeake Crab Connection. It was absolutely the worst blue crab-ordering experience I've ever encountered and it was extremely disappointing because my hopes were so high. I wish I could give them negative stars because they don't even deserve a single one. Read my story below to see why: \r \r We ordered a bushel of their jumbo blue crabs weeks in advance and requested that they be delivered on Dec. 24th for a Christmas Eve crab feast that my family from all over the United States was flying in to attend. We paid over $300 for the crabs and delivery (we also used a Groupon that gave us a small discount). However...after not seeing any shipment confirmation in the days leading up to the crab feast, I decided to call them on Dec. 24th to confirm that the crabs were indeed sent. They were not sent, however. The customer service rep said that they were not able to fulfill our order or a bushel of jumbo crabs and they didn't bother to inform me in advance. \r \r I asked to speak to a manager to discuss this further. I was shocked when the manager tried to explain by telling me that their fisherman couldn't catch enough jumbo crabs and that the only crabs they had were small and light... She went so far as to say ""the circumstances were beyond our control"", which I found absolutely insulting. You are a crab company. You took my money, and then said that you couldn't catch any of the crab that I purchased, which is what your business is built around. What part about that is beyond your control?!\r \r As a business owner myself, I know the importance of good customer relations and customer service. I was extremely disappointed, and my family that had flown to town from all over the country for the feast was outraged (not to mention, they didn't even bother to look into alternate solutions, such as purchasing crabs elsewhere (rather than catching their own) and sending those to us in order to fulfill the order). \r \r I wanted a refund, which should have been given instantaneously and without question. Also, for the horrible service and inconvenience of the whole thing, I asked them to send me some crabs at a later date to prove that they were a legitimate company that was committed to satisfying their customers. Despite being upset that my extended family would not be able to enjoy them together as planned, I thought this was a fair resolution to the problem. They refused and again tried to tell me that it wasn't their fault that they couldn't deliver on my order. \r \r It's now 2 weeks later, and I have STILL not received a refund NOR have I received a phone call from anyone at the company. I have called and left voicemails (and at one point even asked that the owner of this company personally call me) yet nobody has returned any of my calls\r \r I've ordered crabs from companies who were able to deliver on their promises. Chesapeake Crab Connection is by far the worst experience I've ever had, and I feel obligated to spread the word about my experience with them so that others can avoid ordering from this company. \r \r They will take your order, take your money, and then never send your order or bother refunding your money. more

Crabby Service and that is being kind. Don't ever use their on line service. Doesn't deliver,doesn't honor their own coupons, sends email specials then cuts that savings in half.\r Certainly doesn't understand customer service. Call the police if you need help. Can you imagine that you have to go through while trying to support a local expensive business.\r Never order from them again. Lancaster consider yourself informed from an ex-loyal customer more

My mother in law ordered some crabcakes for us that they shipped incorrectly. They were shipped from PA on the 12/28 a Friday and we got them on Wednesday 1/2. 6 days later. No dry ice, they were not even cold anymore. So we cannot eat them and my MIL is out a good bit of money. We called them to try to get a resolution and they basically told us they could not help and blamed Fedex saying that Fedex does not deliver on Saturday or Monday. Ugh!!! more

This place is way overpriced. Plus, they take shortcuts with their food. I ordered a dish with different seafood, including scallops. Well, they actually cut the scallops lengthwise to make 2 scallops out of one - talk about being cheap! Plus, the inside was not not sanitary. Would not recommend. more

I own a home at the beach and can't always get there. Sitting on the deck at Chesapeake Crab, enjoying the food, the great service and imagining I am at the beach. No one does it better than Chesapeake Crab. And if you can't get to his restaurant - he even ships via the internet ! Alright Capt Jim! more

I went to the ""all you can eat"" at Chesapeake crab and couldn't have been more pleased! all you can eat Maryland blue crabs, jumbo shrimp, and old bay fry's for just 30 bucks! You cant beat it! on top of the excellent food i got to sit at a picnic table in the sand covered with an umbrella just above. It made me feel like i was actually at the beach. Your allowed to bring your own booze which was also nice as restaurants usually charge 5 bucks for a draft beer. I was also pleased with my waitress, she couldn't have been more polite ant timely with her check ins. I highly recommend this place if your looking for GOOD FRESH seafood. It blows mr.bills out of the water! more

I have ordered crabs either here at Chesapeake or Mr. Bill's on Harrisburg Ave. for a number of years. We even came here to Chesapeake for their ""All you can eat"" many times, with friends, etc. As one reviewer said, it's expensive here at Chesapeake though. Well, I will never go back to Chesapeake again. The crabs that I had ordered one day, when I arrived for pick up, they never had them in the first place (they only had the smallest ones for my order and they never said anything when I came in about this the fact that they were planning on giving me their smallest ones, it was only when I asked just to confirm the order). And this was one of the ""managers"" that I placed the order with! If you want excellent crabs and real, competent service, go to Mr. Bill's. Save yourself some money and some headaches. more

Service was below average. Could not believe we were charged 50 cents for vinegar for fries, $1.25 for additional butter, 50 cents for horseradish for oysters.. Meals were served without knife and forks. I know at least a dozen people who will not go bach. I is a shame! more

I got turned onto thse folks be eating out on their deck. I ordered a half bushel and an extra dozen of medium and large mixed and was charged slightly more than $150. \r \r I see 1/2 bushels for sale in Ocean City tourist traps for $50. I will pay more but then i expect more and that wasn't the case here.\r \r If price matter to you, then shop. Pros: good crabs Cons: expensive more

Capt. Jim, Another order from us this year. We have enjoyed the many orders we've made with you throughout this year and last. We look forward to receiving some more nice supers. We grew up on the Severn River during the '60s and '70s, so we know what great crabs are, but now since we live in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia we don't have them available like we used to in the ''good old days''. We tell alot of our friends here that you have some great crabs, so hopefully some of them are also ordering from you. \r Thanks again, Jim & Vicky Broening\r Pros: Fabulous Crabs and Great People Cons: Need to expand more

Has a great nautical feel and we could see our crabs live before they were steamed. The spice on the crabs is wonderful. Pros: Fresh Steamed Crabs and Great Atmosphere Cons: Need to Open for Indoor Dinning more

I received an email confirmation when I placed my order on June 30th for my best friend's, ""Blue Crab Pickin' 4th of July Birthday Party"". On Friday morning, July 3rd, I called Chesapeake Crab Connection to obtain my tracking information, as I had not received it via email. I was informed that my ordered did not ship because an associate tried calling to get ""verbal confirmation"" of my order and was told it was an incorrect number. At that time, he evidently decided that the order was not confirmed and did not ship the order. I received no email or voice mail to the effect that there were any problems processing my order. In fact, the only correspondence I received from Chesapeake Crab Connection was the confirmation that my order had been received and was confirmed. After informing my best friend that his, ""Blue Crab Pickin' 4th of July Birthday Party"", was not going to have any crabs, my friend and his wife called directly and were told that there was a problem with the credit card. I was not told this during my inquiry. This left us in a terribly difficult position. We had been planning this party for a very long time and we now had no blue crabs to serve our 2 dozen guests that were arriving to spend the afternoon picking Maryland Blue Crabs. The crabs were an integral part of this gathering. Adding to the challenge was the fact that everything was going to be closed on the 4th, we were all working on the 3rd and now had to scramble to figure out what kind of food to serve at our ""Blue Crab Pickin' 4th of July Birthday Party"". We ended up serving hot dogs, burgers and frozen shrimp. You can imagine what a huge disappointment this was to our guests and what an uncomfortable position this put us in. I spent the entire weekend concerned that I had let down my friend and ruined his birthday party. After the weekend had passed, I'm online reviewing my bank details and I notice that Chesapeake Crab Connection charged my credit card on July 2, 2009 for the entire amount of our order. This was the day my crabs were supposed to ship. Obviously, there was not a problem with my credit card, as the associated had stated. The charge went through and we still did not receive our crabs. I was a repeat customer of The Chesapeake Crab Connection and am very disappointed in the way this was handled. If the sales associate did in fact call to confirm the order and received a wrong number, he should have at least tried the call again, left a message or at the very least emailed me. I realize they may have been busy but this follow up was not adequate, especially after already receiving the email confirmation of my order. The fact that the credit card was charged and that this was not an issue is inexcusable. I sent a very detailed complaint to Chesapeake Crab Connection and although I eventually received my money back, I never received any personal contact in the form of an apology or any attempts to rectify the situation and provide some type of good customer service. Obviously, the party was more about spending time with family and friends but the crabs really were a huge part of it. We went through a great deal of frustration trying to pull together last minute food for our event. All of my friends and family are very disappointed with the service from Chesapeake Crab Connection, especially since we had good experiences in the past. Pros: Great Crabs Cons: Not Dependable more

Can put your feet in sand outside in the summer. Place has a great authenic nautical feel about it. Great local hangout in the summer. Got a bushel yesterday for party and they were awesome. Pros: Great Crabs and place is super clean. Cons: Limited indoor seating but they have great outdoor deck. more

Being from the Eastern Shore this small place totally is a class act. We saw our crabs live and watched them get steamed fresh in the steam room, unlike most places that reheat the crabs. The atmosphere was great and made you feel like you were at the ocean. Natalia was our server and she was very pleasant and attentive. Felt like we were at a large Franchise business like Margaritaville in its early beginnings. This place has all the local charms of a place down on the islands.\r Capt Fred Spence Pros: Crabs so fresh you can pick them out alive. Cons: Eat till we couldn't eat anymore. more

Went on a slow night and had to wait 20 minutes for a server to even approach the table (she only appeared because we flagged her down). We ordered all of our drinks and dinner the first time she approached us. We waited 13 minutes for our drinks (water and a soda) - we ordered 2 appetizers and 2 sandwiches - 1 app and 2 sandwiches were served together. When asked where the other app was we were told it was being ""steamed"" (the app is served cold) . We asked for tartar sauce at the time we ordered - it did not come with either our app or our sandwich - we asked for it when it was served and she never brought it. we waited for 8 minutes and asked another waitress for it. 45 minutes after ordering we were done and there was still no sign of the other app. I went to speak to the management team and folks they did NOTHING to make the situation better except to say ""sorry about that"". As we were getting ready to pay the bill the missing app appeared and it was only a 1/2 pound not the pound we ordered. Management actually sold us another 1/2 pound and you guessed it - they charged us for it!!!!! The biggest insult was the check which had an automatic 15% gratuity added - I told them I was not paying that and the manager lobbied for me to tip the waitress!!!!!! Stay away folks. Pros: outside seating Cons: everything else about the place more