Food Universe Market Place

Decent quality. Definitely better than a bodega, just a little bit less than a premium supermarket. Produce is usually a cut above what is available at Associated, but not by much. Their meat selection is small, but well-kept. There is a *huge* well-stocked walk-in beer corner in the back of the store with an impressive variety of beer from all over the world. Prices are about average, sometimes discount, about the same as the C-Town at 4918 Broadway, and definitely not as expensive as Park Terrace Deli.

I came down with a really horrible stomach flu last night and have been completely bedridden with alternating fever/chills. Really awesome stuff. At about hour 24 of feeling absolutely terrible, I realized I needed to get some hydration but water wasn't doing it, so I decided to see if I could get some gatorade from somewhere. Now, if I was feeling capable of leaving my apartment without fear of losing control of my faculties, I would have just gone out and gotten some, problem solved. However, as that wasn't the case, I decided to call around to see if anyone was able to deliver.

The man I talked to on the phone at Associated was very nice, and took my order. I ended up ordering more than I wanted to be sure I met their minimum, which was a very kind $10. I was planning on tipping more than I normally would for the silliness of what I ordered, 2 big gatorades and 2 big gingerales. I was told that was enough for delivery, so I gave them my address (about 3 blocks away) and phone number and was told that it would be there in about 10 minutes.

10 minutes comes and goes, then 20, then 30. I call back at about 40 minutes and ask, as kindly as possible, if I may have missed the delivery person somehow (though I don't know how as I hadn't moved since I'd called). The man said that the delivery person had left about 10 minutes ago, and that he would call him to check on where he was. I never received a call back.

An hour and 10 minutes after my original call, and still nothing. I called back and a woman picked up and I told her about the issue. She told me that the delivery person had gone out, COULDN'T FIND MY ADDRESS, and had come back. And since there was only her, the manager and the delivery person at the store, he wouldn't be going out again. As I continued to feel my stomach turn, now from a combination of being sick and lack of anything in it, I informed her that that was impossible since the building was only 3 blocks away, extremely clearly marked (it's kind of notable building in the area) and literally the only building on that stretch of my street between the two cross streets I'd given. She said she knew, but that he couldn't go out again. I clarified that he in fact did go out and came back because he claimed he couldn't find the address, she said yes, so I asked her why he hadn't called since he had my phone number. She said she would go check, and that was when I was hung up on.

I would have loved to air these grievances over the phone with the manager because I'm not usually a fan or negative reviews based on one experience, but I wasn't left with much of a choice since it became abundantly clear that they didn't want to speak with me over the phone.

I'm fully aware that I do not live far from this grocery store, and that in a normal situation, I could have just gone out myself. But anyone that has had the stomach flu knows that you really don't want to be out anywhere when in the throws of it, and sometimes the only thing that helps is a little bit of gatorade and gingerale and kindness. I'm so fuming mad that I was given the run around on this simply because I really needed the stuff, and if they had just told me that the order was too small to deliver or they didn't have enough people, I would have understood and moved on to my next option then instead of an hour and a half of grossness later. I can't believe that they consider it good business to not only not deliver on a promise that is actually very simple to fulfill, but then not even apologize or acknowledge that they did something wrong, but instead end the interaction by hanging up on me. I used to shop here occasionally, but I never will again, simply because I don't want to support a place that is dishonest. It's literally called a convenience store. Be convenient and if you can't, at least be honest.

I gave it two stars because it's a decent grocery store when you go in person, aside from the fact that the customer service in person is usually pretty slow as well.

This place is very small and cramped. Prices are expensive