It's 8/26/08- I just wrote an email to Bryan Childers and logged a copy at Schwans to some random info email to this effect:
"Please immediately terminate my service. As usual your overly aggressive Schwans rep showed up late at my house (7:45 PM). Typically you guys come by when I am trying to get the baby down but tonight we happened to be enjoying dinner. As I have asked for your people to stop calling on us in the past I just decided to not answer the door. Per "policy" your guy knocked, waited, then knocked again. Instead of leaving he entered my home and yelled "Schwans!". I yelled from the dining room, which in not visible from the front door, "we are eating, thanks for stopping by!" He then asked about the moving boxes in the hallway and wanted to know if we were coming or going. We're actually doing neither- I had moved some books up from the basement into the library- but WHY THE HECK do I need to share these details with the Schwans guy?! So I said "Neither- get out please". He did leave but I've had it with your company. Congratulations on your phenomenal earnings growth by the way! ((If you are reading this and can get to a market within 30 minutes you can get the same quality food for the same price (or lower). Guess how they are making money?)) I swear if my complaint is not immediately addressed and my service terminated I will engage one of the many law firms located nearby my office downtown."

We've had it with them. We use to have a good rep that would come on time, and politely talk with us on new products. We have gone through 3 reps, they are always moving them to different routes that are better for them. The latest rep caused us to discontinue our membership to their service. They need us, we don't need them. The new guy on our route is rude, and mouthy. The excuse we were told was that he's going through a divorce, so he's a bit sensitive. If that's the case give a job in the warehouse where he doesn't have to interact with people. It's not that much to ask for a bag to bring the food to our freezer, a new book, and the sticker with the date of their next visit. The rep mouthed off saying "You know I don't want to come back here you don't smile. I'm being nice, and your not smiling, I'm the supervisor I can decide not to come back." After speaking to corporate office they said he'd appologize, but were done. It's sad we had to talk to HIS supervisor to put him in line. He doesn't want to come back, we'll make his life easier, he can skip us all together. We told them We'd be willing to re continue our service if we got another rep who like the first ones was Friendly and personable, not demanding of us to Smile because he's being nice. He was Too fake to be a sales person.

This review is on Schwans service alone not their food quality. I ordered several food items through Schwans on March 31st of 2008 and never received my order. I am very unhappy with this company. I called Wednesday April 30 and the lady I talked to was very rude and abrupt. She said if you dont get your order by Tuesday call us, this is the same run around they have give me all along. They act as if it is the customers place to make sure they get the order. This lady pulled my order and had it in front of her and knew they had not shipped it.Now it is May 1st and the company still has not gotten my food to me. I think they are ripping people off keeping the orders as long as they can or pretending we will forget about it. The order I made was through a school program that accessed the Schwan site directly with a code for a student.They charged my debit card and did not offer a refund for not sending the order.

Follow up:

I finally received my food order that was pre-paid and placed on March 30 2008. It came on May 2nd 2008 the day after I posted the above review. I wish to make it clear that the review above and this follow up in no way reflects the quality of the food that Schwan carries. This is only about their service. If a company wishes to deliver food door to door then they must have a quicker means of getting the food to their customers and a better means of communication including better customer service representatives. I have used Schwan's foods since early 1980's and I have always thought their foods were of good quality. I do have another complaint,they have reduced the amount you get in each order by about half the size for a much higher price which is a sticker shock. However, I do know gas prices are higher. I think they should have maintained the same portions even if raising the price is a must. they also dropped some staples that many people relied on such as their frozen black cherries. Late last year and this year I could not get any order I placed online through their system, when someone finally would come by, they seemed not to know I had anything in their pre-order system and the foods I needed they did not have. I had a school age relative who went to a school using Schwan's fundraiser, I only had a choice to prepay so I did(aka the March 30th order). This order also never came. I do know that Schwan's has a hard time keeping good driver/delivery personnel. I assume this has to do with the quality of management who seems not to treat their employees with the appropriate care and consideration thus making them unable to keep quality people. The young man that delivered my order yesterday had only been on the job for 3 days, he did not seem to know who I was even though he had me in the system. When I told him who I was and that I had not gotten my prepaid order, he suddenly remembered me and appologized for his forgetfulness. Otherwise, he seemed to be a very high quality person and truly appologized for Schwan not getting my order to me. I do hope they change their employee tactics so they can keep good people on board to deliver for them.

I love this company. My driver, Chris, is always there when he is supposed to be. Very courteous and polite. My kitchen is always clean and my meals are well balanced as a result of using their LiveSmart products. I have yet to taste anything that is bad. Everything is better than I buy at the grocery store. I have a 45 minute commute and this makes my life so much easier.

Ok I've never ordered from Schwans but I just had a representative come to my door at 9pm!!! He seemed extremely nervous and was confused as to my address and said "I'm here." Very confused as I didn't even see his truck in the street I said, "What?" and he said that he had been refered to my house. I've seen Schwans in my neighborhood but I don't know anyone who orders from them, but why would he stop by at 9pm?! I almost called the cops thinking it was some stalker, I locked all my doors but had to take my dog for a walk 15-20 min later and he was in the alley behind my house, this time I could see a truck, but this is all very creepy. I came online to see if I could find a delivery time as late as 9pm, is this typical??? If it is I think it is very bad policy to try and get new customers so late at night! He said his name was Dave. I''m kinda posting this cuse if I get killed by a Schwan's guy and my husband comes home to find my body, I want someone to know about it.

My 18 year old son went to work for Schwan's as his first job after high school. He got hired on his 18th birthday by a recruiter at the Texas workforce that was in Northline at the time. He was so excited about his job, even motived, positive and hardworking despite his youth in the new workforce. At the time he was recruited he was informed that he would receive a $500 bonus if he recruited a friend. Once the friend had worked for 6 months he was to receive the bonus. My son resigned from Schwan's in his 7th month of employment there because he only got 3 days of work and felt as if he needed 5 days to work with 40 hours. My son's friend that he recruited for Schwan's stayed 6 1/2 months. Schwan's apprears to be a dead beat employer that uses recruiting tactics to lure in people and use hidden clauses not to live up to their obligations. If my son had been a dead beat employee and had not met the requirements I would understand them not paying the bonus. He was not and even gave them 3 weeks notice and was constantly assured that he would get his bonus. I would recommend that anyone looking for employment opportunities not go here. Any employer that does not hold to their end of an agreement will dismiss you simply because to keep from meeting their obligations. Please heed this warning and keep all of your friends and family from seeking employment at dead beat employers like Schwan's.

If there are any Schwan's employees here please visit www.retailreality.net where you will find a message board set up specifically for Schwan's employees.

I can assure all of you that the negative experiences you have had are NOT typical of the company. If you DO have a bad experience with Schwans, please contact customer service and complain (888-schwans, option 3). If they are unable to help, escalate it by emailing or sending a letter to Lenny Pippin, as noted by 'duckface', at:
Schwan's Customer Service
ATTN: Lenny Pippin
115 West College Drive
Marshall, MN 56258

Also, according to Schwans policy, if you decline service, the CSM is supposed to discontinue service at that time, and not continue stopping by. However, if you tell him/her that 'We don't need anything right now', he/she will continue to stop.

If the CSM continues to try to get an order from you, get the depot telephone number (either by asking, googleing or the yellow pages) and contact his LGM.

Also, catherinegraham, I can personally assure you that this is NOT standard Schwans policy. We usually knock or ring once, wait a minnute or so, then knock or ring again. If there is no answer, we are NEVER supposed to try the knob, except perhaps in the case of opening the screen door to leave a sticky note on the door. If someone did try your doorknob, you should call your local depot to let them know (again, google/yellow pages/ask the rep).

If you have had any less that desirable experiences with Schwans and would like to let me know about them, I will personally see what I can do to resolve them. Contact me at schwans_support@temporaryforwarding.com (that's just for anti spam purposes, I'll respond with my actual email address once I receive a complaint or comment.

Bryan Childers
Customer Service Representative
Schwans Food Services

My Schwan manager is Don in New Berlin. Best quality. he is a great man. Delivers as promised. He is so good to my family and dogs! We love Schwans and Don!

I absolutely love Schwans. I've been ordering now for 5 years. Part of what I love is that my "Schwans Man" (as we call him) has been the same for that whole time - he knows what we're going to like, and is honest when something comes out that is probably not going to suit us. A few of our favorites are the asian chicken, asperagus, ice cream, blackened chicken alfredo, and chicken fries. Also, their "livesmart" menu has grown so there are choices that are healthy. Of course you're going to come accross some things you don't like.. I've had a few. But overall, the good far outweighs the bad when it comes to Schwans.

Zero Stars-site required that I roll over a star. I ordered via their website which said they'd accommodate first time buyers to set up a convenient time of choice. No one ever called, but 2 weeks later, a failed delivery notice appeared on our door. I called the delivery man's number, left voicemail, no one returned the call. I called customer service to set up another date: January 2, 2008 between 10am and 2pm. THEY NO SHOWED AND NO ONE CALLED. I call customer service, they connect me to the delivery person, and he says he had a broken truck, and someone else was supposed to call to tell me. Today, I wrote my letter to the CEO, Lenny Pippin to complain. I always write to the CEO. Ironically, customer service didn't even know his name. Does that tell you about the company? They have a serious communications problem.

We have used their products for over two years and all is top shelf. The only thing i don't like is the sausage...too spicy. It is a little high but all top quality. I buy about $100 dollars every two weeks.

I am very hesistant to order from Schwans and it has nothing to do with the food. Prior to ever encountering a Schwans representative, we heard from neighbors and family members about the reps stopping by at all hours and being very aggressive in their sales pitch. I thought maybe it was one or two bad reps in the area making a bad impression. I am stunned today, having my first personal experience with a rep- and enraged and little scared! We have three very young children, and I was in the back of the house changing one of the babies when the doorbell rang. i chose to ignore it for the time, as I was engaged and unable to answer. It rang TWO more times, so I finally left the baby on the floor and ran, thinking it must be an emergency. On the way, I actually heard the handle turn and saw the doorknob TURN! (it was locked as it always is for my little escape artists). When I reached the door, there were two Schwans representatives on the lawn, and immediately approached me and gave me a catalog. I was very stunned that they rang the door three times and said, "I am sorry, I heard the bell 3 times and thought it was important?" he handed me a catalog and said "This IS important." He then asked if I had ever heard of Schwans. I said yes. He said "Good. And your name is?" I was so angry at his rude behavior and stunned that he actually TRIED MY DOOR HANDLE and did not even leave a catalog- so there was no excuse for trying the door- that I couln't give him my name, m heart was beating so fast. He then became angry that I didn't say my name, and I said instead, "I wil talk to my husband, thank you." And he then said "yeah, thanks," and stormed away.Are you kidding me? I cannot belive this myself, and have informed my neighbors who will NOT be ordering from Schwans, as this rep, and apparently others are extremely aggresssive! I am a young mother homw alone with three children, and no one should ever be bold enough not only to ring the bell 3 times! for a sales pitch, but to try the door handle? And not to leave a catalog? What was he trying the handle for? Sincerely scared and disappointed!

The other reviews were written in 2006 or earlier, so maybe the quality has gone down since then. I spent over $100 in my first visit from the Schwan man. The only thing I bought that I would buy again is the ice cream drumsticks. The breaded pork cutlets were one of the more expensive meat products. They are horrible and look nothing like the photo in the ad; the breading is not even the same as shown in photo. If you are concerned about trans-fat, you should be careful about what you buy from Schwan. Many of their foods contain trans-fat. Also the nutrition information that is given online doesn't correspond to the nutrition information that is on the box of the identical product. I called the company about this but they were unconcerned. They said to go by the information on the box. However, you don't even get to look at the box until you have purchased the product.

We have Schwans delivery to our door. they have some very good products. we have tried their icecreams,drumsticks, icecream sanwiches, I like their breads, and they have all kinds anywhere from biquits, loafs,rolls. their dessert products are nice. we have liked most of the foods they sell. can be a bit pricey but not outrageous. they come every other week. it is nice to have someone come to our door. I try and buy at least one thing when he comes.

My husband's company makes the food for this and I know they only use the very best. For the price, it better be, right? Well I know it's worth it. Schwann's are very picky, need to have exactly what they want nothing substituted, or else the whole meal is cancelled. You can be certain it's always going to be the same everytime. Really good stuff.. we get samples sometimes :)

Great food, a bit high on price; however, it is delivered to your door quickly. I haven't ordered anything I didn't like. Our representative Steve Coleman is very courteous and helpful.

good products, don't get me wrong but as much as you pay for them and as long as you got to wait for them, you might as well take the time and the money to eat out.

Somthing like 400 products with delivery to your door! and all of it tasting like home cooking.