USVI-On-Line

The members on this forum seem so connected that I thought I would post here. We will be in STJ in 7 days (wahoo!) and are trying to reach Ali from Villa Foods for provisioning. I've emailed 2x and called once over the past 2 weeks and haven't heard anything. Does anyone know her status? Is she still provisioning? I'm a bit in a panic and not sure what to do. Help!

Same thing happened to us, but she finally did email back, and our food was at the villa when we arrived.
We had used her 2 times in the past, and she was always quick to respond, but I would have to say we were alittle worried this year. Almost went with katie lady at the last minute, but Ali did come thru and did apologize for not getting back to us.

Was wondering if anyone knows whether Ali from Villa Food was the same Ali who once worked at Estate Lindholm?

We used her last year and were so pleased that we want to use her again. I'm a little worried that our arrival is quickly approaching and I haven't heard from her. I'll have faith that she gets in touch very soon

Funny how I just did a search on Villa Food, because I did place an order for villa provisions for our trip in October. I see that my order is visible online, however she has not sent another confirmation email. I tried calling and no answer - I left her a message but she hasn't called me back. Should I cancel my order, or still use her? I am a little worried now that I read this thread.

We never never heard back from Villa Food and went with a different provisioner.

We used Villa Food to provision our villa last month. We were very happy with her service and would definitely use her again. We received a confirmation email about 2-3 days after we placed our order and an invoice about a week later. There was one small error on the invoice, so I emailed to have it fixed. It was corrected and another invoice was emailed 4-5 days later. I did start the process, however, about 3-4 weeks before our trip.

lablover wrote:We never never heard back from Villa Food and went with a different provisioner.

So do you think I should cancel? I just tried calling again and voicemail.

No problem, Mon.

If you get to your villa, and the food is not there, go to the market, if it is there, you will not have stressed yourself.

I'm not sure what is going on with Villa Food and why some orders are fine and others are not. Like the other poster, we also started our ordering process at least one month prior to our trip -- I sent 3 emails and made 2 calls and never heard a thing back.

When we return next year, I will use another provisioner just for a peace of mind. We've always had Crystal from Christy's of St. John babysit our 3 year old and on this last trip she mentioned that they provision. They don't advertise it on their website, but you can send them your grocery list and they will shop for you. I believe their fee is the same as all the others (20% markup and $50 fee). They've been in business 20+ years and they are wonderful to work with. http://www.christysofstjohn.com/

Your trip is still a couple months away, but I would suggest you start working on a back-up plan. You may want to contact the villa owner because they may have someone who will provision for you (that's what we ended up doing this year).

Last year we used St. John Catering and had no problems whatsoever. I just decided to go with Villa Foods because she was a little less expensive. However, for peace of mind I will use them again. I will send Allison an email to cancel my order.

We used Ali in March and everything worked out just fine!! I also had reservations because my on line order didn't go through and called her several times. My biggest fear was not being able to get the money to her in time as it got really close to our arrival date. I do know she has another day time job and doesn't always get to her messages. Her prices are considerably cheaper as compared to other provisioning options so if you can hold out and grasp the "island time" it should work out just fine

Obviously, she doesn't want your business that badly - there are other provisoners on the island, line up someone else so and you won't need to worry. This isn't about "island time", it's just poor service.

She actually did finally email me back last night, but I already cancelled the order and to go with St. John Catering. I already had a "grill pack" order in place anyway with SJC, so this way I only pay once for delivery charges, so all and all the price will probably be pretty close.

I never rely on email or voice mail to contact or confirm anything in the Caribbean. I don't trust anything other than a direct phone conversation. People there live differently than on the mainland and run their businesses differently. I don't bother with email at all. I leave a few voice mails if needed, keeping in mind that the person I'm calling is operating on Island Time. If I can't connect with them, I try somebody else. It may seem frustrating when I'm at home trying to make arrangements, but once I'm in the Caribbean, it makes perfect sense.