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Paul and Samantha Sausser have sold the farm and disappeared. Their phones have been disconnected, and they’ve left scores of angry customers and unpaid debts across Central and Western Virginia.
The Lynchburg News & Advance has the story.
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Steve Jenkins
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Steve Jenkins
Channel 10 sent a reporter to Sausser Farms in Phenix in an attempt to get an interview, but the reporter couldn’t find Paul or Samantha Sausser.
We drove nearly three hours to Phenix, hoping to talk to Mr. Sausser. No trespassing signs keep us from going any further but the stand, much like the one in Chirstiansburg looks pretty much deserted.The farm phone number is disconnected. Neighbors tell 10 On Your Side they saw the Saussers packing items up. A few chickens are left behind. We were then directed to the Sausser home but dont find any one here either. We see evidence something once grew here and in some cases, still is. There are some signs of life, like eggplant and fresh picked zucchini.
Read (WSLS-10)
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Steve Jenkins
Several Valley residents, as well as some in Richmond and Roanoke, are upset they aren’t getting the vegetable deliveries they pre-purchased. In fact, some are so upset, they are even calling police.
Sausser Farms promised its customers five pounds of vegetables a week, but for the past three weeks, customers haven’t received any produce.
The Better Business Bureau began receiving complaints about the farm a few weeks ago. They have been in contact with the farm’s owner who says the problem is simply a bad season.
The BBB says they don’t think this case is a scam, just bad management.
WHSV has the article
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frankifries
IM really curious to see if they will show up this week. the 3 weeks is over, but im not holding my breath!
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Dogballs
I have more questions than answers. If anyone has answers, please post them for all to see. This includes Paul and Samantha Sausser.
1) Why is the Sausser Farms website disabled? (This is the only way to get information about the farm and its progress if any.)
2) How can a business take money from thousands of people and then add a disclaimer after they have received the money?
3) When a product is offer by any business and is not delivered, isn’t a consumer entitled to a refund? (Maybe the BBB can answer this one.)
I have a few others but I will see if there is any response first before posting more. -
Bella
I was curious also to see if the Sausser’s would reopen as they stated they would 3 weeks ago. The Christiansburg store did not open this week. The long story Paul Sausser wrote as “he sat on his tractor” is still on the window but the letter stating the store would reopen this week is gone. Someone had to come to remove the sign but no other information was posted about a reopening.
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Seamore
It’s really a shame there is no accountability for ripping people off!
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Steve Jenkins
A Staunton woman bought 2 shares from Sausser Farms and planned to pickup her vegetables at the Stuarts Draft stand. Â She received very few vegetables before the Stuarts Draft stand closed and has been unable to get a refund either.
The Stuanton News Leader has the story.
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Steve Jenkins
Terri Davis contracted with Sausser farms to sell vegetables to Homestead Creamery, but she wasn’t paid and took the Saussers to court.
The court date was June 28th, and Paul and Samantha Sausser didn’t even show up. The judge ordered the Saussers to pay over $5,000.
Paul Sausser said they didn’t go to court because they don’t believe in suing. According to Paul Sausser, if you sue someone, you’ll go to hell.
As usual, Paul Sausser had an excuse for not honoring his contract. He claimed that Homestead Creamery hadn’t paid him all they promised to pay; therefore, he couldn’t pay his contractor.
I have 2 questions for Paul Sausser. Do you also go to hell if you swindle 6,000 people out of $210,000 (stealing)? Do you go to hell if you make promises you know you can’t keep (false promises)?
The article also states that the Saussers plan to close “a bunch” of their stands for the next 3 weeks. They’re planning to let the most recent crop grow, and hopefully, they’ll have enough vegetables to supply the stands when they reopen.
What happened to all of the potatoes? What grows well in the August heat?
The article also mentioned a CSA near the Saussers and listed the produce they supplied to their shareholders this week.
The Lynchburg News & Advance has the story.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Frankies Mom
They were down on the market today. I hoarded all I could get (the okra looked good, so did the japalenos). Otherwise, I have a feeling they will be disappearing during that three weeks. I contacted the BBB and asked for my $ back.
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Vstone818
All i have to say is
W0W :0
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Steve Jenkins
I received an [e-mail](http://hosted.marketingcenter.intuit.com/18111/57aa937490/5401107/f7179a3de3/) from Sausser Farms stating that they’re harvesting potatoes, and the Roanoke and Lynchburg shares will consist of 5lbs of potatoes this week. I guess Homestead Creamery missed out on the potatoes this week.
The email’s posted below:
Hello Sausser Farms Members,
This e-mail is for those of you in the Lynchburg and Roanoke areas.
There will be no survey this week. This week we will have lots of potatoes. Our plan is to bag them in 5 pound increments and hopefully every share will be able to get 5 pounds. If you bought two shares, then we hope to be able to give you 10 pounds.
And depending if we are able to harvest any additional items this week, we will have some of them available as well. But the big thing is the potatoes, because once we start harvesting them we only have a limited time to get them to market so potatoes are our focus right now.
Hours for Friday:
Forest, Lynchburg: 10-Noon (or until supplies last) and 3-6 (or until supplies last).
Roanoke: 9-3 (or until supplies last).
Hours for Saturday
Myers & Rhodes in Lynchburg: 9-3 (or until supplies last).
Roanoke: 9-3 (or until supplies last).
SPECIAL ORDERS
If you would like to make a special order request, please call Samantha at the farm and let her know what you are looking for and which day you would like to pick them up. The number is 434-542-5957.
Pick Your Own At The Farm
We want to thank those of you who have come out to the farm to pick your own produce and to volunteer in helping us pick. It has been great to meet you and your help is very much appreciated. If anyone else wants to come out to the farm and pick their own or volunteer pick, please feel free to come any day but Sunday. You may want to call ahead just in case.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
We especially want to thank you for your continued support despite the challenges we have faced. Those of you who have been so forgiving and merciful to us, we can’t thank you enough for the grace you have extended to us. You are a light in a dark world!
And despite the challenges, the criticisms, and the threats, we will continue to plant, harvest and deliver to the best of our ability until the season is over.
Thank you,
Sausser Farms
Click to view this email in a browser
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please reply to this message with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe
Sausser Farms
9175 Patrick Henry Hwy
Phenix, Virginia 23959-
frankifries
Their website is down now. I guess this is then end. Lesson learned, right? Not sure if you are based in Roanoke or further out but I get alot of bulk produce at Crow's Nest Greenhouse in Bburg…fair priced and organic, grown on site.
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Nemisise_99
Yeah I noticed the website is down too – but I wonder if it corresponds with what Roanoke Times said about a court hearing in Lynchburg today. Steve- you should see what you can track down!
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Steve Jenkins
One of the Sausser Farms tomatoes we received from Homestead Creamery that looked okay, but actually wasn’t.
The End of the Tomato
the inside
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Steve Jenkins
Option A box
We only received 1 Sausser Farms vegetable box from Homestead Creamery this week. It included a tomato that was already rotten on the bottom, another tomato that’s mushy, 1 zucchini that’s mushy at the top, several very hard squash, and some withered purple basil.
We signed up to buy one 5lb Option A box and one 5lb Option B box each week.
Option A is supposed to be a combination of potatoes, tomatoes, onions, squash, and herbs.
Option B is supposed to be a combination of cucumbers, egg plant, greens, string/pole beans, broccoli, and zucchini.
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Steve Jenkins
Sausser Farms has added a big, ugly disclaimer to the “Bulletin Board” page of its website. It states:
Disclaimer:
1. Sausser Farms reserves to the right to limit quantities of produce due to insects, disease, acts of God, acts of nature, mechanical failures, insufficient labor, delivery challenges, logistical challenges, communication challenges and/or any other conditions that may occur.
2. Sausser Farms will do its very best to insure that you receive your allotted shares, but will not be held responsible for any loss (financial, food, or anything else) you may incur due to the conditions mentioned above (#1).
I pulled a google cache of the page that was taken on May 19th, and the disclaimer wasn’t on the page then.
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guest
The blacksburg store didn't even open friday! No notice or anything
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Steve Jenkins
Paul Sausser, who now runs Sausser Farms, served jail time and paid restitution for a 2002 criminal conviction for writing bad checks in Pennsylvania.
After serving 3 months in jail, a judge sentenced him to 3 years probation, and the prosecution agreed to drop other charges that included “theft of services and theft by deception.”
He violated probation in 2006 when he failed to pay restitution, fines and court costs of $16,967, and he was sentenced to another 3 years probation.
As usual, he had an excuse – it was due to a messy divorce.
His probation ended in November 2009, and he bought the farm in Phenix, VA in December 2009.
His occupation in Pennsylvania was listed as a home builder, but he advertises himself as a 3rd generation farmer here.
How does that work? My grandfather was a farmer. If I decide to become a farmer, does that make me a 3rd generation farmer?
The Roanoke Times has the story.
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Vagopher
Rumor has it that Paul Sausser is working for Clayton Bryant Land Company out of Appomattox, VA. Put the heat on em..
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Moonskins
paul sausser is now in appomattox, growing and selling veggies.. on land owned by clayton bryant
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an insider
Paul is a hardworking man who farmed after working all day. So go on with your assumptions. None of you know what you are talking about
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D
Paul Sausser may be a hardworkiing man, but so am I, and he owes me money for work I performed while employed by him. I know of at least 3 other guys, who worked for him, framing houses in PA, who are also owed wages. This dates back to 1994. It appears that he leaves a trail of debt behind him wherever he goes. Somehow, it’s never “his fault.”
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Steve Jenkins
When signing up for the Sausser Farms Co-op, I was told that I’d get 12 ears of corn each week during corn season. Homestead Creamery stated that their vegetables would include 12 ears with each share box, too.
There was a notice on the [Sausser Farms website](http://www.sausserfarms.com “Sausser Farms”) stating that we won’t get any corn this year because the corn crop died due to the heat and the lack of rain.
The corn is toast! The high heat and lack of rain have put an end to the corn. We had to plow under 15 acres of corn. While we use drip irrigation on just about all of our other produce, we don’t with the corn. We are extremly dissapointed about losing all that corn.
It has been hot and dry, but some local farmers have had corn. Magnolia Market in Buena Vista [announced on July 2nd](http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=135337883146115&ref=ts#!/group.php?gid=110242532321363&v=wall&story_fbid=139765782702371&ref=mf “Magnolia Market”) that a local had dropped off some corn. [This week](http://blogs.roanoke.com/sosalem/2010/07/14/lots-of-fresh-produce-on-the-salem-farmers-market/), local farmers at the Salem Farmers Market have sweet corn available. Several local farmers had sweet corn available at the Roanoke Farmers market on [July 1st](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roanoke-VA/The-Historic-City-Market/42393313870#!/video/video.php?v=898989959813&ref=mf). The Charlottesville city market has had corn since at least [June 24th](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Charlottesville-VA/Charlottesville-City-Market/90079662898). An [article in the Madison County Eagle](http://www2.madison-news.com/mce/news/local/article/mc_farmers_fight_weather/58233/#When:19:00:19Z) on July 15th said that “the corn still looks beautiful and soy beans do too.”
It sounds like Sausser Farms’ corn was planted late. If they were planning to provide us with corn each week of the corn season, shouldn’t they have staggered their plantings?
According to an [article at N.C. State](http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/plymouth/cropsci/docs/late_planted_corn.html), the period from July 1st to July 20th is most likely to be dry and hot in Virginia and North Carolina, and corn should be planted so that silking occurs at least a week after this period.
Long-term weather records show that the period from 1 July to 20 July is the most likely to experience lower rainfall amounts, higher average temperatures, and high humidity. Therefore, late-planted corn should be planted so that silking occurs at least a week after the end of this period. When using an early maturing hybrid, growers should plant from 10 June until 25 June to avoid this period and still have a reasonable harvest date. After 25 June, the reduced number of growing degree days will result in a severe delay in harvest with an increasing chance of freeze damage before the crop matures.
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Steve Jenkins
I’m not sure why, but I went ahead and filled out the Sausser Farms survey for this week. I’ll try again this Saturday. Maybe I’ll get some okra that I can use in a gumbo.
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Steve Jenkins
We received 2 vegetable boxes from Homestead Creamery, but they only charged us for one, because the quality and selection of vegetables they received from Sausser Farms weren’t all that great.
We signed up to buy one 5lb Option A box and one 5lb Option B box each week.
Option A is supposed to be a combination of potatoes, tomatoes, onions, squash, and herbs.
Option B is supposed to be a combination of cucumbers, egg plant, greens, string/pole beans, broccoli, and zucchini.
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Steve Jenkins
I went to the Roanoke Farmer’s Market this morning hoping that I could pick up my vegetable share today from Sausser Farms. The Sausser Farms representative was there, but there was also a fairly long line that never seemed to move.
We were asked to fill out a survey indicating which box of vegetables we wanted by 4pm the day before we planned to pickup our vegetables and to bring it with us. I did so, but the the vegetables weren’t boxed. The Sausser Farms representative was weighing each customer’s choices, which really slowed the whole process down.
I don’t understand why we’re asked to complete a survey if they’re not planning to pack the boxes. It’s not like they aren’t able to pack the boxes, because they already provide packed boxes of vegetables to Homestead Creamery. The pre-packaged boxes would really speed up the line.
My wife wanted to eat lunch before she went to work today, so I couldn’t wait in line any longer, but the day wasn’t a total loss. I bought some sausage, bacon, and a boston butt from [Sandy River Pork](http://www.sandyriverpork.com/content/pages/products.php “Sandy River Pork Website”)
Sandy River Hot Pork Sausage
Sandy River Pork's Bacon
Sandy River Pork Boston Butt
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Steve Jenkins
Here’s the survey we were asked to complete this week.
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Rebecca
I completed and submitted the survey and showed up to pick up my vegetables at 8:30 AM this morning (expecting a line, I arrived early). I waited until 10 AM and no one showed up. Will the boxes that I ordered for today be there tomorrow?
The Saussers are in way over their heads…if you are going to sell 6,000 shares (which grossed them $210,000), you need to be prepared to deal with 6,000 relationships. They should have a full-time employee to answer phones/emails. When I call to discuss a problem, I expect to (a) be able to speak with an adult who can answer my questions; or (b) have my call returned by such an adult — all I ever get is the Sausser's children who either can't answer my questions or make things up. Emails go unanswered. And now…when you call on the phone, the line just rings and rings and never goes to an answering machine.
I would like to believe that the Saussers are acting in good faith, but I am beginning to have my doubts.
I certainly hope the Saussers will offer to reimburse my unused shares at the end of the season. I am fed up!
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