Writing to a food packaging company got results

Knight

Knight

Well-known Member
I emailed a company that packages & sells white asparagus. Brief email with a picture. This is what I wrote.

I opened a 12oz. bottle of white asparagus spears today and found the tops a moldy brown color. I didn't dare eat them because of how they looked. I took pictures & attached them to this email. What do you think caused the moldy brown color?

Their response

Thu, Nov 03 at 12:42 PM

Dear Customer,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding our products.

Your message has been received and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Customer Care Team
**********************
I thought their soon as possible was taking to long so I emailed them again and asked if they thought the F D A would have better luck explaining what could have happened to the asparagus. As a kindness to them I included the contact email address of the FDA. 3 hours after sending them that email I got this response.

Thu, Nov 17 at 12:23 PM
Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting our Customer Care Team! We are grateful that you have brought this matter to our attention and we apologize for the delay.

Customer satisfaction & safety are our top priorities and we aim for our products to reflect that principle. We pride ourselves in keeping our customers satisfied. We were sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with our Asparagus Spears.

We would like to assure you that our Quality Control procedures and policies are very stringent. Thank you for providing me with the lot code stamped on your product so that we can look into this.

Please accept our most sincere apologies for any inconvenience you’ve gone through. We deeply value your loyalty as one of our customers. In order to assure quality customer care, we would like to send you a refund check for your troubles. We will have this processed right away.

All the best,

Customer Care Team
 

Don't ya just love those uniform standardized replies? I've written to many companies about being displeased with something and I swear they all reply using the same carefully worded form letter. We were sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with...bla, bla, bla. But it usually gets me a coupon for my trouble anyway. :rolleyes:
 
A few years ago when I used to make my own bread I bought a large pack of Walmart brand all purpose flour.
When I opened it and took some out to measure I discovered several tiny bugs.
I could not find a Best By date on it but bought it anyway. So I took it back to Walmart to report and get a refund.

The person who did the refund wasn't one bit interested in the bugs. She just set it aside with the rest of the returns.
I wasn't happy about that and told her something should be done about the rest of the stock on the shelf.
I then emailed Walmart with the story and complaint that the rest of the bags should be removed from shelf immediately.

Within an hour I got an email from a lawyer who apologized for the incident and 'was there anything they could do for me'
I wasn't exactly sure what they meant by that so just let it go.
About a week later I get another email from the same lawyer with pretty much the same message.
Once again I just ignored but often wondered what Walmart was afraid of when they got their lawyers involved and what I should have done about it.

How would you have handled it ??
 
Mizmo said:
How would you have handled it ??
Click to expand...
I would have used the flour since those little black bugs that don't have much protein value wouldn't bother me once baked. While living in Puerto Rico finding black bugs in flour was common, no big deal then so now it wouldn't be for me.

As an aside to finding something black in food. When 1st. married my wife followed her mother in washing & rinsing rice. I thought it was to reduce the excess starch. That was one reason. The other is because my MIL bought rice from a small store that stored the rice in a barrel. She explained that mice droppings were in that rice so washing it was always best.
 
Knight said:
I would have used the flour since those little black bugs that don't have much protein value wouldn't bother me once baked. While living in Puerto Rico finding black bugs in flour was common, no big deal then so now it wouldn't be for me.
Click to expand...

My question was regarding the offer made by the lawyer...
 
Since the lawyer was nice enough to email you twice, I would have thought you'd make certain he was assured that the matter was taken care of when you received your refund. Your letter to the company was after you returned the flour, and the attorney's office may not have realized the issue was finalized. They are very sensitive about being sued these days.
 

Writing to a food packaging company got results​


I've written letters
Some, form letter replies
But, a few with direct replies
One invited me to attend and speak at the quarterly regional marketing event
Never took the offer, but they said they read my letter to the managers

I think it pays to write a letter
One with pointed, direct info in clear, crisp (non tirade) dialogue
 
Lewkat said:
Since the lawyer was nice enough to email you twice, I would have thought you'd make certain he was assured that the matter was taken care of when you received your refund. Your letter to the company was after you returned the flour, and the attorney's office may not have realized the issue was finalized. They are very sensitive about being sued these days.
Click to expand...

My initial email explained the situation completely and I am sure the lawyers would have had my email in hand so I did not feel any need to reply to lawyer. To me it was an acknowledgment plus that question. My question was how to answer his question as to what he could do for me.....

Funny thing...at the time it happened I showed this email to some of my friends and they all had the same answer...they did not quite know what he could do for me other than perhaps supply me with flour for the rest of my life:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

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