Contacting food companies

[Fat Guy]

A post by GlorifiedRice got me thinking: I have occasionally contacted food companies (I mean like cereal and snack food manufacturers with customer service departments, not some small producer where the owner answers the phone), either via their customer service phone numbers or via email, and it seems most or all of the time I receive some empty-headed, useless response. Has anybody else had this experience, or the opposite, or something else?

[Pam R]

I contact companies all the time for business. Usually by email. I get all types of responses - from nothing at all, to very helpful, detailed answers.

There are a couple of companies that I've emailed a couple of times, received nothing in return and followed it up with a phone call. You can often get a faster response with a phone call.

[srhcb]

I've always had very good luck with customer service calls and emails. Whether I had complaints, suggestions or odd questions I've nearly always been satisfied with the responses, plus, I've often received coupons and gift certificates without asking.

Of course, I'm a real interesting person to talk to, which probably helps.

SB (currently having an interesting exchange with Applebees Restaurants about their coffee service)

[GlorifiedRice]

A post by GlorifiedRice got me thinking: I have occasionally contacted food companies (I mean like cereal and snack food manufacturers with customer service departments, not some small producer where the owner answers the phone), either via their customer service phone numbers or via email, and it seems most or all of the time I receive some empty-headed, useless response. Has anybody else had this experience, or the opposite, or something else?

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OMG! I feel special, I was mentioned in another post! lol

Anyway, I frequently call companies 1-800 numbers and compliment them or complain, and they all send me coupons for dollars off or FREE merch.

Its the best thing ever! In one point in the early 1990s I had 10 Coupons for FREE OnCor frozen entrees and thats not from complaining thats just from calling up and demanding coupons! I literally called and said, "Can I have some coupons for free entrees?" And I recieved them.

So Fat Guy?

Here is the phone number to Frito Lay, call and complain that you cant find Munchos and you'll get free coupons:

1-800-352-4477

Monday - Friday

9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Central Standard Time

Im the loopy, nutty version of Martha Stewart!

[markk]

I've had mixed results.

Some years ago there was somebody who bottled a Pasta Sauce entirely without sugar (cannot remember the brand) - it was one in their line of pasta sauces. Within a year or so it disappeared from the shelves, and the stores told me it was discontinued. So I called the manufacturer to complain. And the woman said basically, "Well, personally I agree with you completely - I think that overly-sugared tomato sauces are disgusting, but.... I have to tell you that apparently most of the American shopping public doesn't agree with us - that one sauce sold 1/10th of what our other sauces sold, and we had to discontinue it, unfortunately." She did offer, and did send me, many coupons to try their other sauces, though I didn't use them after reading the labels.

Then there was the time I contacted ShopRite supermarkets (it's a thread somewhere here) because I bought a container of Cherry Juice from Bulgaria, and when I got home and looked up the ingredients (listed as "e-numbers" in Europe), I found that 2 of them were substances banned in the US for health reasons. So I wrote to ShopRite from its website to say what had happened, and that I wanted to know how they could possibly be purchasing and re-selling foods with banned, illegal additives, and an agent wrote back "We'd like you to know that we maintain quality control programs to insure that our customers receive high quality programs at all times.. Providing our customers wth wholesome foods is a high priority for staff at ShopRite. We want to assure you that our buyers and Quality Assurance staff continually monitor the products we offer for our customers to ensure they comply with Federal Regulations."

And I replied that only an idiot could have sent me that response, as I had just reported purchasing an item that most certainly did not comply with Federal Regulations at all. (I found this episode completely unacceptable and lost confidence in shopping there.)

Primarily though, when I report unsatisfactory product purchases, they send me lots of coupons, telling me they're sure that the one I got was a fluke, and inviting me to try them again at not cost, which is fair enough.

[DCP]

My experience can be summed up as 'canned responses and form letters.' I've contacted food companies for issues ranging from quality decline to mislabeling, and the responses are form letters, coupons, or both.

When the issue was one of a change in quality, the companies claimed that:

* They can't do anything about it; we're just the importer (Melissa's)

* It must have been a fluke (Haagen-Dazs; Earthbound Farms)

* It must have happened in the distribution chain (Zone Nutrition)

. . . and (in most cases) by the way, here are some coupons to get more.

With labeling inconsistencies, they said:

* We know, but it takes time to get the new bags printed (GeniSoy) [And it took over 9 months to see the change]

* You must be mistaken (Trader Joe's) [Later proven wrong by a third-party analysis]

. . . and again, sometimes, "here are some coupons to shut you up."

Never does anyone promise to look into and resolve a problem - just attempts to placate me with additional gratis or discounted products.

Sadly, the situation seems to be a general one in customer service: a recent glowing letter to Clarks USA about one of their employees was met with coupons. Thanks, but no - I want the outstanding employee to be rewarded, not myself.

[Porthos]

A post by GlorifiedRice got me thinking: I have occasionally contacted food companies (I mean like cereal and snack food manufacturers with customer service departments, not some small producer where the owner answers the phone), either via their customer service phone numbers or via email, and it seems most or all of the time I receive some empty-headed, useless response. Has anybody else had this experience, or the opposite, or something else?

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Several years ago I bit down an a piece of chicken bone in a frozen meal I was eating for lunch. I saved the bone and let it dry out and then sealed it in plastic. I wrote a non-threatening letter to the maker telling them I had been able to confirm they used real chicken meat and included the chicken bone. My only goal was to get some product-replacement coupons. I got 2 in the mail along with a page-long form letter detailing their quaility control procedures. I laughed at the letter and used the coupon to get 2 lunches.

[plk]

This was quite a while back, but I remember an assignment in my 9th grade economics class where we each had to write a formal letter of complaint to a company whose product we were dissatisfied with. We'd each send in our letters, get experience being responsible consumers, and find out how companies deal with complaints. One smart kid wrote to Nike and ended up getting a replacement pair of shoes. Me? I wrote to some company that produced single servings of orange juice in a box. I complained that despite the juice being well within its purchase date, it tasted off and stale, like an old vitamin C tablet. To my embarrassment (I was a shy kid), I received a very nice letter in return, apologizing for the product. I also received a big flat of more juice boxes, which tasted just as bad. I did not send another letter.

I'm not sure if complaint letters today work like they did in 1990. I wouldn't assume that email gets you very far with anyone, and talking over the phone just doesn't have the same impact. But I think more people are apt to try calling under the assumption that you might be able to argue your way to what you want.

[GlorifiedRice]

Then there was the time I contacted ShopRite supermarkets (it's a thread somewhere here) because I bought a container of Cherry Juice from Bulgaria, and when I got home and looked up the ingredients (listed as "e-numbers" in Europe), I found that 2 of them were substances banned in the US for health reasons. So I wrote to ShopRite from its website to say what had happened, and that I wanted to know how they could possibly be purchasing and re-selling foods with banned, illegal additives,

I have to say that Im kind of miffed at the banning of food items in this supposedly FREE country.

They ban some things cause they MIGHT cause cancer, yet cigarettes are still legal.

Birth control does occasionally cause blood clots and death, yet Cyclamates are still banned here??

Those little Konnyaku Jel Cups were banned cause kids choked on them but the blocks of Konnyaku are still allowed in?

The Kombucha Mushroom has made some people ill yet its legal and isnt some types of Parma Ham illegal cause of the curing process?

RIDICULOUS!

I say let everything in, yet with Warning Lables!

Let the American People decide like we are supposed to if we are FREE!

PS- Kids can choke on ANYTHING! Are they gonna ban everything?

[Beanie]

I often contact companies for business, usually by email with mixed results. Awhile back, the pastry forum had several threads going at once about pie crusts, pie fillings, different types of thickeners, etc. A few people suggested using a certain thickener, which was available from one of my suppliers, but I wasn't sure how to use it. I wrote to the manufacturer, Food Innovations, through its web site asking for advice.

Within 2 hours I received a lengthy response that not only answered my question, but provided advice on the use of different thickening products for different types of applications, such as whether the pie fillings were precooked or not, whether the pies were frozen or not before or after baking etc. The customer service rep even discussed the implications of certain products on ingredient labeling. For example, some thickeners are supposed to be described as "modified food starch" on ingredient labels, while others could be described simply as "cornstarch." (I was surprised to learn about the different types of cornstarch for different applications.) We had one or two similar exchanges that day. About a week later, a UPS truck arrived at my shop delivering free samples (1 lb each) of several products that had been recommended. I've never received such personal service from any supplier and continue to be in awe of this company.

[DesertTinker]

I emailed Foster Farms at 3 pm today (Friday) with a couple questions about one of their chicken products. I received my non-form letter reply in less than an hour, answered my questions and then some. Didn't expect to get more than an auto response, if that, before Monday.

[Kent Wang]

I once emailed Billington's complimenting them on their excellent sugars and asked if I could be an "ambassador" for their products in the US. No response. Anyone have any luck trying that out? I admit that I didn't have high expectations for them to accept my offer.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I wrote a letter to Lu Biscuits. I was desperately in love with their Pim's Pear cookie which seems to have been discontinued in the states (although at the time it was still available in Canada).

I got sent a handful of gift-certificates for some of their products but no acknowledgment of my loss. Perusing their website now, it seems that America has been given a Pim's Chocolate Mousse and Canada has been given a Pim's Cherry (both still have orange and raspberry).

No more pear....

[prasantrin]

Way back in the '80s, (mid-late '80s), an acquaintance wrote a letter to Kraft Canada complaining about their Kraft Dinner (aka Kraft Macaroni and Cheese) boxes being impossible to open without scattering the macaroni everywhere. She got a nice letter back from them, some coupons, and a $10 cheque! She was only 12 at the time, but the incident made quite an impression on her.

She's also the reason why MuchMusic in Canada has (had?) the show "Too Much for Much?".

[DCP]

I wrote to the manufacturer, Food Innovations, through its web site asking for advice.

Within 2 hours I received a lengthy response that not only answered my question, but provided advice on the use of different thickening products for different types of applications, such as whether the pie fillings were precooked or not, whether the pies were frozen or not before or after baking etc. The customer service rep even discussed the implications of certain products on ingredient labeling. For example, some thickeners are supposed to be described as "modified food starch" on ingredient labels, while others could be described simply as "cornstarch."  (I was surprised to learn about the different types of cornstarch for different applications.) We had one or two similar exchanges that day. About a week later, a UPS truck arrived at my shop delivering free samples (1 lb each) of several products that had been recommended.  I've never received such personal service from any supplier and continue to be in awe of this company.

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That's the kind of excellent service that hooks and keeps me as a customer. It's a shame that it's become so uncommon that it elicits such strong responses from us. I can count the number of times a similar incident has occurred to me on one hand, though.

[Peter B Wolf]

I have more then once written to manufacturers . One that stands out more then others is

Gebr. Abraham GmbH

Seevetal factory

Brookdamm 21

21217 Seevetal

Tel. 01149 / 40 / 768 00 50

Fax 01149 / 40 / 768 78 94

E-Mail: info@abraham.de & info@abraham-usa.com URL http://www.abraham-usa.com/

This well known Company is one of the largest producers of German Hams.

It is one of only two (to my knowledge) licensed exporters of

German Genuine Black Forest Ham ( Schwarzwaelder Schinken ).

Any pork products from German raised pigs and slaughtered in Germany are not permitted for import into the US.

Abraham’s products are from Danish raised Sows, Swine, Pigs and processed in Germany to rigid standards for the above mentioned Ham. Those so raised are permitted into the US.

As always I stand corrected

I have no idea why in the world would anyone producing a product with pride and originality change the products world renowned name/description “ Schwarzwaelder Schinken “ to

“ German Prosciutto Ham “ and then market and merchandise it in The US., and at that at ‘SAMs Club’ ( here only 12 ounce pre sliced “ German Prosciutto Ham “ )

Their website distinctly mentions/advertises particular ‘name’ products, but when inquiring to its availability and source here in the States, the German website responds to me by saying I should contact their US website. All done, no one gives me any satisfactory answer.

I am writing back to them once more, with reference to Steven Shaw’s original posting :

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=104121

Maybe this will draw their attention, when getting International mention at eGullet

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=home & http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=idx