Customer Service

On our last visit to the local membership style warehouse store we bought a case of Nalley's chili.  When opening the first can, we immediately noticed a big change in the product.  What used to be a thick chili, was now runny and (quite frankly) gross!  Looking at the label, it is obvious that the recipe had been changed.  Beans used to be the first ingredient listed.  Now it is water.  We were really displeased.

In fact, I was perturbed enough to contact the company about my discontent.  I went online and wrote to them.

Within one day I had an e-mail response, apologizing for my disappointment and promising a check had been put in the mail to compensate me for the product I had purchased.  Within a week I had the check in hand, for $15.00.

I was really rather impressed!  I am still not thrilled about the change in the recipe, and won't be buying any more in the near future, but I was favorably impressed with a company that cares about customer opinion enough to respond so quickly and decisively to a complaint.  Well done, Pinnacle Foods (parent company of Nalley)!

On the other side of the spectrum...

Yesterday, I accidentally left my cell phone on the treadmill at the gym.  (Note to self: STOP taking your cell phone with you to the gym!!!)  I realized my mistake the moment I got home and quickly called the gym to see if anyone had taken it to the front desk.  No one had.  The girl on the phone quickly volunteered to go down to the cardio room and look for it.  She said to call back in 10 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, I call back.  I got a different girl this time.  I asked if my phone had been found.  I was told that no one had turned one in.  I explained that someone had volunteered to go look for it.  After a pause, she came back on the line and said that my phone hadn't been found and I should call back in the evening to see if it had turned up.

Now, I am not the type to leave it at that.  Truthfully, I once accidentally threw my phone away along with the paper towel I had used to wipe down the equipment (seriously gotta stop taking it with me!).  Knowing I could have done the same stupid manoever, I decided I'd best go back to the gym and search for it myself.

When I got there I found my cell phone just sitting in plain sight on the front of the treadmill, right where I'd left it!  Which means, of course, that the girls at the front desk hadn't really gone to look for it at all.  The cardio room is not huge.  The phone was not hard to spot, sitting on an empty machine.  So, really, why bother offering to look if you aren't going to do it?  And then why lie about it when I call back?  Grr!

As a side note, the lap lane schedule for the pool at the gym is out dated.  I asked if they have a new copy, but was told the out dated one was just fine (by the same girls, I might add).  I explained that the old schedule is not just fine, because it is inaccurate.  Where it says there are 3 lap lanes open and available, there is actually only one available because the others have recently been taken up by swim teams and a triathlon class (that I plan to join sometime soon, I hope).  It is not a huge deal.  It would just be good to know, since it impacts my decisions about when to train in the pool.  I will probably shift my workout times now, so that I can go at a time when the lanes are less crowded.  Her response?  'Oh. Sorry.'

OK.  Fix the schedule then, please!  Of course, the girls at the front desk are just lowly teenagers who have no actual authority to do anything to the schedule.  I'll have to write to the gym manager about getting an updated schedule printed out.