Am I a Sell-Out?
Several weeks ago, I was shopping at my local Safeway. I'm not sure why, but I decided to look at all the things in the freezer section, just to see what was out there. I came across these "Garlic Fingers with Cheese" product by McCain, an decided to give them a try. (After all, who can say "no" to anything with garlic and cheese?) About a week later, I decided to try them.As you might imagine, they weren't quite what I expected. Somehow the box made them look better, as did the words McCain chose to use. My disappointment sparked a feedback letter to McCain:
When I made it, I have to say I was extremely disappointed at what you claim to be "Garlic Fingers with Cheese".
First, when I opened the package, I thought I had the wrong product inside because they were not cut.
After preparing them, I was shocked at the lack of what I thought would be a featured ingredient: garlic. Myself and my friend could not even taste any garlic! There was also a serious lack of cheese (the second featured ingredient).
At any rate, I am most dissatisfied, and I can assure you that I will spread the word at how terrible this product is. I may be out $5, but if I have it my way, no one else will be. I will also be talking to the manager at Safeway requesting that they drop this product due to false advertising.
Today, in the mail, I received a response:
This letter is is response to your recent note concerning our McCain garlic fingers with cheese.
Please be assured that we maintain a Quality Assurance program which we believe to be second to none in the food processing industry. We have notified both our Quality and Production Departments of this incident.
Thank you for bring this matter to our attention, as it is through such comments that we learn of possible shortcomings in our operations, and we are able to take corrective action as necessary.
Please accept our sincere apologies. We appreciate your taking the time and trouble to let us know of your dissatisfaction. If you have any further questions or concerns please contact me.
Sincerely,
McCain Foods (Canada)
A Division of McCain Foods Limited
Mona St Amand
Consumer Services
Enclosed in the letter were two coupons: one for a FREE 1kg Regular French Fries (any cut), and the other for a FREE Rising Crust Pizza (Family Size). Now, am I selling out if I cash in these free goodies? I'll be eating food from a company who has already insulted my taste-buds once. Do I risk it again? I think I would have preferred a cheque for $5 or something. What do I do? Help me, Obi Wan, you're my only hope!
Comments
An economist would say that you are losing only by not using them. In spirit, those Regular French Fries and Rising Crust Pizza are already bought, so you might as well eat them. The only risk is if you think you might want to eat more of these products after having sampled them at no cost. If so, I suggest you donate the coupons to a needy, hungry friend and help improve your fellow man's welfare. - Luke, Friday, July 25, 2003 Update: even if these things had lots of cheese and garlic, they would still suck. I can't believe the only way this product becomes "fingers" is if you cut them yourself! And it's not easy to cut! Mike cooked up the second one in the box, adding a bunch of *real* garlic and *real* cheese. It just goes to show you that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. (Or get your roommate to do it.) - Patrick, Tuesday, July 29, 2003 you are no sell out.. you purchased the product with all the hopes of cheese and garlic and didn't get it. Woo hoo. If the garlic cheese finger people are dumb enough to give you free food after you complained about their food entitles you to take as much as you can from them eithout feeling guilty. And you didn't sell out. One person wouldn't have made a difference about the fingers anyway. - caity, Friday, August 1, 2003 My understanding of the purpose of a complaint letter is to get a company to correct their mistake. You would hope that they would fix their product. However, sending you free stuff is a good way to reimburse you of you expenses as well as pain and suffering. From you description of the fingers, it sounds like there was a lot of pain and suffering to account for. It the fries and hope for a speedy recovery. - Luna, Tuesday, August 5, 2003 with your rising crust pizza coupon dont buy the hawaiian - karen, Tuesday, August 19, 2003 i agree. use the coupons. because one product sucks and some other dont doesn't mean you should throw away "semi" free food. - amanda, Wednesday, June 8, 2005 |  |
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