I love cooking

And so it is … not good! The impromptu quickie research we did last week about online readers’ views on food brands revealed more bad and ugly than good. Fascinating was the fact that even though we asked for comments on ‘food brands’ and ‘brand experiences’, we received comments about only one food brand, Ultra Mel Custard (* See end of post). The rest of the comments were about food retailers and two of those giants only received comments flagged as ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’.

Ironically, started by ‘consumer friend’ Raymond Ackerman, Pick ‘n Pay got the most flak. Ugly flak. Comments flew in about their bad service, bad attitude and in general, unfriendly and un-co-operative staffers. Readers rated shopping there as a bad experience.

Not surprisingly Fruit ‘n Veg City following closely. Readers were commenting on the lack of service, lack of attention to detail, bad service and here, bad produce came into the picture. Readers were even complaining about branded products on the shelves having gone off or still for sale after its sell-by or expiry dates.

But not a single negative comment landed in our inbox about our best housekeeping partner, Woollies. Instead, readers had glowing comments about their staff’s friendliness, professionalism, caring and efficient attitude. Checkers also received hearty comments and even their cousin Shoprite received a few good ovations.

Significantly, online readers regard food retailers as ‘food brands’. This is something that the people who run our large food retailers should hear: they are our brand- and housekeeping partners! And they need to understand that the human experience is not only about what we eat or drink or sit on or what we drive around in or how much and what we indulge in or how we jump from bridges or gamble or risk for thrills. The most fundamental human experience is to have a relationship and most events in our daily lives revolve around a continuous string of relationships with people we are having human experiences with – at that time. Even if it is putting petrol in the car, for those few minutes, we are having a relationship and sharing an experience with another human being – a significant other human being as he is assisting us in achieving our goal to travel from point A to point Z! And the same goes for the supermarket cashier who bangs our new mugs and crushes our packet of crisps and squashes our fresh crispy bread and bumps and shatters our fragile glass noodles and does not tender our chip credit card back and who should be glad is not near us a few days later when we are unable to pay for lunch with our best friend and why? Because the cashier is not having a good human experience with her boss and her job! So the relationship between us and that cashier is dysfunctional and like all dysfunctional relationships, the end result is and experience in which we lost something: time, money, dignity, temper, patience, pleasure, joy, peace … name it, you will have lost something.

So, how can food retailers improve on the shopping experience? In a word: training. They should spend time and effort in investing in their people and the improvement of their skills – including social and people-handling skills. Here is what makes Woollies different and way ahead of the pack: their staff. Yes, we all know about their quality but it would mean pie nothing if their staff were not smartly dressed, clean, friendly, energetic, intelligent, helpful, and above all, makes us feel relevant. Even the cashiers make me feel that my purchases are relevant as they pack it with care and thought and intelligence and logic and nothing is broken or squashed when I get home. Relevant: that is the human yearning – to feel relevant and something as ordinary as food shopping is not free from this human expectation.

When we walk into a food store we are charged with all sorts of emotions and intentions. We have our after-tax money in our pockets and we have a heart full of desire to care for our loved ones. We want to buy well and wisely and we want to feel that we are relevant in the store’s wellbeing as we are … after all dammit, the geese that lay the golden eggs with our golden chip cards!

Although we are a nation of moaners we often moan in private or to people who cannot change the situation. But the point of this whole exercise is to get you to complain! To complain in the right way to the right person is the only way to achieve change and improvement of service and produce.

So it’s time to enhance our consumer skills and here is how to do it (and not to) when you have something to complain about.

Here is my list of do’s and don’ts and as you may have gathered, I really know my oats and the ropes when it comes to consumer complaints that work!  Click here:   http://ilovecooking.co.za/blog/?p=152

And the best comments came from Janine van Houten and K Naidu (do you have a first name?) – gift vouchers on their way already – my personal compliments enjoy! 

(*) These were actually good comments as many readers were complaining that they cannot find Ultra Mel in store. One commented: “Our family’s emotional security blanket has been discontinued”! I get it the outcry … removing this dreamy custard from our store shelves is like removing cheese, coffee or chocolates from our lives!