I don't know if it was Mimi I talked to or not. All I know is, when I called the toll-free number that was on my package of brown rice, a very nice woman answered and was most helpful about the problem. The problem? As I told her, "Ma'am, I haven't even had a chance to open this package yet and there are little bitty moth-looking bugs walking around inside like they owned the place."She took it in stride, especially after I explained to her that while I'd had all kinds of rice over the years, for some reason, brown rice was a new experience for me. Most certainly having active flying insects messing around in it was, shall we say, uncommon in my sheltered upbringing.
After explaining a bit about how "bugs happen" in spite of precautions and stressing that brown rice needs to be stored in the refrigerator or the freezer, she promised to send me a coupon to replace the moth-invaded package, along with related information. In today's mail I found a lovely big envelope containing a Thank You letter from Mimi -- who may or may not be the woman I talked to -- and a packet of assorted goodies. There was a coupon for a free bag of rice plus a couple of dollar-off coupons. There was a nutritional pamphlet and -- oh joy -- a recipe booklet crammed with what look to be really great brown rice recipes.
Chinese Brown Rice Chicken Salad. Cranberry Brown Rice Dressing. Brown Rice and Black Bean Burrito. Brown Rice Apple Crisp. Those are just a few that caught my eye while skimming. I will definitely be trying them out.
I just love it when big companies treat their customers like they care. This company? Riviana, out of Houston, Texas. They do brands like River, Mahatma, Water Maid, Carolina and S&W, the latter being the one I see around here.
Two thumbs up, Riviana. You have class, not to mention a classy lady named Mimi helping to put your best foot forward.
7 comments:
Don'cha just love it when the big guys come through as they ought?
A lovely encounter like that restores your faith in the system.
Yes indeed, Wendy! Yes indeed, John! When you think of all the people involved, from farm to kitchen shelf, and all the opportunities to screw it up, it's totally refreshing and affirming to have it work out so fine.
I often call companies to report good or bad products or services. I have never been treated badly and end up with coupons/recipes or samples.
I just passed on a recipe for cornbread that I have been baking for years to a friend taken from a Calumet baking powder booklet that I requested probably some time back in the 50s. I have many of these little treasures which not only provide great recipes, but sort of a history of my cooking life. I have some that belonged to my mom too.
Ava
Boy I best be checking my box of brown rice cause it's not in the frig. Plus I haven't made any in quite awhile. :-)
Customer service. That's it in a nutshell. Word of mouth goes a long way in these days of blogs.
My friend Jonna had a very bitter experience with Hormel:
I made one of those pre-seasoned little Hormel pork roasts last night, and was disgusted when I cut into it. Not only was it tender to the point of practically being pork-flavored jello, it had these little holes that looked like air pockets, like if you sliced it thin in a deli, it would look much like Swiss cheese. It didn't smell like
regular pork while roasting, didn't taste like regular pork, the
consistency was so soft it was nasty, and the muscle tissue looked ALL wrong. I figured it was genetically-engineered, so I emailed Hormel to ask them. This is what they're doing to our pork products (not to mention, they use a chemical now to separate beef from the hide, rather than skinning it)...this is what you're eating when you eat one of their little roasts, and we wonder why we're all coming down with cancers of all kinds:
Mrs X,
Thank you for contacting us regarding Always Tender products.
The meat is not genetically engineered. The Always Tender brand was developed several years ago and it is a patented solution that is
injected into the meat for tenderizing and flavoring.
If you do not care for the texture of this item I would suggest
purchasing fresh pork such as the Natural Choice label. Any product
with the Always Tender label will be injected.
We hope you will continue to use the many Hormel Foods products
available in your area. I will be sending you some complimentary coupons for the inconvenience
this has caused.
Nancy
Consumer Response Specialist
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Needless to say, my friend wasn't happy to get coupons for more of the product she didn't like!
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