Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Why Customer Service Matters.

I just had the  most pleasant customer service experience I think I've ever had and it truly warrants a blog post and a free plug of this company. I am thoroughly impressed because I think customer service in general has fallen off of the radar.

Bryce eats a large serving daily of HappyBellies probiotic organic oatmeal. It is a "trendy" baby cereal designed for younger babies, but he likes it and consumes enough of it for the probiotics to be helpful. It is very expensive but worth every penny.

Last week Bryce had nearly finished off a can and Brad opened up a new can. The new can was very much off-color and so we didn't use it. I intended to just return it to Target and figured it was a fluke. We bought another can, from the same Target, and when we opened it up, it too was off-color. It appeared as though it had pepper in it and just didn't look "right".

I am pleased to say that when I called Happy Baby Foods this morning I got the most pleasant customer service representative. I explained why I was calling and Andre asked if the expiry on the can was June of 2012. Well indeed, the expiration of both cans is June 2012. Happy Baby is aware of the problem and all of those cans were supposed to have been pulled from the shelves. They had not properly received the nitrogen treatment that eliminates the oxygen in the product, so the cereal oxidized. It's safe to eat, but off color, much like a cut avocado turns brown, this cereal turned brown.  Happy Baby Foods is sending me replacement cans via Fed Ex.

This is why customer service matters-it builds product loyalty. I will shamelessly plug this company and continue to purchase it's  products. I will email them and tell them how pleasant their employee was and how nice it is that they are sending replacement product.

*added content* I should note that I regularly call various food companies, art supply companies, vitamin companies, etc, to find out what's in their products. I called Gerber/Good Start/Nestle when Bryce's soy formula for older babies started disappearing from store shelves last year. Let's just say they were less than helpful. I switched brands. Customer service matters when you're someone like me who constantly has to call companies for pertinent information about their products.

2 comments:

  1. katie can't do probiotics based on the trace amounts of dairy or soy. i haven't found one she can tolerate that is readily available. does bryce react to them at all? i am working on a 100% rye sourdough starter that should have many of the same probiotic benefits of yogurt or kefir. we'll see what happens. we're big health nuts (as hubby is on a trip to taco bell :blush:), and i'm working on sprouting my own grains to grind into flour to make bread & bake with. i'm hopefull but in some seriously unchartered territory! ~jen nervo

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  2. Jen--that's exactly why I feed Bryce this oatmeal (or their brown rice or quinoa/amaranth). I have purchased a dairy free brand of probiotics (i'll send you the link on FB) but there was nothing I tried that could convince Bryce to take them. The cereal is 100% dairy free. Bryce reacts to just TOUCHING milk/dairy, so the fact that he can eat this product w/no trouble is enough proof for me. I've done some ferments, too (pickles and salsa) that he loves & those are probiotic as well.

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