Danone

They could have ended up in the section Not So Good Service when I originally wrote to them a year ago in May 2006.

My complaint was that they had stopped selling the Volvic lemon and lime flavoured water that had sugar in it.  Instead they had removed them from the shelves and decided in their wisdom to replace it with water that had added sweeteners.  This is an extract from that letter.

"What I really liked about this product was that it was a more natural product not using any form of sweeteners. I am a campaigner for real sugar and am against sweeteners of any kind.

So you can imagine my dismay when I went in to our local Sainsbury’s to stock up only to find the shelves full of ’sugar free’ water. What!!!!!!!!! I wouldn’t mind but even your website states ‘no artificial sweeteners’, so what are you doing? Worse than that the sticker with sugar free on it is small enough that I missed it when buying some last week. But then again I wasn’t expecting it to have changed to an ‘unnatural’ state."

My letter was on the whole friendly and I threw in a couple of pictures to lighten it up.  The response I got back was basically customer demand had dictated the change.  This always sticks in my throat a little when companies say this, because I wonder where they get the information from and just how accurate it is.  Anyway, they had stopped doing it and I stopped buying it.  End of story.

Not so.  I received a letter dated 30 May 2007. I will quote part of it here:

"Thank you for contacting the Danone Waters consumer careline with your comments about Volvic Touch of Fruit.  Since the move from sugar to sweeteners in April 2006, we have been listening carefully to all the consumer feedback we have received.

You weren’t the only consumer to ask for the return of Volvic Touch of Fruit Original and as a result of this, we are pleased to inform you that we will be reintroducing Volvic Touch of Fruit Original (with sugar) alongside the current Sugar Free product (with sweeteners) as a dual range from early May 2007 . . . . . .

. . . . .The dual range will be identified through clear colour coding on packaging: green caps and labels for original and blue caps and labels for sugar free.

This move is reflecting a wider consumer trend, whereby the UK population is split between those who prefer sugar (42%) and those who prefer sweeteners (58%).  At Danone Waters, consumer choice is paramount and this is why we have decided to office Volvic Touch of Fruit in a choice of original (with sugar) or sugar free (with sweeteners). . . . . .

The survey was conducted by AC Nielsen homescan survey, February 2006.  This is interesting as I wrote after this survey had been conducted, yet it had taken all this time for the company to change their mind.  Would it have anything to do with the fact that nearly half the consumers preferred sugar and possibly chose not to buy it.  That would have been a real decrease in sales.

Anyway, they have changed their minds, which is great.  And . . better than that they sent me £3 worth of vouchers to spend on the water.

Result I say and thanks for listening.

Posted in Good Service | No Comments »

Don’t Argue With Children - Reason 1

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.

The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was phys ically impossible.

The little girl said, "When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah."

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."

Posted in A Little Smile | No Comments »

Another Great Day Out

Never one to normally go out on Bank Holiday weekend, hubby and I decided to take our youngest out for the afternoon.  Her brothers were having a great time away, so it seemed only fair to give her a treat.

As newly joined members of English Heritage we decided to flex our card and visit one of their properties.  We settled on Witley Court.

We were not disappointed.  In its heyday it would have been an absolutely magnificent building.  Due to a fire in 1937 much of the building was destroyed and, along with the gardens, was left in decline.  It actually bought a tear to my eye just walking round.  (Mind you just lately anything can bring a tear to my eye!)

The Woodland Walk.

View across the lake.

View across the lake from a different perspective.

The fountain. (Not at full force here.)

The house and fountain.

The fountain comes on every hour for 20 minutes at a time.  We had great fun running through the spray of it and because it was such a gorgeous day, we had rainbows too.

It also has it’s own church and tea rooms (always good to have good nearby!).

Posted in General | 6 Comments »