Full fat fizz

[Caroline]

This is the response I had from Sainsburys when I complained (again) about getting full fat fizzy drinks instead of no fat fizzy drinks. I am working on an angry response to them, any one got any suggestions?


Dear Mrs Wilson

Thank you for your email about your order. I'm sorry the Dr Pepper with sugar was sent as a substitute for the zero variety. I can understand your disappointment.

There may be occasions when your preferred products aren’t available. Our colleagues are trained to select the closest possible alternative, although this may not necessarily be the cheapest. They will use their initiative and experience when selecting replacements. While we would always rather offer our customers an alternative, there will be occasions where a suitable product is not available. In such cases you will, of course, not be charged for this item.

Due to the volume of online deliveries, the shoppers are unable to contact a customer regards the substitute items we offer.

As you require no sugar drinks, it may be worth selecting no substitutes when placing the order. Then the shopper will not select them to be sent to you.

 

[Mark T]

We have permanent "no substitutes" set on our entire Sainsbury's order.

Although that doesn't unfortunately stop there other bad habit - short dated items! (sending in items with 1 or 2 days for a weeks shopping is unhelpful).

 

[shiv]

Great to bring it to their attention, good job!

I too choose 'no substitutes' so as not to risk getting full sugar stuff.

 

[novorapidboi26]

I would suggest to them to retrain the staff to select a sugar free alternative, surely the customer has chosen the sugar free option because its free from sugar..............

I suppose it seems simple to us though................I would also chose no substitutes until you can be assured the staff know to pick the correct alternative..


Can I assume you initially chose diet dr pepper....?

 

[Caroline]

Thanks guys. I think a lot of it is they don't have to worry if something is full of sugar on not. I had already chosen some full suage ones for my big boy, but I told them it was hypo treatment and I didn't need the ammount of hypo tratment they had sent as a substitute...

 

[Caroline]

Below is my response to their response to me. I will keep you posted




So what you are telling me as someone with diabetes, if there are no sugar free drinks of the variety I choose, I have to have the full sugar variety? As I work hard to keep the sugars down I find it unacceptable that staff are not trained to take this kind of thing into account. You sell other sugar free drinks....

I suggest that further training is given to staff as there are a number of medical conditions (like dairy intolerance, gluten intolerance, diabetes and nut allergies) where what are considered 'normal' alternatives are not acceptable. Why should we have to do without because no one is aware the alternatives could be harmful to us.

 

[AlisonM]

My suggestion:

People have many reasons for ordering things like diet drinks which may have nothing whatever to do with being on a diet. There are some, like myself, who require them for health reasons.

As a Diabetic, I know it is essential that I manage my diet carefully in order to remain as healthy as possible, full sugar drinks pose a serious health risk to someone like me. It is not acceptable to simply substitute the full sugar version of a drink if you don't have the one requested. Rather it would be more sensible to substitute another diet drink of a similar kind, or to omit that part of the order altogether.

It would be helpful if you could include an area in your online order form for people to list any dietary restrictions, whether they are due to something like Diabetes, or an allergy of some kind so that your staff may be aware of the need to be careful with substitutions. A simple check box would do with a list of conditions such as Diabetes, Coeliac, Heart Disease or an allergy. In addition, staff training on this issue should be a standard part of your customer care requirements.

I would be grateful if you could let me know at your earliest convenience, what action you plan to take to remedy this situation, not just for me but for all the others out there like me.

 

[AlisonM]

Oops! 😱

That'll teach me to read posts properly. You've already sent it and I'm a fool.

 

[Caroline]

I like your response, so pending their response I may well use yours too. I think we need to raise awareness in others and if we can get big companies to make note, hopefully smaller companies will follow suit in order to not loose business....

 

[Northerner]

Oops! 😱

That'll teach me to read posts properly. You've already sent it and I'm a fool.

Not at all, that's an excellent suggestion! 🙂

 

[Caroline]

Their response to my latest contact. Does it sound like a very cavalier cop out to anyone else?


Dear Mrs Wilson

Thank you for your response to my colleagues email. I can appreciate the concern you have regarding this matter.

With regard to your suggestion about an area in the online form for dietary restrictions, I've forwarded your comments to our technical support colleagues for their information.

When your groceries are selected at the store the shoppers use a handheld device to select the items. If an item isn't available to select, the shoppers select this on the device. This then generates the nearest item for them to select, however, as more than one shopper puts together your order it's not practical to make them aware of the dietary requirements of all customers.

If you need any further help please contact us on 0800 328 1700. One of my colleagues will be happy to assist you.

We value your loyal custom and hope to see you online shortly.