worth a try - I got a £10 voucher!!

cathy_3 · 16 May 2004 at 1:39PM

call the 0800 number on your household and food products! From laundry soap to crackers, most products have websites, a few just have an 0800 number, but they love to hear compliments or complaints and love to send out coupons and free samples! Plus, it's so much nicer to get a coupon in the mail rather than a bill, am I right?

I rang Birds eye and told them that their roast beef in gravy was divine and could I get the gravy recipe (ok they must have thought I was insane) no recipe but a tenner voucher for birds eye stuff

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

rach · 16 May 2004 at 10:17PM

definately worth a try cathy - i'd have to work up the bottle to do it though...

didn;t you feel a bit stupid??? mind you...for a tenner......!!!

Tim_L · 16 May 2004 at 11:03PM

I got a £4 voucher from Johnsons just by asking what magazines their £2 glade vouchers were going to be in. This sort of thing is always worth a go.

The best one ever was some years ago when I bought a pack of chocolate bars - it turned out on opening it that one of the eight had been left out, and numbers 6 and 7 were a bit mashed. So we ate 1 through 5, and then sent the remnants of 6 & 7 to the manufacturer with a tongue in cheek letter saying that as enthusiastic consumers of their product we had been disappointed about the problems, particularly since this meant there had been an odd number of bars during the weekend (ever a stressful time) which had led to serious matrimonial difficulties and that it would be a shame if we had to involve the US lawyers for settlement. I got a lovely letter back, explaining how the problem had happened and enclosing an absolute stack of vouchers - about £15 in total if I remember correctly.

amie · 28 July 2004 at 2:07AM

i know what u mean, i once bought some cocnut mushrooms (3 bags for a pound) and they were vile! i sent all three bags back to manufacturer and got £10 voucher and they reimbursed me the £3 postage it cost to send them!
i also got a free block of cheese from a cheese company plus £6 cos the cheese was in date but mouldy!
its always worth a try!

cathy_3 · 29 July 2004 at 1:59AM

my friend used to work in Birds Eye customer services and she said monday mornings were a nightmare

people would buy fish fingers find a bone or something in them on thursday, post them back to birdseye Friday
and they would be opened on Monday!!
and every letter contained the words "if this had happened to an elderly or very young person"

they never argued just sent out vouchers and a standard letter of apology

that was in the early 70s though

linz · 1 August 2004 at 5:14PM

My mum bought a baxters frozen chicken about 20 years ago and when she got home she noticed it was all bruised around the next where it had been strangled. She was so annoyed she sent the chicken back in a shoe box. I cant remember if she got anythign back but they sent a letter of apology back and asked her if she had any future complaints not to send the product back because they'd had a complaint from royal mail about the smell

SneakySnake · 2 August 2004 at 1:21AM

Hi, A minor contribution to this discussion.

My Father in Law had an open bottle of Baileys he had kept in a cupboard and when he tried it he found that the cream had turned. He duly wrote a letter of complaint to the manufacturers and awaited their response.

A few weeks later he got a polite letter and a voucher for a new bottle, although the letter did contain a mild rebuke along the lines of Baileys usually only keeps for 8 months not 10 years!

Still it shows that it is always worth a trying

Regards
Sneaky

jo_b_2 · 2 August 2004 at 1:40AM

I remember years ago my whole family had a craze on these lovely crisps. They were only on sale in pubs and came with a little pot of dip inside. They were gorgeous!! Wish they still made them.

Anyway, my point is....My Mum sent the company a christmas card and a letter saying how nice the crisps were. The rest of the family (including me) just took the mick out of her. That was until we received a cardboard box full of the crisps. Must have been about 30 packets!! Might try sending out some compliments myself- makes a nice change from complaining.

agent007_2 · 3 August 2004 at 12:13AM

Similar things...

I once bought a pepperoni pizza which had not a single piece of meat on it. So phoned the careline to complain and was given vouchers for 2 free pizza.

Carex bottles sometimes leak in very hot weather. I've complained and got around £3.50 in vouchers.

Once missed the apply-by date for the "try me free" offer on some Savoury Rice. So I simply sent the empty packets and some comments about the product to the manufacturers address instead. Better than a 74p 'Try Me Free' refund I got £3 of coupons in return!

Doesn't always work though. I've written to a small Cornish Pasty maker to say I loved their product (their pasties really were lovely!) but didn't get any response at all.

Have also complained when some Sainsbury's washing powder didn't dissolve properly and as a result made permanent blue marks on a load of washing! They only sent me a £10 voucher in compensation which was pretty poor for 3 ruined shirts! I couldn't be bothered to take it further as they wanted me to send them all the washing at my own expense!

Actually I've had vouchers from Sainsbury's for other faults (nut shells found in a mushroom tart and discounts not deducted). They tend to be fair but never generous!

VickyA_2 · 10 August 2004 at 5:40PM

I've just started to try this recently, no joy as yet. I contacted Boots because the access to their Advantage Point at their store in Ely is appalling (ie you've got to climb over the tills). They thanked me for my comments and would pass them on to the person in charge of floor space.

Just written to Lakeland Ltd complimenting them on the products that I buy and how impressed even my boyfriend is. You never know, might get something from them!

A response is really all you're looking for, isn't it? (or vouchers are ideal!)

baked_beans_lady · 10 August 2004 at 8:48PM

Bought 6 bottles of Tango (Apple flavour) a month ago, and they tasted horrible, very vinegary. I rang their customer service up and complained about the product.
Few days later I received a very polite letter and £30 worth of vouchers from the manufacturer. Not bad for a 5 minute phonecall.

;D

worth a try - I got a £10 voucher!!

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