Sobeys Vs Littlewood

Remember in May at YL’s blog – Bujang Lapuk, an article was written about how upset it was when he shopped at Littlewoods.

Shopping at Littlewoods: Hazard to Credit Health dated 02 May 2005

I had been meaning to post this for a long time… but i keep pushing it back .. because of the many commitments i had. But i think .. i should give credit when credit is due.
Sometime in May .. when i saw a blog from YL telling us his story.. i was a bit annoyed .. with Littlewood too. I wrote them a letter on behalf of YL . to plead for their understanding and restoring credit for YL .. for it is only the right thing to do. Unfortunately, to this day .. i’ve yet to hear from Littlewood.
In comparison, i encountered a small incident at our local grocery store – Sobeys… yet their response were prompt and professional. More stores should have employees like Mark Mckinnon and Vanessa B. I was one unimpressed customer.. who turned around.. and became a very impressed customer by the emails sent by these two employees of Sobeys. And because of this .. my loyalty will always be with Sobeys. Perhaps, Littlewood can take a lesson or two .. from Sobeys employees eh..??
.

Below was what transpired between Sobeys and I:

—–Original Message—–
From: Big BoK [mailto:bokchoibaby@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 12:33 AM
To: Sobeys Customer Service
Subject: Pick up – Sobeys Yarmouth Nova Scotia
Importance: High

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are writing to let you know that we are not impressed with the pick
up service at your Yarmouth branch.

We were having my groceries on pick up on Saturday, 21st May 2005 at
about 7.15pm and we were the only car/customer on pick up.
Given that it was drizzling.. i can understand the hurriedness of your
female employee who loaded our trunk, unfortunately, when we arrived
home, our food were all squashed. Sauces were leaking from a breakage..
my grapes were squashed and so were my several bags of bread. On top of
it all .. thing were falling all over the place in our trunk.

We do not always have our groceries on pick up .. but this incident will
ensure us that we will not use this service anymore. A bagful of food
had to be cleaned before we can use them and my trunk had to be cleaned
too because of a borken honey garlic sauce.

We are definitely not impressed!!

Regretfully,

Big BoK
XB xxxx Street
Yarmouth, NS
B5A 3H1
Tel :- 902-742XXXXX

This was their reply :
—–Original Message—–
From: Sobeys Customer Service
To: ‘Big BoK@gmail.com’
Sent: 5/24/2005 4:48 PM
Subject: RE: Pick up – Sobeys Yarmouth Nova Scotia

Dear Ms. BB,

Thank you for taking the time to write. I assure you that, at Sobeys, we
are committed to providing exceptional customer service and we do take
your comments very seriously. Please allow me to take this time to
extend my sincerest apologies, on behalf of Sobeys, for any
inconvenience this matter may have caused you.

I have forwarded your concerns on to your Sobeys Store Manager, Mark
MacKinnon. Mr. MacKinnon is very concerned about this matter and would
very much appreciate the opportunity to address and rectify your
concerns with you personally. He has advised that he will contact you at
the telephone number listed at the bottom of your email within the next
couple of days.

Should you have any future questions, comments, concerns, and/or
suggestions please do not hesitate to contact us again either via email
or by calling our toll-free customer care line (1-888-944-0442).

We appreciate your loyalty and look forward to continuing to serve your
needs.

Sincerely,

Vanessa B.
Customer Care Representative
Sobeys Atlantic

And very promptly i got another email from the Store Manager:

—– Original Message —–
From: Store #00612 Manager
To: ‘bokchoibaby@gmail.com’
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 6:51 PM
Subject: FW: Pick up – Sobeys Yarmouth Nova Scotia

Hi BB,
I have been trying to get in touch with you to discuss this incident. Please accept my apologies and understand it has been dealt with. I would like to offer too have your trunk professionally cleaned as well as replace all of the damaged items. If you can please give me a call when you get a chance or I will continue to try and reach you at the number below.

thanks,
Mark MacKinnon
Store Manager

Now this is what i call great customer service. Honestly, i didn’t expect anything in return. I appreciate the offer.. but knowing that the folks at Sobeys valued my patronage .. and acknowledges my grievance was enough for me.
I’m truly glad.. that our local stores are nowhere like Littlewood. And both Mark Mackinnon and Vanessa B. are definitely assets to Sobeys.

PS :- And yes .. i do shop at Littlewood from time to time when i was in Glasgow for school but you can be sure.. that i won’t anymore.