03/16/12

Responses from Cadbury and Sainsburys

As you may or may not have read on this post last week for Fairtrade fortnight’s ‘Take A Step’ campaign I’ve decided to only buy Fairtrade chocolate bars from now on and e-mailed Cadbury, Sainsburys and Mars to tell them and encourage them to introduce more Fairtrade products.

So far both Cadbury and Sainsburys have responded (I feel like there’s more authenticity in the Sainsbury response) but here are the responses:

Sainsburys

Dear Mr Tiddy

Thanks for your email about our Fairtrade products.

We’ve been concerned about socially responsible sourcing for many years, and we’re proud to be the UK’s leading Fairtrade retailer.

In 1998, we became the first UK retailer to develop our own Code of Conduct for Socially Responsible Sourcing. The Code sets out the labour standards we expect our suppliers to meet, including fair terms of trading, protection of children, worker health and safety, equal opportunities, freedom of association, freedom of employment, hours of work and wages.

Every banana we sell, and all our Red Label tea is Fairtrade. By the end of 2010 all our own brand tea, roast and ground coffee will be Fairtrade, returning around £2 million to developing countries each year. Our annual sales of Fairtrade products now amount to £139million

Many producers in the developing world find it difficult to meet Fairtrade standards without some help. Our Fair Development Fund helps more farmers and growers to sell their produce as Fairtrade. We made an initial commitment of £1million and this should provide a real boost to the livelihoods of producers, especially in Africa.

We continue to support the national Fairtrade Fortnight, which takes place in February and March of each year.

You can find more information on our approach to socially responsible sourcing by visiting our corporate website at www.j-sainsbury.co.uk.

I’ve also passed your comments about making our chocolate products Fairtrade to our development team. They’ll discuss it at their next review, and if it’s a possibility I’m sure they’ll do their best to make it happen.

We appreciate you taking the time to get in touch with us, and look forward to seeing you in store again soon.

Cadbury

Many thanks for contacting us regarding labour conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa. Like you we condemn child and forced labour and want it to be eradicated.

While we do not own or directly control any farms, we recognize that this is a complex problem and will take all involved – growers, exporters, non-government organisations, national and local governments, and manufacturers – working together to address it.

We see our partnership with Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance one part of the solution to this situation and in addition we have a number of other significant investments and programmes which are outlined below:

Kraft Foods Cocoa Investment

• Since 2001, Kraft Foods has been working with the chocolate and cocoa industry on a multi-year, multi-stakeholder effort to reduce child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector in West Africa. This effort has been done in partnership with Senator Tom Harkin, Representative Elliott Engel, and the governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The industry will have spent more than $75 million on surveys, remediation, and development programs in the sector between 2005-2010. The Harkin-Engel Protocol has been the overarching structure to support this effort and has become a model of public-private sector cooperation in an agricultural setting.

• In 2002, we helped establish the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), an independent foundation aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour and forced labour on cocoa farms. By working community by community, the ICI is raising awareness and seeing a reduction of hazardous child labour in cocoa farming in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

• We’ve been working with the Rainforest Alliance™ since 2003 — started with coffee and expanded into cocoa in 2005. We chose to partner with Rainforest Alliance because it’s rooted in sound agricultural and social programming — helping ensure farmers and their families get fair wages, decent housing, access to schools, health care, transportation and training. Our partnership has been growing over several years — in 2009 we were the world’s largest buyer of coffee and cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

• Since 2008, we’ve been empowering farmer organizations through the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership where our aim is to create thriving cocoa communities. In 2009, we achieved Fairtrade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk in the UK and Ireland. We have expanded this commitment and now Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy is available in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Under the Fairtrade system farmers receive a guaranteed minimum price for their product and a Fairtrade social premium. We’ve quadrupled the volume of cocoa sold under Fairtrade terms in Ghana, helping generate £2.7m in Fairtrade premiums to help improve farming communities’ livelihoods.

• We are also a member of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), which aims to help cocoa-farming families develop and manage effective, sustainable farming practices. Examples of WCF activities supported by us include The Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) and Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions (ECHOES). STCP focuses on the social and economic well being of cocoa farmers. ECHOES expands opportunities for youth living in cocoa-growing communities.

• In February 2009, Kraft Foods, along with other companies and organizations, joined with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in a $90 million program to boost the income and productivity of cocoa and cashew farmers in Africa. The projects aim to strengthen the long-term viability of the West African cocoa and cashew industries through education and market opportunities.

Kraft Foods is the largest purchaser of Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance cocoa and coffee. Our commitment continues, in 2010 we purchased roughly 19,000 metric tons of Fairtrade cocoa and approximately 11,000 metric tons of Rainforest cocoa. In total we have paid £2.7 million in social premiums to Kuapa Kokoo the Fairtrade co-operative in Ghana.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how important this matter is to you. Please be assured that Kraft Foods remains committed to working both with others and independently to improve living and working conditions on farms to help farmers and their families have a better life.

After receiving the response above from Cadbury which was clearly a cut and paste job I bluntly replied with ‘that’s lovely but didn’t really answer my question of if there will be more Fairtrade cadbury products in the pipeline’ (or words to that effect)…the reply was equally as blunt.

Hello,

We are looking into expanding the fair-trade range but at the moment we do not have any more information to give.

Sorry and best wishes

In conclusion I’d say Sainburys are probably putting more effort in than Cadburys or at the very least better at responding to customer queries…let’s keep pasting them!

03/10/12

My Step for Fairtrade

As I mentioned on a blog last week the last couple of weeks have been Fairtrade fortnight and the awesome people at the Fairtrade foundation have been encouraging people to ‘Take A Step’ for Fairtrade (one of which has been making Kate Walsh dance on a YouTube video).

This Fairtrade fortnight I’ve run a session with the CU in school (you can download it here) on Fairtrade and encouraged them to think about their own buying habits and why Fairtrade is such a good thing.

In my last post I said that I’d blog last week on what my Fairtrade step was going to be however in the midst of sending e-mails, sorting artwork and ordering physical CD’s for my album (which is out on the 19th March – pre-order details here) I didn’t get around to it so here we go…

My step for Fairtrade 2012 is…

To only buy Fairtrade chocolate bars.

This means that there will be no Creme Eggs for me or Cadbury’s Caramel or Mars bars (my favourite 3) but also means that I have e-mailed both Mars and Cadbury with the following:

Dear Mars,

As you may be aware the Fairtrade foundation have been challenging people to ‘Take A Step’ for fairtrade as part of Fairtrade fortnight. As part of this I have decided that I will no longer be buying any chocolate that isn’t certified Fairtrade.

I know that you are working on introducing Fairtrade to your product line with the introduction of Fairtrade malteasers however I’d like to see you do more as the Mars bar in particular is my favourite chocolate (which I will no longer be eating) and wouldn’t it be fantastic if Celebrations were the first UK selection box to be certified Fairtrade?

I hope you will take on board my comments and work towards a completely fairtrade product range

Thank you

Mark

That’s the Mars letter…here’s the Cadbury one.

Dear Cadbury,

As you may be aware the Fairtrade foundation have been challenging people to ‘Take A Step’ for fairtrade as part of Fairtrade fortnight. As part of this I have decided that I will no longer be buying any chocolate that isn’t certified Fairtrade.

I know that Cadbury is already miles ahead of the leading chocolate brands in offering Fairtrade and it’s been fantastic to see Dairy Milk, Buttons, Bournville Cocoa, Highlights and other products of yours become Fairtrade certified over the last few years however I believe that Cadburys could be doing more. For example the Freddo chocolate bar is Dairy milk yet not Fairtrade and shockingly none of your easter eggs are certified Fairtrade.

This means that I will no longer be buying Creme Eggs, Cadbury Caramel and Heroes until they are Fairtrade certified. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if Heroes were the first selection box to be certified Fairtrade?

I hope you will take on board my comments and work towards a completely fairtrade product range

I look forward to hearing your comments

Thank you

Mark

I have also e-mailed Sainsbury’s who are doing a fantastic job at making their own products Fairtrade to encourage them to make all their own chocolate fairtrade and not just the milk, dark and white.

I’ll be posting updates and replies on this blog too!

02/28/12

Fairtrade Fortnight 2012

Once again we’re in Fairtrade Fortnight. The 2 weeks of the year when the Fairtrade Foundation make a big push to get people to choose more Fairtrade items and raise awareness.

Fairtrade is an absolutely cracking idea for so many reasons. It pays people properly, invests in communities, treats people fairly, means no child labour and lots more besides.

I urge you to get involved in Fairtrade. Buy Fairtrade tea, coffee, bananas, chocolate, clothing. Pester your local shops to stock more Fairtrade items. Ask your supermarket to make their own brand stuff Fairtrade (Sainsburys is really leading the way in this!).

Check out the 2012 campaign video below and get involved here. I’ll be posting my step for Fairtrade later this week!

11/29/11

Orange Price Increased

So Orange sent me a text this morning stating that:

Hi, from Orange. We’re increasing the price of your monthly plan by 4.34% from 8 January 2012. For more information please visit orange.co.uk/planupdate

Other than the rather cheery greeting to pass on some bad news the text didn’t tell me why and so naturally annoyed me…clicking to their link I found this:

Why are Orange introducing these price rises?

We know that price increases are never welcomed by our customers. Unfortunately, with inflation at a 20 year high it has been necessary to increase our monthly service charges.

Can I cancel my contract because you’re increasing my monthly service charge?

No, our Pay Monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges by up to the RPI figure in any 12 month period. The increase in the price plan charges is less than the 5.4% rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI) in October 2011.

We can increase prices at any time on giving proper notice. In this case, the increase is less than the current rate of inflation and our terms and conditions state that we can do this without giving you the right to cancel your contract without paying the disconnection fee.

You’ll find the details in section 4.3 and 15.1 here

This left me wondering several things

1 – How can Orange increase the price I pay?

2 – They never told me that (as I joined over the phone I wasn’t given a contract to sign or even told where to find a copy..perhaps an error on my part for not asking though)

So I phoned up Orange

After waiting 20 minutes to speak to their accounts department due to an unusually high volume of calls (perhaps a flurry of cross customers) I eventually spoke to a man, I calmly explained to him why I was upset by the charges and how unethical it was to do that to loyal customers and he basically told me tough.

With my contract coming to an end in February I thought I’d might as well try to leave so told him I’d do so and I was transferred…

The next person I spoke to was slightly more helpful. She informed me that the increases were due to government inflation increases and that in the past Orange had paid these for the customer but was no longer allowed to by the government. She also told me that Orange were however offering all customers effected a 5% discount for 6 months to offset this and that they would be informed next month by a letter.

Now I’m no business man but why raise your prices, tell your customers who thought they’d signed up for a set contract and pee them off only to send them a letter a month later to say ‘actually it’s ok…it’s on us!’?

Surely it would have made sense to announce both at the same time?

After realising I wasn’t going to get any further without having to spend £50 to get out of my contract and a further £20 to unlock my iPhone I gave up.

Ten minutes later I called back with a plan…

Mention the phrase ‘I’d like a PAC code’(code that allows you to take your number to another network) to any network provider and they usually become very nice and start offering you all sorts to stay.

So I tried that and explained that I was unhappy with my current price plan because I was paying for more than I was using but the other option was too little, explained that I wasn’t planning to upgrade my handset until the iPhone 5 was released and explained my upset at the price increases and Orange have now put me onto a sim-only, one month at a time plan costing me £15 less a month.

On top of that the new plan effectively ends my contract in January rather than February if I so desire.

So…for the cost of a few inclusive minutes I think I did quite well….however I have also made a complain to Ofcom about Orange because I think the clause that allows phone networks to raise your prices in the middle of the contract is ridiculous and unethical and that if it’s going to exist that it should be made a lot clearer when you sign up.

Top Tips!

Finally if you’re an Orange customer also unhappy here’s some tips:

Ring up and complain…feel free to tell them you’ll be complaining to Ofcom…maybe even mention you’ll be tweeting about them!

Don’t be afraid to threaten to leave…even if you get a PAC code you don’t have to use it but asking for one can help you get a better deal

Ask them to confirm the 5% discount if the price hike is all you’re bothered about…the more people who complain the more likely they will be to announce the discount sooner.

Further Reading

Article from Which.co.uk

Article from Money Saving Expert

09/27/11

Fairtrade Maltesers

Today the Fairtrade foundation and Mars chocolates have made the exciting announcement that next year Maltesers will go Fairtrade.

This is especially exciting as the last thing I’d heard (over a year ago) was that Mars were signing up to Rainforest Alliance and certified Cocoa and not Fairtrade but the press release today suggests this is just a step to making more products Fairtrade (rather than Nestle’s ‘token fairtrade product’ nonsense).

Hopefully Mars will follow in the footsteps of Cadburys in expanding their Fairtrade range…I’m looking forward to a Fairtrade Mars bar!

Which Fairtrade Mars product would you like to see? Why not click here to contact Mars and suggest a product you’d like to see Fairtrade.

Here’s an exert from the press release. You can read the full release here

LONDON, UK (27 September 2011) — Mars Chocolate and Fairtrade International today announced an agreement to introduce the first Fairtrade labelled Mars product. As part of the initial phase of the agreement the first Mars product to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark will be MALTESERS®. The move, which will appear in stores in 2012 in the UK and Ireland, will contribute in excess of US $1 million in annual Fairtrade Premium funds for cocoa farmers to invest in their farms, business organisations and communities. MALTESERS® is the third biggest confectionery brand in the UK, and its switch will represent more than a 10% increase in total UK Fairtrade sales. (see Note 3 in Fairtrade Foundation section below).

At the heart of the agreement is a shared ambition to make commodity certification that supports sustainable livelihoods for farmers the norm in the cocoa industry. Over the long-term, Mars will explore how best to scale up its purchases of Fairtrade cocoa, and will support Fairtrade’s continued efforts to develop measures that would allow more confectionery companies to increase their commitments to purchase more Fairtrade cocoa with the aim of impacting the lives of more cocoa farmers than ever before.

This blog will also appear on my new Ethical Living UK blog – Read the ethical blog here

09/26/11

Morrissons, Fairtrade & Ethical Practices

So it was the turn of Morrissons to receive an e-mail from me. Much like Sainsburys the response came quickly (unlike McDonalds who I e-mailed a month ago asking why they have Fairtrade coffee in Switzerland but not the UK and have had no reply)

Here’s what I e-mailed:

Hello, When shopping in your store today in Brough and looking for hot chocolate I noticed that you are now the only supermarket not to have made their own brand hot chocolate Fairtrade. Is this something you are working on in the future? What is your policy towards making more of your own brand products Fairtrade? Thank You

And here’s their reply…

Thank you for contacting us regarding the Fair Trade products which we sell in our stores.

Morrisons were among the first major food retailers to sell fairly traded goods in 1994, including those of our own Morrisons label. Our current range includes tea, coffee, chocolate and bananas, and I am delighted to report that the company actually increased the number of Fair Trade products in the range by 27% in 2008, and we are continuing our efforts to expand the range further. For example, we have recently introduced 10 varieties of own-brand Fair Trade Ground Coffee. We also offer Fair Trade tea and coffee in our customer cafés.

In addition to selling ‘Fair Trade’ we have also have implemented our own Ethical Trading Code with suppliers in countries such as Asia and South America. The Code is designed to protect the rights of employees and covers areas such as employment being freely chosen, freedom of association, safety and hygiene, payment of living wages, working hours, and the prevention of discrimination and inhumane treatment. We were also the first major UK retailer to implement an inspection initiative with Fair Working Conditions (FWC), an organisation promoting, measuring and formally accrediting best employment practices worldwide.

In conclusion, we are firm supporters of fair-trade and are currently offering our support wherever possible.

Thank you once again for taking the time and trouble to write to us. We find feedback on such issues immensely valuable in our efforts to improve the products and services we offer.

For further information regarding our policy on Ethical Trading or any of our current policies please visit our website link http://www.morrisons.co.uk/Corporate/Corporate-Responsibility-2011/Policy-Guidance/ and there you will find our Policy Guidance list. From there you can also down load our full CR review which you may find useful.

The link they posted makes interesting reading…looks like they’re heading in the right direction.

09/1/11

Write To Your Supermarket!

Recently we’ve tried shopping at Sainsburys*. If you didn’t know Sainsburys are the biggest stockest of Fairtrade (and also the most ethical of the big 4) in the UK and really simple things like basics (33p a box) tea bags are Fairtrade plus their own brand chocolate and alongside this there’s all sorts of other Fairtrade products cropping up throughout however a lack of fairtrade chocolate biscuit (KitKat type things…other than the Fairtrade Kitkat which is stupid and shouldn’t be purchased – Blog 1 on this & blog 2) and so I dropped them a message which suggested the that they consider making their Double-Take biscuit things Fairtrade or stock Tradecraft’s super-tasty ‘Fair Break’ bars and less than 24 hours after my e-mail here’s their response:

Dear Mark

Thanks for your email about our Fairtrade products. I’m glad to hear that you’ve been impressed to see a wider range of Fairtrade products in our stores, including our own brand chocolate.

We currently offer over 800 Fairtrade products across our stores. We’re constantly looking for new ways we can convert more of our products to Fairtrade suppliers, but with over 30,000 products for sale in store and online you’ll understand that this takes time. We want to make sure that the suppliers are genuinely paid a fair wage for their produce and their working conditions are good, and it takes some time to make sure that this is the case before we start selling any of their products.

We stock over 30,000 products so we can’t possibly have every requested item in all our branches, however if there is a high enough demand for an individual item, we will always strive to find space for it on our shelves. With this in mind I’ve passed your request to our buyers who will look into the feasibility of stocking Tradecrafts fair break chocolate biscuit bars in our stores. Your suggestion that we convert our Double take chocolate wafer biscuits to Fairtrade has been logged on to our system and this will be passed on to the relevant department for consideration.

We’re grateful to you for contacting us as your feedback helps us to understand the needs of our customers better. We look forward to seeing you in store again soon.

The point is this blog is to encourage you to e-mail your supermarket (whichever you choose) about making more products Fairtrade. Give specific examples of products you currently buy which you’d like to see Fairtrade and encourage them to stock more Fairtrade (E.g. when Cadbury made Dairy Milk Fairtrade ASDA removed Divine from their shelves…Sainsbury’s has divine side by side with their own brand and Cadbury!).

Oh and I know my blog has been pretty quiet lately…we’ve been on holiday and I’ve been busy with a little project which I’ll blog on soon!

* Sainsburys – If you’ve bothered to read this * then perhaps you’ve thought that Sainsburys expensive…well actually I don’t think that’s true…Tesco have been sneaking up their prices and still ride on the back of their reputation for being cheap from the 90′s, ASDA are cheap but some of their Smart Price products lack quality whereas often Sainsbury’s Basics range is the same quality (or better) as ASDA’s own brand/’Chosen By You’…In comparison to Morrissons they’re about the same…oh and naturally cheaper than Waitrose!

03/5/11

Fairtrade Fortnight

Every year Fairtrade run a campaign called ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’…in previous years it’s seen exciting announcements such as Sainsbury’s changing all their bananas to Fairtrade and the arrival of a Fairtrade Dairy Milk and whilst this year there are no huge announcements (yet) there are more and more Fairtrade products available than ever and at even more affordable prices for example in Sainsburys their own brand tea is all Fairtrade!

Whether you know much about Fairtrade or not then watch the campaign video below. Also if you head to the Fairtrade Facebook Page you can take part in competitions this year to ‘Show off your label’ and potentially win prizes including a year’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s!

11/9/10

Dispatches: Sweat Shops

Last night Channel 4 aired the programme ‘Dispatches: Fasion’s Dirty Secret’ (which you can watch here). During the programme a couple of undercover reporters investigated how fashion in this country is being made in sweatshops.

One reporter took a job at a manufacturer in Leicester where he was paid £2.5o an hour, made to work with unsafe equipment and wasn’t asked for any documents. During the reporters’ few months there he made clothes for Peacocks, C & A (Europe), New Look and BHS.

Whilst it is shocking that there are such places in this country the thing that shocked me the most was the blame shifting that the companies, when confronted seemed to do. Much like Nestle in Parorama’s chocolate programme or Primark (also Panorama) the blame was shifted to subcontractors who apparently weren’t meant to further subcontract.

The beauty of Fairtrade for chocolate, coffee and other Fairtrade products is that they have traceability which means the chocolate that arrives can be traced right back to the farm that originated…this means there is corporate responsibility and that those dealing with Fairtrade can’t just wave their arms and say ‘we didn’t know it was happening’.

I can’t help but feel that the reactions of New Look, Peacocks and Arcadia were nothing but corporate crap. Of course an investigation will be launched but will they really monitor things better as a result? Probably not.

It seems to me that for ethical clothing there’s a few options…

Number 1: Shop with companies who are ethical. Labour Behind the Label detail which high street brands are ethical and are a fantastic resource. Alongside that sites such as People Tree and Wombat offer ethical fashion (although at higher prices that Primark or New Look). Finally newly launched Fair Squared (click here to visit) offer a range of Fairtrade Products and plan to expand into the clothing business but currently only stock Fairtrade Converse-Style shoes…mine are on the way! (Their Fairtrade rice is cheap too!)

Number 2: The same way Fairtrade is an independent monitoring system for food produce and some fashion a similar label could be set up for clothing conditions…for companies to sign up and display the ‘badge of honour’ they must adhere to strict, independently checked practices.

Number 3: The Government should do something! The dispatches programme finished by suggesting that the government could make companies responsible for their supply chain…I’m sure that if you were to threaten companies with fines for irresponsible practices in their supply chain they’d soon enough monitor it properly.

Anyway just a few thoughts…comments always appreciated.

11/3/10

Ethical Dilemmas…

During our short stay in Great Yarmouth last week I had the opportunity to catch up with Steve over lunch. Both me and Steve share an interest for what companies are up to and ethical issues and so naturally this was part of our discussion over lunch.

Since then and along with some conversations with Jo I’ve been thinking a lot more about ethical dilemmas…for example here’s an easy one;

Nestle Produce a Fairtrade KitKat…Should I buy it?

The answer is quite obviously no. Whilst it’s very nice of Nestle to agree to pay a small proportion of their farmers properly there is still child labour involved in the rest of their chocolate and their irresponsible baby milk advertising in the third world still makes them the most boycotted company in the world. (Read more about Nestle here)

However the Nestle dilemma isn’t what I wanted to blog about!

Dilemma 1: Local Supplies vs Local Produce

Ever since going supermarketless for lent earlier this year we’ve purchased all of our fruit and veg from a small, independently run farm shop half a mile from our house and from an ethical perspective this puts money back into the local economy rather than some rich businessmen. On a practice perspective we spend far less than we would if we went to a supermarket by getting the fruit and veg locally…add into the mix that it keeps far better and shopping locally is truly fantastic all round…however the farm shop doesn’t just source local produce but bring in a whole variety so occasionally have apples from New Zealand.

The ethical dilemma is this: Is it better to buy locally but with added airmiles (in the case of these apples) or better to buy supermarket french ones?

Dilemma 2: Tesco & ethical clothing?

As readers will know I boycott Tesco for a whole host of reasons including the way they bully councils and suppliers and even the way their business is run as a whole. However I have been informed that all of Tesco’s clothing is now completely ethical…sourced from a company that is renowned for having no flaws.

So the ethical dilemma is this: Is it better to buy ethically produced clothing from Tesco and in doing so put money towards the awful market practices and attitude of Tesco?

Anyway that’s just one thing I’ve been pondering…thoughts? Should airmiles and pollution be a priority above shopping locally? Does a companies shocking attitudes get canceled out when they support ethical issues in a tiny aspect of their business?

Comments???

You CAN make a difference!

Whilst it may seem like my dilemmas show that it’s very difficult to live ethically there are lots of simple things that do make a difference…buying Fairtrade chocolate, coffee, tea, sugar and other produce changes lives…it provides schooling and supports communities. So share your comments and buy Fairtrade!

10/12/10

Has the internet changed customer service?

To a certain extent companies have always relied on word of mouth to promote their business….especially with new brands it seems that what the general public have to say can be the making or breaking of a product or store however as long as your majority were happy you could probably afford to upset a few.

In turn up until a few years ago the internet was very much static…you could make a website and get it hosted but the last few years have empowered millions of people to instant, search-able web publication and whereas at one point in time only the dedicated geek could make a ‘hate page’ for his least favourite brand pretty much anyone can easily vent a view point on a company instantly.

Take, for example my twitter account…I have 134 followers…my tweets update my Facebook on which I have 402 “friends”…if we allow some duplication that allows around 450 people who have the opportunity to read my views…not even taking into account those who read the twitter feed on my blog, iLike page, Reverb Nation page and various others.

So, when searching for some tasty Divine chocolate a few weeks back in ASDA and unable to find it I hit twitter to express my sadness to which the ASDA Service Team (a dedicated group of ASDA tweeters) got back to me to inform me that it was no longer stocked because it just didn’t sell. More and more companies are realising that social networking can have a big impact on their business!

Back in August I locked horns with Argos …our sofas which we’d had for 10 months had developed a problem whereby the zip on the back cushion (which was stapled down) had broke…Argos sent out a HomeServe upholsterer who (having phoned the wrong number twice) turned up on our doorstep…looked at the sofa and told me that he could stitch it up or get a new cover…I asked for a new cover…he told me I’d hear within 10 days and he left!

10 days later I phoned up Argos only to find that he had told them that it was accidental damage and I’d refused (which I hadn’t) to have it stitched up…I argued with Argos…spoke to managers and eventually wrote a letter all of which resulted in them saying ‘well the upholsterer’s report says it’s accidental damage so tough luck!

So I tweeted ‘Argos have the worst customer services ever’ (or words to that effect) and within 10 minutes Argos tweeted back…asked for my order number and said they’d get back to me.

In the meantime I continued to pester Argos and to cut a long story short we get new sofa’s tomorrow!

The fact is that companies can no longer afford to ignore customers because without even opening their mouths customer’s have access to hundreds of people who will glance at (and maybe even take in) a short sentence describing a company.

So tweet, facebook and myspace your frustrations away! It might just make a difference…it will certainly attract attention and see what happens!

(In other news turns out that Costa ignore e-mails…my 2nd send of my e-mail still has no response…good old snail mail next I think)

09/29/10

Costa no longer sells Fairtrade!

This morning I was up bright and early for a 8pm youth worker’s meet-up at Costa…so as I sleepily arrived and ordered a Fairtrade Americano I was disappointed to be told that ‘Costa no longer do Fairtrade’….although cheerily informed that it was all Rainforest Alliance’

This bugs me because whilst Nero refuse to do anything remotely ethical Costa’s optional Fairtrade always gave me the choice to drink Fairtrade and gave me the glimmer of hope that one day they’d take the Starbucks challenge and go completely Fairtrade not Rainforest Alliance which whilst ok isn’t as good.

So I wrote to them…here’s what I said…I’ll post the reply!

Hello,

I just wanted to e-mail you to let you know how disappointed I was this morning during a meeting in your Kingswood branch in Hull to be told upon ordering a Fairtrade Americano that you no longer did fairtrade but everything was Rainforest Alliance certified.

Whilst your choice to make Fairtrade an option opposed to Starbucks complete transformation to Fairtrade has never completely satisfied me I’ve always liked that I could get a Fairtrade option in Costa. As you are probably aware the key focus of Rainforest Alliance is to protect the environment and whilst I am aware that the Costa Foundation looks after communities alongside this I personally feel that Fairtrade is a much more positive option as those who see the Fairtrade mark know that Fairtrade represents the best option for the farmers, their communities and also for the environment surrounding them.

Alongside this with many villages, towns and cities becoming ‘Fairtrade villages/towns/cities’ I believe you missed an opportunity to really be part of those communities and I know that for myself as a customer (mostly in Beverley) I shall now be looking to buy and drink my coffee in local shops that sell Fairtrade (or searching out a Starbucks in other places!),

I shall look forward to hearing from you on this matter,

Mark Tiddy

If you think this sucks too you can e-mail customer.relations@whitbread.com and tell them so!