Post # 118 - Maple Leaf Bakery and Their Childproof Bread Bag - 3/8/2010

Dear Maple Leaf Bakery,


I’m a dissatisfied customer. Let’s throw it out there. Put the sign around my neck. I’m annoyed. It takes a lot to get me to this point, and you’ve succeeded. Congratulations. Send everybody home for a half day.

Here’s the deal. My mom makes awesome Oatmeal bread. My kids eat it like it’s laced with addictive drugs. When they go to Grandma’s house, she always makes her Oatmeal bread, and sends the leftovers home with them. When my parents go to Arizona in the winter, my kids go through Oatmeal Bread Withdrawal (OBW). That was, until today.

My wife discovered your Wholesome Harvest Wholesome Oatmeal Bread. My son’s eyes lit up. One problem—your sealing method really stinks. Most bread has one of two options: the wire twist tie, or the little plastic square with the notched hole. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about—I bet it even has an industry name.

Your great idea: tape the bag shut with tape that is impossible to undo. I swear your tape employs top secret government adhesives. Were people armed with spray butter, breaking into bread bags at the store? So I was left with one option: tear into the bag like a hungry badger, or two promiscuous teens in the back seat of Dad’s Chevy.

I tried to make a small hole, but with each successive bread slice egression, the hole became bigger and bigger. It’s enormous. My wife said, “We can just put it in a different bag. I said “Dammit—we shouldn’t have to!”

When we bought your bread, we paid extra for what we believed to be a quality product. I’m sure some exec got a nice promotion for suggesting an idea that saved you $0.01 in material, and $0.03 in labor. “Screw the customer and his notion of fresh bread on the second, third, and fourth days”.

You sold us down the river for 4 lousy cents. But guess what? It also cost you a customer. And we eat a lot of bread.

Sincerely,

Jerry
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Subject: RE: Dissatisfied

Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:19:23 -0600

Good Morning Jerry,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about our Wholesome Harvest Oatmeal bread. Customer feedback is our most important tool.

While we can appreciate your frustration, you should know that we do not provide the packaging of the bread. The packaging for the bread is selected by the in-store bakery. If you are having a problem with the bag or any part of the packaging, you should address this issue with the in-store bakery manager of the store where you purchase our products.

On behalf of Maple Leaf Bakery, we realize your time is valuable and are grateful for your comments. If you have any further questions or comments on this or any of our other products, please feel free to contact me again. If you would provide your address, I would be happy to send you coupons for any of the bread in the Wholesome Harvest line of products. While certainly not Grandma’s, we hope your children will continue to enjoy our bread.

Peggy O. Fidanza
Customer Relations Coordinator
Maple Leaf Bakery
Quality Line: 800-550-6810

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Subject: RE: Dissatisfied
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:47:31 -0500

Peggy,

You make a fine loaf of bread. Sorry if I sounded hostile. I bought this at Kroger. I didn't know that they bag-and-seal it there. I'll take this up with them, partly because I feel bad for you. Your name gets dragged through the mud when someone downstream does that to you. Think of the people who were miffed about it and didn't complain. They may have just written the Maple  Leaf Bakery off, once and for all.

Can I make a suggestion? You, with your delicious bread as leverage, should specify a reusable sealing device downstream.

If I don't talk to you again, have a nice life!

Thanks.

Jerry
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Dear Kroger,

You're in big trouble now.  I unleashed a letter of fury at Oak Leaf Bakery about their delicious Wholesome Harvest Oatmeal bread.  The bread comes with a very strong piece of tape as the bag seal.  I had to tear into the bag to get at the tasty cargo.

I accused those people of trying to save four cents in exchange for second and third day bread freshness.  I said I would never buy Oak Leaf Bakery bread again. 

The thing is, I'm pretty easy-going. If this bugged me, it annoys a lot of people.  Most people wouldn't complain.  They'd just fall back in line and buy some Wonder.  They'd settle.  And Oak Leaf Bakery would lose valued customers. 

They're nice people.  Quit hosing them.  How about a twist tie?

Jerry
From http://thehermanletters.blogspot.com