Of bread, biscuits and (embedded) foreign things
Kanpur, 1999: One morning my husband was about to bite into a sandwich, and stopped in time…he stared at a black embedded object in the slice that had, well, several legs. After initial appalled reactions, we decided to call the (well-known) baker. The local telephone directory helped. We called, and were assured that utmost standards of quality were always maintained. A seasoned marketing person came pronto, collected the offending piece, deposited two crisp fresh loaves of very special milk bread, and left.
Bangalore, 2001: Same brand, same product, this time a different foreign object, but just as firmly ensconced and baked to perfection. Out went a call to the Yeswantpur source, history repeated. This time a young, enthusiastic and well-coached marketing person turned up to convey the ‘we-have-high-standards-and-quality-checks’ USP. This time we said ‘no, thanks’ to the replacement loaves.
Bangalore, 2004: It was the turn of a packet of sweet corn soup. My all-vegetarian family sat down to enjoy bowls of hot appetizers, when I noticed strange shapes and figures in a spoonful of liquid, that ought to have held clear soup with known additions. On closer examination, we decided that they looked like down (fine undercoat of birds). This time, all we needed to do was call the toll-free number. Person came, gave assurance, collected suspicious object (we had painstakingly separated and dried them), presented complementary soup packets. We were also invited to visit the factory and ‘see for ourselves the high quality scenario’.
Coimbatore, 2006: In the very last biscuit of a pack of internationally popular butter cookies was a piece of human hair (an assumption, of course). You now know the routine. Finger dials toll-free number, finger-owner answers queries as to when & where from the pack came and gives details of the product name and batch number. This time, we were honoured with the visit of no less than the head of marketing who happened to be touring from headquarters. I will not retype the rest of the familiar sequence.
Coimbatore, 2006: Black object in bread, local baker, assurance, invitation. (Baker said he’d send special wheat loaves, thankfully they never arrived)
Coimbatore, 2007: Object in the same brand of biscuit, international brand, toll-free number, only this time they sent the local agent.
Coimbatore, 2007: Black plastic tube 5mm long in slice of bread, same local baker, no response to phone calls. This time I know that Mr L of JMB, can easily place (on his mobile) the originator of the incoming call…
If one household has had so many occurences over this 8 year period, imagine the number of occurences that go unnoticed / unreported/ unactioned / ignored!
We all spend time watching and talking about the number of US recalls of 'Made in China' stuff, if only we used those hours to pursue our rights as consumers...
Update:
Delhi, 2009: When we found a half-portion of a metallic blade - yes - embedded in a well-known brand of butter, representatives visited promptly. (Veta butter)
Bangalore, 2001: Same brand, same product, this time a different foreign object, but just as firmly ensconced and baked to perfection. Out went a call to the Yeswantpur source, history repeated. This time a young, enthusiastic and well-coached marketing person turned up to convey the ‘we-have-high-standards-and-quality-checks’ USP. This time we said ‘no, thanks’ to the replacement loaves.
Bangalore, 2004: It was the turn of a packet of sweet corn soup. My all-vegetarian family sat down to enjoy bowls of hot appetizers, when I noticed strange shapes and figures in a spoonful of liquid, that ought to have held clear soup with known additions. On closer examination, we decided that they looked like down (fine undercoat of birds). This time, all we needed to do was call the toll-free number. Person came, gave assurance, collected suspicious object (we had painstakingly separated and dried them), presented complementary soup packets. We were also invited to visit the factory and ‘see for ourselves the high quality scenario’.
Coimbatore, 2006: In the very last biscuit of a pack of internationally popular butter cookies was a piece of human hair (an assumption, of course). You now know the routine. Finger dials toll-free number, finger-owner answers queries as to when & where from the pack came and gives details of the product name and batch number. This time, we were honoured with the visit of no less than the head of marketing who happened to be touring from headquarters. I will not retype the rest of the familiar sequence.
Coimbatore, 2006: Black object in bread, local baker, assurance, invitation. (Baker said he’d send special wheat loaves, thankfully they never arrived)
Coimbatore, 2007: Object in the same brand of biscuit, international brand, toll-free number, only this time they sent the local agent.
Coimbatore, 2007: Black plastic tube 5mm long in slice of bread, same local baker, no response to phone calls. This time I know that Mr L of JMB, can easily place (on his mobile) the originator of the incoming call…
If one household has had so many occurences over this 8 year period, imagine the number of occurences that go unnoticed / unreported/ unactioned / ignored!
We all spend time watching and talking about the number of US recalls of 'Made in China' stuff, if only we used those hours to pursue our rights as consumers...
Update:
Delhi, 2009: When we found a half-portion of a metallic blade - yes - embedded in a well-known brand of butter, representatives visited promptly. (Veta butter)
Oh my god, I trust "good" brands implicitly and don't even bother to look at what I put into my mouth! Wonder about the range of things I must have swallowed unwittingly!!
ReplyDeleteThanks of pointing out - I will be more aware in future.
Our standards of quality leaves much to be desired. From one shop I got a bisuit that had manufacturing date as Jul 2005!... And that that guy has the cheek to say it must be a printing mistake! Look at the way Nokia is replacing 46 million batteries world wide. We got to learn a lot!
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