When I discovered this teabag today I smiled and thought of my mother. Whenever anything was not up to her standards, she would write a letter of complaint to the company. Normally they would send her something to smooth her ruffled feathers. Vouchers, a case of cat food, a gift hamper or a replacement product.
Once she found two burned Rice Krispies in a box, put them into a matchbox and posted them off to Kellogg’s with a letter of complaint. What did she receive in return? Her matchbox, with two healthy Rice Krispies in it…
Many years ago I wrote to L’Oréal South Africa praising their Plenitude range, and I received a huge box of products. They were ‘rejects’ with crooked labels, damaged boxes etc but the products were all perfect and I used them with joy. Regarding complaints, I do complain if items arrive broken or if quality is bad but something like a damaged chocolate or missing tea in a teabag does not even warrant a raised eyebrow. Life’s too short.
I did have my own ‘mom’ moment a couple of years ago though, when I bought a glass Voluspa fragrance candle which arrived smashed to smithereens. I rang the company and complained bitterly about their delivery service. They promised to send me a replacement. Turns out I had contacted the wrong company. I had to sheepishly ring them back and apologise. Their candles were still in transit…
There is a cultural difference between South Africa and Sweden regarding complaining. Swedes tend to complain a lot about public transport, healthcare shortcomings, the postal service, people walking to the left instead of to the right, people not cleaning up after their animals. If a politician uses their work card to buy a sandwich on their long-distance train journey to work, it makes headlines and requires public apologies. In South Africa (among my family and friends at least) people generally don’t make a fuss more than rolling their eyes – because they are resigned to the system not working. In their town they live with no water, no electricity, no post, no public transport but just get on with it. Service delivery failure is a fact of life, as is rampant corruption. On the other hand I think South African people are more likely to complain in a shop than Swedes are. If something does not live up to your expectations, you return it.
