A hypothetical game where food hygiene laws do not exist:
You own a business supplying meals that can be kept at room temperature for quite a lengthy period of time. Orders are sent by standard postal service, running from Monday morning to Saturday midday.The meals arrive from the factory to your business early on a Wednesday morning, but you don't know which day the meals are made - they just come in fresh on a weekly basis. Your website advises your customers that orders will be dispatched on Wednesdays and Thursdays to ensure maximum freshness on arrival.
Sometimes you have meals left over at the end of the week, but they don't have a 'sell by', or 'use by' date. The meals can be stored for a good few days, sometimes weeks depending upon the meal.
One day, a customer emails to say that their order wasn't dispatched until Friday and didn't arrive until Monday, the packer put heavy meals on top of squashable meals and everything was so rotten the meals can't possibly have been fresh when they were sent on Friday.
There is no physical proof that the customer is telling the truth, or has good judgement when it comes to freshness. You have to take the complaint on face value and the customer has to take the company's claims of freshness on face value. You do know from your own records, however, that this order wasn't dispatched until Friday.
How would you, as the business owner, respond to the complaint?
Comments (42)
You've put delivery services out of comission.
You've put delivery services out of comission.
I'm not sure whether you're preparing to be sued by the customer, or planning on suing the customer for complaining, though.
Botulism
Botchalism?
Except for those street corner kiddy lemonade stands with the donation jar. Currently we have the Girl Scout Cookie solicitors everywhere.
At least their earn a badge.
But if I actually thought the customer was lying I'd give them a refund and not deal with them again. If I thought they were telling the truth, and I probably would think they're telling the truth, then the next delivery would be on me.
And if I thought they were lying and they're Muslims they get to keep their money plus a comment on their honour. Or lack thereof. What I expect from Muslims is haggling, for them to claim at the end of the job that the price agreed is lower than what was actually agreed. Now the best response to that is to not care at all about money and care completely about the honour, they'll squirm then try to give me the full price we agreed plus a tip, an offer I then refuse.
Botchalism?
I think I might have to appropriate the word botchalism, especially with the 'a' instead of the 'u', like the Southern English 'gotcha'.
Yeah, I'm gonna botcha, init? The phi'osophy ov botchalism, tha's moi trade.
Anyway I talk about the Muslims because no one else really does this sort of thing anymore. In the modern world there are Muslims and there's everyone else.
Just what would you do as the owner of that business on receipt of that complaint.
But if I actually thought the customer was lying I'd give them a refund and not deal with them again. If I thought they were telling the truth, and I probably would think they're telling the truth, then the next delivery would be on me.
And if I thought they were lying and they're Muslims they get to keep their money plus a comment on their honour. Or lack thereof. What I expect from Muslims is haggling, for them to claim at the end of the job that the price agreed is lower than what was actually agreed. Now the best response to that is to not care at all about money and care completely about the honour, they'll squirm then try to give me the full price we agreed plus a tip, an offer I then refuse.
I disagree with your later comment that it's just Muslims who haggle. It's legal to haggle in any shop, or circumstance in the UK, but just because it's not usual British culture to do so, it doesn't mean that a wide range of people don't haggle.
My mum used to get up to all sorts including pretending she couldn't speak much English if she had her eye on a tea cup in an antiques fair. If it was small fry, a part of the joy was the haggle for her.
( Joe Rogan hosted)
They ate hideous things,
of their own volition.
You don't have to watch your customers eat
AND
people will pretty much anything
if it was cheap enough or they are hungry enough
Solid return business.
First, is that businesses are notorious for counting even fractions of a penny/quid/euro of profit. So, as you suggested, food would not be kept cool, except to reduce spoilage, if, and only if, the cost of cooling was less than the cost of replacing spoilt food.
Second, on average, the profit-loss algorithm will be maximized, when the amount of food spoilage that reaches the customer and is replaced with a new order, at the consumer's expense, doesn't cause significant losses to customers who don't return, due to food spoilage, or die in the process of consuming such food.
Thus, there will likely be two successful models: 1) a company that optimizes profit based on maximizing food spoilage, while minimizing customer losses; 2) a company that optimizes profit based on maximizing return customers, while maximizing food spoilage. (Businesses that attempt to minimize food spoilage will be unable to compete with 1 & 2. But when they crop up, 1 & 2 will experience random decreases in profits, and will have to continuously and dynamically adjust their profit-loss models.)
Does this sound close to what you were imagining?
Shalom,
Iyyov
First, is that businesses are notorious for counting even fractions of a penny/quid/euro of profit. So, as you suggested, food would not be kept cool, except to reduce spoilage, if, and only if, the cost of cooling was less than the cost of replacing spoilt food.
Second, on average, the profit-loss algorithm will be maximized, when the amount of food spoilage that reaches the customer and is replaced with a new order, at the consumer's expense, doesn't cause significant losses to customers who don't return, due to food spoilage, or die in the process of consuming such food.
Thus, there will likely be two successful models: 1) a company that optimizes profit based on maximizing food spoilage, while minimizing customer losses; 2) a company that optimizes profit based on maximizing return customers, while maximizing food spoilage. (Businesses that attempt to minimize food spoilage will be unable to compete with 1 & 2. But when they crop up, 1 & 2 will experience random decreases in profits, and will have to continuously and dynamically adjust their profit-loss models.)
Does this sound close to what you were imagining?
Shalom,
Iyyov
I asked what you would do in response to the complaint.
I asked what you would do in response to the complaint.
I asked you what you would do in response to the complaint.
->
I asked you what you would do in response to the complaint.
However, the hypothetical executives of the hypothetical company would optimize their profit. If it is on the far left or right of the profit's bell-curve, it will be summarily ignored. The closer it gets to the middle, where profits are affected, then it would be addressed accordingly. Likely, the issuance of a coupon for a discount on the next order, which would shift the bell-curve accordingly, potentially retain the customer, and prevent the sending of another identical order at 100% loss, if a full refund was given.
-> <-
What is most interesting so far is that the only person to write something involving interaction with the customer (apart from Itchy yelling shut up and eat your dinner) is Chesney.
Well, well.
Yeh-No?
Yeh-No?
The clues are all there in the op.
To answer your blog question....
How does or can anyone deal with what they don't have?
Knowing what I knew and being a businessman, I would not of shelved them, end of.
So no complaints in other words
But if I actually thought the customer was lying I'd give them a refund and not deal with them again. If I thought they were telling the truth, and I probably would think they're telling the truth, then the next delivery would be on me.
And if I thought they were lying and they're Muslims they get to keep their money plus a comment on their honour. Or lack thereof. What I expect from Muslims is haggling, for them to claim at the end of the job that the price agreed is lower than what was actually agreed. Now the best response to that is to not care at all about money and care completely about the honour, they'll squirm then try to give me the full price we agreed plus a tip, an offer I then refuse.
But to say you would not deal with the suspected liars again...
isn't there a law where you cannot refuse customers without reason?
not saying ... just asking
To answer your blog question....
How does or can anyone deal with what they don't have?
Knowing what I knew and being a businessman, I would not of shelved them, end of.
So no complaints in other words
But I hope you're having a pleasant time saying it.
But I hope you're having a pleasant time saying it.
Indeed Jac, just saying it has been the high light of my night, thank you for allowing me the opportunity
Indeed Jac, just saying it has been the high light of my night, thank you for allowing me the opportunity
What is 'them'? :confusion;
Hypothetical will always be the most and or the least of what the hypothesis is, thought dependent of course. Could Scotty actually beam them up lol.
What is 'them'? :confusion;
I just got lost in a world of my own there, for a minute or two your blog brought me back to my merchandising days, when I refused to shelve outdated products
Anyways, as you were
ignore my previous comment lol
I just got lost in a world of my own there, for a minute or two your blog brought me back to my merchandising days, when I refused to shelve outdated products
Anyways, as you were
ignore my previous comment lol
Whilst you haven't answered the question as if you were the owner of the business, you're the first person to consider what the staff were doing that may have lead to the complaint.
Whilst you haven't answered the question as if you were the owner of the business, you're the first person to consider what the staff were doing that may have lead to the complaint.
If you're trying to confuse me... Job well done
If you're trying to confuse me... Job well done
You're the first person to highlight the stage of finding out what the staff did.
As the business owner your records show that the parcel wasn't dispatched until Friday, so the complaint is at least partially true. Finding out what's happening on your shop floor should be the next step: Were unfresh items being dispatched? If so, where are the unfresh meals coming from? Were parcels packed with fragile items underneath heavy items? Why was the parcel not dispatched until Friday, too late for the Saturday midday delivery?
What is the next stage after checking what might have gone wrong in your own business?