Rant; Nabisco

[contender]

I recently bought a package of Nabisco Fig Newtons.
I had an issue I wanted to discuss with the company. I first went to their website,, then to the Contact us section. I typed in my info,, and as I was adding the product information,, it would not accept the date code,, typed exactly as requested,, and as many different ways as I could. All other info went in. But,, I could not submit my email.

So,, next,, I tried the 800 phone number. I got a recording. I tried as many options as possible,, NADA. Nobody & no way to get anybody.

So,, since I was still on the parent company website,, I found a different number,,, and tried it. I got "Unable to accept calls right now due to technical difficulties. Goodbye."

I then saw a thing where they offered a "live chat," thing. I tried that. I got things like; "I'm new, and didn't understand you question. Could you re-word it, or try again?" After a few times of trying to type in simple requests,, I got a comment to try their "Contact us, Feedback" place. I typed that I had already tried that & it wouldn't accept my info.

But, I tried it again. This time,, it gave me an invalid zip code entry,, instead of the invalid date entry from before.

Basically,, I have been totally unable to contact a person or even send an email to the parent company over Nabisco.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Here's the company info off the package;

Mondelez Global LLC
East Hanover
NJ 07936

Oh the Fig Newtons,, "Made in Mexico"

And another part; Mondelez International Group printed on the package.

I guess the only direction now is to stop buying any of their products.

Rant over.

 

[Slyk Willy]

Not uncommon to fall into the rabbit hole of trying to contact companies. Their algorithms seem like they're designed to frustrate so people will just go away. My guess is, IF one is able to contact and they would try to justify their incompetency, they'd say it was due to "these uncertain times" of covid.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Well contender, it's not just Nabisco.

I went out and bought a new cell phone to put all of the "apps" on that will have no
personal information on it. Mint Mobil has unlimited text and talk (with 3G data) for
$15/mo (you pay in advance to get that rate).

I entered all the data they asked for, put in credit card info and clicked on submit.
Two minutes later it was still staring at me. I clicked on submit again, same result.
Tried their online chat, and it has a bunch of canned replies and does NOT have
options that would be helpful, to me.

Just looks like they do not care, as long as they get your money.
(I'm going to contact the credit card company and reject the charge if I am charged
and do not receive the SIM card that I was signing up for). :roll:

SIGH!

 

[Snake45]

For what it's worth, I recently compared Nabisco Nilla Wafers with Walmart's knockoff (much lower priced). The Walmart wafers were at least as good as the Nabisco's, and maybe even better. :wink:

 

[Dave P.]

https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-01-10

Last Sunday's Dilbert...

 

[Fox Mike]

https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-01-10

Last Sunday's Dilbert...

Scott Adams is a genius! His strip is as much required reading as my daily meditation readings.

 

[onehandgunner]

I quit buying anything made by Nabisco 6 or so years ago. They changed most of the recipes of the products that I was buying : saltine crackers, ginger snaps and a few more. They were terrible tasting, so no more.

 

[Selena]

I quit buying anything made by Nabisco 6 or so years ago. They changed most of the recipes of the products that I was buying : saltine crackers, ginger snaps and a few more. They were terrible tasting, so no more.

When Nabisco was "acquired" by Altria Group there were some major cost cutting programs. Cutting corners took priority to quality.

 

[ned]

Cold comfort that it is a trend. The Dilbert was great.
About 12 yrs ago a mid size engineering company I worked for most of my life was bought by a conglomerate....their sales model was www and 1-800...vs a field sales engineer....I now make a reasonable living selling the same stuff to same customers as a independent.....my whole pitch is “meets the same specs but I am less aggravating to deal with “

 

[Dan in MI]

I contacted a company a few months to let them know there was a non food item in a bag of jerky. Nothing major, (not the desicant) but I thought they should know. If it would have been a late night on the road snack it definitely would have ended up in my mouth. Never got any kind of response.

 

[arfmel]

Ok, I’ll play. Bought a couple boxes of Nabisco Honey Maid graham crackers this past weekend. I seem to remember when the packages of crackers basically filled the box they came in. These boxes were an inch taller and about 1/4” deeper than the packets of crackers inside. So the crackers could slide to and fro in the box and can get busted to crumbs. No bueno.

[]

 

[hittman]

People this worked up over a cookie obviously have no real problems or concerns in their life. Good for them!

 

[32shooter]

Reminds me of the Dibert cartoon at read at work today.
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-01-10

 

[blume357]

My wife went to Walgreens yesterday and I asked her to pick me up some 54" black laces for my boots which they had.... I was looking at the package and on the back they have a nice diagram showing what length laces you need for the number of eyelets in your shoes or boots... the funny part is none of their laces are the same lengths as shown in the diagram...

 

[GLASSMAN]

People this worked up over a cookie obviously have no real problems or concerns in their life. Good for them!

There's all kinds of problems and concerns most of the time.
This thread just covers the cookie ones.

 

[contender]

"People this worked up over a cookie obviously have no real problems or concerns in their life. Good for them!"

I do have real problems,, and concerns in my life. Yet,, I had gotten these cookies,, and was going to post a short note to the company,, but the more I tried,, the more frustrating it got. And I was determined to let them know what I thought of it all. Plus,, my work for the day was done,, the weather was crappy,, and I had the time.
So,, I did find their physical address,, so I decided to type a letter & mail it. WITHOUT any contact info other than my mailing address. Let them try & contact me "electronically."

I have a policy.
If I find expected service,, I shop with that company or business. If I find sub-standard service,, I let management know. That way,, they can (hopefully) work to correct the issue. If there is a problem,, how can they fix something if they do not know if anything is wrong?
And by the same token,, when I find above standard service,, I also contact management and let them know & often tip the person directly that helped me if possible.
I'm equal in my attitude.


And yes,, Dilbert was great.

 

[44RED]

When I see that Mondelz label I immediately know: Used to be great now it's hit or miss...

 

[Skoopski]

For what it's worth, I recently compared Nabisco Nilla Wafers with Walmart's knockoff (much lower priced). The Walmart wafers were at least as good as the Nabisco's, and maybe even better. :wink:

Agreed. The only thing of the Great Value Brand I’ve found so far that doesn’t taste nearly as good is their version of ritz crackers. Everything else has been just as good if not better.

 

[Mobuck]

Here's another similar instance: Last fall, I bought a Cleveland Iron Works pellet stove after reading some glowing reviews. What I found was very much different than those reviews so I posted my own version on the store's website. The first scathing review simply disappeared so I posted another with fewer demeaning phrases which did show up a couple days later. Within a week, I get an email from the chain store from which I purchased the stove asking me to contact their customer service number for a discussion of my review.
EVERY time I've called that number I've been put on hold until I got impatient and hung up. That's been going on for 3 weeks or more. I'm going to enter another scathing review about the company's customer service department and see if that shakes things loose.

 

[coach]

That’s precious. You post a bad review, they want to talk to you about it, supposedly/maybe to try to make things right and they put you forever hold.

 

[Johnnu2]

I just turn these concerns over to my wife......... Let them deal with HER.
So far, she's done very well in tracking them down and getting something outta them.
She's like a tiny assassin of bad service.... and, she enjoys the hunt.
J.

 

[contender]

"I just turn these concerns over to my wife......... Let them deal with HER."

Miss Penny is also like this at times. She's good at tracking folks etc. And if she gets a burr under her saddle going,, they will NOT like the end result.
I have seen her emails or letters get such results,, that it impressed us a bit. I recall the CEO of one company,, who redirected grant money from the FoNRA into the company general fund,, (illegally) and didn't use it as stated in the grant. He almost got fired by the parent company. There was a lot of scrambling to fix that one. That CEO called me,, and during our discussion,, he said; "You are trying to get me fired. That affects my family." To which I replied; "You did something illegal,, it wasn't my doing,, YOU are the one responsible. And what about all the youth that your actions affected?"
he didn't have a good comeback for that.
In that case,, you do NOT screw with hard earned money raised by the FoNRA for a program, than use it elsewhere.

But this was going to be a simple thing,, yet,, the fact that they have made it impossible to directly contact them using their info they supply is what irritated me.

I found it interesting that in their contact stuff,, you have to be "over 13 or have your parents written consent to contact them."

Maybe I'm dealing with idiots who think everyone is a child & who would give up?

 

[Uncle Howie]

Maybe I'm dealing with idiots who think everyone is a child & who would give up?

I bet you’ll come out OK, eventually.

I complained to Mondelez about some flavorless “Chicken in a Biskit” crackers, a couple of years ago. They took care of me, with a generous replacement offer.

Sorry, I can’t remember how I got ahold of them!

 

[Uncle Howie]

People this worked up over a cookie obviously have no real problems or concerns in their life. Good for them!

You do make a point... I’m fortunate- I have employment, health insurance, and decent health.

I “let a lot of things go,” but every once in awhile, something gets stuck in my craw. If I get the runaround about it, then I get fired up. (Normally, I’ve got a SUPER-long “fuse.”)

My father in law likes to say, “If they don’t know... SOMEbody has to tell them!” Of course, he figures that somebody is him.

The older I get, the less patience I have for, “It’s good enough.” I didn’t pay full price for an 80% product...

Anyway, I see your point, Hittman. That said, “Go get ‘em, Contender! :mrgreen:

 

[Kevin]

I found it interesting that in their contact stuff,, you have to be "over 13 or have your parents written consent to contact them."

This goes back to a couple years ago, there are new laws about electronic communication with minors. Yes, I know a 14 year old is still a minor. But, for example, you have to be 13 to have any accounts online, like Facebook for example. It’s the whole electronic privacy act, or whatever it’s called.

These are part of the same laws about informing us of cookies when you come to a website. In principle, the laws are a good idea, however, I’m sure the lawyers ruined them.

But I do get your point about the company thinking we are all children.

 

[chm270]

For what it's worth, I recently compared Nabisco Nilla Wafers with Walmart's knockoff (much lower priced). The Walmart wafers were at least as good as the Nabisco's, and maybe even better. :wink:

Their fig bars are a really good deal that taste great as well.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I just by Publix store brand Fig Newtons. No problems.
BTW Oreo is the best selling cookie brand in the United States and they are made by Kraft. Maybe someone would like a pack of the new Lady Gaga Oreo's.

https://www.elitedaily.com/p/heres-where-to-buy-lady-gaga-chromatica-oreo-cookies-when-they-launch-in-2021-46357764

...and then again maybe not?? :?

 

[kramden]

For what it's worth, I recently compared Nabisco Nilla Wafers with Walmart's knockoff (much lower priced). The Walmart wafers were at least as good as the Nabisco's, and maybe even better. :wink:

We always buy Walmarts "Great Value" line. Great quality , much better price.

 

[Mobuck]

"I just by Publix store brand Fig Newtons. No problems."
I don't care for "fig newtons" but I've developed a liking for "Daddy Rays APPLE BARS" (made in Missouri no less). Look like fig newtons but with apple flavor. Cheapest "cookie" I can buy and I get them at Menards so quite often there's a 15% discount. According to the ingredients list, they're not any better or worse than other cookies but they're easier to chew.

 

[Pat-inCO]

People this worked up over a cookie obviously have no real
problems or concerns in their life.

OR, they have been watching on the forum for years and find at least several others
having similar problems with a given manufacturer. As has already been said, if the
management of said company is not notified, they think everything is just duckie.
When I see problems mentioned (like Nabisco in this case) and I have a similar
problem, I make sure I let them know directly, because I know I'm not the only one.