On two positive notes

We are really going through a very "positive" period so, yet again, today we have two positive notes:

First of all I would like to thank and congratulate you for the great and assiduous service you are giving us regular readers of The Sunday Times where customer service is concerned. Not only I have no complaint to make, but I would like to put on record a very positive experience where customer service is concerned.

Recently I bought two 500-gram packets of Agnesi maccheroni which, although the expiry date was in 2004, I could not use because I found them in an unsatisfactory condition. I phoned Alf Mizzi & Sons Ltd. and they were extremely sympathetic. In no time they phoned back to say they will be sending me six packets of the same which they did.

I am herewith enclosing the letter I received to prove my point. (Antoinette Cutajar)

Here follows the letter in question:

We refer to your recent complaint on Agnesi maccheroni and would like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to bring this to our attention.

We are always concerned to hear that our customers are not completely satisfied with the quality of the products we distribute and would like to assure you that we do our utmost to ensure that we offer our customers the best quality products.

We are providing you with six 500g packets of Agnesi maccheroni which we trust you will find to your satisfaction. We hope that you shall continue to enjoy Agnesi maccheroni and may we take the opportunity to thank you once again for your valued custom. (Chris Zammit Lupi, sales and brand manager, Alf. Mizzi & Sons (Mktg.) Ltd.)

Indeed this is the kind of customer orientation we ought to expect from all agents. Without meaning to undermine any product, a common problem locally regarding agents is how they deal with customers. I would go as far as to say that when one is going to buy a product, which would involve a great deal of interaction with the agents, a very important factor one has to consider is the customer service orientation of the relevant agents.

In this context I would give Alf. Mizzi & Sons full marks.

This week's second positive note is from my son Matthew. I suppose he is entitled to write to me:

A common sight in many countries outside Malta is the "health food shop". When I walked into Better Living on E. Bernard Street in Gzira I could very well have been in England. I saw a wide range of health food products, dietary supplements, and of course, the section to which I was drawn like a grown-up child in a grown-up sweet shop - sports supplements.

I bought a big tub of drink-mix powder. I started taking the supplement and soon discovered a strange plastic foreign object. Concerned, I returned to the shop and showed it to the owner. He looked at it and, although as surprised as I was, he explained what the object was and how it must have got there during the production process.

I was satisfied with his explanation and confident that the powder was not contaminated. I would have gladly left with the same tub since I had already consumed almost half of it. However, without hesitation, he gave me a brand new tub. I was now in a situation (which you often refer to) whereby I was better off than I would have been had the problem never occurred in the first place. This was a much appreciated gesture. Consequently, Better Living have won my custom for life.

I have since continued receiving excellent service. I have come to trust the advice and vast product knowledge of the owner, who I recently found out bore a name with which I am familiar, Francis Harmsworth, a successful local athlete. (Matthew Muscat Inglott)

I know Matthew's expectations and I must add my compliments to Mr Harmsworth on having made such a positive impact on him.