Devoted Customer Upset Jimmy Dean Downsized Sausage 16oz To 12oz But Charges Same Price

Enraged by Jimmy Dean reducing the size of their sausage from 16 oz to 12 oz but still charging the same price, Randy Taylor left a voicemail complaint on Jimmy Dean corporate line. Randy has a southern accent and is quite upset with the Jimmy Dean sausage company. He threatens to never buy, and never eat, Jimmy Dean sausage again until they go back to making sausage like they used to. Click above to hear it (warning: curse words). How good an idea is this all-too common price-chiseling if it turns 30-year fans into boycotters?

Comments

  1. fileunder says:

    i’m sure Paula Deen can help him out.

  2. edrebber says:

    This guy’s arteries are probably constricted from eating all that Jimmy Dean sausage. If he doesn’t calm down, an artery could get constricted and cause a heart attack. If that happens, then it’s all Jimmy Dean’s fault. I see a lawsuit in the making.

  3. thepounder says:

    While I see the humor in it all, there’s still a problem here. Now it’s 12 ounces for the same prices of what was once 16 ounces? Oh, for shame Jimmy Dean. Maybe cut 1 ounce, but not 4.

    Luckily I live near Austin, TX, and am able to get Meyer’s Elgin Sausage in pretty much every supermarket. Meyer’s is far superior to Jimmy Dean.
    For those who may be interested — http://www.cuetopiatexas.com

    @dugn: I’d suppose the bigger issue here is that they reduced the size by a full 25% and are still charging the same for the product. Maybe a 5% reduction or less wouldn’t bring such a raging phone call from Mr. Randy Taylor. Who knows though, he seems rather passionate about his sausage.

  4. thepounder says:

    I must say though… I just listened to the audio again and the end of it really is comic gold: “… I wanna eat, goddammit.”

    Poor fella, he’s in Texas and doesn’t know about Meyer’s. That pretty sad. Wish I had a way to get in contact with him to save him from his sausagey hell.

  5. JAYEONE says:

    Nothing’s been the same since they fired Jimmy Dean from Jimmy Dean Sausage.

  6. soap1000 says:

    “a couple dozen eggs”?!!!

  7. darnellswife says:

    LMFAO!

  8. mthrndr says:

    that was hella funny. What pisses me off is when the brand managers for the conglomerates that own these companies come out with bullshit like ‘value sized for convenience!’ or ‘improved sizing!’ to hide the fact that they’ve reduced the size.

  9. SaveMeJeebus says:

    This guy sounds like Dan from Roseanne.

  10. Dr.Ph0bius says:

    Im failry certain that the toothpicks I buy are smaller than they once were. The quality of picking they deliver has diminished, and well as the quantity of picking time. I find myself haveing to grab a second one sooner than I used to. Dont try and lull me into complaceny with some zesty mint flavoring, either!

    Its time our voices were heard!!!

  11. consumer4life says:

    ya’ll are missing the point…everyday companies are downsizing the product size but charging the same amount for the product…it’s your voice and your dollars…what are you going to do about this…in the end this sort of practice affects ALL of us…no matter what our size is or where we come from

  12. Yossarian says:

    @thepounder: Wish I had a way to get in contact with him…

    He said his phone number twice on the message. Go for it, man.

  13. dazzlezak says:

    1. Love the audio clip. He should be on South park or something. Better than most of gootube. I’m still grinning.

    2. It’s a SaraLee Company, several of their products have started to suck lately.

    “Simple Yet Special tm” my ass!

    Their deli meats need some work too! (Used to be better, and cheaper, the prices have skyrocketed in recent months.)

    And that Seneso coffe is like $2 a serving, you MUST be kidding me!

    Gallo Light Italian Dry Salame (yes, it’s spelled correctly) excepted. (Although I’ve been trying to cut down on my nitrite intake)

  14. Red_Eye says:

    @dugn: I am with the redneck. Sorry but I am sick of this sneaky packagin manuever. I think the first time I ever noticed it was years ago when a certain brand of tuna dropped a .5oz off their can. Can size didnt change though so the consumer didnt notice.

    His complaint is valid 12oz doesnt work for him and in the JD board meeting I am sure it went like this.

    flunky#1: “Well if we take that 4 ounces away from 3 packages then we are making a 4th package and profits on a 4th package we never sold before.

    flunky#2: “Ok but what about people who have come to depend on a single package meeting their needs, I mean heck look at the hundreds of recipes out there for a 16oz package. What about a family of 4 each member getting 4oz(before cooking) of sausage, now they will all only get 3oz(before cooking).”

    flunky#1: “Boo hoo, so then they will have to buy another package? Oh that breaks my heart…NOT”

  15. EagleTheta says:

    That is so funny. It was a well thought out complaint. He wasn’t unreasonable, he even was willing to pay more for the 16oz package. He’s got a real family to feed, and that wimpy 12oz package doesn’t get the job done.

    @acambras: That was not cursing a blue streak. Not even close.

  16. V-effekt says:

    Ich vermisse Amerika manchmal. Manchmal.
    I miss America sometimes. Sometimes. I love it, great post. Is it authentic, though?

  17. PaulMorel says:

    Awesome is the only word for that.

    I may be one of those weird people from up north that he seems to dislike, but I totally agree with his sentiment. I don’t mind paying a little more for the bigger size, but why stop offering it entirely?

    Of course, being a goofy northerner, I am a vegetarian, but I apply the same philosophy to non-meat products as he does to meat-products.

  18. remedies says:

    ‘your products are very delicious’ gets me every time.

  19. Geekybiker says:

    Id rather see the price increase than the products go down in size as well. I bet the price per oz wouldnt change nearly as much if they just had to raise the price.

  20. Nemesis_Enforcer says:

    @Zombietime: MMMMM sausage and gravy…over biscuits SCORE!!!!!!!!!!! Moving out to Cali. I have a huge craving for some southern food. The soul food place near me does a good job with lunch and dinner but they don’t open for b’fast. I miss me some bacon biscuits and gravy…

  21. ribex says:

    Where did this clip even come from?

    I’m listening to it for the 3rd time (twice yesterday) because I enjoyed it so much the first time.

  22. dalasv says:

    @ribex: I think this version might be from me, and I got it from someone who got it from a person who works at Jimmy Dean’s ad agency.

  23. loueloui says:

    I say good for him. Regardless of his scio-economic status, most consumers are too ignorant to appreciate how much a small percentage adds up over the long run. Ever look over your credit card statement and see that .00037% percent daily interest rate?

    Twenty-five percent is a HUGE number in volume. Jimmy Dean knows that. In fact I bet they have a whole group of people deciding just exactly how much they can reduce a package size before people notice. Maybe if more people were like this guy companies wouldn’t be so quick to screw over us consumers.

  24. V-effekt says:

    I wonder if you have been had. Any confirmation that they actually did this? Their web site does not list a 12oz package and all their in house recipes call for the 16oz variety. (And yes, one calls for 12 eggs!)
    [jimmydean.com]
    Oddly enough, there are 6 servings in a 16oz roll, so cutting down to 12oz would result in only 4.5 servings, not enough to feed the “family of 5″.
    A nice marketing ploy by Jimmy Dean to get us all talking about their “delicious” products? And man, that guy does say delicious in a very special way. I wanna EAT!

  25. ekistics22 says:

    FYI… Jimmy Dean recently revised their web site. You can now post comments for the recipes and videos. See http://www.jimmydean.com

  26. FrankTheTank says:

    This is a “King of the Hill” episode waiting to happen.

  27. fatfatfatty says:

    I’m afraid this would only backfire for them. If I have a recipe that calls for 16 oz of sausage and Jimmy Dean has reduced the size to 12 oz, then I will just use 12 oz and figure that I will be better off for it. They will be the losers in this case. I’m not going to have 3/4 of a package of sausage getting freezer burn because they want to play with the package sizes.

  28. phantomoftheopry says:

    So happy to be vegan.

  29. slickster says:

    Despite the hilarity of this call, I think this is a sign of the inflation that’s been happening. It sucks, and it affects more than just the Hank Hills out in Texas.

    This guy is merely feeling the after-effects of the president he voted for.

  30. uberfiend says:

    I’m not sure why people are down on the size of his family. I’m 6’2″ and weigh 215, with a low body-fat percentage because I work out. A lot. Of course, I don’t eat Jimmy Dean… And I don’t know many healthy women who are 200lbs. I’m just sayin’.

  31. frankblevins says:

    Jimmy Dean is the best sausage. I agree with SLICKSTER that; “this is a sign of inflation”. Coffee companies pulled the same stunt in the early 80′s. The one pound cans suddenly became 13.1 oz.

  32. firefighter1tx says:

    I can’t blame the guy for being upset and complaining is how things get noticed. I would say the the profanity could have been left out and specially when it comes to the GD word. As for his opinion between people from the North and South that war is long behind us and there shouldnt be dividing factors brought up between the two. I have lived in Texas all my life and some of my good friends are from the North. As for the downsizing of Jimmy Dean Sausage, buy another brand. Owens is everbit as tasty to me lets see if they follow the Industry on downsizing. Potter sausage is another great southern sauasage. As for the amount this redneck family has for breakfast…Geewhiz!!! I eat breakfast with six firefighters and we dont cook near as much as they do. Hmm… Maybe I overlooked how much the kids eat. Again.. theres nothing wrong with complaining but he cuss words could have been omited.
    Stay safe all,
    Firefighter1tx

  33. sickcat says:

    At least he was a gentleman and didn’t divulge the weight of the women in his family. (Although his description of his wife as a ” plump Scot” had me on the floor.)

    As for it being a valid complaint…

    I guess there has been an increase in the cost to produce Jimmy Dean and it came down to increasing the cost of the 16oz package or reducing the amount of product.

    With the cost of fuel now. EVERYTHING is going to cost more or you are going to get less.

  34. Kingair315 says:

    He has a good Point….
    Think about it, 16 oz of Sausage for 5, is a bit over 3 ounces for each person. Most restaurants serve at least a 4 ox Patty for breakfast. Just because you are 200lbs, does _not_ mean you are fat. I’m lean at 210, and 6’2…. At 77, can leg press 465 lbs, can you?

  35. NOLADOTCOM says:

    I see alot of southern stereotyping, but the one reason this happened is the only stereotype i dont see. Because a southerner will actually stand up for what they believe while a northerner simply goes insides locks the door and hibernates thru winter. Anyways, yes it’s Bush’s fault, hell you can blame all the previous presidents too for placing so much exclusivity on oil as the only fuel. Oil prices control the market, yes even a competitive market because everyone everywhere uses oil(ie factors in the cost of production shift the demand curve in our out). If we keep voting in the presidents who do not plan to develop an alternative fuel quickly oil will always have this big of an impact on price. The call is definately classic though lol. He should call Opec.

  36. belle TL says:

    @mthrndr: The yogurt category is notorius–I was livid when Dannon reduced the amount “to allow for granola or other mix-ins” but I refuse to buy the 8-oz Colombo because it tastes like crap. Gotta love this brave, new world of line-item pricing.

  37. edrebber says:

    Kroger had both the 12oz roll and the 16oz roll of Jimmy Dean sausage for sale today.

  38. BugMeNot2 says:

    That was crap!

  39. justpale says:

    I can understand his frustration. I have a breakfast casserole recipe from Jimmy Dean that I’m intending to make tonight. It calls for “1 pkg. Regular Flavor Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage: cooked, crumbled & drained”

    I was looking for a coupon online when I stumbled across this Consumerist story. Now I realize – what the heck size do I need? It’s an old recipe, so is it asking for the old 16 oz package? Or one of the new 12 oz or 24 oz packages???

  40. ceokhan says:

    hahahaha this is so funny! one word: FAT!

    But i do kinda understand the man… This is not the only thing that has been downsized. Food companies all around the nation are doing this kinda stuff!
    ___________________________________________________________
    KicksOnFire.com – News & Updates on Air Jordan & Jordans

  41. twonewfs says:

    Around here, Columbo yogurt downsized from 8 oz. to 6 oz. like the other brands.

  42. bryanoak says:

    I told my dad not to call, but he just wouldn’t listen…

  43. HappyNekkidPaul says:

    OK, first of all, this clip cracks me up every time! lol Tbone steaks, THREE DOZEN EGGS and 12 ounces of sausage isn’t enough for ONE breakfest?? I’m a Texas man as well and I can honestly say I haven’t eaten that much in a day much less for breakfest and I’m not a skinny guy.

    Second, I would be willing to bet this man went somewhere else for his sausage, complained about the price and quality and went back to Jimmy Dean. I have spent many years working retail and restraunts and currently working for one of the biggest retailers in the world and I have heard this over and over again. Bottom line, prices go up; it’s called inflation. There’s also the fact that America is based on Capitolism. Companies are free to package and price their products however they wish and we are free to go elsewhere. Problem is, most people are all talk when it comes to this.

    From a consumer’s point of view, I hope this man sticks with it, rediculous as his rant may have been. If more people did this and stuck to it, things might actually change, within reason. Problem is they either don’t stick with it or they blame the wrong people ie…the cashiers, waiters…ect.