Poland Springs Demonstrates A Method For Making Loyal Customers Hate You
New reader Lynne (Hi, Lynne!) shares with us a letter that she recently sent to Poland Springs after they refused to stop delivering and billing her for water she did not want. Originally, she simply wanted to place her account on hold while she moved to a new home. Poland Springs complete inability to follow her simple requests turned a loyal customer into a former one.
Lynne writes:
Just found your site -- thought I would share my recent tribulations with Poland Springs customer service. I canceled my home delivery in July 2007 and am still getting invoices and/or deliveries. Numerous calls to customer service were of little help. My last conversation with their accounts receivable rep threatened my credit and hung up on me.
You are not kidding when you say it takes some digging to find the corporate honchos in charge of customer service. Following is the letter I recently sent to the VP of Customer Relations:
Re: Account number 0429851934
Dave Muscato
Vice President, Customer Services and Operations
Nestle Waters NA
777 West Putnam Avenue
P.O. Box 2313
Greenwich, CT 06830Dear Mr. Muscato:
As a loyal customer of Poland Springs water, I felt it imperative to convey my disappointment in the way my home account was handled recently. To simplify, following is the timeline of events:
July 2007: For five years, I received deliveries of Poland Springs water and had my account paid via American Express directly. In July 2007, I called customer service to suspend my account because we sold our home and our new one would not be ready for at least 5-6 months. However, I noticed my credit card was still being charged in subsequent months for water deliveries to my old address. I immediately called back Poland Springs customer service (at 1-800-950-9396) to rectify.
August 2007: The representative assured me that this was a mistake and that the charges would be reversed. Unfortunately, it kept happening every month, with my having to call each time to ask to have my account cancelled so as not to incur any further charges.
November 2007: I am moved into the new home. A week later, I received a new delivery of Poland Springs water, which I did not ask for nor authorize. I again, called immediately and asked that the account be cancelled and have the driver come pick up the water. Again, I was assured that this was an oversight. The driver picked up the water.
December 2007: The following month, on December 24, I received yet another delivery. This was getting like the Everybody Loves Raymond episode with the Fruit of the Month Club. Exasperated, I again called customer service and asked, yet again, for the account to be cancelled and to please stop sending water. The driver came back a day or so later to pick up the water.
January 2008: In all of this, I was still getting my American Express charged. I alerted the card company that these were unauthorized charges. On Jan. 7, 2008 I spoke to Crystal and was assured, again, that this was the end of the account and that my Amex was no longer associated with Poland Springs.
February 2008: On February 28, 2008, I received another invoice from Poland Springs for $27.24 (not charged to my Amex). On March 3, 2008, I called customer service and was told that this was due to an old chargeback and that I owed them the balance. I am at my wit's end at this point, as I have not accepted any water deliveries from Poland Springs since before July 2007. I was told by the representative that she could not zero out the account, but someone from accounts receivable will call me within 48 hours to straighten out.
March 2008: Today, on March 4 at 1:15 PM, I received a call from a representative from Poland Springs accounts receivable. He did not give his name. He kept telling me I owed him the money. I tried to explain that this account has been closed for some time and I do not owe Poland Springs anything. He kept repeating "Do you not understand what I am saying? You owe us the money." I told him I did not and would not pay it. He then responded "Fine. This will be on your credit report" and hung up on me.
I myself am a vice president of marketing and customer service and understand the importance of speaking to and truly listening to customers. This response by a representative of your company was totally and unequivocally unacceptable and I do not appreciate a threat to my credit because the representative was unable or unwilling to address the situation.
I called your customer service department yet again, exasperated, and spoke to a gentleman named Frank. He remembered one of our previous conversations in December, and finally zeroed out the account then and there. I truly hope that this is finally the end.While your products are great, it seems that there is quite a disconnect between customer service and operations that needs to be addressed. Needless to say, you will no longer have me as a customer, but I felt it unfair to just walk away without explaining the circumstances and hopefully alert you to an operational breakdown that can be repaired.
I appreciate your reading this letter. I have sent you a hard copy of this note, as well.Sincerely,
Lynne
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Comments:
I blame the customer.
Ny, really this is very poor service, Lynne should be contacting her CC company and instigating a chargeback and notifying them that Poland Springs is/has been making unauthorized transactions. Worked for me when my car insurance company kept charging me for insurance in another Province on a car I no longer owned.
Bottled water is bad. Switch to tap water and you'll be getting all those wonderful pharmaceuticals you've been missing out on.
maybe they dont remember because of all those hormones and drugs that are in the tap water?
Yay! She knows how to write a great letter.
@sketchy: RTFA. She contested it with Amex. Everytime. They finally got around that (Amex loves its customers) and just billed her directly.
Since they mailed it to her, it sounds like a nice case of MAIL FRAUD.
So how did Poland Spring know your new address?
@petrarch1604: @B:
Yeah, where does [consumer] get off using [commercial product and/or service] anyway! S/he was asking for it!
This is a great complaint letter, especially the timeline of events. Most of the letters that are posted on this site are just rambly and way too long, but this one hits the nail right on the head.
@stpauliegirl: Aye. Clear and concise, just the way it should be.
It's refreshing to read a letter that doesn't require me to use all of my brain power to understand. I'm glad that she finally got it cleared up.
great letter! it made me thirsty for some aquafina!
Hmm, she didn't ask for nor authorize deliveries to her new house.
So how'd the delivery guy get the new address? And the move in date?
Something smells fishy and it's not just in her underoos.
@gamehendge2000: Forwarding address, new address linked to the credit card they were billing, or one of the many other ways that companies get our information everyday.
"While your products are great, it seems that there is quite a disconnect between customer service and operations that needs to be addressed."
Usually it's because those operations are not even in the same country.
@ogman: If the water company can't get their shite together on stopping the deliveries in the beginning, it's hard to believe they'd be this on top of the new address, the week she moves in to the new place.
That really was a great letter. A customer service and marketing VP that just now found the Consumerist..shocking. I bet after posting her letter she searched for her company's name on the consumerist..you know...just to make sure...lol.
Shouldn't that account # be redacted?
@sleze69: Why don't you you RTFA...
January 2008: In all of this, I was still getting my American Express charged. I alerted the card company that these were unauthorized charges.
January 2008.
If you need someone to fight with, punch out your paperboy or something.
She writes a truly fine complaint letter. Concise, factual, and complete.
@zimzombie: LOL yeah, she's probably posted a few emails like this all over the web with her account number still in it, and random people are calling Poland Springs to re-activate her account on her behalf:
"Uh yeah, this is Lynne calling...account number xxxxx... I was just kidding, you can resume my service anytime now...yeah, the address on file is just fine.. yup, use that credit card too."
heh this is a company owned by Nestle, the huge multinational corporation that got busted for peddling infant formula as a superior alternative to breast milk in developing countries
So many Poland Spring shills on this page!
Yes, excellent letter. It's concise and devoid of the rambling bitchiness that most letters here have. I especially enjoyed the "Fruit of the Month Club" reference!
I clicked this link for the stuffed puppy.
@sketchy: Perhaps you need a dictionary. [en.wikipedia.org]
January 2008: In all of this, I was still getting my American Express charged. I alerted the card company that these were unauthorized charges.
When she informed Amex that these charges were unauthorized, was was invoking...now get ready...a chargeback.
Right. bottled water is pretty much faucet water so don't waste your time... Never buy from them again and use your tap.
That's a fantastic letter. No personal attacks, snappy remarks - nothing that cannot be backed with actual facts.
i love the part "this will be on your credit report". This is what America has come to. If only we could live without credit we could be free again...
I hate when companies say that "this will count against you on your credit report". I've had places call me on accounts less than 10 days past due and warn me that unpaid accounts will be reported after 30 days.
OK, you have absolutely no faith that I will pay the account with you now - over the phone mind you with a major credit card - and resolve the issue?
Customer Service is a "lost art". More importantly, so is tact.
wow, she sounds exasperated.
Hi everyone -- Just wanted to let you know that I just received a call from Mr. Muscato at Poland Springs. He apologized profusely for the mix-up and wanted to amend the situation. The accounts receivable/collections department is indeed outsourced and they are looking into the individual who threatened my credit due to the extraneous charge. There will be no more invoices or deliveries, thank goodness.
PS To answer one of the comments -- my new address was gotten by two sources -- the credit card company and through the mail forwarding feature form the Post Office -- it alerts people of the new address upon moving. Nothing fishy there. And no, this isn't posted anywhere else but here and directly with the company.
Thank you to this site for helping to expedite the resolution. I appreciate it.
@sleze69: Hey, douchey, from July to January there was no contact with AMEX, thus no chargeback.
Get some reading glasses.
@sketchy: I probably didn't make this clear -- I did ask the cc company to have the monthly amount charged back. After that, Poland Springs then sent me an actual invoice (without charging the Amex)for the amount due. That's when accounts receivable guy called me to demand the money.
Great letter, but I find the "Fruit of the Month" comment to be rather homophobic.
And her new address? Since she was fighting with customer service after she moved to the new home, she would have likely provided her new phone and address so they could send confirmation the account was closed, credits issued, etc.
You pay to have water delivered to your house? I have that shit on tap for virtually free.
Bottled Water is an environmentally irresponsible sham.
This is why you, and not your bank, should be paying your bills each month.
Great letter, but I find the "Fruit of the Month" comment to be rather homophobic.
@SkokieGuy: Explanation for those of us who don't watch Seinfeld?
I have that shit on tap for virtually free.
@suburbancowboy: And if your tap tasted like shit you'd probably buy bottled (or at least a filter).
I'm a good environmentalist and don't have my Poland Spring cooler in my house anymore, but I miss it so much. My Brita just isn't the same as that readily available tasty water from my own fancy water cooler.
Sigh. I hate being responsible.
@SkokieGuy: I hope you are kidding - did you see the episode in question? Nothing homophobic about it. It is an acutal business: [www.club-offers.com]
Poland Springs? Is this water coming from springs in Poland? Are the CS offices there too?
People have no idea how easy it is to install a good water filter that actually filters water. I installed a RO system under my kitchen sink in less than an hour.
It cost about 160, and i've gone through one set of filters at 60 dollars.. but they last somewhat over 6 months and we cook with that water too...
Saves so much time and money.
Probably still getting my birth control dose through it though :-/
The water is called "Poland" Springs - what do you expect? : )
@IrisMR: Most commerical non-spring-sourced bottled water is municipal water that is ion-distilled and/or reverse-osmosis filtered and sterilized. Minerals are added back in for flavor. My water has industrial and agricultural chemicals in it, and way too much salt (it actually tastes salty). It often smells like a swimming pool or worse. It makes terrible coffee and tea. My tap water does not have the quality of bottled water.
just get a water filter. Poland springs is practically faucet water anyways.