Ian and his family love garlic, but he tells Consumerist that his favored Publix store seemed to have trouble stocking garlic that wasn’t either moldy or sprouted. Neither of these are good qualities for fresh garlic, so Ian e-mailed the chain’s corporate office about the situation. Eventually, he received a response with an almost Wegmans-like level of class and problem-solving.
Hey guys,
For a while now I had noticed that our local Publix had a big problem with one particular item: Garlic. Almost 100% of the time I bought garlic at one particular location, it was either molded or had already sprouted (which gives the garlic a bad flavor). My family loves garlic and I didn’t want to have to go to a completely different store just for one item, so I emailed the corporate office.
I initially got the generic customer response email:
————————————————————————–
Thank you for your email. We appreciate our customers taking the time to contact us. We apologize for the disappointment and inconveniences we may have caused you. We have forwarded your concern to our store manager for further review.Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us. If we can be of any further assistance regarding this matter, please either call our Consumer Relations toll-free number at 1-800-242-1227, write us at the Publix Super Markets Corporate Office, PO Box 407, Lakeland, FL 33802, ATTN: Consumer Relations, or contact us at our website, publix.com and mention your reference number, # [redacted].
Sincerely,
[redacted]
————————————————————————–I thought that would be the end of it, and my garlic plight would go unnoticed.
But a few days later, I received an email from the store manager of that specific location. Not only did he acknowledge the problem, but he took the time to investigate himself and confirm what I had discovered.————————————————————————–
Thank you for your email. We appreciate our customers taking the time to contact us. We apologize for the disappointment and inconveniences we may have caused you. We have forwarded your concern to our store manager for further review. Our manager has responded with the following response,
Ian, please accept my apology for the poor quality of garlic in our produce department. I inspected it personally on Sunday, June 13th and found what you described. I addressed this opportunity with my produce team and they will do a better job in the future of making sure we only offer the highest quality of product for you to purchase. I discarded what we had on Sunday and a fresh case was ordered and arrived on our truck Monday morning. Thank you for taking the time to point out this opportunity to us. Please allow me the opportunity to earn back your business and confidence. I take personal responsibility for product freshness and quality in my store. I would like to apologize to you in person. Please stop by and introduce yourself the next time you are in your [redacted] Publix.
Thank you,
[name redacted]
[phone number]————————————————————————–
Dumped their stock and ordered fresh? Cool. Would like to apologize in person? Wow. Pretty classy.
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Publix is an awesome store and I shop there every week. The best store to come to our neck of the woods in a very long time.
I did just give them a call for a special order of the new Snapple flavor and they were happy to take the order over the phone.
It is nice to see excellent customer service in action – been so long I almost forgot it still existed!
I live in Florida and absolutely hate Publix because they continue to stock their stores with non food related items and the store management and corporate in Lakeland just blow their customers off when they complain about them.
My main issue with Publix is at Thanksgiving and Christmas time they fill all the stores with Cinnamon sticks. They even put them near the checkout lines. The cinnamon sticks seriously affect my allergies and I cannot breathe around them. Management at the stores and corporate in Lakeland totally blew me off and the other people that complained about them. Even the cashiers who are stuck around them hate them. More than one cashier told me she was going home every night with a headache from them. We even suggested they put them somewhere in the store where they could be avoided.
The only reason you got the response that you did is because it is food related.
The fact that that level of service amazes people is sad.
I love Publix. They are completely awesome.
I love that this guy steps up to the plate and accepts full responsibility for what is sold through his produce department. Well played, sir. Very well played.
(It also helps that Publix empowers their employees to do something like discarding all of the garlic…)
Wow! This makes me wish they had a Publix here in Hawaii!
I also love Publix. A long time ago, I was there and had a problem in the deli. I was basically ignored while the workers ignored the number system and served the people standing closest to the counter. It wasn’t very busy and I did get helped but I was waiting a good 10 minutes. I know, it’s not the end of the world. But I felt it needed to be brought to their attention. So I wrote and told them about the service. I failed to leave any contact information except my name.
The manager of the store tracked down and called my father (identical names) in an attempt to personally apologize to me. He eventually got in touch with me through my father and was very apologetic. He assured me that he had talked with the deli about the procedures and stressed with them how important it was to make every customer feel welcomed. Publix actually has a policy where a worker is supposed to greet a person in their department within a certain time period… I know because my sister works there as well.
In the same email, I had complimented the cashier that I had. I told the store that he had really gone out of his way to make sure everything was rung up quick and he had a great attitude. I gave them his name and explained how he was an example of what their service was usually like. The next time I was in his lane, he saw me… recognized me… and thanked me for the compliment. He said his manager went out of the way to let him know what I had told them.
The basic point is… Publix takes their customer service (pro and con) very seriously. They really do strive to be the best and make every customer feel welcome. I worked there myself, years ago, and knew this at the time. But I had forgotten how seriously they took it until they reminded me as a customer. It’s one reason I am very loyal and do 95% of all my shopping at their stores.
It is amazing what they do. We actually complained because the closest store to us is continuously out of Lactaid milk. Well the manager actually came buy our house to personally apologize and drop off a free gallon of milk. I was absolutely flabbergasted. So yeah we shop Publix. And after about a month the store actually managed to start stocking more of the milk.
Reply letter writer of big corp co.
take notice.
I wish they operated stores in my city.
As a single man I have no reason to keep food in the house when MY Publix is a mile away and three others are within three miles. I basically use them as my pantry.I go there so often that if I don’t show up one day they call me to make sure I’m ok.
I get to shop at Publix when we visit my mother in law in Florida. I love the place.
Publix regularly makes the various “Best Places to Work” lists. Employees are stockholders, empowered to take action to fix problems and satisfy customers (as illustrated by this story), stores are clean and well stocked, and they pay pretty well, considering (it is a grocery store after all).
This is why I always go to Publix when I have control over the shopping, which is a lot more often. Great service, quality stuff, and they always have buy one get one free sales. Not to mention the Aprons cooking stand. Those little sample things they give out are tasty.
I think the secret to the great service is the fact that Publix employees actually enjoy working there. I have quite a few friends who worked in Publix or still do, and they always rave about it. Happy employees are more likely to make sure customers are also happy.