Springer supermarket campaign roundup
The campaign to get Jerry Springer: The Opera back onto the shelves of Woolies and Sainsbury has really gained some momentum since the news broke last Sunday. Here’s a roundup of what you can do to get involved.
Write
– to the customer relations departments of Woolworths and Sainsbury. You’ll get a stock response, but your complaint will be logged. Also try customer.relationsATwoolworths.co.uk and customerserviceATsainsburys.co.uk
UPDATE: more Sainsbury addresses:
justin.kingATsainsburys.co.uk (CEO) but his emails are handled by a Contact Centre
philip.hamptonATsainsburys.co.uk (Chairman)
gwyn.burrATsainsburys.co.uk (Director of Customer Marketing)
penny.pealeATsainsburys.co.uk (Head of General Merchandising i.e. non-food)
mike.coupeATsainsburys.co.uk (Director of Trading)
sarah.trowbridgeATsainsburys.co.uk (Head of Customer Service)
(via zefrog)
– to the directors of those stores:
Justin King,
Sainsbury’s,
35 Holborn,
London,
EC1N 2HT
and
Trevor Bish-Jones,
Woolworths PLC,
Woolworths House,
242-246 Marylebone Road,
NW1 6JL
– to your local MP
– to your local store manager
– to your local newspaper
– to stores which are stocking the DVD, and complimenting them
Phone
– their customer service lines
Woolworths: 020 7262 1222
Sainsburies: 0800 636262
Pledge
There are currently two active pledges at Pledgebank
– the 6 month boycott pledge
– the tell the store manager what you think pledge
Both of these are pledges to…
Act
– boycotting both Sainsbury and Woolworths is fine, as long as they know you’re doing it
– asking for the DVD in store, asking why it is not available, talking to the manager about it
– some are suggesting enclosing a cut-up Nectar card with your letter to Sainsbury
– other suggest trying to get other “offensive” items off the shelves, with the list of nasties ranging from The Daily Mail to brussels sprouts.
It is still not certain that Christian Voice are behind this. It seems likely the reason they are keeping quiet is that they are afraid of a backlash. The extra publicity this has generated for the DVD could boost its sales significantly, thus rendering the threats of the would-be censors counter productive. Stephen Green isn’t a complete idiot – he knows that sales would go stratospheric if he started crowing about his “success” on the CV website.
The best way to make Christian Voice rue their actions is obvious: buy the DVD.
But not from Woolies or Sainsbury – even though it is still available on both their websites.
A birmingham city councillor, Deidre Allen said on the issue “I’m sorry this really is a matter between you and the shops in question. As a Councillor and a Christian I do not have a problem with the shops having banned this item. I suggest you shop elsewhere if you feel strongly about their policy. Cllr Deirdre Alden”
Well, I’ve just ordered the DVD from Amazon. I would never have done so in a million years were it not for the protests and the way Sainsburys and Woollies reacted. Nice one, Christian Voice.
Well, I asked Sainsburys to ban the Daily Mail, pointing out that they must have had at least 10 complaints by now, and this was the response I got:
“Thank you for your email. I am concerned to hear that you are unhappy that we sell the Daily Mail newspaper. I can appreciate that it can be disappointing when a newspaper has views that are contrary to your own.
“I am sorry to say you have been misinformed about our policy regarding the removal of products, as we do not remove an item if we receive 10 complaints. We always try to be a responsible retailer that is prepared to listen to what our customers want. It is all the calls, letters and emails we receive from our customers that help us improve our products and services.
“If our customers tell us that they are unhappy with a product or that they find an item to be offensive, we pass this information to our buyers. They carefully monitor all the feedback we receive about the products that are sold in our stores. The buyers also review how well a product is selling, as this is a contributing factor. They will then carefully consider all the comments and will put their recommendations to our board of directors.
“We never take such decisions lightly, because we know some customers will be disappointed. I have therefore passed your comments on to our buyers for their consideration.
“Thank you once again for taking the time to contact us. Your views have been most welcome.”
It seems rather odd under the circumstances for them to say that they don’t remove an item if they get 10 complaints. I have pointed this out to them thus:
“Thank you for your email.
“I am surprised you claim not to remove an item if you receive 10 complaints. Wasn’t that the number of complaints you received about the DVD of Jerry Springer: The Opera?
“But I appreciate that there were differences. I realise that the complaints about JS:TO came from a far-right extremist Christian group who have a history of intimidation. Perhaps you would listen more to complaints about the Daily Mail if they were accompanied by some kind of threat? Sadly, violence is just not in my nature, so I’m afraid I will be unable to oblige. I also understand that the complaints about JS:TO were backed by the British National Party. Perhaps Sainsburys feels in tune with the views of that group and would be more inclined to listen to complaints about the Daily Mail if you knew they had the support of the BNP? But of course, that is hardly likely to happen, as the Daily Mail and the BNP generally have similar views.
“I am sorry that Sainsburys seems to apply its policy of listening to customer complaints inconsistently, and even more sorry that you appear to be aligning yourselves with far right extremist groups.
“I realise that you probably stand to make more money out of continuing to sell the Daily Mail than you do out of JS:TO, but I do hope you can see that your actions give the impression of pandering to the views of far right extremist groups. Given the current political and security climate, I do hope you will take a long hard look at the wisdom of the actions you have taken.”
I’ll let you know what they have to say to that, if anything.