For the curious...

About a week ago I received the three replacements from Penzeys... the bay
leaves looked much nicer, more uniformly colored and sized and very few were
broken.... the oregano looked fresh, was a nice shade of green and the package
contained no dust... the marjoram was also a nicer color, contained practically
no dust and best of all contained no tampon stringie thingie. I was happy, so
I thought. Let me back up a bit, my original phone call to Penzeys concluded
with the agreement that they would include a USPS postage sticker with the new
products and I would return the questionable items (returning the products was
at my suggestion, the person I spoke with never suggested any such thing). And
so I packed up the three items in the original Penzeys carton, included a copy
of the statement, taped the carton and placed it in my car, all ready to ship
when on my trip to the post office the replacements would arrive. A few days
passed and I drove to the post office to retrieve my mail and the replacement
package was there, great... or so I thought. I quickly opened the carton, the
replacement products were fine, there was even a sample of prime rib seasoning
(of course I had plenty at home - guess they don't check customer history
before choosing a sample), but no return postage sticker was included, rats....
what to do. I thought I really didn't want to bring the return package home,
have to make another call to Penzeys explaining how their imbecile neglected to
include the sticker and then have to make yet another trip to the post office
and perhaps they still wouldn't remember the postage sticker... and so I said
frig em, and I offered the products to some guy who happened to be in the post
office and was admiring my spices, I didn't know him. I explained how there
was nothing wrong (except for the questionable string), the packages were
sealed, but I wasn't satisfied having to pay full price for what I considered
less than first quality products... the fellow was happy to take the products
off my hands (he said hunting season was nigh and he could use them... hmm,
perhaps someone who actually ate the deer). When I arived home I called
Penzeys to tell them what had transpired, that there was no postage sticker and
that I gave the products away because I was not about to make another trek to
the post office (2.6 miles each way) for naught. The person on the phone
essentially said "no biggie" and I figured it was all over. I went to the post
office a week later (yesterday) and lo and behold, there was an envelope from
Penzeys containing the postage sticker... what kinda flip-flopping Kerry
Imbeciles work for Penzeys... I voted for the postage sticker before I voted
against it... sheesh!

Just thought some may be interested... also included the original post for
those may have missed it.

>29 Oct 2004 18:50:20 GMT (PENMART01) wrote:
>
>Anyone else take a gander at the cover of Penzeys Holiday 2004 catalog, the
>one
>supposedly depicting a Thanksgiving turkey dinner... am I the only one who
>thinks that's the saddest/sorriest looking plate of food, what an awful
>presentation... all that white-ish food on a white plate too (must be
>Norwegian), couldn't even afford a measly sprig of parsley. Just look at
>that
>turkey (guessing it's turkey - actually looks more like over done pork),
>looks
>like really dried out scraps that were hacked with the dullest of knives...
>potatoes look lumpy, and the dressing, if that's what it is, looks exactly
>like
>the hairball vomit my cats cough up... don't even want to mention that the
>gravy looks more beefy than turkey, and well congealed. That plate of food
>sure doesn't look very appetizing, makes me feel like forgoing the turkey
>thing
>this year and having a ham sandwich instead. I'd love to know who they paid
>to
>cook that meal, I'd fire the kitchen fraud on the spot, along with whoever
>did
>the hiring.
>
>On another MORE SERIOUS topic; a few days ago I placed an order to Penzeys,
>not
>very much stuff, only five items... a pound of peppercorns, 8oz msg, 4oz
>oregano, 4oz marjoram, and 4oz bay leaves. Immediately upon opening the
>package I knew instinctively that something was wrong, all I could smell was
>cardboard, there wasn't even a hint of spice aroma. As soon as I looked at
>the
>big bag of bay leaves I was very disappointed, they were kinda brown and very
>broken, not just a few broken leaves, but I'd guess about 30% were broken,
>and
>not just a piece broken off here and there but lots of itty-bitty slivers.
>These are the worst bay leaves I've ever seen, looks like a herd of elephants
>trod all over them, but the box arrived in perfect shape and well padded.
>Perhaps not many order so large an amount of bay leaves so these are really
>old
>and well handled. In fact the order taker kinda admonished me by asking in a
>rather stern tone if I had any idea how many bay leaves are in 4ozs... yeah,
>must be a friggin' million of em I thought to myself... right there I missed
>the clue not to order large quantities of anything from Penzeys... most
>orders
>are from cheapo *******s who typically order the smallest [sampler] size, so
>the bulk sizes get no turnover, they sit around 'bout forever.
>
>My next disappointment was the marjoram, it's more dust than leaves... but
>the
>worst part (or the best part, depending on point of view), upon closer
>examination I noticed something thin, long, and white inside the bag
>intertwined with the marjoram, and then upon even closer scrutiny it hit me,
>yup, sure looks like the twisted string from a tampon.
>
>I didn't open the bags. Was too late to call yesterday so this morning I
>called Penzeys to complain. Naturally they will replace the items (figured
>they would) and they will include a remailer so I can send back the products
>in
>question... I guess they'd rather I didn't destroy the evidence. But now I
>am
>very nervous about using Penzeys products... I mean I can actually see the
>tampon string but what else is in there that I can't see? Reminds me why I
>grind my own meat... do I need to grow *all* my own herbs too?
>
>I also for about the umpteenth time suggested that Penzeys date stamp their
>products, and for the umpteenth time my suggestion was met with defensive
>indignance. I suppose a date stamp is pretty meaningless anyway, who knows
>at
>what point the product would be dated.
>
>I am among Penzeys very first customers, from since long before they had a
>retail store, a website or even a real catalog, for about ten years now...
>and
>have always in the past did my best to give them good press, especially here
>on
>rfc. But I can no longer in good conscience recommend Penzeys... I suppose
>success has gone to their heads, they are way too busy counting long green
>instead of ensuring the green of their products. I don't know if that is
>really a tampon string but it sure looks like one, and there definitely
>should
>not be any kind of string chopped up in a bag of marjoram.
>
>Also, I re-examined the oregano this morning, better light now (it was dark
>out
>last evening when I opened the carton so only had artificial light). Last
>evening I simply tossed the unopened oregano bag into the freezer as I still
>had some in my spice bottle. Upon closer examination this morning the
>oregano
>looks kinda brown and very dusty, like floor sweepings. I will be calling
>Penzeys back momentarily to tell them about the oregano too.
>
>The peppercons look okay, they're the special extra bold, expensive ones.
>The
>msg looks okay too, simply white powder.
>
>But now I'm ascared, very ascared... I'm thinking maybe I should tell Penseys
>not to replace anything, that I will be returning my order and they can
>credit
>my Visa. I don't know what I'll do yet, I'll wait to see what kind of
>replacements they send. I hope they haven't become so full of themselves
>with
>all their growth that they turn away repeat customers and kill a good thing.
>---


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
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