Why I’m still swigging from my SIGG
January 15th, 2010 | Posted by Pamela Fiehn
Photo credit: tiffanywashko on Flickr
This past Tuesday, I arrived home to find a box on my front stoop. It contained two brand new SIGG water bottles, and a letter that began like this:
Thank you for your participation in our SIGG Voluntary Exchange Program.
We understand that you may not have heard from us as often as you may have wished during the process – and may have had to wait an extended time for your new SIGG bottle. We can assure you it was not due to a lack of effort on our part. We are a small company (15 people in the USA) and this program has been a huge undertaking for us. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding.
My AHA! cohort Shelby posted back in October about how SIGG has bungled their communication around the BPA content of their water bottles. And I have to admit, I was a pretty frustrated customer when I returned my water bottle only to wait months to get my replacement. But this letter (and the bonus bottle!) went a long way to make me a SIGG fan again. Here’s why:
1. It fesses up. I’m immediately more receptive when a company doesn’t claim they are perfect.
2. It shows they care. They tried. They really did.
3. It’s human. Fifteen people were all they had to deal with this PR and product take-back nightmare! Wow. I feel for them.
The letter does one last smart thing in its conclusion: it encourages me to pass on my extra bottle to a friend in order to help more people kick the bottled water habit. Nice. More SIGG fans for them, and a free way for me to feel like I’m doing a good thing.
January 15th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
We have SIGGs at home, too — and we got our non-BPA bottles from New Seasons. They offered to exchange old SIGGS for any other water bottle in stock, no receipt needed, no matter the condition. Great move on their part — one more excellent experience at their store for me. I’m sorry your wait was so long, but it did give the rest of us a peek inside how they’re communicating about the problem. Thanks!
May 28th, 2010 at 1:32 am
That’s an informative post, no doubt. Well, there’s part of it which I cannot concede with. The rest is fine. May be I’m over-indulging a bit or this is my kind of thinking. Neways, keep all this good work going for your future blogs. Have already shared your blog with my friends and they too think you have done a good job out there. Congratulations!