Which consumer happenings cheered you recently and which ones made you want to scream or weep?
Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:
My best: Visiting my congressman's office to urge him to vote for health care reform
The big health care reform vote is coming up later today.
A friend suggested I go to downtown Olympia on Friday and leave a message for my Congressman, Brian Baird, at his district office and urge him to vote for health care reform.
So I did. The staff was swamped. But I left a message that I support the bill, although I don’t think it’s strong enough. I think the single payer system would be more effective.
I hope health care reform passes today. It’s badly needed by consumers in this country.
My worst: Safeway’s letter to customers about the discontinuation of its airline mileage program
I’m disappointment that Safeway is bailing out of its Mileage Rewards Program.
I kept the letter Safeway sent about it because I really bothered me. It said:
At Safeway, we listen closely to our shoppers and understand that in the current economic climate there’s an overwhelming need to lower prices. To fulfill that low price need while also providing the high-quality products our shoppers expect, we have decided to refocus the value previously offered through our Airline Partnership to lower prices on the items all customers need.
What contrived reasoning. That the only way Safeway customers are going to get lower prices is to discontinue the mileage program doesn’t make sense. And the language in the letter is patronizing.
Another idea is corporate salaries could be cut. Safeway Chairman and CEO Steven A. Burd makes $67 million a year, according to a 2007-2008 Forbes.com special report on CEO compensation. He’s No. 14 on the list of top CEOs in the nation.
A cut could have been made to the Burd’s salary and the salary of other executives.
I called Safeway’s corporate public relations office three times to get feedback on the poor wording in it mileage program cancellation letter. My phone calls weren’t returned.
Note: Ironically, when I was looking for updated figures for Burd’s salary, I ran across an op ed piece he wrote on health care reform in The Wall Street Journal: “How Safeway is Cutting Health-Care Costs.”
Burd says: “If we continue to work in a bipartisan manner I believe we will resolve these issues successfully and find agreement on meaningful reform.” More magical thinking on Burd’s part.
Safeway Stores Inc. is the fifth-largest food and grocery retailer in the United States. Walmart Stores Inc. is No. 1, Costco Wholesale is ranked second, followed by Kroger Co. and Supervalu Inc.
