So-so Fantastico

Water is the first ingredient in what used to be my all-time favorite salad dressing. In spite of this change, the bottle still claims, “Where Others Skimp…We Splurge®.” Enough! I’m angry! I want the old formula back. What to do? I e-mailed the company.

I’ll paraphrase: Dear Conglomerate, as a businesswoman I understand the hard financial choices you must make when deciding where to trim costs. I would rather pay a little more for a salad dressing I thoroughly enjoy, than be disappointed every time I pour out your watered down version onto my avocado. (Let’s face it, water is cheap filler.)

In the past, I’ve complimented and complained to companies with an occasional suggestion for specific remedy in the latter case. Bringing back the old formula is probably too much to hope for unless I start a viral campaign. As an experiment, I decided to leave the door open to see how they would respond.

I didn’t expect an apology. There would not be older original product left anywhere that they might send. It seemed likely they would mail me a coupon, and they did; good for one bottle of salad dressing not to exceed $4.50. After all, watered down or not, I’m still buying their product.

And if you think Cheese Fantastico® isn’t so fantastico since the change, write the company.

Author/speaker Janet F. Williams is a high-end sales professional, sales trainer and coach for personal and professional development. She speaks on topics contained in her award-winning book “You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get” to businesses, networking groups, non-profits, book clubs and more. For more information or to buy the book, please visit: www.JanetFWilliams.com and www.GoodDayMedia.com.