09 Mar 2015

A question about : Freebie Successes by Letter / Email

Time for a fresh new thread, a continuation of THIS thread.

This is a chance to share your success stories of contacting companies as a matter of a complaint, compliment, or simply requesting a freebie.

I recently sent an email to our companies sponorship department for any olympic material they could spare, and i recieved 2 dozen sport drink bottles, and a load of inflatable wave sticks.
It actually arrived by external post, with a postage paid label to the value of Ј9.60!

I also sent an email to the British Olympic Association, and recieved half a dozen large posters, and also a dvd-rom all about the olympic movement.

Best answers:

  • I sent emails to quite a lot of companies - I received samples from the following:-
    Molton Brown (3 sample bottles)
    Thierry Mugler (2 perfume, 1 hand cream, 1 body lotion)
    Barefoot Botanicals (20 sample sachets)
    Elemis (4 samples sachets)
    We love skin (5 sample sachets)
    This Works (several sample sachets)
    These are all fairly recent, certainly within the last month.
    Sorry, haven't got time to set up links.
    Edit - All I said in my email was - I would like to try your product, would you be able to send me a sample to try before I buy!
  • I wanted to dye some jeans black but had not dyed anything before so I went to the Dylon site and e-mailed them telling them I wanted to try their dye but was wary of spending money and not having the results I wanted so did they have any samples they could send me, never got a reply but about a week later got a box of black washing machine dye
    Jeans now dyed and looking good
  • My success was (and i didnt intend to get a freebie, all i wanted was the option of the older taste) I was unhappy with the new minestrone soup from heinz as it has less salt so less flavor for me(the older version I loved), they then wrote me a letter and a £5 heinz voucher was sent my way and all i had to buy with it was at least 1 heinz product. I seriously only reccomend doing this if you are unsatisfied with the product. I did also at the same time tell them that I still like their chicken soup.
  • OH and I forgot to mention this! I have had a good few bad experiences with restaurants, and fast foods, but I am too scared to complain on the spot, as I have watched too many programs that say they spit or wee in food if people complain. This puts me in a tight spot as I usually sit and wait til my OH's finished, and I am starving and end up going to chippy on the way home!. It also pee's me off at the money I have spent on poor service.Wish I had read this when my kids were still in nappies as I cannot remember how many times I tried to put on a nappy that the side fell off! or the crystals fell out once they peed, especially the last one ugh!. but what's done is done!
  • what did you say in your emails? i've tried to blag lots of free things, but got a couple of vouchers.
    i'm hopefully getting a kitten this eve so going to try blag some free cat food etc hehe
    oh also don't bother with coke or pepsi they don't give anything!
  • Starting a Fd up to BA Hons in September, I emailed various people - Staedtler, Bic, Berol, Viking Direct, Pritt etc - and I've recieved a hundred weight of stuff to start my course, I really don't think I'll have to buy any stationery for the entire three year course. It's hardish work though in that I emailed over 100 stationers/companies locally and nationwide but I'm so grateful for them all for helping
  • I've just e-mailed Mr Kipling and I tried e-mailing Clearasil through a form on their website but the e-mail bounced back. Does anyone have a direct e-mail address I can write to?
  • I bought a box of own brand tbags, when opened the bags weren`t joined up. Put a couple in a coin bag and sent with a letter + original box. This morning got a Ј5 cheque..they`d only cost me 47p
  • I recently got into a debate with Haven holidays over the total disappointment we had whilst on their Hafan Y Mor site, letters flew between myself and their head office and resort manager. The best the could offer was to inform them of future holidays we take with them and they will monitor what happens whilst we are on it. The travel agents we booked with said this is a load of tosh and to demand compensation, which i did to be told they have fully explained themselves to me and i will not be receiving anything back in way of compensation, the lady also went on to state she was not willing to enter into an argument with me so i am hoping a trip to citizens advice with copies of all letters will get me somewhere as Ј539 for a week of disappoinment takes the mick.
  • This is the letter that I sent to HAVEN after we got back from our week long holiday:
    Firstly I would like to start off by saying that whilst we did enjoy our holiday overall with you at Primrose Valley we feel there are quite a few issues that, added together, had a significant detrimental effect upon our time with you. Please find below the issues of concern, some of which we feel pose serious potential Health and Safety risks. Also please find attached photographs which were taken during our stay to illustrate these points more clearly for you.
    I had previously been in touch with your office via email to organize collection of the keys to our caravan. I am disabled and as a result I can have problems standing and walking for any time at all and waiting in a queue to collect keys could cause me intense pain and suffering. I had been informed that instead of queuing in the main area (Jesters) I was instead to go directly to your reception and collect my keys and other associated paperwork there. This was fantastic news. When I arrived at the camp I went to reception but I was dismayed to discover that the keys were not there. A member of staff told me that I was in the wrong place and should just go and collect them from the same place as all the other guests (Jesters) and only when I explained that arrangements had already been made for me to collect the keys from Reception did she herself kindly offer to go and collect them for me which meant standing waiting for 10 minutes until she came back with all the items required but causing me the pain which I had so wanted to prevent from happening in the first place, especially after a long car journey.
    Lakehill No * - Superior Plus
    ·The gas fire in the living area makes really strange noises which sounds as though there is a huge amount of wind blowing straight into it and would do this intermittently even when the doors and windows were firmly closed and sometimes it wouldn’t light when the gas had been switched on and the ignition pressed. I must admit that thankfully we didn’t really need to use it that much.
    ·Even though there was a sign on the wall in the kitchen which related to both the Fire Extinguisher and the Fire Blanket I was dismayed to find that even though there was evidence that there had been a Fire Blanket it had not been replaced once it had been removed.
    ·On the Thursday I accidently burnt some toast. This resulted in large amounts of smoke and the door between the kitchen and hall was open at the time. Bearing in mind the smoke alarm was only a couple of feet away from the toaster I was amazed that it did not activate. Upon pressing the test button instead of the confirmation of battery tone I heard the intermittent battery low peeps which indicate the need to change the battery. Two points are of concern here 1. As there was obviously some power left in the battery (as indicated by the existence of the battery low indicating peeps) why did the alarm not activate. 2. As this alarm is the only one in the entire caravan and bearing in mind that the battery low indicating peeps can occur at any time of day or night would it surely not be prudent to have a spare battery in each caravan and this to be clearly communicated to all new caravan occupants. Alternatively each smoke alarm could be wired directly into the mains electricity supply with a battery backup in the event of a power failure. The significance of the potential catastrophic effects of fire on these caravans was brought home to us when we observed a totally burnt out and destroyed caravan from around the corner being towed away from the site one day. Finally on this point on the day of departure we left a note on the work surface by the sink to inform the housekeepers that the battery needed to be renewed. To ensure that this was carried out we threw away the all but dead battery and left the alarm itself open (please see photo) to ensure that if it was not replaced that the next new occupants would see this for themselves. To this end it is apparent that the effectiveness or otherwise of the battery operated smoke alarm can lie in the hands of the holiday makers themselves (ie. If a dead battery is not reported to yourselves by your customers this could result in the new occupants being totally unaware that the battery in the alarm is completely useless because once the battery is completely dead the intermittent battery low peeps will cease to occur. This obviously is a disaster waiting to happen and should not rely on the holidaymakers to ensure this basic and crucial Health and Safety issue is maintained.
    ·The central heating system in the hall cupboard had a sooty residue around the pilot light viewing window which is an indication of a problem and could quite easily be a sign of carbon monoxide poisoning (surely a carbon monoxide alarm should be fitted in every caravan as a matter of course).
    ·The lack of a Carbon monoxide alarm even though the fire and the cooker were both run by gas and along with the sooty residue on the central heating system did not inspire confidence or make you feel safe in the knowledge that you are safe from the ‘silent killer’ Carbon Monoxide.
    ·There was a sign in the hall stating that the ‘Alarm’ should be set each time you leave the caravan so we went on the hunt for it to make sure we were secure whenever we went out. However there was no alarm but what we did notice were two sets of bare wires (one in living area above the main window and one in the heating cupboard). Are these live or are they merely disconnected alarm wires? Either way we were not prepared to find out and indeed we had to make absolutely certain that our children stayed well away from these exposed wires. If they are disconnected alarm wires surely they should be removed from the caravan to avoid any concern, worry and confusion.
    ·The window in rear most twin room was not properly secure even when the window was firmly closed. The bottom handle had to be forced into position but even when the bottom catch was in place there was a large gap down the right hand side (opposite to the hinges) and as a result my son awoke each morning freezing cold and the van was never properly secure as a result.
    There were a few other issues within the kitchen area which are also of concern and should also be brought to your attention.
    ·The toaster was in a very sorry state and had been previously melted all over the top but someone has hacked off the melted plastic with a knife but not very well as they have left pointed, jagged peaks which are really painful when you catch your hand on them
    ·The microwave was also in a dirty state but even more worrying, were the large rusty patches which were hidden inside and due to very real risks of food poisoning and possible electrocution due to the interior coating being missing it could not be used.
    ·The fridge didn’t work properly and didn’t even keep the milk cold and could quite easily have harboured any kind of food poisoning as a result so this also was used very sparingly (the purchase of a fridge thermometer for each caravan should surely aid all holidaymakers to ensure their fridges are working correctly).
    ·The caravan was supposed to sleep 8 people (even though there were only 5 of us) and as a result should have had enough provisions within it to be able to feed these 8 persons. Unfortunately if you were to use the oven they would have to be fed in shifts as there was only one oven rack and if you were to have pizza for example then you would only be able to cook one at a time. This is absolutely useless to anyone, especially if you had hungry children waiting for them. The oven as fitted has the capacity for 3 oven shelves and 3 are definitely required.
    ·The melamine covering on the dining table edge was damaged and was curled back making it very dangerous as I found out to my dismay when my finger was sliced open as a result of catching it (as you can see in the photo) when setting the table for the first time.
    ·The bed which is hidden under the main seating area was not required thankfully as the cover which was scrunched up and thrown on the top of it was thoroughly filthy and would not have been able to be used.
    ·The triple ceiling light in the main living area only had one light that was actually working on it.
    ·The ceiling regularly had many small spiders on it which ‘abseiled’ down into the living areas onto surfaces, furnishings and us. We had to try and remove them as best we could and thankfully managed to remove lots outside and squashed more than a few too!
    ·The back exterior door only closed properly when it was locked as it just kept swinging open otherwise.
    Swimming Pool Issues
    ·On Monday 14th July my husband and children went to the swimming pool complex (by the boating lake) for the first time. My husband stepped into the main indoor pool for the first time somewhere between 2 and 3pm at the point where the water level is at its shallowest (approx 6-8 inches deep). Unfortunately the mosaic tiles you have fitted to your pool floor appear to be very slippery by their very nature! This caused my husband to fall violently back and due to the shallowness of the water had to break his fall by stretching out his right arm and his thumb took the full force of his body weight and twisted back on itself causing severe initial pain. However because this was the kids first visit to this pool and the fact that they had been looking forward to exploring the outdoor pools as well, my husband attempted not to draw attention to his injury in the vain hope that the symptoms would subside. By the time they had finished their swimming session the pain in Simon’s thumb had extended to past his elbow with localized bruising evident. When they arrived back to the caravan I administered an Instant Cold Pack to the afflicted area. This provided only temporary relief. At this point I told my husband that we would need to go to the hospital to Accident and Emergency unit to get it properly checked and X-Rayed. However once again he did not want to spoil our holiday and decided to wait until the following day to see how it was. This was the day that we had arranged to meet up with my family for a day out to Flamingo Land and once there my husband decided to attend their First Aid treatment room where he received medical attention in the form of strapping and a support bandage. Fortunately no break or fracture was sustained but we noted with interest that your new pool complex at the main entertainment block does not have the same mosaic tile pool bottom but instead has a much better rough, non slip surface. If my husband was approx 1 foot closer to the edge of the pool he could quite easily have hit his head on the side of the pool to his severe injury. Surely it should be made impossible by means of perhaps railings to enter this pool in such a way as this appears to be a serious potential hazard. If the water level was significantly higher at this point then the cushioning support of the water would mean that this type of incident would be almost impossible to occur.
    Kids clubs
    ·One of the major factors in deciding to book our family holiday with you this year was the existence of the T-Co club as advertised and explained in the Haven Brochure. As our daughter is only 9 yrs old and our son is very nearly 13 years old the provision of children’s entertainment and activity clubs is of crucial importance to us in deciding where to book and, as our car has 5 full seats, which child’s friend we decide to take with us. Because of the age difference between our son and daughter this obviously meant that they could not attend either T-Co or the Rory & Bradley’s Funtime Club together and because our son thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to experience the activities as described in the T-Co description and also has the ability and confidence to make friends easily and quickly we decided to take our daughter’s friend on holiday instead of our son’s friend. Your brochure gives the distinct impression that the T-Co club is an integral part of the daily children’s activity for that age group and on this basis we made our decision. However when we attended the T-Co meeting on Saturday the 11th of July at 12.30pm in Jesters we were astonished to discover that the T-Co Club was only operating on Saturday and Sunday and that it was only for 1 hour each day. This was VERY upsetting for our son as we had spoken many times leading up to our holiday about all the wonderful things he would be experiencing and all the new friendships he would make. Even worse news was to follow because on Friday 18th July (the day before our holiday ended) we noticed in the evening outside Jesters several display boards and manned stands advertising many and various children’s activities and clubs. When my husband asked a Funstar who was passing by about the T-Co Club and about the frequency of it he was informed by her that from tomorrow i.e. Saturday 19th July T-Co would be in operation daily because it was now the start of the English school holiday season. Nowhere in your brochure does it state that this date marks the start of the full T-Co activity programme. We fully understand that some activities do commence from certain dates but that these are clearly specified in the Haven Brochure. This most certainly is not the case with the T-Co Club! If it operates fully in ‘Peak Season’ only, how are we to know what dates this relates to if these are NOT specified in your pages of the Haven Brochure and surely the start of the Scottish school holidays should mark the start of your peak season anyway, bearing in mind that you are one of the largest, most Northerly sites available for a family orientated holiday! Moreover we have checked on brochure page 184-187 and page 202 for further information and it clearly states on page 202 under ‘Just for Teenagers’ that T-Co operates ‘at all parks except Far Grange throughout the season’. No dates are given!
    As such we feel that the description and depiction of the T-Co Club is as best misleading and at worst deceiving and seriously impacted upon the potential enjoyment of all of our holidays and most especially our son’s.
    In conclusion, as you can see all in all there are many areas of concern. Some admittedly are relatively minor, however, some we feel are potentially quite serious and/or a major inconvenience and could also affect other families staying at your holiday park. Like most people we would normally just accept these issues as we are not in the habit of complaining and would just not repeat book. However on reflection, on this occasion we feel we must draw these matters to your attention for obvious reasons so that you can assess and address as appropriate. As you can see we have spend considerable time and effort compiling this email and feel certain that you will, as a result, give it the recognition and attention that it deserves.
    and this is the letter that I recieved in reply to it from them:
    Thank you for your letter regarding the recent stay you had with us here at Primrose Valley Holiday Park.
    Firstly, may I say how sorry I am to hear of the problems encountered during your recent stay. It is our aim to meet and hopefully exceed our customer’s expectations and if we have failed to achieve this in your case then I sincerely apologise.
    I have checked your booking and unfortunately the notes regarding your check in requirements were not passed to us here at the Park otherwise we would have accommodated you with your request. I can only apologise for any inconvenience caused.
    All gas fires in caravans have to be vented in order to comply with Corgi regulations. Behind every fire there is a large vent to the outside of the caravan which would be the cause of the noises the fire appeared to be making.
    A large majority of the caravans on the Park are privately owned and sublet through Haven. The caravan you occupied was previously owned by a charity organization. A fire blanket is not part of our general inventory and this must have been installed and removed by the charity themselves. Unfortunately, they placed instructions and notices on numerous walls in the caravan which stuck to the wallpaper and it was decided that to remove these notices would have damaged the wallpaper, therefore the notices were left up.
    With regards to the smoke alarm in your accommodation, the cleaners check these every time they clean the unit. As I am sure you will appreciate battery power can go down at any time and it is possible that at the time of cleaning the battery was working on sufficient power to activate when the cleaner checked it. The reason we do not leave the spare batteries in each unit is mainly due to the fact that some of our guests take them home with them.
    Sooty residue around the instantaneous water heater in the hall cupboard is not a sign of malfunctioning appliance. It is generally due to guests lighting paper from the pilot light in order to lught the cooker or maybe a cigarette. Carbon monoxide alarms are not part of the fixture and fittings of the majority of caravans and are not part of any legal requirement.
    Once again, the alarm would have been installed and removed by the previous owners. The wires have to be left exposed in case a future owner wants to reinstall an alarm. There is no power source to these wires, but to remove them would cause damage to the structure of the caravan.
    Regarding the other issues you mention within your accommodation, I am unclear by your letter as to whether or not a member of your party reported these to us during your stay, as we try to resolve any accommodation problems immediately, or offer a different accommodation unit. We do trust our guests will report any faults or missing inventory so you can continue your holiday with the lest inconvenience possible. We do employ caravan checkers and cleaning supervisors who carry our random checks prior to arrival, though some problem only present themselves through use of the accommodation or the appliances and therefore can easily be missed by the cleaners.
    I was sorry to hear that your husband hurt himself in the swimming pool. I have spoken to our Health & Safety Officer on Park and he assures me that when the pool was refurbished in the winter of 2005/2006 it was done to current specifications. We do however, accept your comments as constructive criticism and would like to assure you that they have been recorded for the information of our Park Manager.
    Whilst I accept that the Haven brochure states that T-Co operates throughout the season, it does not state that it operates on a daily basis for the entire season. I can only apologise for any disappointment caused.
    Our aim is to provide services and products which enable holidaymakers to enjoy a family holiday in a secure and appealing environment and I very much regret that your expectations were not fulfilled on this occasion. Let me assure you we do take all complaints very seriously and we have taken on board all of your comments as they are an invaluable aid in our development and improvement plans. Consequently I would like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to write to me with your experience.
    [FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']If I can be of further assistance then please do not hesitate to write to me at the above address or email me: primrosevalley.customercare@bourne-leisure.co.uk
    I am getting ready to write my new letter back to him but does anyone have any suggestions?
    Angela
  • As you can see we did have a few issues with them and the reply that we got back wasn't exactly answering all of our questions and while I am about to write another back to the same guy I would also like to write one to the Head poncho at Haven but I am not too sure how to go about it and therefore I am looking for some advice.
    I am also considering getting in touch with the Health & Safety executive in relation to the pool incident and I am also considering going to Trading Standards in relation to the kids club and the complete off handedness in his reply to this. 'Whilst I accept that the Haven brochure state that T-Co operates THROUGHOUT the season, it does not state that it operates on a daily basis for the entire season'.
    Collins English Dictionary quotes:
    Through - From end to end or side to side of; because of; during.
    THROUGHOUT - completely, in every part (of).
    Unless I am completely stupid and I am misreading the dictionary quotes then I have them banged to rights over the T-Co fiasco if for nothing else!
    How do I go about finding out who the head man is for Haven and how to find an address for him?
  • I had this with Havens sister company siblu when we went to Spain- by far the worse caravans on site and nothing available. I kept a lot of photographs etc of what was wrong and complained a lot during th eholiday making sure they had a note of my complaints in their record book. now they tried to fob me off continually but eventually I got a letter giving me Ј100 off my next holiday- it was my intention to never holiday with them again, so I promptly sent this back (to France as that is where siblus H/O is) eventually I agreed to them giving me 50% of my accomadation costs back, a total of Ј305. but it took a lot of tooing & froing. unfortuntly I no longer have the letters but persistence is key with this company. I also told them I would go to their governing bodies as well.
  • SH!T happens...... lmfao
    after that letter!!!
    wow i hope you get somat back luv after all that effort you deserve it.
    go see a solicitor you get a free 1/2 hour i think
  • My initial complaints were made on the park on day of departure. I were fobbed off by the park saying that the cleanliness in chalet should have been brought to their attention the minute i opened the chalet door and someone could have come round to clean it. Having argued most of the mess was not noticed until after we had unpacked there was no way i were going to clear off for half an hour as requested to allow a cleaning operative in to have a good delve in my belongings (never can be too careful).
    We also argued the factor that the T-Co was none existent again siting the misleading information in the brochure, to be told it would be investigated.
    When we got home i heard nothing further from the resort so contacted there customer services dept to be told the usual bumph of 'sorry you didnt enjoy your stay and that we didnt meet with you expectations but we have to consider all our guests when arranging entertainment'. Nothing mentioned here about we mislead you because once you have made the booking we have you trapped and you will spend loads more than you can afford haha.
    I did write back stating that as they have taken liability for the crap holiday in admiting everything that was outlined in my letters then it would only be fair that they refund us the price of the holiday so we can book up somewhere we would enjoy and feel like we had had a holiday to be told basically we had had out holiday its tough you didnt enjoy it so you aint getting any form of compensation we are also not entering into an argument on this with you. So i am going to consult CAB and see where i can take it from here.
  • i've only tried dolmio and motlon brown so far and i got samples from both
  • Yep, I would like to know how to approach this successfully also thanks
  • I booked my honeymoon at Kuredo Island in the Maldives through First Choice. We booked a specific type of villa in a specific location. The island changed these and First Choice didn't alter their advertising (ie Sangu Jaccuzi Beach Villas could now be anywhere on the island a not necessarily the Sangu end of the island). On this island location is everything!
    After multiple phones calls (staying calm and pleasent throughout) and three months later, I was given a £480 refund!!!
    Result!
  • Also, I emailed Nestle about a KitKat that I had bought without wafer inside.
    As silly as it was, they sent me a cheque for just over £2, no questions asked.
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