Rit Packaging Update
Remember my post a while back about the "new" Rit bulk dye packaging?
I finally got a response today, and I'm even more displeased now.
For the record, i first contacted them in September via the email link on their website. By month's end, I had received no response so i wrote a longer, more detailed letter of complaint which i sent via regular mail on October 3rd.
Today, this response appeared in my email Inbox:
Thank you for expressing your concerns with the new RIT 5 lb container.
I would like to share with you a couple of reasons why the packaging changed.
1. To minimize the rise in manufacturing costs during this tough economic time.
2. To reduce the lead time of procuring the containers
3. To improve stability during shipment.
We understand your concerns and take them into consideration as we explore packaging possibilities.
For your inconvenience, we would like to offer a long handled scoop that will allow you to reach inside of the container without having to transfer the contents into another container.
Please let us know your mailing address and we will have the scoop shipped to you free of charge.
Are they kidding me? Because i find this bordering on an insult to my intelligence, particularly given the response that Judy C. at the Denver Center received to her own telephone complaint. Let's look at these three reasons given by their Customer Service department:
1.) To minimize the rise in manufacturing costs during this tough economic time.
This one, I believe is a reason they have conveniently adopted after-the-fact, as a reasonable-sounding explanation for the choice that their customers would find hard to argue with. I would, in fact, find it hard to argue with, had my original order not been placed and received BEFORE the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, before Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America, and before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The order was filled and shipped long before the current stock market toilet-flush and ensuing economic panic. That would mean that they completely reworked their packaging weeks--perhaps months--before that.
But, supposing that Phoenix Brands has a team of economists who were obsessively analyzing the subprime mortgage crisis and anticipating its fallout for other sectors of the economy beyond homeowners (which, honestly, i am sure that they do), they've decided to gamble that people will still continue to purchase fabric softener in vast quantities, yet industries will pull back on their dye consumption enough to justify retaining the fabric softener jug packaging and just sticking dye in it, too? Because i don't know about you, but when my grocery dollar is stretched, I'm finding ways to do things like eliminate spendy consumable household supplies (like, using white vinegar instead of a special fabric softener).
In fact, right now i'm considering eliminating Rit from my dyeshop altogether. I already stock acid dyes (one component of Rit) and fiber-reactives, and to add a line of industrial direct dyes for cellulose fibers i'd pay about $6/lb. That sure beats Rit's bulk pricing of $11.25/lb. I've retained the Rit line thusfar because it's common in the theatre industry, but really, if this is how Rit's going to be sold now, it's pretty much more trouble than it was ever worth. But let's look at their other reasons.
2.) To reduce the lead time of procuring the containers
...
Seriously?
SERIOUSLY?
No, dude, SER.I.OUS.LY?!
Because if you have a competent supply-chain division, you have someone with their eye on inventory of those containers, and they reorder them as needed. Certainly a huge company like Phoenix Brands--especially one who had the astute foresight to apparently implement economic-crisis-based repackaging decisions MONTHS ahead of Wall Street's collapse--can manage to order their product containers in a timely and ongoing fashion. If your personnel can't keep dye containers in stock, fire their butts and hire people who can. I hear there's a pretty good labor market of job-hunters out there so it shouldn't be rough. Don't put lipstick on a pig here and try to tell me selling powder in a liquid-appropriate container was a well-thought-out choice.
And then:
3.) To improve stability during shipment.
Presuming by "stability," they mean "sturdiness," the very laws of science dictate that a cylinder is a sturdier, more stable, more packable object than an uneven tall bottle shape with a narrow but long base and a handle-hole in the container.
If perhaps by "stability," they mean "unexposed to rays of light," a black opaque plastic container does more lightblocking than a baby-blue one.
And if by "stability" they mean "uncontaminated by moisture," I've only had one bulk container EVER arrive with moisture-caused clots inside, and i'm willing to run that risk to get dye in containers i can safely and conveniently use and store.
In response to my previous post, jaguarx13 had the excellent suggestion of a letter-writing campaign. Should you wish to participate, the contact information for the company is here:
Rit Dye/Phoenix Brands LLC
300 Atlantic Street, 11th floor
Stamford, CT 06901
Or, if you wish to lodge a complaint by phone as Judy C. did, here are the numbers they give on their site:
203-975-0319
866-794-0800
Here are some "talking points" to include in your letter or call:
Or, maybe--like me--you want to start looking into Rit elimination and working with other dyestuffs and suppliers. I'm a big fan of PROChemical and Aljo...
I'm debating whether to compose a politely-worded response to the Rit folks, or just let it lie. :/
I finally got a response today, and I'm even more displeased now.
For the record, i first contacted them in September via the email link on their website. By month's end, I had received no response so i wrote a longer, more detailed letter of complaint which i sent via regular mail on October 3rd.
Today, this response appeared in my email Inbox:
Thank you for expressing your concerns with the new RIT 5 lb container.
I would like to share with you a couple of reasons why the packaging changed.
1. To minimize the rise in manufacturing costs during this tough economic time.
2. To reduce the lead time of procuring the containers
3. To improve stability during shipment.
We understand your concerns and take them into consideration as we explore packaging possibilities.
For your inconvenience, we would like to offer a long handled scoop that will allow you to reach inside of the container without having to transfer the contents into another container.
Please let us know your mailing address and we will have the scoop shipped to you free of charge.
Are they kidding me? Because i find this bordering on an insult to my intelligence, particularly given the response that Judy C. at the Denver Center received to her own telephone complaint. Let's look at these three reasons given by their Customer Service department:
1.) To minimize the rise in manufacturing costs during this tough economic time.
This one, I believe is a reason they have conveniently adopted after-the-fact, as a reasonable-sounding explanation for the choice that their customers would find hard to argue with. I would, in fact, find it hard to argue with, had my original order not been placed and received BEFORE the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, before Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America, and before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The order was filled and shipped long before the current stock market toilet-flush and ensuing economic panic. That would mean that they completely reworked their packaging weeks--perhaps months--before that.
But, supposing that Phoenix Brands has a team of economists who were obsessively analyzing the subprime mortgage crisis and anticipating its fallout for other sectors of the economy beyond homeowners (which, honestly, i am sure that they do), they've decided to gamble that people will still continue to purchase fabric softener in vast quantities, yet industries will pull back on their dye consumption enough to justify retaining the fabric softener jug packaging and just sticking dye in it, too? Because i don't know about you, but when my grocery dollar is stretched, I'm finding ways to do things like eliminate spendy consumable household supplies (like, using white vinegar instead of a special fabric softener).
In fact, right now i'm considering eliminating Rit from my dyeshop altogether. I already stock acid dyes (one component of Rit) and fiber-reactives, and to add a line of industrial direct dyes for cellulose fibers i'd pay about $6/lb. That sure beats Rit's bulk pricing of $11.25/lb. I've retained the Rit line thusfar because it's common in the theatre industry, but really, if this is how Rit's going to be sold now, it's pretty much more trouble than it was ever worth. But let's look at their other reasons.
2.) To reduce the lead time of procuring the containers
...
Seriously?
SERIOUSLY?
No, dude, SER.I.OUS.LY?!
Because if you have a competent supply-chain division, you have someone with their eye on inventory of those containers, and they reorder them as needed. Certainly a huge company like Phoenix Brands--especially one who had the astute foresight to apparently implement economic-crisis-based repackaging decisions MONTHS ahead of Wall Street's collapse--can manage to order their product containers in a timely and ongoing fashion. If your personnel can't keep dye containers in stock, fire their butts and hire people who can. I hear there's a pretty good labor market of job-hunters out there so it shouldn't be rough. Don't put lipstick on a pig here and try to tell me selling powder in a liquid-appropriate container was a well-thought-out choice.
And then:
3.) To improve stability during shipment.
Presuming by "stability," they mean "sturdiness," the very laws of science dictate that a cylinder is a sturdier, more stable, more packable object than an uneven tall bottle shape with a narrow but long base and a handle-hole in the container.
If perhaps by "stability," they mean "unexposed to rays of light," a black opaque plastic container does more lightblocking than a baby-blue one.
And if by "stability" they mean "uncontaminated by moisture," I've only had one bulk container EVER arrive with moisture-caused clots inside, and i'm willing to run that risk to get dye in containers i can safely and conveniently use and store.
In response to my previous post, jaguarx13 had the excellent suggestion of a letter-writing campaign. Should you wish to participate, the contact information for the company is here:
Rit Dye/Phoenix Brands LLC
300 Atlantic Street, 11th floor
Stamford, CT 06901
Or, if you wish to lodge a complaint by phone as Judy C. did, here are the numbers they give on their site:
203-975-0319
866-794-0800
Here are some "talking points" to include in your letter or call:
- The new packaging is not stackable nor easily stored in great quantity.
- The new packaging is not something you can scoop measured amounts out of.
- Pouring powdered dyestuff out of a jug makes more of it airborne when you dispense it, thus requiring dyers to be more vigilant with the use of particulate respirators and scouring of their workspace.
- Pouring powdered dyestuff out of a jug makes it difficult to control the quantity of powder dispensed.
- The new packages require dyers to do more hefting of the container's weight than one you can scoop from in a sedentary position.
Or, maybe--like me--you want to start looking into Rit elimination and working with other dyestuffs and suppliers. I'm a big fan of PROChemical and Aljo...
I'm debating whether to compose a politely-worded response to the Rit folks, or just let it lie. :/