I just spread some Skippy Natural peanut butter on my English muffin as I have for the past two mornings.
The side of the jar screams, “No Need to Stir!”
Three mornings now, I’ve had the same two thoughts:
1. Calm down Skippy, there’s no need to yell.
2. There is in fact a need to stir [Upon opening the jar and noticing the oil had separated].
What do you do when you are mildly dissatisfied with a product or service?
The other day at the car wash, I noticed that the ringing-up-guy (separate from the cashier) had charged me an extra $2 for vacuuming my trunk when he promised he wouldn’t.
I felt hurt and annoyed. Well, not so much hurt as annoyed.
What did I do? Nothing. My trunk was getting vacuumed and I really really didn’t want to face the man who had just disillusioned me of the whole car wash experience. It would have been awkward.
I was mildly dissatisfied.
It’s not that I have a problem arguing with store employees who do me wrong. I once yelled at a Wal-Mart manager, who refused to give me back my keg deposit, as she fled in terror (I had to yell, she was running away from me).
But at what point does the money at stake become important enough to make a fuss? For some, the principle of the matter is always worth the time and effort spent.
I could take the peanut butter back to the store, but that would require 2 hours of searching for the receipt, 30 minutes of driving and at least an hour explaining to customer service why the jar is half full (and then possibly another hour chasing some poor representative around the store if they refuse me my refund).
While I find that scenario incredibly amusing, and I’ve always wanted a cool nickname like “Crazy Peanut Butter Lady,” my time is fortunately worth much more than a $3 jar of peanut butter.
These experiences are best chalked up to “learning opportunities.”
Don’t waste your time. It’s your most valuable asset.
Comments
5 responses to “No Need to Stir!”
CKL (Crazy Keg Lady) – there now you have a nickname
To keep the oil from separating, they would need to use hydrogenated oil. Not a good thing. The reason it separated is probably because Skippy is trying to reduce trans-fats enough to not have to list them on the label. How hard is it to stir the peanut butter a little with the knife before you spread it?
That depends on how sticky the peanut butter is.
It’s not so much about the peanut butter as it is about the amount of time we waste (or don’t waste) over small (or not small) amounts of money and/or dissatisfaction.
Not only does it take time, but also energy. Nothing can zap my energy more than yelling at someone (and the anger too). Unless you gain energy from yelling people, then go for it. I’d like to think I would fight for money past a certain dollar amount, say for $50. But then, I’m really good at avoiding confrontation, so I still don’t think that would be enough.
And, stirring peanut butter is a huge pain when the oil spills everywhere.
Arguing is particularly exhausting when it’s fruitless and often times the lowly customer service reps don’t have the authority to appease crazy people like me.
$50, is about where I draw the line, depending on the time involved.