NOTE TO COMPANIES!!

I started to go through everything in our house

that has or is supposed to have an expiration date.

So far I have come across six companies who either use a "date code"

or have extremely hard to find or read expiration dates.

One is a regional company,

but the other five are national brand name companies.

Some of the problems so far:

1.

Date code or sometimes a manufactured code

(I as a consumer is supposed to know what this means? Really?)

PUT IT IN PLAIN ENGLISH!!!

That would be

month, day, year

or day month year

Stop making it so hard for people

2.

Hard to find expiration dates.

If you have a tiny product

it is not okay

to put it in the flap

or the sealed end of a bag.

3.

Hard to read expiration dates.

Embossed type dates (that is like an indent) are very very difficult to read.

This also includes black ink on any dark background.

Also, white or yellow ink on a light color background.

4.

Poor ways to get in touch with companies.

We live in a 24/7 world.

People do not work 9 - 5 or if they do they can not contact your company if your customer service hours are 8 - 5 Pacific time.

That is assuming there is a toll free number to call.

One company does not have a toll free number to call

and I will pay to call them.

5.

Poor websites.

If you sell anything that has an expiration date

you should make it easy for customers to find out if it still good.

The company that did not have a toll free number to call, or an expiration date that I as a customer can understand also had nothing on their website to figure out the code.

The other company that I actually did get a real live person when I called was very nice, but could not tell me if my product was still good or not. I will either get a telephone call, e-mail, or a letter in the mail. Yes, I had to give all that information just to find out if my product was still good. No, I will not be buying much if anything from them anymore. No, they had nothing on their website either. They did have stuff about their reward card, re-called food (none of the other companies had that), school donations, products they sell, and so on.

6.

Not everyone has internet access.

Just because you as a company has a website does not mean everybody has a computer or if they do have a computer the internet.

Many people have absolutely no internet access.

Yes, some libraries have the internet,

but they have a limited amount of them

and most limit the time to 30 minutes

(maybe up to 60 minutes if it is not busy).

7.

I am one upset customer taking names.

I usually go through cupboards, pantries, medicine cabinets a few times a year to check dates.

We realized a couple of days ago

we have not actually done that in over a year.

We have had a lot of little emergencies, medical issues,

and family issues and have not taken time to do some serious purging.

We have three adults who all wear glasses. Two of us have bi-focals and getting worse. One of us has both macular degeneration and cataracts and finds reading extremely hard. Add that fact that companies use such awful ways to let people know if their product is still good or not and making it hard to contact them does not help people who are already frazzled, have medical issues, or plain busy trying to keep their head above water these days.

If you do not care about me as a customer to make it a little easier to want to purchase your product then you DO NOT DESERVE my money.

I get paid less than $8.00 an hour.

I do not have money to waste,

but will pay more for products by companies

that actually care about the welfare of their customers.

Remember if you are selling products that by law should have an expiration date or products that should have one even if it is not required then you would think you as a company would make it easier for your customers to NOT get sick. If a person can not read the date, but has limited funds might eat or use the product anyway. Yes, a person can always throw it out if he/she are unsure, but when a person does not have much money he/she might just take a chance that the product is still good.