Ellee Seymour

I was disappointed to read in PR Week today that Starbucks is struggling, that the coffee chain is fighting to improve its reputation.

According to the article, an online poll of 1,567 people found that of the 62 per cent of consumers who regularly visit one of the four main coffee shop brands, 16 per cent actively avoid Starbucks.

I admit to having a soft spot for Starbucks because, although I confess to not being a big coffee drinker, I have had very positive first-hand experience of the organisation after hearing Cliff Burrows, president of Starbucks for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, speak at an event on leadership in London. I later wrote to him describing how my son’s first request on waking up after a hospital operation was for a Starbucks Java chip coffee-based Frappuccino. I was a complete stranger, yet Cliff personally replied to my emails, as well as arranging for a a box of goodies to be posted to me, including a coffee maker, several coffee samples. chocolate bars, mugs and a £20 Starbucks voucher for my son.

As a result, when PR Week was researching its article on Starbucks, it contacted me because my blog posts on this subject came up high on their Google search of the organisation. They asked me to contribute my experiences, and this is what I wrote:

"How many presidents of global organisations find the time to write to complete strangers? And to respond in a warm and genuine way? That was certainly my experience after emailing Cliff Burrows, president of Starbucks for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

I forwarded him a link to my blog post describing how my son’s first request on waking up after an operation was for a Starbucks Java chip coffee-based Frappuccino, as I thought he might find it amusing. I admitted my ignorance at the coffee names and he said he would educate me. Shortly after I received a box of goodies, including a coffee maker, chocolate bars, mugs and a £20 Starbucks voucher for my son.

I am delighted to see that conversations on blogosphere are being monitored and that organisations are responding.

Organisations should respond to all comments, even negative ones. It would be great if Starbucks provided internet access to a corporate blog on all its premises for customers to express their views. What a great way - and an inexpensive one - for it to get valuable feedback.

Should I email Cliff about this idea?"

We are very fortunate that the excellent East Anglian Daily Times carries a weekly report from local MEPs called Letter From Europe. This is my MEP Robert Sturdy’s latest article which focuses on food production and biofuels. It would be great to hear your views on these issues:

“The fat is now well and truly beginning to hit the fire, I’m talking about rising food prices and the impact this is beginning to have globally.

We heard this week that rising food and petrol prices pushed up the UK inflation figures last month. And although the higher price of fruits like grapes and grapefruit were singled out, the soaring cost of wheat is also a major contributory factor. Many have pointed the finger at biofuels for this and it is true that world food prices have been affected by the US’s decision to use 20% of its land for bioethanol production.

Reports that first generation biofuels, derived from wheat, sugarbeet, maize etc, are no lower than those from fossil fuels demonstrates that we need to look at producing secondary generation biofuesl derived from straw, manure, grass and other non-feed materials. With rising oil prices, it is important that Europe is not left behind and that we do not become increasingly dependent on others for our fuel. That is why I strongly believe that targets set by Europe should be met with increased Research and Development of second generation biofuels. Not only would this give us some kind of security in fuel production, but would also ease the pressure on food prices as crops would be used to feed mouths, not engines.

I do not agree either that biofuels are the main reason for rising food prices. It is necessary to look at the larger picture, in which the global population is increasing and will continue to do so. Both India and China have populations of over one billion, and as these countries continue to develop, eating habits and cultural trends are beginning to change as well. The demand for food such as bread, meat and dairy products has rocketed and we are asking the question of whether we can meet this demand.

Ten years ago I don’t think anyone would have envisaged politicians talking about food security in Europe, after years of over production which led to the often referred to grain mountains and wine lakes. Now it is emerging that Europe is being left behind in terms of food production and what worries me is that as legislation continues to set stringent environmental and food quality standards, food production will be forced out of Europe as many farmers will not be able to survive. A great example of this is the EU’s refusal to relax its rules on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). While imports of Animal feed containing GMOs continues to be restricted, the EU is quite happy to allow the import of the finished product, i.e your chicken drumstick or rump steak, which has come from an animal fed partly on GMOs in a country outside the EU. Farmers in Europe are frustrated that while they spend more and more money on producing food of the highest quality, supermarkets continue to stack their shelves with the cheapest food, more often than not produced outside the EU.

Following my discussions with representatives from the NFU about food supply and security and the overbearing dominance that major supermarkets have on the supply chain, it is clear that producers continue to be exploited. Earlier I mentioned the escalating price of wheat, but I am also particularly alarmed at the price of milk which is estimated to cost 76p a litre for UK shoppers. However, this price does not represent anything near the real value paid to the diary farmers in the UK. Farm gate prices are currently at 22p a litre, and have even been as low as 17p. This is totally unacceptable. But there is good news for arable farmers who are beginning to be paid market prices rather than supported by financial aid.

The domination of major supermarkets is a danger for primary producers. I believe all our farmers should be paid fairer prices and not held to ransom by their greed. The fact is that while we are paying more for our weekly shopping, the prices paid to the many producers has stagnated or dropped. Where is the fairness in that?”

My car problem has finally been resolved, I have discovered the reason why I had difficulty starting my usually very faithful Honda.

The problem started last Saturday morning when I wanted to drive to Wimpole Hall to join Cambridge Rambling Club for a walk. I used a key I found in my rucksack which I thought I had lost, but it wouldn’t start.

Earlier in the week, I had ordered a replacement spare car key from my local Honda garage, John Banks, which had to be programmed into the engine - you know what exhorbitent prices they charge for this!

What they didn’t tell me was that my lost key had been de-activated, so this is why I had so much anxiety over the weekend with my car starting sometimes and not others.

I wasn’t aware of this when I dropped my car off at a village garage expecting some engine problem to be the cause. After two days of not being able to find a fault, the garage called and asked if I had had a new key cut recently. Then it began to click.

This morning, John Banks dropped off a courtesy car at my house at 8am and took my Honda into their workshop to reprogramme all three keys. They have just called and told me it is ready for collection, mission accomplished.

I shall pick up some new business cards en route from Cambridge Printers. I have gone for a totally new look with a beautiful blue colour. I had previously placed an order with Staples, but the first draft came back with four errors and so I cancelled my order instantly as I did not want any hassle, they charge after one correction, I wanted a professional service. I had a similar experience with them last year, my business cards had to be returned three times before they got it right. 

There was very little difference in price and Cambridge Printers had my order completed within four days, including posting a proof. Their service has been excellent, though I have yet to see the finished product.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I had a very unpleasant experience when I went to collect my car from John Banks. I did not expect to be charged for having to reprogramme the keys, I put it down to a misunderstanding on their part, that they had not warned me that there could be problems if I tried to use my lost key which they had deactivated.  All they wanted was my money and I was told I would not be allowed my car back unless I paid. This all came from the mouth of their services manager Mark Goddard, who instead of graciously apologising for the considerable inconvenience I had suffered as a result of this misunderstanding (as well as my husband and father-in-law who had to give up their cars to see me through this difficulty), he would not allow me to have my car back unless I paid there and then. It was very confrontational, and not how expected a reputable organisation to operate. As I already had my keys, I have no idea how he planned to instigate this - personally blockade my car? I certainly have no desire to return to that organisation. Other customers who overheard this discussion sympathised with me.

I see from their website that they have a Charter on customer service, I shall read this with interest and refer to it in my letter of complaint. I would much rather have been praising their excellent customer relations skills, but this is an area they obviously need to work on it.

On the other hand, my local village garage who spent their time trying to identify my starting problem, as well as running me to and from their garage, said they would not be charging me. I have graciously thanked them and given them some wine as a token of my appreciation - I know when I get good service.