Don't you hate it when...

...you correspond with a company you really like and their customer service is terrible?

I just finished reading Kylee from Our Little Acre's post about her poor customer service experience with a gardening company when I checked my email to find that Horizon Organic had emailed me back.

See, a couple days ago I emailed them (basically) this simple question:

"My family is really concerned with eating locally produced food. We really enjoy Horizon Organic products and would like to know, if we live in Northern California, where exactly do our eggs, milk (and egg nog) products come from? Thanks"

And they emailed me this massive counter attack canned response they send out to defend themselves against accusations about their "organic" practices. (Seeing that I don't know anything about any of that, I won't go into it here, but their response is at the end, so I don't muddy up my point and post.)

I really really love Horizon Organics, especially their milk (their egg nog is the best I've ever tasted). It is so rich, flavorful, and wonderful -- and I simply wanted to know how "local" it is.

And I should mention that in a previous life (during college), I worked customer service emails for a large online financial company. The first thing we learned was read the customer's email ALL THE WAY THROUGH, then determine what question(s) they're asking. Answer ALL of their questions appropriately, and with a human touch. The human touch is just as important as the answers, in my opinion. I even had to sign my entire first and last name as part of my email, so I seemed like a real person and customers could email you back personally. I didn't even get the courtesy of a first name in my response....

So I was sorely disappointed that an organic food enterprise which wants to seem like a cute lil' organic company sent me a letter more suited for a press release than a simple question. Very "big business" answer if you ask me. And so sad. So sad.

After their terrible response that didn't even address my question AT ALL, I did a little homework, answering my own question, and doing THEIR job FOR them.

They have a large commercial dairy in Idaho. They have a smaller family dairy in Bonanza, Oregon. Since we're really trying to eat food produced within 500 miles of our house, that puts Idaho between 400-600 miles (couldn't find location of that one exactly...imagine that), and 346 miles to Bonanza, Oregon.

With all this said, I will continue to purchase their products because of their superior quality and the fact that they ARE likely produced within 500 miles of my location (and they're really the only game in town, for now). But their poor response is thusly noted in my "lifepath" and if another organic enterprise puts its product in the path of my life, I will certainly see if it is as good, and perhaps jump ship if it is.

Sorry Horizon Organic.

Absurdly long email response to my simple question (below) if you're interested.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Subject: Our Response To Your Email
From: HorizonOrganic@casupport.com

Thank you for your inquiry specific to Horizon Organic products and our parent company, Dean Foods. Below is detailed information regarding our mission for the organic industry, our Idaho farm, organic standards and our practices regarding care for our animals.

At Horizon Organic, organic is all we do. And doing it right is all we will ever do. Since we were founded nearly 15 years ago, we have brought more organic milk to consumers and have remained unwavering in our belief that more organic production makes for a better world.

As pioneers in the organic industry, we were among the first to bring organic milk and yogurts to consumers in the U.S. Our founders helped develop the national organic standards and the USDA organic seal that ensures millions of consumers that our products are produced with healthy, organic ingredients, and without the use of antibiotics, added growth hormones or dangerous pesticides.

We have converted hundreds of thousands of acres to organic -- more than any other organic dairy. That means that more farms are producing organic milk and growing organic feed in a way that benefits our environment, supports better health, and ensures the humane treatment of animals.

By standing together and growing the industry responsibly, we can bring the benefits of organic to more people and help change the world one organic acre at a time.

Companies and farmers, small and large, need to stand together to support the core values of our industry and the clarification of the organic standards. Our collective success will allow us to continue to grow the organic industry, to support family farmers, promote the humane treatment of animals and to improve the local environments in which we operate.

Our Idaho dairy was the first large certified organic dairy in the country and was certified organic in 1995. The practices we have pioneered there proved that organic dairying was practical and paved the way for hundreds of other dairies to convert to organic. While our Idaho farm is certified organic today and fully complies with the organic standards, we aim for the highest organic standards and are committed to growing responsibly with the industry as it evolves and matures.

We are excited to be investing more than $10 million into our Idaho farm. This investment will add almost 1,000 additional pasture acres.

It will allow 100% of the animals to enjoy pasture at the same time when it's seasonally appropriate, live in new barns, and be milked in a new state-of-the-art parlor.

We are working with Holistic Management International, experts in holistic farm management and pasture planning for arid regions. Together with Holistic Management International, we are working to develop a holistic grazing/land management plan in Idaho.

This plan will include practices to regenerate and improve the health of the land, increasing biodiversity and helping conserve our scarce water resources. By restoring the symbiotic relationship between the land and our animals, we will ultimately increase available days of pasture and ensure low stress livestock handling.

It will allow 100% of our animals to enjoy pasture at the same time when it's seasonally appropriate, live in new barns, and be milked in a new state-of-the-art parlor. This plan also ensures that our animals receive the best nutrition and care and the lowest stress handling methods we can provide.

We only operate farms and work with farmer partners that fully comply with the organic standards mandated by the USDA's National Organic Program. We fully comply with the laws that govern organic milk production, including access to pasture, to ensure that we continue to bring superior organic products to consumers.

No matter the size or the number of animals, all of our farms operate in a manner that is consistent with careful stewardship of our environment and humane treatment of our animals.

In 2005, we joined with other organic dairy leaders in urging the USDA to require pasturing for dairy animals and encourage organic farmers to move beyond present practices.

Recently the USDA announced its intent to publish an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), and hold a public symposium, in order to facilitate clarification of the organic relations. This is a first necessary step towards strengthening the regulations specific to pasture, and Horizon Organic fully supports this initiative.

The cornerstone of our cow care program is prevention. Cows that produce organic milk for Horizon Organic are never treated with antibiotics or added growth hormones.

We approach herd health holistically -- the entire farm is managed for animal comfort and well being.

We use only natural and homeopathic remedies to treat cows that do become ill. Those cows that do not respond to these methods are treated conventionally and must leave the organic farm.

All of our cows are overseen by highly trained dairy managers and herds people teamed up with nutritionists and veterinarians.

Today, we strictly follow the living standards that have been established by the National Organic Standards for our cows. Animals on Horizon Organic Farms are never confined:

o We permit the cows to exercise and exhibit their natural behaviors.
o We allow access to the outdoors and room to move about and exhibit their natural behaviors.
o We offer protection from severe weather.
o We provide them safe and sanitary living conditions.
o We provide pasture for our cows.

Our relationship with our parent company, Dean Foods, will allow us to continue leading by example in the future and to do even more to help the industry evolve.

Thanks again for contacting the Consumer Affairs Department.

Sincerely,
Consumer Response Representative

Ref: N734582"