When a product fails to deliver as promised

[CheshireKat]

When a company makes specific promises to a consumer, stating so right on the packaging of the product, I feel it is my duty to inform them when these promises are not fulfilled. In this case, the company responded promptly to rectify the error and explain the circumstances of my disappointing experience:

Hi Kathy,

Thank you for contacting us. You’re right! Looking forward to the prize is an important part of the Cracker Jacks experience, and it’s so disappointing when it’s not there! For this we sincerely apologize. I’m sending coupons to you that should arrive in about a week.

During the manufacturing process, Cracker Jack packages are automatically filled by specialized equipment that adds a prize to every package. On rare occasions, Kathy, these metering machines may malfunction. Although we take many steps to ensure product integrity, a package may leave the factory without the prize.

Feedback like yours allows us to continue to make our products and packages better every day.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Best regards,

Elizabeth
PepsiCo Consumer Relations

Despite the fact that Cracker Jack prizes have sucked for years, and this particular prize was just a code printed on a slip of paper that would allow me to get an app for a Smart Phone I do not own, I was told I would get a prize so damn it, I wanted a prize.

[Hypno-Toad]

The advent of online prizes was a real downturn in the quality of the prize industry. First of all, you don’t actually get anything right then, which is a huge part of the fun of a prize. Secondly, they give you instructions on how to get something. So you’re being rewarded with another task to get a thing. And finally, when you do claim your prize, it’s not even a tangible thing. So overall, instead of getting a thing, you are tasked with more work to get what amounts to another advertisement for the company. Makes me feel like Ralphie decoding the message “Drink more ovaltine.” Son of a bitch.