I love the complimentary newspapers in Commons. They actually listened to one of my suggestions last year on those little comment cards. In my four years of college, it seems that Sodexho has finally done something correct.
Unfortunately, everything else our dining service does is wrong. The food quality is often below average. The pizza that runs through a conveyor belt tastes nothing like pizza. The customer service is sometimes tainted by a few individuals. On more than one occasion this year, I’ve seen students waiting in line for tacos get yelled at for their perseverance. Finally the management squanders their completely advantageous situation. Any intelligent business student could run this virtual monopoly (there is no outside competition for on-campus students and catering services), and easily make large profits, while lowering prices.
To the untrained ear, I sound like just another college student complaining about their food. But there are problems at our dining halls that simply cannot be ignored. Many of my complaints pertain to unethical and more importantly illegal issues.
Two years ago, when Sodexho first began serving our college, I ran across a severe problem in the middle of November. Upon opening milk from Travers and Wolfe, I noticed an uncommon taste. Not surprisingly, the milk expired back in October. When I brought this to the attention of one of the managers they directed me to simply get another product. It took about ten minutes and some arguing to force them to pull the rotten and expired drink from the freezers. Two more times that semester I noticed expired products for sale. They were duping students into buying milk they couldn’t drink, much the same way they sell rotten fruit that isn’t edible.
Over the last few years, they have treated me unethically in other ways. In the past, erroneous charges were added to the price of a meal. If a student chose to argue over those fifty cents, that student would have to endure a ten minute wait to recover his loss, while the employee searched for a manager. With over a hundred days in a semester that means fifty cents a day adds to fifty dollars.
This year, my anger has reached a new high. Sodexho charges prices that differ from the marked price on the bags of these prices. After a few weeks I noticed that the Grandma’s Homestyle Cookies marked 2/$1.00, truly cost me $1.30 for one package. Thankfully, I am vigilant about looking at the scanned prices and my receipts. Many students, though, are too busy to notice the price scam.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, “it is against the law to charge more than the advertised shelf price. Stores that do may be subject to civil and criminal fines.” Laws like this are intact to protect the consumer.
Wanting to see the problem fixed, I researched the prices on the same Grandma’s Cookies. In Travers and Wolfe they sold for 50 cents a package, as they should. In the Student Center they sold for $1. And in Commons the exact same package of cookies sold for $1.30.
When at Commons, I brought this to the attention of the manager with the initials PK on his name tag, showing him my receipt and the package with the listed price, he did nothing to defend the discrepancy. He offered no reconciliation, mumbled and walked away. Witnesses report he was rude and belligerent.
I encountered the same problem in the Student Center. The manager on duty there claimed that the package meant that the two cookies in the one package were sold for $1. However, that’s not what the package means, since all Grandma’s products are marked 2/$1.00, including the packages that include six small cookies. Again the manager mumbled and walked away, rather rudely leaving me with an overcharged bill.
I’m tired of their treatment. I’m filing a complaint with both the FTC and the Better Business Bureau.
As often seen in the corporate world, their mission is just meaningless words. Their website claims, “Our mission is to improve the quality of daily life for all the people we serve. Being socially responsible is central to this commitment.”
Sodexho does little to embody their own mission. At least they have Larry. He’s the only other thing in Commons besides the newspapers that improve the quality of my daily life.
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Copyright 2004, Kevin Semanick