Cold Storage apologises for “ruined Christmas” deliveries; refunds on the way

SINGAPORE: “We are sorry,” reads a Facebook post from supermarket chain Cold Storage after multiple people posted complaints saying their holidays had been ruined by delayed and/or incomplete deliveries over the past week.

The company said it had encountered “unexpected challenges due to a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases impacting our workforce in the stores and our supply chain.” Cold Storage added that it had “let some customers down” even though the staff had worked around the clock to get the Christmas products that had been ordered ready.

“We sincerely regret that inconvenience caused to some of our customers and we extend our heartfelt apologies,” the company wrote, adding that it would take steps to prevent the incident from recurring and that it maintains its “commitment to exceptional service remains our top priority.” Affected customers will be refunded.

Cold Storage has had to face a barrage of comments on its Facebook page over the past few days, with some customers saying they had not been given refunds or that their messages and calls have gone unnoticed.

Some netizens even claimed they had to order from McDonald’s and Pizza Hut after the food they ordered from Cold Storage failed to arrive, and the store remained uncontactable.

“You have ruined Christmas for my family with late delivery and poor customer service. I need a satisfactory response to my email please. As a regular patron, I am truly disappointed in your lack of accountability and would look for other alternatives in the future,” another wrote irately.

Others lamented the supermarket’s lack of customer service to deal with the issues that people encountered this season, and several netizens said that they encountered auto messages telling them to call during office hours, even when they did call during those times.

Some were still waiting for their orders on the morning of Christmas Day. One woman wrote, “I am still waiting for my delivery. Dropped by the CS store nearby and the salesperson had no answers, except that other customers are facing the same issue. I hope CS can officially take responsibility for this disaster instead of staying silent.”

Another woman did receive her orders but said they came “FOUR hours late.”

“When I called customer service they said they would get back to me about my order and never did,” she wrote, adding that an email she wrote about the incident was replied to with “kindly understand we had delays” and “not even a so sorry for the inconvenience.”

Another wrote, “Money can be refunded but what you can’t refund back to us is the Xmas event that we had planned for. What should have been a happy occasion ended up being a disappointment for everyone. If the order can’t be met, at least early heads-up could have helped us to prep for an alternative. No one reached out to us despite the many attempts to confirm the timing of the delivery and hasty arrangements had to be made so we won’t end up with empty bellies. How can you compensate this?” /TISG

Read also: Netizen shares video of Cold Storage SG staff at work, asks if it’s ‘unhygienic to step onto refrigerator with shoes on?’