1099 E Hospitality Ln

San Bernardino, CA 92408

February 19, 2021

Jane Rochester
1847 Thornfield Lane, Third Floor
Riverside, CA 92508

Dear Ms. Rochester:

Hello, this is Kyle Stark, manager of the customer service team at Costco Wholesale writing to
respond to your letter sent to our store on January 12, 2021. First and foremost, we sincerely
apologize for the unfortunate occurrence where you entered our store looking to purchase
some delectable blueberry muffins for your consumption, only to discover that they were
covered in mold shortly after you had purchased them. We here at Costco, strive to continually
provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. Accordingly,
we have implemented new protocols regarding product expiration dates and facilitated further
training to ensure that such unrepresentative actions do not occur in the future.

Moving forward, we have implemented several new policies for handling product placement.
All packaging labels will be pre-checked and double checked by the bakery manager before
products are placed on the floor. We will be ensuring that goods baked on the same day will be
marketed accordingly. Baked goods that have not been sold the same day as produced will be
relabeled properly and accordingly at the end of the day, during our inventory check. Any baked
goods that have not been sold within 3 days of production, will be double-checked for
freshness, and donated to the local food bank. Not only will this apply for baked goods, but to
other departments such as dairy, meat, and produce as well. New products/shipments we
receive will all be thoroughly checked for freshness at all costs. We want our members to
understand that we take our members’ health and wellbeing very seriously at Costco and we
strive to uphold our quality to the highest standards.

On behalf of our Management team, we would like to sincerely apologize again for the sub-par
muffins you purchased at the San Bernardino Costco location. To account for the incident you
experienced, we are gladly refunding the full cost of the muffins. In addition, we would like to
offer you a $50 Costco gift card with a lifetime guarantee. Your health and safety are our
number one priority, Ms. Rochester. We appreciate you taking time to address your concerns
with us, and we will not take this situation lightly.
It is members like you, Ms. Rochester, that make Costco who we are. We’re not perfect, but we
are always striving for perfection in everything we do for our members.
Thank you for your time and consideration in choosing to be a Costco member, and we hope to
continue having your future support,

Kyle Stark
Store Manager

Enclosure: Non-expiring $50 Costco gift card

MEMO

TO: Bakery, Meat, Dairy, and Produce Departments

FROM: Kyle Stark, Store Manager
DATE: February 19, 2021
SUBJECT: Quality Assurance

Introduction and Purpose

Recently, a customer by the name of Jane Rochester sent us a letter detailing a situation in
which we were not upholding our core values to our highest standards due to a package of
faulty muffins. It would be greatly beneficial for the team to review the letter and pay full
attention to detail in the new operating procedures.
Mrs. Rochester’s Complaint
To summarize, Ms. Rochester’s letter of complaint details her experience on January 8 th and the
ensuing days, when two packages of blueberry muffins became moldy just a few days after
purchasing them from our store. Ms. Rochester states that the muffins were advertised as
freshly baked and she stored them in a climate-controlled space. Despite these efforts, they
grew mold on them. Unknowingly her husband consumed a muffin and suffered a severe
allergic reaction to the penicillin in the mold growing on it. There is much to learn from the
situation and after reviewing it together, I hope that we can better strive to uphold Costco’s
core values of providing customers with quality goods and services at the lowest possible
prices.
Examining the Letter
Ms. Rochester is observably a customer who expects the highest standards in quality and
service from those who she conducts business with. This is apparent as she has been a long-
time Costco member and has taken the time to listen to our response regarding future food
safety procedures. Quality assurance and food safety can be seen as Ms. Rochester’s most
valued priorities in a customer-grocer relationship. She focuses a lot of attention on the safety
of the goods sold to customers. Much of her concern relates to the wellbeing of future
customers consuming unsafe products. She is also highly considerate of how serious a company
takes into consideration the concerns of customers.
 Though we at Costco do our best to maintain the highest quality goods for the cheapest
prices possible, it is obvious that we did not do everything possible on our end to uphold these
values. In Ms. Rochester’s case, she was left feeling cheated of the promised freshness
guarantee we provide. She clearly states that a third of the muffins were edible and that it was
not worth the cost or hassle. By ensuring Ms. Rochester that we care very much about her and
future customers’ safety, we can begin to recapture her previous confidence in Costco.
Furthermore, demonstrating to her that we are taking action, accordingly, adds to her
confidence in our brand once again.
After her experience, Ms. Rochester has emphasized that she will consider shopping at
Sam’s Club if we are not able to guarantee the highest quality food. She has been a customer
for 5 years, which means we have been satisfying her needs for a while now. This small error in
our quality control can be addressed immediately and she will be left feeling reassured.
We must push ourselves to be the best we can be. This means holding our Costco core
values to be true. If we prove to Ms. Rochester that we are truly caring for her concerns, her
perception of our brand will be positive and greater than before. When Ms. Rochester left our
store with two delicious packs of blueberry muffins, she was expecting to enjoy and share them
with her family and customers. Instead, she was horrified to find that they were not as high
quality as she expected, which damaged our reputation. Customers should enter Costco looking
to purchase cheap, quality products and leave feeling satisfied and without a doubt in mind.
Paying close attention to detail when it comes to the freshness of our products should be the
very first of our priorities.
New Procedures for the Future
The following will be some new procedures for the bakery, meat, dairy and produce
departments:
1. All packaging labels will be pre-checked and double checked by the bakery manager before
products are placed on the floor. Any mis-dated items will be re-dated accordingly.
2. A nightly inventory check will be conducted to ensure products are fresh. Any “bad” items
should be thrown away. If a product begins to display signs of mold growth or decay, discard
immediately and record the incident in the product safety report.
3. New products/shipments we receive will be checked thoroughly and any discrepancies will
be noted and filed.
I hope that everyone has learned a lesson from this incident. If we strive to provide the values
stated in our mission statement, we will continue leaving customers feeling safe and satisfied.
Enclosed: Complaint Letter from George Knightley and Apology Letter