Customer says he stuck it to Jeff Bezos on asking for Donations for Whole Foods but did he really? (1 Viewer)

[DJackson10]

 Edit note (If this is too political I ask the mods to at least move this to the political forum instead of deleting it if the discussion is civil)

Granted not sure if this is real or not but working retail this got me thinking. A facebook User Kevin Robinson recently posted he went into Whole Foods (Owned by AMazon's Jeff Bezos). The post indicates how Bezos makes X amount of $$$ each year and no taxes paid by law he doesn't have to on the company. Whole Foods is running a donation drive where they ask customers to BUY THE PRODUCTS AND THEN DONATE THEM INTO A BIN for Hungry families. Mr Robinson was upset that Bezos was FORCING HIM to PAY FOR THE PRODUCT AND THEN DONATE IT so Bezos could donate the donations in the name of Whole Foods. Granted I can see his issue with it. He says a man who is paid more wanted him to essentially donate $5 so Bezos could donate in his own name. Now granted many companies do this. I'm not sure of the legal ramifications of tax cuts or stuff like that so I won't get involved there. However I do get his point to an extent. Kevin instead of purchasing what was needed decided to grab a handful of items on the selves and drop it in the bins without paying for it. He then gives the you did nothing wrong but just relocate product. Then gives the typical if confronted by an underpaid overworked Whole Foods employee ask them to sort it out themselves and figure out at what point they are taking food out f the mouths of less fortunate and some BS about underpaying the employees while making a donation out of pockets of hard working people. He then finishes it with he'll be doing this every time he goes to Whole Foods this holiday season and hope others do the same 

For those who don't have facebook here's a scree grab. Again not sure it's real or not but this had me thinking

Is Kevin the customer right with everything he did or do you think it should've been handled differently? Is he being immature about the ordeal?

 

[NutterButter]

JB probably has his night crew just restock the shelves with the stuff from the donation bin.   Nobody sticks it to JB.  

 

[DJackson10]

My thoughts: 

As most or some of you know I work in Food retail. As someone who knows my own Vice President and many higher ups to an extent (My barber's sister is literally the next head of ACME if something were to happen to my president) I will tell you that what Kevin did doesn't phase Jeff Bezos. He just cares if Kevin is shopping at his store still. I tell customers constantly who ask me to tell management this or that. I politely say please tell them yourself as it's more meaningful from the customer. If you don't have time in person please give them a phone call or email and file the complaint. They don't care about us saying what you told us. Sometimes they just think its a lie and we're covering for our own asses. Also Most employees do not care enough to go to management on the issue unless they work the CS desk. They just are trying to figure out how to get by that day or week and pay bills. 

Second you just created BS work for an employee. Most of these Donation things have certain items they take. They sort through these boxes before sending them off for the donation as they want to keep the working relationships with the foundation. The Employee is probably having a rough day and doesn't need Kevins Holier then thou BS they had nothing to do with. You also just gave a store director and Supervisor a headache. The Store Director and other supervisors don't care about his little temper tantrum. They are just doing what corporate wants. Now if this is an issue the store CAN FIX by all MEANS THEY WILL DO WHAT THEY CAN. HOWEVER THIS IS A CORPORATE MATTER. Also most holiday seasons the big shot corporate people come in the stores for visits. I had one from the people in Boise to Philly Wednesday the week before Thanksgiving. Most employees and managers some even from different stores and districts come to the stores being visited to help set up for the visit. Displays, cleaning, making sure everything equipment wise is good and if not trying to get in contact with the to fix it etc. You just took an employee away most likely from this to do your BS. 

Third Kevin is continuing to shop there. Sounds like another I'll go else where if I don't get what I want entitled customers yet comes back each and every week again. Kevin is better off calling or writing a letter to corporate and expressing if this continues he will stop giving his business to Whole Foods 

Fourth I have a few friends who work Whole Foods. High end grocery stores like this have security including undercover and Lost Prevention people routinely walking around. There's cameras everywhere. One of the reasons I don't believe this is true is Kevin would've been caught and would be complaining about being caught in this here (again not sure if this facebook post is real or not just outlining here). I thin this guy was just looking for his morale cyber high five and thats it. 

In closing had Kevin done this at my store not only do I have a few supervisors and an ASD who'd make him put it all back himself if Kevin wanted to do it the hard way and get law enforcement involved they are not afraid to get them in on it. Some stores also have collection bins outside so technically you would be charged with stealing. Kevin's comment what he' say to the employee is very condescending too. THat employee doesn't need your self righteous act. Kevin could've handled this matter is a more professional mature matter. Instead he makes himself look like a complete jerk off and no better than Bezos. I do get his point on why he's angry but he could do better on how he deals with his frustration. He can also chose to donate else where if he'd like to donate too. 

 

[DJackson10]

JB probably has his night crew just restock the shelves with the stuff from the donation bin.   Nobody sticks it to JB.  

Wouldn't doubt it however at my company we have $10 bags people can donate with the items already in there so they don't have to search for them. All the bags go on pallets wrapped up and then taken to a truck that takes them to the donation site

 

[NutterButter]

Wouldn't doubt it however at my company we have $10 bags people can donate with the items already in there so they don't have to search for them. All the bags go on pallets wrapped up and then taken to a truck that takes them to the donation site

Even easier then for JB's crew; a lot less restocking that way.   

 

[glvsav37]

Stuff like this makes it sound like JB personally ordered each store to have these bins.  I’m pretty sure JB knows just as much as what color the store employee bathroom soap is as he does about these bins.  Yes amazon owns WF but these types of things are decided at lower managerial levels within the WF division.  

stunts like this are just dumb and misguided.  
 

regardless if JB’s net wealth or WFs profits, lots of stores and companies do these types of donations. Having a bin in the store prompts direct action bc people can just buy and drop-it’s frictionless.  If you expect most people to drive to a store to buy Donation food and then go some where else to donate it, very little would remember to do so.  
 

yes JB prob should be donating more With his personal wealth, but that has nothing to do with individual WF stores or how the food ultimately gets donated. 

 

[rockaction]

There will never be enough social responsibility for the likes of CEOs to ever act in completely ethical manners in their our system given that they're within a capitalistic framework in the larger one. One will always be able to point to hypocrisies perpetuated by that particular class of people.

Singling out Bezos for his efforts are a two minute of hate tactic. Nothing more than misguided and a personalized grievance of on apersonalized system, writ large. 

 

[belljr]

I mean what's the deal with toys for tots...I have to buy the toys to donate

 

[NutterButter]

There will never be enough social responsibility for the likes of CEOs to ever act in completely ethical manners in their our system given that they're within a capitalistic framework in the larger one. One will always be able to point to hypocrisies perpetuated by that particular class of people.

Singling out Bezos for his efforts are a two minute of hate tactic. Nothing more than misguided and a personalized grievance of on apersonalized system, writ large. 

I really feel like between you and @wikkidpissah, I'm missing out on a lot of good info, but I just don't have the brain capacity to break down what you're saying.   Joe should have a translate button on your posts that can dumb it down to someone with my intellect.

 

[jhib]

Dude probably buys a $9 organic asparagus water every time he goes in to stick it to the man.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Is there an option to say that Kevin acted ridiculously and not having to choose/care if he actually did it or not?

The whole Amazon not paying taxes thing is misguided. Amazon adheres to tax law like any other company -- the problem is with the tax law itself that gives enormous breaks and loopholes to afford 1) all companies like Amazon the opportunity to accrue credits/rebates/reductions of future taxable income/liabilities to the point that they have net $0 in taxes owed, and 2) the opportunity for millionaires and billionaires to be taxed at income rates lower than the average American.

Now to Kevin -- stores asking you make donations to causes, whether in forms of direct cash or buying goods to donate -- is not a new thing. Extremely common and totally non-controversial.

There are likely some retailers that bilk both donors and intended recipients -- pocketing cash, claiming tax breaks, etc. I can't pretend to know all the ways this might be done or which companies are better than others in terms of truly passing on donations.

And yes, there is an element that if a corporation wants to help a cause, they should just do it rather than find a way to potentially make some profit while doing it.

But what Kevin did was completely unproductive, changed nothing, and is by all accounts not the right thing to do by any social norms. He can complain, or simply not choose to donate through Whole Foods but directly. Instead he did something really immature and toolish.

 

[Galileo]

I really feel like between you and @wikkidpissah, I'm missing out on a lot of good info, but I just don't have the brain capacity to break down what you're saying.   Joe should have a translate button on your posts that can dumb it down to someone with my intellect.

Translation... No matter what the big wigs do, people are going to ##### about it.  It is a byproduct of our economic system.

 

[rockaction]

Translation... No matter what the big wigs do, people are going to ##### about it.  It is a byproduct of our economic system.

There's a lot of good translation in that but with a caveat though, which I why I didn't get down to the nults and bolts immediately. I don't think, given the system, that that there's anything they can do about it that will ever satisfy adequate calls for economic justice. It's not that they won't, it's that they can't, really.  Take, for example, pollution. One owns a company that creates it. A lot of it. Say the responsible thing to do is not to omit any, really. What then? Agitate or violate for no pollution as a citizen or political agent? Wouldn't that make one hostile to one's own investors, even?

I think that there's a large part of our society that functions because of the unnatural evolution of corporations and their unnatural severance from the person running them. But that's way, way too to big and too dense a topic for me, so...

I hope this was a little less dense and more understood. 

 

[rockaction]

I really feel like between you and @wikkidpissah, I'm missing out on a lot of good info, but I just don't have the brain capacity to break down what you're saying.   Joe should have a translate button on your posts that can dumb it down to someone with my intellect.

Yeah, no sweat. I'm trying, just like him sometimes, to put 40,000 words into two sentences and it doesn't always work. My apologies.  

 

[NutterButter]

Take, for example, pollution. One owns a company that creates it. A lot of it. Say the responsible thing to do is not to omit any, really. What then? Agitate or violate for no pollution as a citizen or political agent? Wouldn't that make one hostile to one's own investors, even?

In some ways, if that stance actually improved the economic performance of the company, then the stock price would most likely follow.   Investors may at first resist, but they're short term thinkers.   Take for instance costco.   They're really the gold standard of how to treat your work force in retail.     In the big box space, they chose to go way beyond what any competitor was doing in terms of compensation and even to some degree just overall treatment.       I don't think investors were thrilled that they were paying its employees a lot more.    But in this age of the more conscience consumer,  costco actually made out b/c people felt good about shopping there.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I mean what's the deal with toys for tots...I have to buy the toys to donate

Yes those lazy kids should get jobs or sell lemonade or something. Then they can buy their own damn toys.

 

[JaxBill]

Maybe Kevin should use half of that energy volunteering at a local food bank.

 

[wikkidpissah]

I really feel like between you and @wikkidpissah, I'm missing out on a lot of good info, but I just don't have the brain capacity to break down what you're saying.   Joe should have a translate button on your posts that can dumb it down to someone with my intellect.

yeah, i enjoy writing it the way it comes into my head (too many flashbacks) like you dont get to do IRL and then i found that it keeps people i dont like arguing with from arguing with me, so.... anytime you think it might be important to you, ask me for the breakdown and i'll be happy to comply. like RA said - putting 40 sentences into one is what it feels like

 

[SWC]

people should spend one half of the time they spend trying to quote get someone doing something good for others instead of worrying about quote getting someone and if they did honest to the big kahuna upstairs from down under we would all be a lot better off take that to the bank brohans