Nothing from me here today, I’m afraid.
While the rest of the world (really? -Ed.) is watching the Stormers and the Sharks egg-chasing at Newlands, I’m braai’ing at our little cottage in Agulhas, and I can safely say that there’s nowhere else that I’d rather be.
Category: this is south africa
What a find…
I was just wandering around Pick n Pay in the Waterfront this morning, looking for rice snacks for the kids’ lunchboxes as it happens, when suddenly my gaze was caught by a flash of familiar orange.
Yes. Convivial Yorkshire Crisps with a guest appearance by my favourite condiment. There’s even a photo on the back of the tub of that factory next door to the hospital where I was born:
The hospital which has since been demolished. Yes, I know.
And within that beautifully decorated tub? Heaven in fried potato form.
So who am I to ignore the request to be convivial?
I shall eat, drink and be merry. And then I’ll go and buy some more and do it all over again.
Woolies contacts me to tell me that they know I don’t want to be contacted…
But…
Here’s the relevant bits of a letter I received from Woolworths’ WRewards Team earlier this week:
Dear Mr Thousand,
If you’re wondering [why we haven’t contacted you] you’re on the Direct Marketing Association’s “Don’t contact me” register, and as a member of the DMA, we respected your wishes not to receive any marketing material from us.
However… we’ve decided that from from now everyone with a MySchool card will automatically receive all the benefits for their tier level as well as important Woolworths information.
If you would still prefer NOT to receive any communication from us, all you need to do is call [telephone number] or email [email address] to opt out, and we won’t contact you.
Kind regards,
The WRewards Team
Yes, I’m on the DMA’s “Don’t contact me” register and you can argue the alleged benefits of that service all you like – especially after that much publicised data leak last May. However, for the record, I get very little junk mail, very few junk SMSs and I seem to have been completely unaffected by last year’s oopsie. Look, the service works for me.
That said, it only works when DMA members respect my wishes. And I’m using the present tense there, unlike Woolworths’ “respected” in the letter above. I’ve yet to discover why they feel that they can disregard the rules of the DMA to inform me that they are disregarding the rules of the DMA.
Still, as they tell me, at least I have the option of not receiving any further communication by opting out via the methods given above. The thing that annoys me is that I was under the impression (as they were too) that I had already opted out of receiving any communication from them in the first place.
And anyway, how far does this go? Once I have opted out (again) will they then contact me (again) against my wishes to tell me that they are contacting me (again) against my wishes to ask me (again) if I want them to not contact me?
I’ll be contacting Woolies and the DMA about this and I’ll contact you again soon to tell you what they say.
UPDATE (27th July):
Email from Woolies:
Recently, many of our customers who are on the DMA list have been complaining that they were not receiving their WRewards guaranteed benefits. By participating in WRewards they are entitled to receive their guaranteed benefits, but because they are registered with the DMA, we respected their wishes to not be contacted by us. This recent influx of requests from customers wanting to receive their benefits irrespective of their DMA status is the reason why you received the email you mention in your blog post.
The business took a view to communicate to all our customers on the DMA as a one-off intervention, to confirm that they do not want to receive further communication from Woolworths. We apologise for the situation and trust that this last piece of communication will resolve the issue.
If you would kindly confirm your opt out status you will receive no further communication from us, including WRewards benefits. You can do so by clicking on the opt out link in the original email or by calling 0861 50 20 50.
Hmm… ok. Three things here.
1. I can sort of understand now why they felt they should get in touch with me.
2. I still don’t think that they should have got in touch with me. That action blatantly disregards the rules of the DMA (whose code of conduct they signed up to) and also clearly ignores my wishes as someone who doesn’t want contacting, as they stated in the original letter.
3. That I have to opt out specifically from their ongoing communications is wrong. Having made the (incorrect) decision to make this “one-off intervention”, I should have to opt in if I want to hear from them, not be forced to opt out again.
I remain unimpressed.
Back to school
Yes, it’s a bit of an unusual system, but the kids go back to school tomorrow. They’ve had a month off, which of course included our trip to Europe. And while as parents we don’t get lie-ins even on weekends, forcing myself out of bed into the cold, dark Cape Town winter at daft o’clock tomorrow morning doesn’t sound hugely appealing right now.
It was a cold 7.8°C when I went downstairs this morning. That might not sound too bad to those in the UK, (especially after the summer they’ve had thus far), but remember that we’re not really set up for that sort of thing. There’s no double glazing, no cental heating here.
You’d think that it would be preferable to stay in bed as long as possible, but that’s never the favoured option when you’re four or six years old. We find that the easiest way to get through the two months of winter mornings is to wrap the kids up warmly in gowns and slippers (tomorrow it’ll be school uniform) and chuck porridge down their throats.
As for me; I took myself out into the great outdoors for a run this morning.
It wasn’t any warmer out there, believe me.
Jacques on the dangers of “drive-by charity”
It’s Nelson Mandela’s 94th birthday and those in South Africa and beyond are being asked to donate 67 minutes of their time to a charity or good cause of some description in honour of the 67 years of Madiba’s struggle for human rights.
This annual request is a big thing in South Africa, because the birthday is a big thing in South Africa, because Mandela is a huge thing in South Africa. If you engage with anyone here via any means today, you will be asked what you are doing for your 67 minutes.
Daily Maverick Opinionista and all-round bearded intellectual Jacques Rousseau does have a word of warning for us though:
…even though nation-building exercises like Mandela Day can frequently appear to be little more than an excuse for some warm and fuzzy sentimentality, my hope is that this year – and today, July 18 – can remind us that 67 minutes of our time, on one day of the year, will probably make no difference at all.
It’s perhaps not meant to make a difference in any case – at least not in isolation, and not because of any particular activity you might perform during the 67 minutes that we’re being encouraged to donate, in honour of Mandela’s 67 years of service to South Africa. The 67 minutes spent assisting some charity or another will be appreciated, but are unlikely to make a lasting difference unless we use the day as motivation to become more engaged in general.
And, surprise surprise, once again he’s correct – at least, for me, in the most part.
All too often, people do their 67 minutes each year because they are afraid of being socially ostracised if they don’t, rather than out of any genuine sense of social duty. And yes, far more could be achieved and far more people helped if individuals extended their charitable work beyond 67 minutes and beyond July 18th each year. It would be nice if that happened.
But then that sentiment applies to a lot of things in this world which are never going to happen.
So, at risk of being accused of pessimism, but actually taking a more realistic stance, I’m all for “drive-by” charity if that’s all we’re going to get. Because any action is better than none and with so many people working for 67 minutes – even if it is just 67 minutes each year – stuff will happen. The scale here is important, sure, but with the most desirable outcome patently out of reach, doing something is surely better than doing nothing.
If you are going to do your 67 minutes today, well done. If you’re going to actually go back and do more before next July, then take a bow. But even if you fall into that former pool, you’ve done something and you’ve made some small difference. I don’t see any problem with that.