My wife gave me a leather belt for Christmas. It came from the well known retailer “Next”, therefore I would expect them to at least be able to answer some if not all of the questions I have asked.
I am extremely interested in the response I get from this question. I know from experience that the answers to these questions can be easily found if the belt had come from ROMP. I had to post this question via the Next website which promptly told me I may have to wait 10 days for a response. The clock starts ticking now…
Sent via Next website at http://www.next.co.uk on 30 December at 16:10pm (ish)
Hello,
I was given a Next leather belt for Christmas.
I am keen to find out more about its origins and methods of production. For example can you tell me what animal this leather comes from, where it was reared, under what quality assurance schemes, where it was transported to to be slaughtered and so on. Where did the tanning took place, and what tests have been done on the finished product for Chromium 6 derivatives etc.
The belt is a mens leather belt size XL (38-41 inch). It has REAL LEATHER stamped on the back of it with a number 3675 underneath some unreadable characters. It also has the numbers 975938 52 and 4469 stamped on.
I should point out at this point that I regularly ask companies detailed questions about the goods I consume and publish the results in full at http://trulyresponsible.org. I also publish details of those that don’t respond to my questions.
I very much look forward to your response.
Best regards
Simon Warrick
Initial response from the server…
EMAIL ENQUIRY
Your Retail Enquiry has been sent to our Internet Correspondence Team.
Please allow 10 working days for a reply to your email.
Next will not share your information with companies outside of Next for marketing purposes.
Please refer to our Security And Privacy Policy for further details.
After a long wait, I’ve finally had a response from Next. If I’m honest, I think the response is better than I was expecting.
From: Customer Services [mailto:Customer_Services@next.co.uk]
Sent: 13 February 2006 11:14
To: simon@trulyresponsible.org
Subject: Reference: 3205176Customer Service Department
enquiries@next.co.ukOur Ref: 3205176/MAW
Thank you for your e mail enquiry regarding the Next leather belt you received for Christmas, and I apologise for the delay in responding to you.
After speaking to the Technologist responsible for item 975938, men’s leather belt size XL, I can advise you of the following information:
The country of manufacture is England, the manufacturer is George Stewart, the animal is bovine, the country of animal origin is Italy. The buckle is produced in Taiwan and testing was conducted on the finished product for Chromium 6 derivatives, of which there is none.
I am sorry, but we do not have the information pertaining to where the animal was reared, where it was transported to be slaughtered and so on. I do hope the information we have provided is of assistance to you.
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Marlow Williams
Customer Service DepartmentYou can also contact the Customer Service Department at Desford Road, Enderby, Leicester, LE19 4AT. Telephone: 0870 243 5435. Fax: 0116 284 2318.
NEXT Plc
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Tel: + 44 (0)845-456-7777
Fax: + 44 (0)116-284 8998
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http://www.next.co.uk
http://www.nextflowers.co.ukPlease note that as part of Next’s company policies we monitor incoming and outgoing email to protect the operation of our computer systems. The contents of this e-mail and its attachments (”message”) are confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. The contents may not be disclosed, copied or distributed without the consent of Next. It is intended for the use of the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient you must delete this message immediately and advise the sender that you received it in error. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Next. Next does not accept any responsibility for the author’s views.
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And I’ve sent a brief message asking for a little bit of clarification.
To: Customer_Services@next.co.uk
Sent: 12:08 13th Feb 2006
Subject: RE: Reference: 3205176Hello Marlow,
Thank you very much for getting back to me. I was going to phone up this very lunch time and follow up my enquiry, but now I don’t need to.
This is great information.
Can I just clarify one point - it was the leather I was interested in regarding Chromium 6 derivatives - as I am aware that some treatments in the tanning process can leave this as a residue in the leather. I hadn’t considered it in terms of the buckle, but welcome that information. I may have misunderstood your response, and it may have been the leather you were referring to - please can you let me know which.
Many thanks
Simon
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Simon Warrick
trulyresponsible.orgtrulyresponsible.org is a voluntary organisation of consumers that regularly asks questions of suppliers of goods to gain a greater understanding of the life cycle of products.
the information discovered may be published in full at http://trulyresponsible.org
It seems there is a bit of a delay on the Customer Services at Next.
From: Customer_Services@next.co.uk
Sent: Sun 19/02/2006 13:15Customer Service Department
Desford Road, Enderby, Leicester, LE19 4ATOur Ref:3205176
19 February 2006Dear Mr Warrick,
Thank you for contacting us.
We are currently experiencing a delay in replying to our customers. Please be assured that we will be contacting you as soon as possible.
Sorry for any disappointment or inconvenience that this may cause, but thank you in advance for your patience in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Customer Service Department
Contact Customer Services on 0870 243 5435. Fax: 0116 284 2318. E Mail: enquiries@next.co.uk.
Our opening hours are 9.00am - 6.00pm Monday to Saturday and 10.00am - 5.00pm SundaysNEXT Plc
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Tel: + 44 (0)845-456-7777
Fax: + 44 (0)116-284 8998
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http://www.next.co.uk
http://www.nextflowers.co.uk