BY REZA GANJAVI -- NOV 2007 to  JAN 2008

LETTER TO COOP REGARDING SMOKING IN THEIR RESTAURANTS

LETTER TO COOP REGARDING SMOKING

TO: Mr. Hansueli Loosli, CEO – Coop
 
Dear Mr. Loosli:

I was at Tagipark Coop today for the first time and I was appalled that a lot of people were smoking right there in the center of the passage thus exposing not only your employees who have no choice but to inhale 1000's of poisons contained in cigarette smoke, but your customers. I left there after spending a bit of time at the customer service desk nearby the cancer center (restaurant) and my clothes smelled like cigarettes. This is a REAL SHAME. I can't believe you guys are so sympathetic to the purpose of drug pushers (Big Tobacco) and have maintained this stone-age mentality. When someone pisses in a swimming pool you can not prevent the piss to go everywhere. The No Smoking sings you have next to the cancer factory is meaningless. The smoke travels throughout the store. What do you say to this?

Kind Regards

Mr. R. Ganjavi – a loyal customer
<snipped phone, email>

Copy: Geri Mueller – member of Swiss Parliament for the Green Party; www.rezamusic.com

29 Nov 2007

Dear Melanie:

Ok, as far as I understand Coop will only consider a non smoking measure if it is required to do so by law.
Therefore Coop has absolutely no interest or intention to even consider taking a proactive step to protect its employees and customers against the miserable scene I witnessed in one of your supermarkets a few days ago as described in my fax to your CEO, where even your employees were disgruntled but had no choice but to bear the cigarette smoke from the restaurant because they need their job. The smokers were sitting only a few meters away from your customer service desk and the rest of the market.

2 days ago I was there again. There were a group of children selling charitable goods for their school. These kids had no choice but to sit 2 meters aways from the Cancer Corner.

And your position is that you do not care about this. You do not want to do anything about it until you are forced to do so by law. You are clearly not obligated by law to provide a smoking section in your restaurants are you? No. You have that section because you want to have it. And you are ignoring the risks or at least not willing to do anything about it. Please tell me if I understood this wrong.

Thank you.
Kind Regards
Reza Ganjavi

29 Nov 2007

Hi Melanie

So you are responding to a case without having the customer complaint letter. Ok !

I think the concept of separating smokers from non smokers is an illusion unless you have an absolutely sealed area with a separate air conditioning system. Please tell your CEO, and I will too, once I finish discussing with you that surveys have shown restaurants do NOT lose business when they go non smoking.

Here is the original message.
Please come back to me with any feedback, no matter how long it takes - I am patient.
Thanks.
Reza

14 Dec 2007

Dear Ms. Melanie Marti, Deputy Head of Consumer Service, COOP, Switzerland

Thank you for your investigation and thorough response.
I understand you to say that customers do not respect the no-smoking sign and it's the customers' fault that they take ashtrays to nonsmoking tables and make it a smoking section on their own and management finds it hard to enforce no smoking on no-smoking tables. I do not believe this. If you guys can manage all these stores and all these products and employees all over the country, managing customers to not smoke in no-smoking section can not be difficult. It is not that it is difficult, it is that the management doesn't care. They don't give this matter important. I saw a group of children at a charity table a mere 2 or so meters from smoking tables. Your staff will not care if management doesn't care. If management cares they will tell the staff to make it part of their job to give notice to smokers on non smoking tables. This is very easy. What the store manager is telling you is lip service. Is an excuse. I am not surprised because sympathy with Big Tobacco and their propaganda is a dark side of this great country. The Big Tobacco have got my good Swiss brothers and sisters fooled; they've taken advantage of your goodness and simplicity.

I am happy to hear more no-smoking signs will be provided. But please realize if the person in the table next to me smokes that smoke travels -- like I said, it's a rude example, but it's just like pissing in the pool.

I ask you again, to forget about what future constraints the government will provide. Be proactive. Take a bold move and make all your coop restaurants non smoking. At least do this for the favor of supermarket shoppers, staff at the customer service desk, and cashiers who are exposed to second hand smoke from this cancer factory day in and day out.

I will copy this to your CEO.
Thanks for your efforts. I consider the case closed.
Kind Regards
Reza Ganjavi
================================================================================================================

3-Jan-2008

Hr. Hansueli Loosli - CEO Coop

Dear Mr. Loosli:

I am writing to update you on my communication with your customer service department and new critical findings which I think you will find interesting.

Please find below, the text of the most recent email exchanged between me and Ms. Melanie Marti who kindly looked into this matter. A central theme in her response is that “we follow the law” which sounds positive but what she really means by it is that we will make our restaurants non smoking or we will protect children who are playing 5 meters from smokers, only when the law mandates it.

I am a loyal customer of coop and very fond of many of your products specially your brands of natural foods and products. I almost buy everything organic (bio).

Mr. Loosli, last weekend I visited the coop again and took a look at things in light of Ms. Marti’s feedback. I am sorry to inform you of the following facts which seem to not have been relayed to her by the local management:

- There are 27 smoking tables and 9 non smoking tables.

- The distance between the smoking and non smoking tables is sometimes 50 centimeter!

- There is a children playing area which is about 5 meters away from a smoking table

As I relayed before, there are sometimes children who setup a fundraising table there. They’re a few meters from 27 smoking tables.

The rest is relayed in my previous mails and Ms. Marti has copies of everything, I hope. Anyway, a copy can also be found on my website: www.rezamusic.com

Mr. Loosli, I encourage you to take a lead and declare all your restaurants non smoking. There is nothing to stop you from doing this. Surveys have shown restaurants do not lose business from becoming non smoking. The only person you’re serving by having such sympathy for smokers is Big Tobacco, and there’s a lot of damage being done to people as a result of this which I feel is contrary to Coop’s philosophy of operation.

If I can be of help or can answer anything please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi, <contact>

================================================================================================================
4-Jan-2008

Dear Mr. Loosli:

Many thanks for the note.
Happy New Year as well to you - I meant to wish it in the last email.

>> The customers' right to make their own decisions is
>> highly respected by Coop. Therefore we try to ensure
>> that non-smokers as well as smokers are feeling comfortable
>> in our restaurants.

Excellent point. However, the non smokers have no choice but to inhale the smokers' smoke! Of course they have the choice not to go to your restaurants but then that would not equate to feeling comfortable there which is your intension.

Anyway, best wishes
Kind Regards
Reza