Dear Buying Clubs,
We would like to
take a moment to catch up on the changes UNFI
Buying Clubs have experienced throughout the
past months as well as update you to new and
upcoming changes.
Contact Info
In a continuous effort to have the best
possible customer service we have had several
personnel changes. These may have led to some
confusion on whom to contact for what services.
Hopefully the following will help;
If you have
questions or concerns regarding Foodlink, Web
Ordering, updating account information, or
delivery issues, you can contact myself at Ext
21139, Shawn Wiseman at Ext 21158, or Ciji Tyler
at Ext 21116.
If you have a
question on Product Information or want to add
or delete items from a committed order, please
contact your appropriate Customer Service
Department.
Credit and Return
issues should be directed to
erclaims@unfi.com. Please refer to the
Business and Policies Information on the inside
cover of the BC News for credit/return policies.
Monthly
Pricelists
It has been 4 months since we have
ceased the BC News subscriptions. For those of
you who are still anticipating a credit for
subscriptions, please refer to your March and
April invoices for the credit. Only Buying
Clubs that start with A-C were charged for the
full subscription year.
I am happy to say
that we have greatly reduced our carbon
footprint by the reduction of paper catalogs
being printed. So many of you have embraced the
online catalog, and we thank you for helping us
eliminate so much waste. As a reminder, the
catalog is available online at
www.unfi.com. In addition to the BC News
pricelist, we also have available a monthly
pricelist in Excel format, which can easily be
sorted by Category, Brand, Item Description,
etc. Starting with the November pricelists we
have also added a file which contains only the
monthly sale items. This will make finding
great deals even easier!
UNFI does realize
though that there are many members who do not
own a computer, or simply prefer a paper
catalog. For those members, you can still order
a paper copy to be delivered with your monthly
delivery. Monthly catalog item numbers can be
found in the front pages of the BC News.
Web Ordering
UNFI encourages all Buying Clubs to make
the change from Foodlink to Web Ordering at
www.unfi.com.
Foodlink is an
inherited program and the company that created
it is no longer in business.
We are aware that
many of you have been using Foodlink for many
years and do not wish to change, but eventually
we will not be able to support the Foodlink
program.
We realize that
Web Ordering does not have all of the same
features as Foodlink, and we are continually
working with our IT department to identify and
provide necessary enhancements. This can
sometimes be a long process, and for all of the
Buying Clubs that have offered comments and
suggestions while maintaining impressive levels
of patience, we thank you.
Deliveries
As more and more people are realizing
the health benefits of Natural and Organic
eating, UNFI has had the opportunity to service
many new businesses. Although this new growth
is exciting for all of us, it has posed new
challenges for Buying Clubs. UNFI recognizes
the uniqueness of Buying Clubs, and we will
continue to strive to provide you with the
products and services you desire. However, we
are working with a transportation system that
requires change and flexibility. There will be
times when it will be necessary to change a
delivery week or day. When those changes are
made, we will make every effort to provide a 4
week notice. Delivery times come with their own
set of challenges. For every route we run,
there are constant variables. Before a route is
scheduled or a delivery window set,
Transportation is looking at the number of
accounts on the run that ordered and how large
the order is. This will affect a delivery time.
When the UNFI truck departs, the driver will
have a different experience at every stop; some
people late, some early, some orders very large,
some very small. Some customers will receive
their delivery in a timely manner; some will
take longer than necessary. This will affect a
delivery time. And of course there will always
be traffic, road construction, weather, a new
driver, or a new delivery site. This, too, will
affect a delivery time. For these reasons UNFI
does have a Delivery ‘Window’ policy. The
posted delivery time is a target time in the
middle of a two hour window. For example, if
the time given is 9:30 am, the window is
8:30-10:30. Certainly the driver will be doing
his best to be as close to 9:30 as possible, but
given the variables, it would be best for any
Buying Club to be prepared to accommodate the
window. In those un-expected situations where
the driver will fall outside the delivery
window, every possible effort will be made to
contact the Buying Club and arrange delivery
options.
In conclusion,
UNFI does value your business. Although there
have been changes, we plan continued service to
Buying Clubs across the eastern region. We
understand the unique structure of Buying Clubs’
operations and will continue to do whatever
possible to provide the best service and product
selection in the business.
Will there be more
changes? Yes. There will always be changes in
product selections, cost of goods, services
provided, routing and scheduling. In each of
these changes we strive to alert our customers
with as much advanced notice as possible and
communicate the changes in a clear and concise
manner.
We encourage you
to check the News link at
www.unitedbuyingclubs.com to stay up to date
on all Buying Club matters, and please feel free
to contact the Buying Club Services team with
questions or comments.
We thank you for
your business, and look forward to servicing you
in the future.
Sincerely,
Nikki Stimmel
Buying Clubs Manager
