—– Original Message —–
From: head of customer services
To: (email address removed)
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 2:00 PM
Subject: WHSmith Customer Relations reference SR 2441425
Dear (name removed)
Thank you for your recent email addressed to our Group Chief Executive, Stephen Clarke, expressing your concerns about our range of Shooting Magazines. As Customer Service Team Manager, I have been asked to reply to you.
Customers often have strongly differing views about the products we sell, so we aim to strike the right balance to meet the needs of all our customers. Our objective is to offer customers choice, whilst also respecting their views and we continually monitor customer feedback.
We take our responsibilities for the products we sell very seriously. Our Marketing Code of Conduct sets out the standards we follow in our promotional activity, marketing and advertising. The principles outlined in the Code inform our actions, from product design and development, to the way that products are positioned and promoted in store. Our code of conduct can be found at:http://www.whsmithplc.co.uk/corporate_responsibility/our_policies/.
We do have an age prompt of 14 years or over on our tills for shooting titles, based on this being the legal age at which someone can possess a firearms certificate.
With such a wide range of products on offer and the variety of differing opinions our customers hold, unfortunately we are not able to alter our displays to reflect each and every different view. With that in mind and to try and strike a balance, we focus on the appropriate display of titles carrying legal age restrictions or those which contain language or imagery that could be considered to be indecent (for example, repeated bad language or full nudity).
If you happen to find a title that you feel contains overly graphic imagery, I would urge you to contact the publishers of the title directly.
I hope this letter has gone some way to provide you with information in response to your concerns. We will continue to monitor customer feedback and thank you for contacting us.
Yours sincerely
Denise Hughes
Customer Service Team Manager