Mey Eden vs. Tami4 – Out with the old and in with the new
ByBefore I made Aliyah on the very first Nefesh B’Nefesh flight in July 2002 I told my wife that I had 3 conditions for me making Aliyah.
- Air Conditioning
- High-Speed Internet
- Spring Water
With those three things I could probably live anywhere, but those are my basic necessities.
This post is about #3, Spring Water. Since my Yeshiva days in Neveh Zion I have been a big believer in not drinking Israeli tap water. Actually I first learned about my fear of Israeli tap water when I spent the summer of 1988 on Achva, but when I was in Neveh I made it my mission never to drink the tap water unless it was mixed in a huge garbage can with petal and sulfuric acid; the acid obviously killing any germs, bacteria or anything else living in the garbage can and the petal could kill the taste of virtually anything.
So when we made Aliyah one of the first things I ordered was Mey Eden bottled water and for the last 6 1/2 years that is what I have been drinking.
Now to be clear I really do love Mey Edens water and was very happy and impressed with the service, but then something happened that made me raise an eyebrow.
About 6 months ago during one of the deliveries the Mey Eden man told us that since we always take 5 bottles of water we should really be on the 5 bottle plan and not the 3 bottle plan where the 4th and 5th bottle are a lot more expensive. You see, when we made Aliyah it was just my wife, our one child and I and so we got ourselves on the three bottle plan. Somewhere between the 3rd and 4th kid we starting drinking about 5 bottles of water consistently, but it wasn’t in Mey Edens best interest to switch us or suggest that we should be on the higher plan ever though we had been drinking 5 or more bottles a month for 4 years!
So this irked me just a bit…
So with the economy being what it is and the need to try and save money I decided to move over to the Tami4 company.
I had seen Tami4 machines around town, but it wasn’t until we got it for my office that I really took notice.
Out with the Old
In my office we also had Mey Eden water, but we were not happy with it as the counter version didn’t let the water pour out very fast and a couple of other issues like they would always deliver the water at 7:30am when we did not open the office till 9am. So somoene had the idea to get a Tami4 machine since it was less expensive and we would never need to deal with someone coming each month etc.
The Tami4 machine worked great, always had instant cold and hot water and the taste was great, so after a month of drinking it in the office, I decided to make the move and get it for my home.
Now when making any serious descision like what type of water you are going to put in your body and those of your loved ones you need to weigh the pros and cons.
So first the Pros of making the switch:
- 82 NIS/month for Tami4 vs 350 NIS/month for Mey Eden
- No men coming once a month at 7:30am to drop off water
- No need to worry about ever running out of water to drink
- Frees up space in the kitchen where we can now put a beautiful garbage can
- No Shlepping heavy bottles or worrying about collecting empty bottles and making sure they are outside for when Mey Eden comes
And the cons:
- Can’t use it on Shabbos since it runs on electricity so need to fill up bottles before Shabbos
- Takes up counter-space
- Water bill will go up
- Kids (and myself) will play with it more because it is so cool
- Need to change filter every 6 months
- Need to change a bulb once a year
In with the New
The Pros outweighed the cons for us and so we made the move, but not before Mey Eden tried to put up a fight. I called them to cancel my order and have them pick up the machine. They tried to talk me out of it, but I was pretty firm. The next day I got a call from them and again they tried to change my mind and again I said no and confirmed that my account was closed. A week later the Mey Eden man came for the last time, but refused to take the machine. He said he couldn’t take it and that I needed to speak with them and he was just a small guy taking orders. A couple of hours later Mey Eden called me and by that point I was a bit upset, but then he made me an offer that I could refuse. He said that times are tough economically and so he would be able to cut my bill in half! Instead of paying on average 350 NIS/month I would now only pay 168/month. Now this was a great deal and I strongly suggest anyone who has a Mey Eden account to call up and get this deal, but for me it was too little too late. Why not offer me this deal months ago? Why did you wait for me to cancel my account before you made this offer? Is it fair that a neighbor up the block should be paying 1/2 of what I paid when we are getting the same thing? When I have been a loyal customer for more then 6 years?
So we now have the Tami4 machine in our kitchen and yes I love pushing the cool blue glow buttons and having delicious cold water come out.
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8 Comments
May 11th, 2009 at 10:15 am
While I’m just fine with tap water, I do use broadband Internet. A few months ago I had a similar experience with customer-service-when-it’s-already-too-late.
I signed up with Cellcom for their celluar modem/router GlobeSurfer II, which bypasses Bezeq.
When I called 013 to cancel my broadband ISP account, they escalated me four times in an effort to keep me. They wasted 55 minutes of my time on the phone and in the end made a great offer: NIS 20 per month for what I had previously paid about NIS 90. Bezeq later made a comparable offer, although they wasted less of my time. (My experience with 013 had made me wiser.)
It was too late for both. I had signed with Cellcom for 18 months.
Every rep asked “Why didn’t you call before you switched?”
My answer: “You’ve got this backwards.”
To Bezeq’s credit, last week someone called just to tell me that I would be receiving a package of free minutes every month. No need to sign up or pay more. It’s automatic. They just wanted me to know about it.
That’s the way it should be.
Dov Gordon
May 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
1. How much are the filters that have to be replaced every 6 months?
2. How do you keep track of the 6 month deadline?
3. What does the filter NOT filter? or not filter completely.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
1. How much are the filters that have to be replaced every 6 months? About 130 NIS
2. How do you keep track of the 6 month deadline? No need, they will contact you.
3. What does the filter NOT filter? or not filter completely? Need to check their website for all the details. You can see it here: http://www.tanawater.com/
May 11th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
How good is the filtter in cleansing out all the impurities ? It seems to me that what you now have is a water cooler and your are relying on the filter. Mei Eden (which is admittedly expensive) claims to be giving us mineral water from natural springs. By the way I called Mei Eden and threatened to switch. All they would offer me is a reduction of 11 shekels per month if I swtriched to a counterbunit instead of the present floor model.
Israel Rubin
May 11th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Call them and cancel your account. Once you cancel it it gets promoted to a “Code Red”. When you ask for a discount then they negotiate. The filter seems to be pretty good, you can see the details at their website. The water does taste good though.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
When you are transferred to a department called “Kishrei Lekuchot,’ you are being sent to the folks whose job it is to keep you at any cost. I’ve pretty much learnt with Bezeq to just plain ask for them up front to save time. Works.
You should know, that at Jo’s Club (www.josclub.co.il), one of the things that we hate most is to ever get into a situation where a lady on treadmill A is telling her friend next to her that she paid less for the same memebrship. What stupid customer service, eh?
May 12th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Great advice Aryeh!
It is a tough situation and that is why companies should always be fair with their pricing. Now there is nothing wrong with offering specials or discounts or even having different prices for levels of membership. Like what airlines do for frequent flyers.
I do remember a similar situation that happened my first year as a counselor at a camp I worked at many years ago. They offered me and I took a job making what I thought was a low salary, but it was better then sitting at home. As the summer progressed I was one of the most popular counselors in the camp and always did crazy things that the kids in the camp (not just my bunk) would go home and tell their parents about. The parents started calling the camp and sending praise my way and how their kids wanted to join my bunk. Well about 1/2 through the summer I found out from some of the other counselors that they were making 3x – 5x what I was making. I went to the Camp Directors and basically asked for a raise which they had to give me.
The next summer’s contract has a line in BOLD saying that it is forbidden to discuss salaries with other staff members and if you do so you can lose your job. By my 6th summer with the camp I was the highest paid counselor by far
The truth is that it is not easy running your own business as I’m sure you know, but you must juggle keeping your workers and clients happy. You do that by building trust. Once you lose that trust your business will stop growing and you will lose clients. And your right, if one friend at your center tells another friend that they are getting the exact same service for a much cheaper price then you will lose trust with both of them and anyone that they decide to tell.
Mey Eden lost my trust.
May 17th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
We also canceled Mei Eden and they gave us a really hard time about picking up the machine. I threatened to leave it outside, and two weeks later they came to pick it up. I feel relieved to not have to deal with these guys anymore. If any new olim read this my advice is if you are anyways buying a new refrigerator, get one that has a filtered water option. One huge advantage is that when you fill up an iron or a hot water tea kettle and use the water from your filtered refrigerator, you do not get mineral deposit build-up. If you also have an ice-cube maker, all your ice cubes are also filtered water.