SIGG CEO: I'm Sorry
I am writing to apologize.
As Chief Executive Officer of SIGG, a leading maker of reusable water bottles, I made a mistake when I decided not to announce that our old bottle liner contained trace amounts of bisphenol A. I learned about the liner's content in 2006, when there was debate in the scientific community about the effects of BPA. Scientists lined up on both sides of the issue: Some said BPA posed potential health risks, others said BPA was perfectly safe.
With the issue still very much undecided, SIGG decided to develop a BPA-free liner to eliminate consumer concern about our products. To be sure that BPA did not leach from our bottle liners, we commissioned independent scientific studies and asked the labs to rigorously test our bottles and bottles made by other companies. We urged them to put all bottles through tortuous conditions. Those tests reassured us because they showed SIGG liners leached no BPA. We posted those studies on our web site to provide consumers the information about product performance that seemed to me relevant at the time.
Today, the debate continues. Scientists are still split on the issue. But the consumer environment has changed. Because of the all the conflicting data, a growing number of people have decided to eliminate the concern from their lives by avoiding BPA. Given the situation, I recently decided that we had to tell everyone that bottles manufactured with our former liner (prior to August 2008) contained trace amounts of BPA.
We were right to make the announcement. But I was wrong to have waited this long. One of our primary goals at SIGG has been to help reduce unnecessary waste and to educate people on the environmental benefits of using a reusable bottle. With that objective in mind, SIGG has been labeled a "green" company.
Unfortunately, I am still learning to be a green CEO. When I took this position, I naively assumed that "green" meant being a steward of the environment. In 2007, SIGG became a member of 1% For The Planet and we have donated 1% of all of our sales to environmental organizations like The Sierra Club and Stop Global Warming. However, being a green company also means being held to the highest degree of corporate transparency.
Some executives learn this because they have grown up within the green movement. I have learned this by reading hundreds of emails from SIGG consumers. Some feel angry. Some feel betrayed. All feel disappointed because they were passionate advocates of our bottles.
People have written to explain why they are concerned about BPA. They have written about their personal stories, their intimate worries and their very honest anger. I have personally responded to hundreds of these notes, apologizing for my mistake, offering new bottles to make amends, realizing that my decision caused people real discomfort.
SIGG has been around for 100 years. Yet, we are still a small company with 127 employees worldwide -- about 90 of those working in our Frauenfeld Switzerland operation. SIGG is not a typical modern corporation and it doesn't have a typical relationship with its customers. People have trusted SIGG and my decision breached that trust. I wish I could turn back the clock and fully disclose the BPA content in our liners. What I can do is make sure that I personally never again compromise SIGG's good name and proud Swiss heritage.
In the next few days, we will announce the first steps in our path to full transparency. These will include some very specific things we will do to make sure we are the honest, green company that our customers expect us to be. We will:
- Post details about the contents of our bottles: the new liner, the cap, the bottle itself. And we will make the information as transparent and understandable as possible.
- Make it easy for consumers to exchange their old bottles for new, BPA-free SIGGs. You can still ship your old SIGGs to us via our voluntary exchange program. Or if you prefer to avoid shipping costs and lead time, you can make the exchange at your local SIGG retailer, most of whom are participating in the program. To make it easy, we will post on our website a list of these retailers.
- Unveil an independently managed grant program to help fund BPA and chemical research that will help eliminate confusion and concern about this issue. While we have moved away from BPA in SIGG products, it continues to be used in countless products that we all use each day. If it poses a real threat, we want to help curb its use.
When people buy "Swiss made" products, they are buying quality and peace of mind. I realize that my actions compromised SIGG's relationship with our loyal customers. I pledge to try to rebuild the hard-earned trust you have had in SIGG. I sincerely hope you will allow me to prove myself.
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I think SIGG has tried to do the right thing and that counts for a lot.
Here is an interesting and detailed take on the situation from a SIGG retailer:
http://blog.sundogtrading.com/2009/10/a-retailers-thoughts-on-the-sigg-bpa-liner-issue/
Has anyone successfully exchanged their bottles? I sent mine in a month ago and have heard nothing. My emails go unanswered. I was upset enough about the BPA in the bottles, but this exchange program is worse!!!!!
I sent in my old Sigg bottle and got the tarnished replaced bottle from Sigg last Friday. I have been trying to contact the company, but I got no reply. I paid for the shipping charge of $14 and got a tarniished replaced bottle in return. I am upset and I don't expect Sigg will contact me for my complaint about this junk bottle.
This angers me.
I used to buy Nalgenes, but after info on BPA came out, I bought four Siggs (which are NOT cheap) because the company assured its bottles did not contain BPA.
Now I found out that I wasted my $ and have probably been ingesting some BPA. Great. From now on I'm buying another brand.
In my opinion, this was not a major mistake but a minor one. First of all, the debate about whether BPA is safe is continuing. No conclusion has been reached as to whether this chemical is hazardous or not. Regardless, SIGG tested their product rigorously and it was determined that there was NO leaching of BPA. And remember, it was a TRACE amount. I personally feel confident in the CEO's actions and will continue to enjoy the many SIGG bottles that I own.
MY MESSAGE TO YOU, STEVE WASIK: Keep up the good work. You have already proven to me that you're a much better CEO than any company could hope for. I applaud your honesty and also the continuing quality of your product. I will still purchase your bottles and recommend them to my friends.
So, from one CEO to another, good job!
Stainless steel bottles taste like metal and the water easily gets stale and smelly. And I'm still waiting to see a stainless steel bottle that ISN'T made in China. Do we REALLY think that a Chinese factory is going to have sustainable production and humanitarian labor practices than a Swiss one???
Yes, Sigg made a BIG error in judgment, but they've come clean and are making efforts to correct their mistake and move forwrard. I just got my replacement Sigg and the water taste is even better than the old model. I'm still a Sigg fan all the way.
Folks...just go to your Army/Navy store and buy a military canteen. Stainless Steel and they work very well!!
Request to SIGG:
Your beautiful bottles with stainless steel or glass inside.
Why do they need the liner anyway?
I am accepting the apology and effort to stand behind their products through the exchange program.
While I totally understand being angry at how power is used and abused by those who hold power. I am concerned about the hostile response to the apology . It seems, to me, to echo the kind of hostility being shown towards Obama by Progressives. Trust and trustworthiness is so important in all relationships. Instead of using issues of trust to make people wrong, I would like to see if it would be just as useful (or more) to use our trust inspire people to live up to our expectations. This is how we raise healthy children, why not apply the same principle. Positive change is a process, it does not happen overnight. We need to remind people of who we look to them to be without being driven by the desire for instant gratification.
We do not know this CEO, lets get to know him and see if he is geniune and will live up to the standard of business practice that he admits he is still learning. Heck, in the 70's recyling branded me a weirdo--and now I am mainstream and being called to look for more and more ways to green my life. We are all growing. Lets give this guy a chance and see who he declares himself to be over time.
Lets give this guy a chance--and Obama, too.
Yes, being contrite coupled with a sincere ACT of contrition is in order here; and I agree the first step is in admitting the mistake so many don't even do that....(think Cheney, Bush, Rice....)
What I got from his letter is someone who sees that he is confronting a huge learning curve and is willing to look at that and learn from his mistakes.
A sincere apology with, as you say, an accompanying "ACT of contrition" goes so far. If I have hurt someone's feelings, I apologize and ask, "What can I do so that you can be complete with this?"
Instead of blaming or praising Sigg, we should be patting ourselves on the back for the success of consumer pressure to change a company for the better. Sigg's CEO has learned it's not easy being green and that greenies are pretty social media savvy.
He has pledged more transparency and greater social responsibility than they already had. How many of us have thought we could waffle something a little and regretted it later. Unfortunately, SIGG did it in a very public forum with potential negative side effects, but certainly nothing like burying internal memos from the 1960s like the cigarette industry did.
A little yay! to everyone for helping effect a positive change and for sending a message to other companies out there. Green is the way to go ... if you want to pick on someone for irresponsible corporate practices may I suggest pretty much anyone in the oil industry?
Lisa
This is a comment board about Sigg and their Fraud.
The oil industry is another subject and I address them by using only mass transit.
SIGG deserves to be pummeled. They defrauded their customers for many years.
Just because he apologizes means nothing.
Some people like you will buy into the lies and continue buying their products with their secret linings.
Not me. I care too much about my health and the health of my family; Never buy a SIGG bottle again.
Chicago banned BPAin products.
Wasik, the debate was over a long time ago about the health effects of BPA.
You lost.
Boycott SIGG.
Mr. Wasik's apology is un-acceptable.
SIGG misled millions of people.
Solution: For carrying my water, I use Glass Jars. I re-use mason jars, marmalade jars, and pasta sauce jars. I have been using the same Newman's Own Glass Jar for 4 months and the water tastes great and it has not broken. And if it does break, I have a cupboard full of glass jars, ready to use.
Umm..... you carry your water in a glass jar? Yeah, I'm gonna have to refrain from commenting further.
Mr. Wasik's apology IS accepted........ as are his attempts at making amends.
Must be difficult for you to go through life being so unforgiving... as everyone makes mistakes; some just don't admit them.... and those are the people undeserving of forgiveness.
You can keep buying plastic and stainless steel bottles. It doesn't matter to me.
And YES, i love using glass jars to carry my water. There was a time in america when coke bottles and all other beverages where sold in glass bottles. But you're obviously either too young or not equipped to remember.
Glass is much safer than plastic. But of course plastic is cheaper to produce and transport than glass; That's why everything is sold in plastic today.
So, YES, I carry my filtered water in re-usable mason jars, pasta sauce glass jars, orangina jars, etc. I would have thrown out these glass jars anyway, so I re-use them and they are perfect. It's been 4 months and i have not broken any glass yet.
Oh, and if you want to support a Fraud like Sigg, go ahead, that's your choice. I don't forgive businesses that mislead people. They do it not because they are naive, but because of greed.
But go ahead and have a nice supporting those type of companies. And enjoy their BPA laced products. Please drink as much contaminated water as you can. LOL
Imagine you are 30 years in the past...
"As the President of Ford Motor Company, I really apologize for knowingly allowing defective cars to stay on the highway, for years, after data suggested that our faulty axels were causing serious accidents to drivers.
I'm a new CEO, having just come from Soviet Eastern Germany, where its okay to build dangerous merchandise. Now I'm learning how this American way of doing business works. I promise I will do better -- I've even created a commission to study car accidents, and if you want, you can send me your broken car for a replacement! Sorry, any effects on your health from the car accidents is, well... water under the bridge?
Anyway, super-duper sorry. Totally mean it. Please stop boycotting us and telling your friends and family that our products might be pretty dangerous, and that we can't be trusted b/c wanted to hide this from you, rather than risk a hick-up in our profits. My bad! Please start buying, before the Board gets pissed and fires me :)
Very well stated.
I'll never buy a SIGG bottle again.
And I'm telling everyone to stay away from SIGG Bottles.
BRAVO!!!!!! If all companies and governments would do this....aaah what a beautiful world this would be.
It is so nice to see a CEO takiing responsibility and trying to fix the problem.
I really appreciate this apology but I have to admit that I still feel better about using my klean kanteen, as it is 100% stainless steel and there is no lining whatsoever.
Yep, plastic liners are a bad idea.
I agree. Stainless steel is king! For water, coffee, cooking and camping!
Now if we could just get it through everyone's head that heating food in plastic is bad, maybe we can have a positive effect on people's health. At work, I am the only person who heats food in glass.
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