Mouldy Cheese!

LilacLillie

I bought a pack of pre-packed cheese last week in Asda. It cost £1.71. Yesterday as I was moving stuff about in the fridge with this weeks shop, I noticed the cheese was all mouldy!
I haven't opened the packet, so air hasn't got to it. The fridge is ok, nothing else gone off and the date on the packet is best before 10th May.
Seeing as its not even 10th April, that's not good.
Because I went shopping yesterday and its a fair bit of a bus journey (don't drive), what shall I do?
What do I expect from the store? A fob-off, a refund or an exchange???
Bearing in mind I have to go way out of my way to get back to store, and don't really want to leave it in the fridge looking as it does.
I couldn't think where to put this topic, so put it here..............................because you lot all seem to know what to do in a pickle, and always have sensible advise.
Thanks
LL

lister

If you are shopping again before the use by date, take it back unopened - I very much doubt they will have a problem with refunding you (they certainly shouldn't).

Sounds to me like there might be a tiny hole in the packaging somewhere which has allowed air and bacteria in. Or possibly a problem when it was packaged.

Otherwise, if you can't get back to the shop in time, I would just skim the mould off and eat it, which is what I do with cheese I leave too long (assuming this is a hard cheese - I wouldn't do it with a soft cheese...). Annoying when it isn't your fault, but it makes the best of a difficult situation if you can't hassle the shop for a refund.

squeaky

What you could do is to ring their customer complaints dept. and tell them what you've told us. That way it will be on record and you can arrange to have it exchanged at the customer services desk on your next visit.

I'm sure it won't be a problem.

beverleyhills

You could do as lister says and eat as long as it is hard cheese. Our local Asda is very good about refunds. I have rung up and complained about chicken and they haven't wanted to see it. In the past they have replaced the item and given a voucher or money back as a good will gesture,

TOBRUK

As long as it is sealed/unopened and within the best before date, you should not have a problem - I would take it back as soon as you can and not leave it near the date. Make sure you keep the receipt and take it with you - there should be absolutely no quibble about a refund.

[Deleted User]

Back in the mists of time before people had fridges, or indeed much to keep stuff like cheese in. My Mum just sliced off the mouldy bits and carried on regardless.I am still here and didn't die of eating furry cheese.Sometimes she would get a bit of 'fur' on the top of a pot of jam and that too was scraped off. In the days of post-war Britain it was considered quite normal for food to get a little 'ripe'.
No 'best before' dates then. Plus of course my old mum couldn't afford to throw food out as she had three permanantly hungry kids to feed. I can honestly say that I will eat almost anything as I had to as a little girl. Bless her, she never owned a fridge, freezer, microwave, washing machine, spin-dryer, tumble dryer, dish-washer, or even an ironing board (she ironed clothes on an old sheet laid on top of a blanket on the kitchen table for years) I can remember how excited she got when my dad brought home an electric iron. She used to use a flat-iron from the top of the kitchen range, or sometimes it was heated up on the gas stove.
This bright yellow and black Morphy-Richards iron was the only electrical thing she ever owned, and she always put it neatly back it the box after it had cooled down right up until her death in 1962.
She would be amazed at what women have nowdays to help with their housework. She had a big wood Ewbank carpet sweeper to sweep the carpet in the sitting room .The rest of the house had lino, and that was washed daily on her hands and knees, and her front doorstep was 'stoned' every morning to a brilliant whiteness,also on her hands and knees.
There was a lot of good things about the OS, but housework wasn't one of them, it was jolly hard work. Food was stored in the larder, and covered over to keep anything out and that included little childrens sticky fingers. Milk in the summer was kept in the bottle in a bowl half filled with cold water to keep fresh. Mind you the milkman came every day, and also the baker. Food was shopped for daily and there were no 'big' shops once a week. No supermarkets or self-service either .In Lewisham in 1950 I used to watch the man on the dairy counter slice up a 1/2lb of cheese or a 1/4lb of butter from big chunks of the stuff and fresh wrap it up for my Mum. You could buy eggs at 2 .1/2 d each , and if you only wanted three, then that is all you would buy. Apart from not having the money to buy a great deal, there was the fact that you had no way of keeping food for very long.
How things have changed over the past 50 odd years .Now I can go to the shops maybe once a month if I want, and never go for another month if I don't feel like it .
My old Mum would be staggered at how much free time women have today. But of course in those days women didn't go out from the house to work they just had to graft away indoors:D

bulchy

I've had this problem before with something I bought from Asda, (not cheese) and I did what Squeaky has suggested, and they were fine about it. They dont expect you to keep the product and return it, too smelly, as long as they have a record that you rang, they will give you a refund. My local Asda are great about refunds etc.
Sue