Exploading asda can

claire3131973

Hello

We had quite a scary accident in the car last week.

I'd bought a 6 pack of Asda cloudy lemonade, opened it and left 5 cans in the back of the car between my kids (6 & 9). We'd been in the car less than half an hour and were driving home. I asked my daughter to pass me a can.

Next thing, we heard a really loud bang followed by my daughter screaming. It was so loud we thought a tyre had blown & my partner swerved over to the side of the road.

My daughter was shaking, covered in lemonade with what was left of the can still in her hand. One side of it had ripped where it had exploaded. Thankfully the can didn't cut her in anyway but she was very shaken, as was my son who also recieved a lemonade wash!

Everyone calmed down after we had cleaned up the kids and the car (it was everywhere!) and we took a pic of the can & emailed Asda.

They dont appear to be too bothered & sent us a standard reply saying take it back to the store for a refund or send it to them & they will send refund on gift card!

I'm fuming but not sure what to do next,,, Any advice much appreciated:o

Thanks

claire

Burlesque_Babe

Well, if nobody was injured and the car is cleaned, I would just take it back to the store for a refund.

I once had a bottle of wine which had a weakness in the glass and as I opened it, a crack appeared all the way around the middle and the wine went everywhere - sideways - what a waste of wine :rotfl:

I just took it back and they gave me a refund.

DrScotsman

Well legally, all you can get ASDA to do is cover your losses. It sounds like you didn't really spend anything to do the cleaning, so your only loss is the drink. They should give you cash, but unless you're going to avoid ASDA permanently from now on I wouldn't pester them if they give you a gift card.

If you feel like it though, send them a threatening snail mail letter and they might cough up some more.

claire3131973

I think i'm just so annoyed when they totally disregarded what happened (maybe more so because it was my children and not me) and sent a standard 'sorry you're not happy with your product, go get a refund" email.

Thanks for replies

DrScotsman

claire3131973 wrote: »

I think i'm just so annoyed when they totally disregarded what happened (maybe more so because it was my children and not me) and sent a standard 'sorry you're not happy with your product, go get a refund" email.

Thanks for replies

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you shouldn't be annoyed, I would be too. However that's ASDA customer services for you, you can't expect to be treated more than you legally deserve (if that)

Well actually that's email, you never get proper responses with email. If they have a freepost address then definitely send a letter (I'm assuming the price of one can is roughly the price of a stamp, so not a good idea if it isn't freepost )

pinkshoes

With the cost of steel and aluminium rising, can makers have been cutting costs by investing in thin wall technology i.e. cans are made from much thinner metal than they used to be, hence much more likely to explode when shaken. The shaking would be from the car journey...

Send it in the post rather than email, as you'll get a much better response.

You can't put them in the freezer either nowadays as the expanding liquid is enough to burst the metal and make it go flat!

pendulum

pinkshoes wrote: »

You can't put them in the freezer either nowadays as the expanding liquid is enough to burst the metal and make it go flat!

Could you ever do that?
I remember when I was a kid I used to put all kinds of things in the freezer for fun, including coke and other fizzy drink cans. They always used to deform and split open, and that was nearly 15 years ago. :eek:

Elsewhere

There must be some sort of British Safety standard for drinks cans, and Asda are presumably skating too close to it. If you feel like going to the trouble, it would be worth contacting Environmental Health or perhaps Trading Standards. I don't suppose it would get you any extra response from Asda, but they might end up having to impove their cans and some other driver won't have that car crash that you so fortunately avoided!

maggie111

They probably have a lot of people who embellish their stories with "oh my son was holding it and he was right next to our arthritic pet dog" etc.

I'm not saying at all that's what you did but I'd be tempted to voice your problems, whether over the phone or in store to get across exactly how awful it was. That would scare the pants off me! I still wouldn't expect any more than a fiver though, unfortunately - and then it's up to you as to whether you buy more soft drinks.

claire3131973

Ha, i do have an arthritic pet dog, but i think i'll leave her out of it!

Think I'll take it to the store & talk in person. Thanks for all replies

pinkshoes

pendulum wrote: »

Could you ever do that?
I remember when I was a kid I used to put all kinds of things in the freezer for fun, including coke and other fizzy drink cans. They always used to deform and split open, and that was nearly 15 years ago. :eek:

Maybe I was just lucky then! I always used to freeze cans (beer, coke etc...) and never had any issues until recently. They always used to deform a little at the top, but never split.