SodaStream sent out of date food items, tells me to get stuffed

d123

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

OP you really need to get a grip, this is such a minor thing and you are the one blowing it all out of proportion.

It was free, you've suffered no loss. Drink what you can before the 8 days are up and be thankful for the free drink!

I would go further and say just drink it, doesn't matter how long it takes. It's only a best before date, for pity's sake.

It won't turn to rat poison on the 9th day.

How does the OP deal with the reductions fridge in a supermarket? Run screaming past shouting "here be demons"?

scam.co.uk

OP has not posted for a while, maybe he got fed up with not hearing what he wanted - supportive indignation at the affront of SodaStream to him as a customer. I can see the previaling counter argument that seems to be the majority of the posts that SS are within their rights here, and its funny to see how seriously some people take it and how wound up they get :->

but..... at the risk of being controversial....

I do agree with OP that whilst it may be entirely legal it seems a bit cheap and naff to be offering customers short dated items - even if they were free. It would be like rocking up to a Vauxhall dealership and being offered a test drive in a 1987 Astra, rather than the latest 2013 model. Or at bakery free bread from yesterday instead of the soft, warm fresh stuff straight from the oven - SS are trying to encourage a customer, not put them off, right?

Also some others have made a good point that if for the 1 out of 1000 customers like OP who are not happy with short dated free stuff, all soda stream had to do was say sorry Mr customer I'll send you some longer dated free stuff, then 768 (and counting) people would not have read this post and OP would be happy with their response. Maybe its the credit crunch but customer service aint what it used to be when I was a lad (course that was all in black and white then with hovis music) :-P

Takeaway_Addict

scam.co.uk wrote: »

OP has not posted for a while, maybe he got fed up with not hearing what he wanted - supportive indignation at the affront of SodaStream to him as a customer. I can see the previaling counter argument that seems to be the majority of the posts that SS are within their rights here, and its funny to see how seriously some people take it and how wound up they get :->

but..... at the risk of being controversial....

I do agree with OP that whilst it may be entirely legal it seems a bit cheap and naff to be offering customers short dated items - even if they were free. It would be like rocking up to a Vauxhall dealership and being offered a test drive in a 1987 Astra, rather than the latest 2013 model. Or at bakery free bread from yesterday instead of the soft, warm fresh stuff straight from the oven - SS are trying to encourage a customer, not put them off, right?

Also some others have made a good point that if for the 1 out of 1000 customers like OP who are not happy with short dated free stuff, all soda stream had to do was say sorry Mr customer I'll send you some longer dated free stuff, then 768 (and counting) people would not have read this post and OP would be happy with their response. Maybe its the credit crunch but customer service aint what it used to be when I was a lad (course that was all in black and white then with hovis music) :-P

True but lets not mislead the fact that nearly 90% of the votes so far think the OP is being silly about this.

MamaMoo_2

scam.co.uk wrote: »

OP has not posted for a while, maybe he got fed up with not hearing what he wanted - supportive indignation at the affront of SodaStream to him as a customer. I can see the previaling counter argument that seems to be the majority of the posts that SS are within their rights here, and its funny to see how seriously some people take it and how wound up they get :->

but..... at the risk of being controversial....

I do agree with OP that whilst it may be entirely legal it seems a bit cheap and naff to be offering customers short dated items - even if they were free. It would be like rocking up to a Vauxhall dealership and being offered a test drive in a 1987 Astra, rather than the latest 2013 model. Or at bakery free bread from yesterday instead of the soft, warm fresh stuff straight from the oven - SS are trying to encourage a customer, not put them off, right?

Also some others have made a good point that if for the 1 out of 1000 customers like OP who are not happy with short dated free stuff, all soda stream had to do was say sorry Mr customer I'll send you some longer dated free stuff, then 768 (and counting) people would not have read this post and OP would be happy with their response. Maybe its the credit crunch but customer service aint what it used to be when I was a lad (course that was all in black and white then with hovis music) :-P

Tbf, I doubt SS will give much of a stuff. They've already sold the product, and most people who buy a SS will then subsequently need gas and syrups which currently are only supplied by SS (I've yet to see a supermarket selling something similar that's own brand etc)
Once they've sold the core product, they've pretty much got you by the short and curlies if you want to use the product.

OlliesDad

scam.co.uk wrote: »

It would be like rocking up to a Vauxhall dealership and being offered a test drive in a 1987 Astra, rather than the latest 2013 model.

Some truly horrific analogies there, however, it would be more like being offered a test drive in the latest 2013 model rather than a new model due out the following week.

Slowhand

With the summer having finally arrived 12L should just about cover you to Friday. I don't see the problem to be honest

Money-Saving-King

I may as well now vote: Nope!!!!!

scam.co.uk

OlliesDad wrote: »

Some truly horrific analogies there, however, it would be more like being offered a test drive in the latest 2013 model rather than a new model due out the following week.

OK then, hows about this one? :-)

It's like getting free family tickets to Alton Towers that are valid "sometime up until 2015". You get the free tickets in the post and it turns out they are only valid until tomorrow at 10AM, which is legally (90% agree) valid sometime until 2015.

You could still use the tickets after their expiry date if you should wish too (they wont burst into flames) however instead of an amazing (fresh) experience showcasing the very best that Alton Towers has to offer, what you actually get is a five hour car journey in the 1987 Astra (with the kids puking in the back as the suspension is soft and old) to be told you cant get in to the park proper, but feel free to have a picnic (of day old stale bread) in the carpark, then when you return home 2.5 hours in the old astra breaks down on the side of a dual carriageway.

d123

scam.co.uk wrote: »

OK then, hows about this one? :-)

It's like getting free family tickets to Alton Towers that are valid "sometime up until 2015". You get the free tickets in the post and it turns out they are only valid until tomorrow at 10AM, which is legally (90% agree) valid sometime until 2015.

You could still use the tickets after their expiry date if you should wish too (they wont burst into flames) however instead of an amazing (fresh) experience showcasing the very best that Alton Towers has to offer, what you actually get is a five hour car journey in the 1987 Astra (with the kids puking in the back as the suspension is soft and old) to be told you cant get in to the park proper, but feel free to have a picnic (of day old stale bread) in the carpark, then when you return home 2.5 hours in the old astra breaks down on the side of a dual carriageway.

No, stupid analogy. You are trying to compare a service to a food product.

The SS samples don't cease to be SS samples on day 9, they will be still be the same SS sample after day 29, day 39, day 49 etc, they are just not within an arbitrary "best before" date.

Your service, the tickets, cease to exist after the expiry date.

Pollycat

This is the question the OP asked in his first post:

deepindebtor wrote: »

Am I wrong to complain?

He also made his thread into a poll and asked "Was their reply acceptable?"

The majority of posters have said they feel he is wrong to complain.

The majority of posters have also voted that SS's reply was acceptable.

scam.co.uk wrote: »

OP has not posted for a while, maybe he got fed up with not hearing what he wanted - supportive indignation at the affront of SodaStream to him as a customer. I can see the previaling counter argument that seems to be the majority of the posts that SS are within their rights here, and its funny to see how seriously some people take it and how wound up they get :->

I agree with OlliesDad and d123 that your analogies are poor, as were the OP's comparison to be given an out-of-date pasty.

And this fact remains:

d123 wrote: »

OP, you might want to edit the title to be more truthful, the product wasn't out of date, and the SS reply hardly told you to "get stuffed", it was reasonably accurate and quite inoffensive.