Dead Mosquito in Loaf of bread

colmax

Hi all,

I'm not sure if I'm on the right board but wondering if anyone might be able to help offer advice please.

I bought a load of Gluten Free bread from a major supermarket last Saturday. When my wife went to make my sandwiches on the Sunday evening for work on Monday, she saw a complete, decayed mosquito in the bottom of the bag. She didn't even get a chance to open it...

I emailed the customer service department with photos and received a reply asking me to return the loaf to the store where they would refund it and investigate, or post it back to them, registered delivery and they would refund me the cost of the loaf and the postage via a store gift voucher...

I haven't done either yet, as I have been at work all week and haven't had a chance to follow up.

My nearest store is a 25 minute drive away, so to return the loaf would take at least a one hour round trip. That's if the customer service desk is empty when I arrive... To post it back would cost me a similar amount of time as the nearest Post office is a 15 minute walk away and I would have purchase packing materials and take time off work as I work when the post office is open...

Also I had to go out to my local Coop at 9pm on a Sunday evening to buy a loaf of GF bread for my lunch last Monday as they are the only store open on a Sunday evening, which was extra expense and inconvenience.

Has anyone got any experience of how to deal with something like this. I am not looking for a "Compensation pay day" but I think that they should offer more than simply "use your own time, fuel and money to return it and we will refund you the price of the bread."

Would it be wrong for me to ask for reasonable compensation for the time I have spent emailing them and the inconvenience of going to the other store to get bread, along with the hassle of returning the offending loaf? Not to mention the discovery of a decayed mosquito in the loaf in the first place. How might I calculate this?

Any advise warmly received.

sarah1972

Hi

You have posted on an expired board unfortunately.

They have said that they will refund you the postage costs in the form of a voucher and the cost of the loaf and that they will investigate so you will not be out of pocket.

You say that the supermarket is 25 miles away but as you shop there can't you just take it back the next time you go shopping?

That sounds fair to me, I don't see that they should do any more. They definitely don't owe you any compensation.

Money_maker

I would just throw it in the bin then it will only have cost the price of a loaf, instead of a day off work / new pair of shoes to walk all the way to the post office / a ton of packaging materials / untold stress.

GwylimT

How come you can drive to the supermarket but you cant drive to the post office? Why not take it back to the supermarket, I assume you will buy food again.

colmax

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your kind response, I didn't say 25 miles, I said 25 mins, but I'm sure there was no malice in your comment.

I don't shop there, most of my shopping is in Aldi, I just go to which ever Supermarket is close to get my Gluten Free stuff. In this case we had been visiting friends and popped into the Supermarket in question to get bread for work. So I will have to make a special journey to return it.

In response to the other posts...

I can't drive to the Post Office because of my local Council having a draconian Controlled Parking Zone.

"New Shoes" and "Untold Stress" were both unkind and sarcastic, I have already said I don't want a Compensation Pay Day. I don't know you so I don't understand why you felt it necessary to fire off unkind comments on an "Advice" forum.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

GwylimT

colmax wrote: »

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your kind response, I didn't say 25 miles, I said 25 mins, but I'm sure there was no malice in your comment.

I don't shop there, most of my shopping is in Aldi, I just go to which ever Supermarket is close to get my Gluten Free stuff. In this case we had been visiting friends and popped into the Supermarket in question to get bread for work. So I will have to make a special journey to return it.

In response to the other posts...

I can't drive to the Post Office because of my local Council having a draconian Controlled Parking Zone.

"New Shoes" and "Untold Stress" were both unkind and sarcastic, I have already said I don't want a Compensation Pay Day. I don't know you so I don't understand why you felt it necessary to fire off unkind comments on an "Advice" forum.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

So drive to the post office and drop your wife and loaf of bread off, pick up five minutes later. Where is it you live that has zero parking?

sarah1972

Hi Colmax

My apologies for 25 miles, 25 minutes is really not that bad if you write a shopping list and stock up on some essentials while you are there or if you don't feel that its worth it then just notch it up to experience and forget about it.

Unfortunately these things can happen and I am sure it was just an unfortunate error at the packing depot.

redfox

we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

usefulmale

colmax wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm not sure if I'm on the right board but wondering if anyone might be able to help offer advice please.

I bought a load of Gluten Free bread from a major supermarket last Saturday. When my wife went to make my sandwiches on the Sunday evening for work on Monday, she saw a complete, decayed mosquito in the bottom of the bag. She didn't even get a chance to open it...

I emailed the customer service department with photos and received a reply asking me to return the loaf to the store where they would refund it and investigate, or post it back to them, registered delivery and they would refund me the cost of the loaf and the postage via a store gift voucher...

I haven't done either yet, as I have been at work all week and haven't had a chance to follow up.

My nearest store is a 25 minute drive away, so to return the loaf would take at least a one hour round trip. That's if the customer service desk is empty when I arrive... To post it back would cost me a similar amount of time as the nearest Post office is a 15 minute walk away and I would have purchase packing materials and take time off work as I work when the post office is open...

Also I had to go out to my local Coop at 9pm on a Sunday evening to buy a loaf of GF bread for my lunch last Monday as they are the only store open on a Sunday evening, which was extra expense and inconvenience.

Has anyone got any experience of how to deal with something like this. I am not looking for a "Compensation pay day" but I think that they should offer more than simply "use your own time, fuel and money to return it and we will refund you the price of the bread."

Would it be wrong for me to ask for reasonable compensation for the time I have spent emailing them and the inconvenience of going to the other store to get bread, along with the hassle of returning the offending loaf? Not to mention the discovery of a decayed mosquito in the loaf in the first place. How might I calculate this?

Any advise warmly received.

And you say you don't want a 'compensation pay day'. Of course not.

Why can't your wife return it, either via post office or direct to store?

LilElvis

Perhaps if you ask nicely the store will send a chauffeur driven limousine round to collect the (now mouldy) loaf and drop off a top of the range Fortnums hamper by way of compensation.

They've offered two reasonable methods of returning the loaf, you either choose one of them or chuck the loaf in the bin/feed to birds.

Apologies for the sarcasm, but you are being ridiculous for such a minor issue.

Personally I would have used the bread in the first place, discarding a couple of slices at most.

williacg

colmax wrote: »

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your kind response, I didn't say 25 miles, I said 25 mins, but I'm sure there was no malice in your comment.

I don't shop there, most of my shopping is in Aldi, I just go to which ever Supermarket is close to get my Gluten Free stuff. In this case we had been visiting friends and popped into the Supermarket in question to get bread for work. So I will have to make a special journey to return it.

In response to the other posts...

I can't drive to the Post Office because of my local Council having a draconian Controlled Parking Zone.

"New Shoes" and "Untold Stress" were both unkind and sarcastic, I have already said I don't want a Compensation Pay Day. I don't know you so I don't understand why you felt it necessary to fire off unkind comments on an "Advice" forum.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

I definitely would have taken the time to return the bread via the post office recorded delivery service, as they did promise to reimburse you the cost, and as suggested by a previous poster, perhaps your wife could call in at the post office for you. You need to give them a chance to carry out their investigations first, however, I would have done it on the same / following day, as the bread must be terribly mouldy by now.