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AIBU?

To think that response from Sainsbury's is bizarre and cheeky?

49 replies

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 09:34

Earlier in the week I took ds to a nice park which is about an hour away. I stopped at the Sainsburys nearby the park to grab some lunch as I hadn't prepared anything.

I bought a couple of pastas from the sandwich section, some scotch eggs from the fridge, strawberries and bottles of water. I actually only picked up the scotch eggs as ds wanted a boiled egg and I hadn't made any lunch, he doesn't even eat the outside weird as that may be.

Anyway boiling hot day, got to the park, opened the eggs to find the egg in the middle was frozen solid with a good 3mm coating of ice around it. As the packaging says do not freeze I assume it's either a health risk or would taste vile after being frozen.

I emailed Sainsburys when I got home that evening and the following day the emailed back asking which store it was, I'd already told them this but replies saying again. Within 10 minutes they'd emailed me back saying that basically, they didn't know how this had happened but they'd had no other complaints, he'd phoned the store and their fridges were working fine so there's no problem, but they'd send me a £5 goodwill voucher. I emailed back saying that I wasn't after a freebie but was genuinely concerned that the fridges may be freezing items or things were being frozen before being refrigerated. The response I got back was along the lines of 'ok fine we won't sent you a voucher and not to worry as customers are their first priority and their fridges are fine.

OP posts:
FrankSaysNo · 24/07/2014 09:37

They probably came straight out of a freezer lorry.

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 09:38

Btw they were the last two packs at the back of the fridge.

OP posts:
amyhamster · 24/07/2014 09:39

What's wrong with there response
Seems fine to me

Pinkje · 24/07/2014 09:40

That's why they say 'not suitable for freezing' because they have already been frozen once, on their way to the store.

Pinkje · 24/07/2014 09:40

But odd that they actually withdrew their offer of a voucher.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 24/07/2014 09:40

YABU. They offered you compensation, said there had been no other complaints and they'd checked the fridges in the store so there wasn't much more they could have done. By pressing the point that you didn't want their money, you got exactly what you asked for. Be fair.

A frozen boiled egg is not a health risk. Not a nice thing to eat but not a health risk.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 24/07/2014 09:42

"at the back of the fridge."

If the product had been in too-close contact with the cooling unit, the temperature could have dropped too far. It happens in domestic fridges occasionally. Other people may not have complained because, by the time they got round to eating the product, it will have come up to temperature.

StealthPolarBear · 24/07/2014 09:44

Urgh so a twice frozen egg. Im not surprised the op is concerned

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 09:44

I don't want a voucher. I find it hard to believe that the fridges had been checked properly in the 10 minutes it had taken to be emailed back. I also find it hard to believe that they were still frozen from transportation being the last two packs at the back of the fridge with one days use by date.

OP posts:
Kveta · 24/07/2014 09:46

I think their response sounds fine. The egg sounds grim, mind!

hercules1 · 24/07/2014 09:47

I think you are overthinking this.

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 09:49

Exactly Cogito, if you'd took it home you wouldn't even know it had been frozen again.

Perhaps I'm just being daft then but I don't bloody well expect to buy a frozen scotch egg!

I genuinely don't want a voucher as I never shop there anyway unless it's the only option so would have likely given it away but I think to withdraw it rather than reassure that fridges would be checked was crappy.

Will just make an even more pointed effort not to go there, ime much more pleasant places to shop.

OP posts:
ABlandAndDeadlyCourtesy · 24/07/2014 09:52

Op

I'm pretty sure the fridges have a temperature recorder, do those records would have been what was checked for "alerts".

RobinHumphries · 24/07/2014 09:58

Packaging says "do not freeze" when the product has already been frozen as you should not defrost food and then freeze it again. You'll often find the same thing with prawns in the fridge units - that they are frozen and the packaging says do not freeze. The product itself is fine

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 10:05

See I was always told not to freeze boiled eggs as it ruins them.

Either way I doubt that these were still frozen from the lorry as they were the last ones left and had only 1 days date.

OP posts:
Chopchopbusybusy · 24/07/2014 10:08

I think it's a very dismissive response from them. By saying they have checked the fridges and they are fine they are saying you are lying.

WatchingSeaMonkeys · 24/07/2014 10:18

I think that they'd have replied to you as quickly as possible, as per their internal processes.

They said they'd contacted the store - why don't you believe them?

footnerfan · 24/07/2014 10:19

I agree it's very dismissive of them

I would contact environmental health. I did this once when my local Tesco had loads of out of date egg sandwiches in their fridge and were dismissive towards me when I told them.

Angelto5 · 24/07/2014 10:24

A little off topic here but have you ever been walking around a supermarket & seen random products in the freezer that obviously shouldn't be there-like bottles of pop,fresh fruit etc..... that a shopper has just dumped because they can't be arsed to put them where they belong.
What do the staff do when they find them-put them in the bin or where they should be??

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 10:25

Well that's what I wondered, had a customer dumped them in the freezer and a member of staff put them back in the fridge.

OP posts:
tiggerkid · 24/07/2014 10:34

They did say they contacted the store and the store said fridges are working fine. Therefore, they didn't just dismiss the customer. It is possible that another customer just dumped the product in the freezer where it obviously didn't belong as some customers just don't care that someone may pick up these products after them. However, it doesn't sound like their customer service wanted to dismiss OP's concerns.

Having said that, because a lot of our communication isn't necessarily about what we say but also about how we say it, perhaps, it was more the tone that they used to respond, which we can't judge here as we've not heard the conversation. OP, if you felt that the tone was cheeky or otherwise unacceptable, you can complain about the service too and hopefully will get a response that you are happy with.

Chopchopbusybusy · 24/07/2014 10:42

Tigger the OP says sainsburys responded within 10 minutes. That doesn't strike me as a great deal of time for them to contact the store and properly check the fridges are operating properly. As someone else said if items are right at the back of the fridge they can sometime freeze. In my opinion they have been dismissive.

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differentnameforthis · 24/07/2014 10:58

But odd that they actually withdrew their offer of a voucher.

Not really, op said she didn't want it.

Pyjamaramadrama · 24/07/2014 11:02

Because it seems to me that when you contact a shop with some kind of complaint they simply say ok we'll give you £5 voucher instead of actually resolving the issue.

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 24/07/2014 11:14

So twice frozen egg and meat aren't harmful?
(Serious questiin, never really understood this stuff and err on side of caution)

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