To be pissed off at rotten Waitrose food before use by date

[Mmmnoodlesoup]

Bought pack of 4 chicken steak things the other day and use by date was 23rd feb.
Went to cook them today and the plastic had puffed up, when opened it stank of rotten eggs so threw it away. Nothing else in house so had to order takeaway.

Really annoyed at this as we aren't rolling in cash at the moment and food is so bloody expensive as it is! And it doesn't even last until the bb date.

Thinking of complaining to Waitrose but can't see what that will achieve. Gah

[Startail]

Take them back. I've had Tesco exchange mince for the same reason.

That's the only time, in too many years I've had trouble with meat.

Mozzarella and humus are the things that seem to die a day or two early in me.

[elizaregina]

I always buy food on the sell by date I always buy their reductions and every time the meat has been fine.,

however I have had to take back a few items in my time, for other reaons, we complained about smoked salmon once, it was flakey when we got the pack., not in proper slices....we had a dinner party and it looked crap, they gave us a full refund and another 2 packs of smoked salmon.

they are excellent at giving money back and or replacing.

I think - moaning at waitrose will do a little more than moaning here.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

OP - did you buy through Waitrose or Ocado?

I used to use Ocado but found I was getting things like off veg, mouldy bread and so on.
I switched to using Waitrose.com and I have had not one single problem in over two years.

I think the way Ocado store and transport is not always up to scratch.

But yes definitely complain. You will get a refund and a replacement item.

[ajandjjmum]

I had some steak that went off, and they refunding and replaced. Wasn't cheap! Things will always go wrong, but if it's feasible, they will put it right.

Unlike M & S who (after 2 years) have still not responded to the fact that I found metal in one of their pies.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Waitrose's standard policy is refund and replace. So take it back you will get your money back and more chicken. It does happen no matter which supermarket you go to.

[TheDoctrineOfSciAndNatureClub]

Vincenza, it was reasonable that they asked for some kind of proof of purchase from you, don't you think?

[difficultpickle]

Our local Waitrose policy is refund or replace, not both. I think I may try a different Waitrose the next time I need to take something back that has gone off.

[EnjoyResponsibly]

When they do replace it without quibble you will remember to come back an tell us won't you OP?

[Mmmnoodlesoup]

They're at the bottom of the bin now :( I can't stomach taking them out, plus I'm in bed with a poorly ds. Ill have to let it go this time, which is very hard for me!

[Whathaveiforgottentoday]

I complained about something being off (chicken I think) that I'd bought from waitrose and they refunded it even though I didn't have it with me as proof. I did buy it using their scanner machine so they had evidence that i had bought a chicken! I just mentioned it at the help desk, I didn't even have to ask.

One of the reasons I love John Lewis/waitrose is their excellent customer service.

[TheChimpParadox]

Waitrose are very good at dealing with things like this .

We brought a pack of eggs and two were off when we cracked them open. Back to Waitrose - new pack of eggs no quibble.

[littleducks]

I took some fish cakes back that we're a bit off and as I didn't want a replacement they gave me double the price back in cash. I would definitely suggest you take them back.

[OutsideOverThere]

Ring them up. Explain what happened, that they are in the bin, and they should send you something through the post to cover it - there will be a customer number to ring on any waitrose packet you can find, I imagine. or on the website.

and Minty that was really damned rude.

[Mmmnoodlesoup]

Thank you, I will give them a call then as they sound very helpful.

[firawla]

If it happens in future, before you chuck them in the bin just take a pic of it. I can understand you wouldnt wanna be taking it around back to the shops when it stinks! so I don't think they can expect that. What we do in similar situations is take a pic and either email or tweet the supermarket and they will send an apology and gift card to cover the cost

[OneHandFlapping]

Also check the thermostat on your fridge. I had this happen to me a few times, before I noticed that the fridge had accidently got turned up to a higher temperature.

[Mmmnoodlesoup]

I was thinking it might've been the fridge but it feels cold inside and nothing else has gone off. It's a very old fridge though. Makes me quite anxious storing meat in there

[Fallenangle]

Just take the packet back, and check your fridge temperature. It should be below 5 degrees. Why not keep some frozen mince for emergencies.

[Fallenangle]

Oh and minty. Yes it is threadworthy. What isn't. If you don't consider the topic important others might.

[StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes]

yep ring them. I complained mildly via email to a well known store that the gingerbread rum I bought tasted of nothing but sickly sweet vanilla certainly not ginger, they said send us the receipt and we will refund.

[Mmmnoodlesoup]

Fallen I do usually have emergency mince but had used it the day before. With regards to fridge temps, does the dial represent the Celsius ?

[cumfy]

Just drink some juice or milk, it should be really cold not just a bit cold.

[Lilymaid]

Waitrose once refunded me for an off lamb joint that I had opened, thought it smelt off but cooked all the same! We just got the wrapping out of the bin and the receipt and they were fine (think they gave us twice the cost). The cooked lamb went in the bin - lunch was pommes boulangeres and veg.

[FlouncingMintyy]

Its unbelievably dull though isn't it fallenangle? 49 messages saying "take it back Waitrose will refund, no question". Shall we keep it going til it reaches 500 messages?

[Mmmnoodlesoup]

I'm quite proud I've got 50 messages for my very dull thread, thanks for contributing Mintyy