To expect M&S Christmas meat to have a a SBD longer than 26th?

[Twinkie1]

Was carnage Christmas Eve picking up my order. Was due in London at 11 so collected 9.30-10.00 to give myself time to get there. Silly me didn't realise that although I was standing at the front of the queue at 9.30 this by no means meant I could collect my food. I had to wait until 10am as they were bringing orders down in blocks and mine was at the end of the block of 30 mins rather than the start.

Thankfully DD was v well behaved for the 50 minutes we ended up waiting which for a 2 year old is bloody marvellous. Sadly we missed all the festivities in London at her fathers work which was quite sad.

But the thing that's really pissed me off is that the 3 joints of meat we bought for Boxing Day and the one we bought for Christmas Day all have a use by date of 26th December.

Do you think I'd be unreasonable to complain? Really didn't think about checking dates due to time constraints and the utter bedlam during the collection process.

Was hoping that could stretch the joints to last over another few days at least.

They won't magically go off at the stroke of midnight, and once cooked can be kept in fridge for days too.

YWNBU to complain, I would. However I would still eat it :)

Eh? But you bought them to cook on Xmas Day and Boxing Day, so what's the problem?

YABU - I've booked M&S food for Christmas for at least the past 5 years and it's always been very clear in the brochure/catalogue and online, as well as on the booking form that online orders are only guaranteed to have a use by of 26th, from memory I think it's 2nd for New Year orders.
Shame your order wasn't ready for your collection time but I guess these things happen at this time of year.

I'm not a complete dick, I know it won't go off on the stroke of midnight but I just expected a couple of days past Boxing Day on the use by date.

Maybe I'll have to start reading terms and conditions!

M and S tend to be chronic for use by dates. In our local one I have to check religiously because you get the odd expired item (not marked down).

Part of my traditional pick up of the M&S order is checking the dates, and seeing if any item needs swapping with a better dated one in store. My turkey breast had a date of 28th on it...

YANBU. Pretty much all their turkeys had a UB date of 26/12 - ridiculous

These were the ones on sale in the store, not online.

Did they not offer you Bucks Fizz, chocs or biscuits while you waited, they did in ours.

Yanbu, I'd expect a bit of leeway(sp?)

My big bit of sirloin which we just ate didn't expire until the beginning of Jan. That was Booths, not M&S. It came on 22nd December too!

Try Ocado next year. All the Christmas joints were delivered from 20th December guaranteed to have a sell by date of at least 28th December.

I have never given a toss about use by dates. They have an inbuilt safety factor anyway.

You have eyes and a nose to see if the meat is bad. If your that worried about it then freeze the one you want to use last and defrost it the day before use.

You would expect the meat to have a longer use by date than that but I suppose it depends on whether they make it clear when you order that it will only last until Christmas day.
I never order the food in advance for Christmas as I had a similar experience in the past. I prefer to buy the food on 23rd as nothing is ever out of stock and I think that then I will have more control over use by dates, size of joint etc.

Yes Mari they did but I don't drink and DD is a weird child and prefers a cheese scone to a chocolate biscuit and she had already had 2 juice boxes and one cheese scone.

I think I will stick to Ocado next year and just get red cabbage and chestnut stuffing in Marks.

DH and DS just ate the trifle we also got from there and were distinctly underwhelmed.

Most places state that the use by date is no later than the 26th. I cook it and keep in the fridge or make dishes and freeze it.

I don't understand why you want a longer use by if you are cooking them on Boxing Day and Christmas Day.

They will keep for a few more days AFTER they have been cooked.

For that YABU.

It's the principle; I personally hate having to defrost poultry, I'm always paranoid in case it hasn't defrosted properly, so try and avoid freezing whole turkeys/chickens if at all possible.

I also prefer to cook poultry a couple of days before its UB date rather than leave it right up until the date.

You said it was a SBD on the label not a use by date.

If you cook it today/tomorrow there's no issue

Or freeze it and cook later

Honestly I think you should chill out if this is the worst thing you have to worry about at Christmas

What have, I'm not the OP. All views my own...

It was Use By. Sorry.

I do have plenty of things to worry about, DD's ongoing health problems, huge family feud and an operation to look forward to in the new year.

Just thought I'd come on to ask for advice.

M&S always have short UBD, xmas or not. We used to do our food shop there and I had to go every 3 days to get food.

Why does it matter if you are cooking it all by then?

What have, I'm not the OP. All views my own

?

Some of it is already cooked, some needs to be cooked. Obviously am more worried about the pre cooked stuff.