Ever written and complained to a sweet/snack company?

ToniTuddle

Just wondering if anyone here has ever felt the need to write and complain to a sweet company about a product they bought? If so what response did you get back from the company...if any!

This might be boarding on the whole "not allowed and it's gonna get locked as we don't want to be sued", I'm not too sure but that's fine if the Mods have to lock it!


I bought a Smarties ice-cream block/log(700ml). Looked damn good on the packet(as everything normally does).
Disappointed when I opened it and only SIX tiny mini smarties were on the top of the ice-cream log. When there is in fact suppose to be loads more covering the whole top of it.

Also found a twig in a packet of Tayto crisps....I really should have written and complained to them!

emeraldstar

A few times, yeah. Mainly Cadbury's. The chance of free Cadbury's chocolate is too good to pass up

Miaireland

Yes I have. I wrote to a couple of different companies. One was a crisp company when I found a piece of what turned out to be machinery in the pack. They sent me £20 postal order.

The other was a chocolate bar company where I bought was meant to be a ten pack of bars and it turned out to be six in the pack. They sent me a huge hamper of chocolate.

ToniTuddle

To think of all the free stuff I could have been getting all these years when getting dodgy packets of things!

>.<

Archeron

I once nearly choked on a button that was baked into a Store brand ginger nut. My mum wrote a letter and got a two pound gift voucher .

ha-ya-said-what

Nope, but I am thinking about one. It will be something along the lines of

"Dear Cadburys,

Please stop selling your UK manufactured crap in tins classed as "Cadbury's Roses" as after two sweets they turned my stomach and made me sick.

Incase your wondering why most shops are only stocking tins of Roses at the moment it's cos they are sold out of Celebrations and as they say "all that every gets left on the shelves at Christmas is the crap no one else wants."

Jesus Wept

Yes a few times.

In my youth, I recall myself and my cousin writing to Cadbury's because her Fruit and Nut bar was devoid of fruit or nuts, personally I can't stand fruit and nut bars, but it seemed like a valid reason to write to them.
I remember we decided to try and sound like an agrieved adult (because we thought, probably mistakenly that this would this would get a better response).

I remember writing that we were very 'annoyed' and then looking up the thesauaus on Microsoft Word (some archaic version) for a better word

Turns out we were extremely 'irked'.


I think I may have written to Cadbury again years afterwards when I found something weird in a bar.


Most recently I wrote to Trebor Basset because of this.

:eek:

callig

Not so long ago I had the misfortune of buying a packet of oats that contained a piece of glass and it wasn't until I had a spoonful of porridge in my mouth that I discovered it, luckily though it didn't do any damage.

That was one occasion I should have complained/notified the company but I just never got around to it. :rolleyes:

tbaymusicman

I did not so long ago bought a box of sugar puffs and they were burnt practically black but they wrote back and asked me to post the box!!And i was like wont be paying to post that being a broke student an all have not had sugar puffs since

PCPhoto

tbaymusicman wrote: »

I did not so long ago bought a box of sugar puffs and they were burnt practically black but they wrote back and asked me to post the box!!And i was like wont be paying to post that being a broke student an all have not had sugar puffs since

you should have posted a sample of some of them back (or photos of them) - if you posed the whole box they could have gotten "lost" in the post.

you could have gotten a nice "compensation package" from them.

I've never written to companies but remember in the 80's/90's my mom had written off to several companies for various different reasons (similar to the no fruit and nut in fruit and nut bar) ... anyways - remember a fairly decent size hamper arriving on one occasion.

Most companies these days have crap respect for their customer - if you have a problem - phone the helpline - you phone the helpline and after spending 15mins listening to crap elevator music - they take down the details.... and thats it !! ....

the culture of complaining to companies for small manufacturing issues has changed - nowadays - people go straight to a solicitor after the company gives them nothing - people believe they are entitled to "compensation" for finding something that isnt advertised on the box.

ToniTuddle

callig wrote: »

Not so long ago I had the misfortune of buying a packet of oats that contained a piece of glass and it wasn't until I had a spoonful of porridge in my mouth that I discovered it

Holy crap :eek:
That's just plain wrong!!

My aunt bought a loaf of bread(can't remember which one) and stuck into one of the slices was a dead moth. Pretty damn big the thing was. Cooked moth eeeeewwwwwww.
Though I've seen plenty little flies getting into loaves before, due to the little holes in the packets that most people don't notice.
(I worked in a shop)

Kevster

I once wrote to Cadbury's asking if they could make a once-off Easter-egg-sized Cadbury's Cream Egg for a special girl that I knew back then...

...they never replied.

ToniTuddle

Aww nice thought!

Imagine if they actually had have made you one.... wow....
Ok in fairness the one I'm imagining is the same size as a car ha

Yeah feic it. I'll write and complain to them. I don't actually want free stuff out of this. Only for them to sort themselves out and not have misleading packaging! If it's decorated on the box it should be decorated inside.

Kevster

yeh, just write to them, but if you actually want to maximise your chances of getting a response, make the letter look professional including a 'Dear whoever' and 'Yours sincerely' etc. Advertising is a big thing in Ireland and laws were passed over the past few years to ensure that misleading advertising on food packages could no longer be used. You could make reference to that if you wish.

The main legislation governing this is the European Communities’ (Labelling, Presentation, & Advertising of Food stuffs) Regulations, 2002; and this was implemented into Irish law as SI No. 483 of 2002.

It's been amended a few times too, most recently in 2007 as SI No. 376 of 2007

fonzy157

Totally agree with you about the tins of roses- thought it might have been of just been my taste buds!!
Bloody cadburys,selling uk tins of Roses here.There is no comparison with the taste between Irish and uk chocolate.
Have actually looked around to see if i can get a tin made in ireland but have had no luck! arghh

Mackleton

Girl I know once found a pebble in a Yoplait yoghurt so she wrote to them and they sent her a huge crate of Yoplait stuff.

Jay P

I wrote to Wrigleys for the laugh once because I bought chewing gum that was supposed to clean your teeth, but did nothing of the sort. They never replied

Namlub

No but I'm thinking I may write to Cadbury's as I found this big bit of black rubber in a Turkish bar a few weeks ago.

emeraldstar

A few years ago? Eh, good luck with that!

cjmcork

I bought a box of roses once and one of the sweets was wrapped in gaffer tape, I swear to god! so I sent it back to them with the box, etc and I got some bloody hamper back - I have to say I was giving the chocolate away by the time I was finished...............fair play to them!

I didn't expect anything in return, but I genuinely believe that companies should be made aware of these things to make sure that the customer is getting what they pay for.........

Namlub

emeraldstar wrote: »

A few years ago? Eh, good luck with that!

I said a few weeks?

star-pants

Yeah I've written to....
Weetabix, Cadburys, Rowntree, Nestle, Mr Kipling, Kraft... possibly others..
You usually get a response and some are nice and send you something too.

ToniTuddle

star-pants wrote: »

Yeah I've written to....
Weetabix, Cadburys, Rowntree, Nestle, Mr Kipling, Kraft... possibly others..
You usually get a response and some are nice and send you something too.

Wow! That's loads....
Did they all have some product that was not up to standard?

Mr Kipling :eek: Surely not! Never see those ads anymore....

star-pants

Weetabix was asking about their packaging, which in fairness has remained the same for donkey's years, my mother just used to moan about how it would rip and weetabix would go everywhere, so I enquired as to their packaging, they said it's the best for keeping things from getting mushed and together.

Cadburys was... 'heatbloom' you know when the chocolate goes all white and manky?

Rowntrees was...ooh jelly tots - they were covered in white powder, turns out twas corn flour that stuck to them

Nestle can't recall, or Mars for that matter, could have been that 'heat bloom' again.

Mr Kipling was... hmm .. think it was like a bite out of a wrapped cake or something.

Miracleman

Archeron wrote: »

I once nearly choked on a button that was baked into a Store brand ginger nut. My mum wrote a letter and got a two pound gift voucher .

Your LIFE was in danger and all you got was two lousy pound :eek: :P :P

I've never written in to any company before but oddly enough this thread is totally making me want to receive a defective product just to have something to go nuts writing a letter about haha!

1071823928

i bought a gone off aero bar and i sent it back to them with a letter and they sent me a check for €8!!
my brother sent a rice krispies bar back because it was burnt but i cant remember did he get anything?
my sister sent back a bag of cheesy popcorn (the dark blue bag kind!) as it wasnt cheesy enough and they sent her a check for 30p or whatever the price was at the time!!
but the best yet is when my dad found a slug in a tin of peas!!! :eek: and he rang them and a woman came out to the house and gave us 2 huge boxes of tinned foods!!! it was amazing, il never forget that day!!!

ToniTuddle

A slug??? ewwwwwww

Excellent stuff though.
Mate went and bought two bars of chocolate and left them at my house turns out they are out of date by nearly two months. Bringing them to the shop tomorrow! As don't think it's Kinders fault for the shop being crappy with their dates

Ann22

My friend bought a bottle of orange juice, I can't think of the name of it..think it was Fruice. It was in a glass bottle anyway..Coca Cola made it. She got it in our work canteen machine..before she opened it she noticed something dark floating in it. It was a snail!! Well a shell anyway, all stripey. Maybe the snail was curled up in it. She rang Coke who asked her to return it but she'd become quite taken with it..still has it in her attic.

Novella

I don't know if anyone remembers Dan bars.



... I wrote complaining that I'd bought one and was horrified to find loads of black stones in it.




Yeah, they were sugar crystals. That was embarrassing.

Dull and Boring

Novella wrote: »

I don't know if anyone remembers Dan bars.



... I wrote complaining that I'd bought one and was horrified to find loads of black stones in it.




Yeah, they were sugar crystals. That was embarrassing.

I Love Dan Bars!!!!! Especially the "Black Stones"!

shanagarry

When I was young one of my cousins discovered that Cadburys sent you lots of chocolate if you had a complaint. So it practically a competition to discover something worthy of complaint. I remember getting a present of the smallest box of Milk Tray and they had 'heatbloom' so I sent it to Cadbury and got the biggest box of Milk Tray I had ever seen back, I was made up for months!