Tesco - out of date food

[thunder786]

Hello all.

 

yesterday i went into Tesco and bought 2 ready meals with 2 jacket potatoes each. I took them home, ate one happily and a 10 year old ate the other one.

 

It wasn't until today that i was informed that the use by date on the outer package of the ready meals was 22 Oct 2007. My first thought was that this is a printing error, however it might not be and a year is a seriously long time. I have checked both packages and they say the same thing.

 

What can i do about this matter?

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Telephone your local environmental health department

[Gazza112]

Hi khy86

 

This has happened to me, with Somerfield where there products was a year out of date on the shelf.

 

Gaz

[thunder786]

This was bought in a different county to where im from. Maybe i should contact their department.

 

Alsa Gazza, did you eat yours? and what was the outcome, because a year is stupidly out of date.

[Gazza112]

Hi khy86

 

No, i was lucky.

But there was another case where i wen't into Tesco's and brought a tin of Fruit, to find a steel nut inside the tin. Took that back to Tesco's and they replaced it with another brand. The thing was when i got home and opened that tin there was a piece of string inside the tin.

 

 

Gaz

[thunder786]

LOL what are the chances, maybe it was deliberate.

 

What do people here think that i can do. Do you think i can claim some compensation, because i might not be sick or dying or anything but its principal. 1 Year out of date is just taking the ****.

[MrShed]

Having worked at Tesco's, I would be outrightly amazed if it was actually a year out of date. There are checks in place to prevent this sort of thing - and although yes, checks are missed etc, these are done weekly(or in the case of chilled food, often daily) - so 52 would have had to have been missed to not spot this.

[MrShed]

In other words, suspect it is a misprint. In any event, inform trading standards etc, as it is an offence.

[Gazza112]

Hi khy86

 

Yes, you can claim compansation as long as you have the receipt and packaging to hand. My friend brought something just out of date, and was given £30 vouchers but that was in Asda's.

 

Gaz

[thunder786]

£30, its a year, i was hoping for £30,000 . o well one can only hope. Do you think i will get more if i pretend i have stomach cramps . I think ill get some advice from the citizens advice bureau.

 

and yes i have packaging and receipt

[MrShed]

I assume my post has been ignored...?

[Lula]

pretending to be sick to claim compensation is fraud, this site does not endorse or condone this practise in the slightest, it is probably as Sheddy says and there was a printing error on the packaging, you should bring it to their attention, they may reward you.

[thunder786]

p.s. i was joking about the sick thing u fool. Which is why i put the wink.

 

sorry Mrshed, i missed your post, do you have any idea what Tesco will do in this situation. Anyway ill inform some sort of agency and see what happens, then ill check with Tesco.

[Lula]

just checking

[MrShed]

The response will clearly be based upon the actual situation.

 

If it is a misprint, I suspect you will get an apology - nothing more, other than maybe a refund of the product cost. If you write to head office, you may get a token goodwill gesture, but in store they will offer nothing more(I dont think!).

 

If it is a genuinely OOC product, then obviously you should be looking at something more significant.

 

You can make a formal complaint via the appropriate RP book(there is a code like RP101 but I havent worked there for years so cant remember it!). I would say that you MUST ensure that this book is completed. If it is not, you know they are:

 

a) not taking the complaint seriously and;

b) not going to investigate whether it was in fact OOC(out of code) or not.

 

You should receive a copy of the complaint form.

 

You will be asked to provide the original packaging(it has all the relevant supplier codes on etc). These are in fact carefully looked after, but I would advise on the safe side to either photocopy the packaging or copy down and keep safe any and all codes on the packaging(even if they look insignificant).

[europa16]

I also think it is probably a misprint on the packaging (exactly 1 year out of date is a big coincidence). If it has been that far out of date, wouldn't it have smelled odd, and looked off before you had even taken a mouthful?

[paulgmb]

I also find regularly out of date produce on the shelves in Tesco Windsor but to be fair also in Waitrose Windsor and also Waitrose in Maidenhead.

It is not always chilled food that is out of date and yes Mr. Shed it is possible to find produce well out of date. I found a box of cereal 6 months out of date and found tins almost a year out of date, fish and fruit.

My local Tesco does not rotate stock, the fridges are often running at the incorrect temperature and I always personnally look for the freshest produce (you pay your money, you take your choice) which more often than not is at the front of the shelf whilst the older stock is at the back!

This problem I believe stems from the fact that Tesco seem to be displaying stock now in boxes on the shelf rather than taking stock out of the boxes and displaying them individually.

I'm so used to being overcharged at my local Tesco, on average once a fortnight that I check and memorise prices as well as checking all sell by dates. What bothers me is the attitude of the staff when you point out that produce is out of date. The other week after being overcharged twice in the same visit and insisting on talking to a manager about it and listening to all the usual waffle told him that I had spotted 2 products out of date, sausages and cream. Tell someone else he said I'm already late for picking up my wife!

In Waitrose the products in their Windsor store were out of date by a few days on 2 seperate occassions. In Maidenhead Waitrose I found a packet of Bacon nearly 4 weeks out of date and was also overcharged on a seperate visit. Their attitude when you point out you have been overcharged is give you YOUR money back, no compensation (unlike Tesco) and usher you out of the store as quickly as possible in case anyone hears you complain!

Do check the sell by dates but also your receipts. Every little helps!!

 

Regards,

 

Paul.

 

P.S. You could contact Trading Standards/Consumer Direct (useless) or Environmental Health but in my experience they only prosecute small shops. Tesco are far too powerful.

[MrShed]

I never said its not possible. I said its unlikely.

[spiritgirl59]

Hiya friends

 

I complained to Tesco a few months ago about some watercress that was "off" when I opened it, even though the sell by date wasn't for a few days. I phoned up their Customer Services line and the girl on there was really helpful, she just wanted the bar codes etc., off the packaging, and they refunded my payment for the product plus sent me a Tesco £5 gift card.

 

Also had a problem with Sainsbury's cat food just a couple of weeks ago. A box of 12 pouches - when I opened the outer box 3 of the pouches had punctures in and the product had gone off I phoned up their Customer Services and after giving the bar codes, date of purchase, which store from etc., again they refunded my money plus added some Nectar points to my card. As the outer box had been sealed the girl said it was probably a machinery problem at the packaging plant and they would report it.

 

So I would suggest speaking to their customer services first of all, because if it is a misprint (and surely it must be, I can't imagine a product like a ready meal being a year out of date not having dissolved into a stinking mush by now!) based on my own experience they will be very interested in the details on the packaging, and will offer you some kind of compensation.

 

Good luck!

Love SG

[gyzmo]

Can I just clear up a couple of things that may help here.

 

Use by: This is used when food is likely to be hazardous to consumer after the use by date. It is an offence to sell food beyond it's use by date

 

Best before : This indicates that food will be OK to eat after the best before date (the exception is eggs which cannot be sold within one week of the best before date). However, the quality may not be as good as before. It should (not must) however be brought to the buyers attention that the best before date has passed.

 

In any case, the Food Safety Act 1990 contains the offence of selling food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded. This offence can occur even if the expiry date has not been reached.

 

This is more relevant I suppose to best before dates, as the issues of use by dates is an offence in itself.

 

The best advice is to look on the food standards agency's website where there is a link as to what you should do with certain foods [link to follow]

[zara958]

Hiya, i work in a local store. been there for quite a long time now.ive always worked on the fresh departments. it will most likely be a printing error as most others have said. very highly unlikely to have been missed for a whole year!!!! if it was i think the whole store would have smelled it!. in my store date checks are carried out every single day on dairy, bakery and produce and some things do get missed but useualy get spotted the next day (not great, but does happen) it is more likely to happen on grocery items though (tins, cereals ect) as checks on them only get carried out every couple of weeks or so and they don't get rotated.

[gyzmo]

I've seen produce 3 years out of date. It can and does happen.

[zara958]

i suppose it depends on the size of the store. i work in a relativly smaller store. if something like that was to ever happen i would be astonished. 3 years? it must have been on the floor under a shelf surely!!?? i understand its probably harder for bigger supermarkets to keep tracks of things. customers like to plonk things anywhere.

[boavista1952]

Their attitude when you point out you have been overcharged is give you YOUR money back, no compensation (unlike Tesco) and usher you out of the store as quickly as possible in case anyone hears you complain!

 

 

Why should you get compensation for being overcharged:confused:

[paulgmb]

Why should you not get compensation and why should they act as though they are doing you a favour by returning the money [EDIT] that you paid?

 

Tesco I imagine do it as a gesture of good will. The attitude of Waitrose is, how dare you complain and get out of our store. Whats their slogan? You deserve better/deserve a better supermarket?! We certainly do!!

 

Don't forget all the people who don't notice they have been overcharged.

 

Puts shoplifting in a new light doesn't it:roll:

Edited November 14, 2008 by Rooster-UK
Libelous comment removed.