So I’m sure you’ve probably heard lots of stories about people finding strange stuff in their food and dismissed it as urban legend. Well, I can add one true story to that list.
Today we decided to have a cookout at the lake and stopped at the Price Chopper in Rutland, VT and pick up some charcoal, hot dogs, buns, and fruit. We arrived at the lake and everything was going great, we were eating hot dogs, yummy yummy, when I went to grab another bun out of the bag when something caught my eye.
“What is that?” I thought. I thought maybe it was some mold or maybe a bug had crawled in there. Nope.
It was a 3″ metal bolt! Needless to say, we were stunned, and not very hungry any more. We packed up and headed back to Rutland to see what Price Chopper had to say about this. I did stop and take the photos you see here as I was sure I wouldn’t get to see the evidence again.
After talking to three managers the amount of concern that Price Chopper has to offer me started at $0.89, the price of the rolls. Come on. It’s not like they’re stale or something, there’s a piece of machinery in there. Next offer was a $5.00 gift card, then a $10.00 gift card, and that was “all they can do.” What good does a frickin’ gift card do me? It’s very unlikely I will ever shop there again if this is the kind of quality control they have.
Update 6/14/04: Store Manager Gary Trudo called to talk about “the rolls.” Basically he let me know that the rolls are not made by Price Chopper but by Boyea-Fassetts and to make sure that my money was refunded. Yes, I got my $0.89 back.
Update 6/15/04: Price Chopper Corporate Claims Adjuster Lois Johnson called me today to check if anyone suffered an injury from the bolt. No, there was no direct injury from the bolt that remained in the package. She also said that the rolls were actually Freihofer made, and someone from there will be speaking with me soon.
Update 6/19/04: Recieved a letter from Lois Johnson, Claims Adjuster informing me that they are passing the matter on to Charles Freihofer Baking Company, Inc.
Update 6/23/04: No contact yet from Charles Freihofer Baking Company, Inc. They don’t seem to be too concerned with this.
Update 7/1/04: Called and left a message with Lois Johnson saying that I was concerned that it had been two weeks and I hadn’t heard from Charles Freihofer Baking Company, Inc. The next morning, before 9am, I recieved one call from her, apologizing, and two from Charles Freihofer Baking Company, Inc. with status updates. Basically they recieved the rolls and bolt “earlier this week” and are “analyzing” them.
Update 7/12/04: Received a letter today from Toby Arrow at George Weston Bakeries, the parent company of Freihofer’s. Mr. Arrow apologized in his letter for my “unpleasant experience”, and assured me that they have procedures to monitor that nothing enters the “product or package”, specifically metal detecting equipment. I guess it wasn’t working. He also hopes that “the enclosed reimbursement ($3.50) and store coupons (3 $2.00 off Freihofer product and 2 $2.00 off Arnold product) will encourage (me) to continue to use and enjoy our fine products.” I guess they’re just happy that nobody actually bit into that thing.