Off milk

[Steve]

A bloke came into the shop yesterday with a 2 litre bottle of our milk dated 15th oct. It was the 16th yesterday. OK, so he explains.

"I was pouring out this milk yesterday, and it was curdled. It should have still been OK, given its date was the 15th. This dairy is notorious for its milk going off early."

So I was in a generous mood and he seemed a nice guy:
"We have just switched to this supplier, I'm not sure why, since we had our own-brand milk for years before, and it was the same price. But you're right, it shouldn't have been off yesterday, I'll exchange this milk for a newer dated one for you, FOC."

I disappear into the back, and get him a fresh one dated 24th straight from the coldroom. I took it out and gave it to him.

Anyway, he's still not happy. He wants his money back AS WELL! He claimed that other shops do this when this has happened to him in the past. He must be very unlucky with milk then. I told him I couldn't give him his money back too, and gave him our customer services freephone number.

Do you think this was reasonable for him to ask for his money back as well? To be honest, I think I was being generous giving him a full replacement - he brought back a half empty 2 litre milk, I could have been mean and replaced it with a 1 litre milk.

 

[Diyisfun]

I think you did well replacing the milk.

 

[Richardp]

I rekon he's on the make, made an art form of it and even gets a government grant for it

 

[pickles]

I think he was taking the ****.

 

[keifster]

Tell him to get his fridge serviced!

 

[notb665]

I think he was taking the p**s.

and the milk.

 

[Thermo]

i think he was pulling the udder one and milking it!

 

[JonB]

He`s probably returning milk out of an older carton.

 

[securespark]

I have worked in retail, and had snotty customers too.

When one of my customers did exactly the same, I told him that if he wanted his money back AND the product replaced, he should have bought his food from Safeway (then the only company to offer this guarantee).

I told him we were fufilling his statutory rights by replacing the food.

 

[Steve]

Some of you are implying I ought to have not done anything, however, had i told him i cannot help, customer services would have been down on me like a tonne of bricks when he told them.

Someone mentioned statutory rights - Yes, I had fulfilled these, but he was on about going to trading standards or something similar because I wouldn't give his money back!

Secure, did you work at Heron?

 

[eggplant]

Im sure the sale of goods act has "different bits" that relate to foodsuff, and the normal return if faulty within 28 days etc doesnt count (actually ict cant do thinking about it lol) you could have argued that the customer hadnt kept the milk refrigerated, and indeed the fact that it was 1/2 used would give the impression that it cant have been THAT bad or 1/2 of it wouldt have gone! That said, as you say its a hassle if he reported it, no doubt not being a multibilliion pound outfit (well you might be but I'm assuming not) then of course all the suitys would have been round sticking their noses in and finding fault.
As for the exchange AND a refund - no way - and especially since the customer mentioned that they got this service from someone else indicates they make a habbit of it.

 

[securespark]

Secure, did you work at Heron?

No. I started life in Shopper's Paradise, an off-shoot of Fine-Fare (bought out later by Somerfield), then moved to Sainsbury's, then to
B & Q.

As for what you said, I think you're right. You must give the customer the benefit of the doubt by refunding EITHER money OR replacing product. If the customer is still not happy, refer him to CS.

I don't know Co-op policy here, but the bigger boys send back all returned goods to the respective supplier , along with a request for a refund of handling charges of around £40.00.

PER ITEM...


I'm sure this doesn't happen in your store, but I have been to many small stores (including T E stores) where stock rotation is non-existant, and you can end up with short dates at the back. By the time they are purchased the date can be gone (or very nearly gone).

In fact, my local T E store manager (prat!) says the reason that he ends up selling a lot of OOD goods is that the customers are always going to the back for the fresher stuff and messing things up.....

My reply was that he must never face-up the shelves, otherwise he would notice this and put things straight! Plus, when the guys restock, they should always make sure the dates are in the right order!

When I started in retail, sell-by's had only just been introduced, and bar-codes were a novelty! (Giving the game away, now!!)

I was taught that it was imperative to rotate stock. Before sell-bys, it was very difficult to do this, as you were unsure what products on your shelf were "younger".

 

[Steve]

And dont forget, somewhere else will always go one step further to please their customers. Somewhere else ALWAYS have EVERYTHING in stock, and EVERYTHING is cheaper there too.

I wish a customer would tell me some day where exactly "somewhere else" is, i'd sure like to become one of their customers!

 

[Steve]

Secure, did you work at Heron?

No. I started life in Shopper's Paradise, an off-shoot of Fine-Fare (bought out later by Somerfield), then moved to Sainsbury's, then to B & Q.

Oh, im sorry about that.

lol.

Thought you said you used to work at a frozen food place named after a bird??? Cant find where you said it now.

 

[hermes]

crafty don't be tight. you should have given him the milk, given him the money back, washed his car and offered him a date with your sister. I don't know what customer services are coming to nowadays.