Slugs, Strawberries and Sixty Pounds (Safeway)

Member Name: pussycat

Product:	Safeway
Date:	06/08/00 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fabulous customer service, excellent compensation for distress

Disadvantages: Live slugs in the fruit, no explanation of how this happened

I have an extreme slug phobia (I don't think there is a technical term for it). It is so extreme that I can't walk past one on the grass - after all, they're notoriously speedy - it could easily dash up my leg! Well, phobias aren't rational, are they?

Anyway, due to this, I was exceptionally upset (that is putting it SO mildly) to find a slug in my strawberries that I had purchased from Safeway. It was only a baby slug but it was still really upsetting and I think it is pretty reasonable grounds for complaint even for someone with a more rational attitude towards slugs than mine.

I telephoned Safeway in virtual hysterics and they sent two employees to collect the slug and the strawberries from me. I live about ten miles away and they were there in about 20 minutes so a pretty good response. I was invited to go into the store for a refund and when I did they not only refunded the cost of the strawberries, they also gave me a ten pound Safeway voucher. I told them I didn't want the cake tin that they had taken the slug away in so they gave me another one from their stock even though I hadn't bought the original tin from Safeway. All the staff were thoroughly pleasant to me despite the fact that I'm sure they had a laugh about it when I wasn't there.

Within the week, I had a letter of apology from Safeway head office with a cheque for a further £50 by way of apology.

So basically, distressing though it was, I was sixty pounds and a new cake tin in profit.

It was also heartening that they took such a good stance on customer service. It didn't occur to me when I first telephoned that they would send someone to remove the slug - I just wanted to have a go at them. Despite the severity of my reaction, all the staff treated me with courtesy throughout the incident. When I went in to do my shopping the following week, one of the employees who had come out to my house offered to c
heck all my fruit and veg for me which was a really kind thought.

The one down side of this was that nobody ever explained how a live slug could be in their produce and not be picked up by their checking mechanisms but I suppose you can't have everything!

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