chipped tooth from foreign body in burger

[the_grey_squirrel]

I hope I'm posting this in the right part of the forum.

 

A few months ago, I was eating a burger (from a frozen ready meal) when I bit into something that broke part of a tooth. It felt like a bit of bone or glass, I'm not sure as I spat it out and rinsed my mouth immediately.

 

My dentist fixed the chipped tooth by filing it down. Since then it hasn't felt right. It's as if that tooth became sensitive, which it wasn't before.

 

I don't want to name the company at this stage. I contacted their customer services, they send me a bag to return the rest of the burgers for analysis which I did. They then sent me a letter saying they would pay my dentist bill. I sent them the bill and heard nothing since.

 

Has anyone else experienced something like this? How did the company deal with your complaint?

I'm really angry with them now and I want some compensation as well as the dentist bill paid.

[Bigmac versus]

Did they say what they found if anything seems lke they have admitted liability by paying the dentist bill or did they say this as a gesture of goodwill.

[the_grey_squirrel]

They didn't admit anything and make no mention of any findings in the burgers I sent back - not that I expected them to.

 

They worded it like this "I am sorry to hear that dental treatment was required and we would certainly wish to give sympathetic consideration to the reimbursement of these costs. Please send me the original copy of your dental bill".

[Bigmac versus]

You could write back reminding them that you were in distress due to this foreign matter.

[the_grey_squirrel]

Thanks, I am definitely contacting them again.

After reading the "spring roll containing a stone" thread, I have also decided to contact the food standard agency.

 

I still would like to hear from someone who went through the same thing, surely this must have happened to others?

[PriorityOne]

Knowing what's minced up and served up as "burgers" is enough to put you off for life... and that's without finding unidentified objects in there that break your teeth !!

 

Ugh !!

[the_grey_squirrel]

LOL

Actually since then, I haven't been able to eat things like sausages and burgers. Maybe I should thank them for putting me off junk food

 

Seriously now, after doing some research on the web I found out this company has done this to other customers:

They ask you to send in the foreign body or remaining food and then you never hear about their findings. I suspect they do this to make sure you don't keep any "evidence", rather than actually analysing the food. Maybe I'm too cynical for my own good.

[PriorityOne]

Just out of interest... which company is it ? I know of one company that advertises its sausages under a certain "Recipe"... which, when analysed on some TV programme made me feel sick.

 

Did wonder why they were always on offer though....

[the_grey_squirrel]

If you don't mind I won't post it just yet.

I'm giving them a last chance to put this right.

If they don't then I will post the company name and batch number of the burgers.

[Overdrawn]

Hi, About 4 or 5 years ago I chipped a tooth on a stone which was found in a hash brown from a famous fast food outlet. I took the chewed contents of my mouth (chipped tooth included) stright to the counter where I was offered a replacement hash brown - nothing more. I refused the replacement and asked to speak to the manager who placed the remains of the hash brown and the chewed food into a plastic bag for analysis. I received a letter about 6 weeks later with an apology stating that it was indeed stones found in the hash brown but this was perfectly normal as the potatoes had come from the ground!!!! As a gesture of goodwill they enclosed vouchers to the value of £10...I contacted them explaining that my tooth had undergone dental work and enclosed a copy of my bill...I eventually received a refund for the dental work 6 months later...

I also found a fingernail in a yogurt from a very famous high street store and returned the yogurt and nail to them which were sent off for analysis. I received a letter from them after a few weeks which stated that they could not confirm what the foreign object was as it had been "lost" in transit when en route for analysis, however they enclosed a cheque for £100 as a gesture of goodwill (seems a very generous gesture as they didn't know what it was...) and also some vouchers. Funnily enough I went into the store and purchased some pre-cooked chicken with my vouchers only to discover that the chicken was out of date, so yes you guessed it, I complained about the out of date chicken and received a full refund PLUS another £10 of vouchers...

I suppose that goes into the realms of another thread for another time but it amazes me how many out of date items there are in the fridges of my local supermarket...

[the_grey_squirrel]

received a letter about 6 weeks later with an apology stating that it was indeed stones found in the hash brown but this was perfectly normal as the potatoes had come from the ground!!!!

That's priceless :grin:

 

I wonder how these companies get away with it?

After all, it is an injury caused by their product. Isn't the onus on them to make sure their products are safe to eat?

[the_grey_squirrel]

I decided to name the company in case it helps anyone else who is getting the same abysmal customer service I did. Here are all the markings on the pack:

Birds Eye 4 beef quarter pounders with fresh onion

046867

11 2008 07:12

L7223HB124

[the_grey_squirrel]

Here is the letter from Birds Eye in jpeg format:

http://i25.tinypic.com/fvd7yd.jpg

 

They got their facts wrong.

I did not use that envelope to return my bill, I returned it later with another envelope from another letter from them.

I returned the burgers to them (I have proof of postage), they didn't analyze them. I can't return a foreign body which I spat out together with a bit of tooth I explained this very clearly in my letters to them.

They also contradict themselves, as they previously told me they never got my dentist's bill. In any case, it's irrelevant now.

 

There is nothing more I can do about it except give them the bad publicity they so richly deserve.

 

If anyone has the same problem, here is what you should:

- do NOT send any evidence to the company

- contact your local council, they will direct you to someone who's in charge of food safety. Send any evidence to them directly.