Stone In Packet Of Peanuts = Chipped Front Tooth

[magnum p.i.]

Hi ,

These peanuts were purchased from The Co-Op .

I made an initial complaint via their freephone number .

They sent me a Jiffy bag in order to return the offending stone .

I took various photos before dispatch .

I also included a letter informing them that i had seen a dentist and was awaiting a written quote for the cost of repair which i expected them to reimburse me for .

In reply i received a letter of apology and an explanation from the supplier as to how foreign bodies occasionally go undetected .

I received a £10 coupon , but no mention of my dental fees .

 

I now have the quote from my dentist (£190) and a set of photos taken by them and put onto CDR that show the damage .

 

I am going to send the above articles along with a covering letter .

 

Here's where I would very much appreciate some help !

 

Obviously i want them to know i mean business and am not prepared to be fobbed off with a paltry coupon (which i will be returning) .

Can i give them a time frame in which i expect to hear back from them ?

 

Or , should i consider contacting a 'Claims Direct' type organization to see if they would be interested in this ?

 

Many thanks for your time in advance .

[saintly_1]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

I will move your post to the General Consumer Issues Forum

 

saintly

site team

[magnum p.i.]

thankyou saintly_1 ,

apologies for posting in the wrong forum .

[sailor sam]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

I suggest you write back to them enclosing a copy of the quote from your dentist and of course the coupon stating that the latter is unacceptable to you as compensation. You welcome their proposals in dealing with your dental costs plus the stress/pain involved within the next 14 days or you will refer the matter to trading standards/consumer direct. Send by recorded delivery and keep a copy.

 

Do let us kinow when you get a response.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[magnum p.i.]

that's great advice -

thank you sailor sam .

i will report back with their reply .

[magnum p.i.]

Hi there ,

 

i actually replied over 14 days ago with the following letter :

 

Re: Chipped front tooth caused by stone in C*-O****** Large Peanuts .

Ref ****** .

 

 

 

Dear Ms W*****,

 

Thank you for your reply to my letter dated 10th October 2010 .

 

My partner (Miss M*** I***) appreciates your concern for her injury and was interested to read the supplementary explanation for the presence of the foreign body, kindly supplied by J**** W**** on behalf of P*** D*** Peanut Company Ltd .

 

In light of the dental cost involved in repairing Miss I***'s damaged tooth, she feels that the enclosed £10 voucher is somewhat derisory and therefore unacceptable , hence i am returning it to you attached to this letter.

 

I would like to request a proposal from you which deals more realistically with the dental cost , stress , pain , and lost working hours endured - within 14 days . If a satisfactory conclusion cannot be reached we will have no option but to refer this matter to Trading Standards/Consumer Direct .

 

Please contact me at the above address or by email at ***@*****.com

Yours sincerely

 

****** *******

 

Enclosures: Dental treatment plan supplied by *** *** Dental Clinic . A4 printed photo of chipped front tooth . £10 Co-Operative voucher .

 

 

What would you advise i do next ?

Give them more time or contact Trading Standards/Consumer Direct immediately ?

 

Many thanks in advance .

[sailor sam]

Did you send the letter by recorded post? If so check to see they received it and then contact Trading Standards. They may take action on your behalf or advise you to send a final letter before action (LBA) and then take possible court action to recover your expences. If this is the option you decide to take, I would be seeking compensation for pain and stress also. This may need a solicitor to assess wht that equates to.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[magnum p.i.]

Thank you once again for your advice sailor sam .

 

Yes , i sent the letter by Recorded Delivery , and yes , delivery was confirmed .

 

I will follow your advice and report back on any developments .

 

Magnum

[andrew1]

I had exactly the same situation with a stone particle in a bag of pumpkin seeds from Holland and Barratt. They sent me a £50 voucher after I'd told them I had broken a back tooth, a molar which needed a crown.

 

They did not give in lightly, but after a few serious words I ended up with £500 gold crown paid for....(My teeth are worth more now than I am! LOL) Keep at them and settle for nothing less than it costs you. As I said to them, this may only be a broken tooth to you, but I've had this tooth over 50 yrs and it's a part of my body you've just wrecked...!

[magnum p.i.]

Will do Andrew ... and well done on your crown .

 

My partner had a call today acknowledging the letter i sent ... the person said that it was being looked at and that we can expect to be contacted in due course .

 

I'm not quite sure how long 'due course' is ... i'm thinking 5/6 days , any longer than that and i will contact Trading Standards .

 

[postggj]

A company as a rule must be allowed eight weeks to rectify a complaint

[andrew1]

A company as a rule must be allowed eight weeks to rectify a complaint

 

 

Well maybe, but with a broken tooth needing urgent attention that could be encouraged to be shorter, although I appreciate what you are saying postgg.

[magnum p.i.]

A company as a rule must be allowed eight weeks to rectify a complaint

 

Thanks postggj .

 

That would throw a small spanner in the works as it is a front tooth that is damaged .

 

Although the injury isn't painful as such , my partner's employment involves her being the first point of contact for clients . It is very important that she maintains a high standard of presentation . This adds an additional element of urgency to the equation

 

I'm thinking it might be worth writing another letter next week explaining the above ?

 

Is it advisable to wait for a full reply before having treatment , or is it ok to go ahead with getting the tooth repaired ?

 

Thanks .

[postggj]

the point i am making is as its a cosmetic situation

 

get the tooth fixed and then go after them for the bill

[magnum p.i.]

Hi ,

 

To update : I am happy to report that a cheque was received for the full cost of repair (£190).

 

There was no acknowledgment of the stress caused or working hours lost through time spent traveling for treatment though .

 

I would like to thank everyone for their valuable advice .

 

One last question -

 

The dentist told my partner that the repair (in which the chip is filled with a composite) will not be permanent . It could last 1 year , it could last 2 years .

It is inevitable that at some point she will have to have the same chip filled again .

Would we be within our rights to expect the peanut seller to pay for future repairs ?

 

Many thanks again .

[sailor sam]

Hi ,

 

To update : I am happy to report that a cheque was received for the full cost of repair (£190).

 

There was no acknowledgment of the stress caused or working hours lost through time spent traveling for treatment though .

 

I would like to thank everyone for their valuable advice .

 

One last question -

 

The dentist told my partner that the repair (in which the chip is filled with a composite) will not be permanent . It could last 1 year , it could last 2 years .

It is inevitable that at some point she will have to have the same chip filled again .

Would we be within our rights to expect the peanut seller to pay for future repairs ?

 

Many thanks again .

 

I'm not sure I would accept that to be honest, so my advice is not to cash the cheque just yet. I would of thought you were within your rights to ask for some compenstion for pain, stress and loss of income ect. Have you run this by trading standards to see what they think?

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[alexlondon]

I had a similar instance with pitted olives from sainsbury's (taste the difference - yes I did!). It broke my wisdon tooth in half. Cost of crown 750. Sainsbury's plainly refused any refund. They did not even refund the cost of the product!

 

Not sure whether:

 

1) Give it to a lawyer (no claim no fee)

2) Write to them again threating small claims court.

3) Issuing Small claims court directly (have done it before for completely different reasons).

 

Any suggestions?

 

What's the usual damage for a broken tooth and stress? To be claimed in addition to costs.

[andrew1]

I had a similar instance with pitted olives from sainsbury's (taste the difference - yes I did!). It broke my wisdon tooth in half. Cost of crown 750. Sainsbury's plainly refused any refund. They did not even refund the cost of the product!

 

Not sure whether:

 

1) Give it to a lawyer (no claim no fee)

2) Write to them again threating small claims court.

3) Issuing Small claims court directly (have done it before for completely different reasons).

 

Any suggestions?

 

What's the usual damage for a broken tooth and stress? To be claimed in addition to costs.

 

 

It's a difficult one to answer that, Sainsburys are a mighty big organisation and they will no doubt have thousands of people writing in with similar claims, some legit, some not, so I guess they begin by flatly refusing as a starter.

 

Evidence was what I carried mine through with and I had the particles of stone to show for it. Fortunately there was more than one in the bag which I kept and one I sent with my claim. At least forensically the particle could be traced back. Now how you go about this with a olive stone I'm not too sure.

 

I'd suggest preparing your ground first by talking to as many people as you can who understand these kinds of claims so the solicitors are a good place to start. Even if you just sound them out it at least gives you an idea of what you are up against and leave the claim itself until you are comfortable you have a chance. I can't imagine Sainsburys being scared of threats of litigation, but if it was attached to publicity then that's another story as bad publicity is not something they cherrish. I'd go for the legal route and prepare first. I prepare anything I'm doing first so you can anticipate where you're at at any one time and remain in control as best you can.

 

As I said, I got my £500 and that, in my opinion is the least they can do to compensate you for the loss as no matter what they say, this is a part of your body and it's a nightmare having to continuously have the crown repaired or replaced and damned expensive too. If it's a long term issue they need to make sure that it's covered.

 

Good luck.

[magnum p.i.]

I'm not sure I would accept that to be honest, so my advice is not to cash the cheque just yet. I would of thought you were within your rights to ask for some compenstion for pain, stress and loss of income ect. Have you run this by trading standards to see what they think?

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

I held back from taking this to Trading Standards and opted to badger them myself - which worked (to a degree) .

I think I will sound them out now , especially as we are concerned about the question of future repairs !

Would you have any idea regarding this question ?

 

thanks

[alexlondon]

It's a difficult one to answer that, Sainsburys are a mighty big organisation and they will no doubt have thousands of people writing in with similar claims, some legit, some not, so I guess they begin by flatly refusing as a starter.

 

Evidence was what I carried mine through with and I had the particles of stone to show for it. Fortunately there was more than one in the bag which I kept and one I sent with my claim. At least forensically the particle could be traced back. Now how you go about this with a olive stone I'm not too sure.

 

I'd suggest preparing your ground first by talking to as many people as you can who understand these kinds of claims so the solicitors are a good place to start. Even if you just sound them out it at least gives you an idea of what you are up against and leave the claim itself until you are comfortable you have a chance. I can't imagine Sainsburys being scared of threats of litigation, but if it was attached to publicity then that's another story as bad publicity is not something they cherrish. I'd go for the legal route and prepare first. I prepare anything I'm doing first so you can anticipate where you're at at any one time and remain in control as best you can.

 

As I said, I got my £500 and that, in my opinion is the least they can do to compensate you for the loss as no matter what they say, this is a part of your body and it's a nightmare having to continuously have the crown repaired or replaced and damned expensive too. If it's a long term issue they need to make sure that it's covered.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks for all this.

 

I still have evidence from the olive and the jar. I am keen of not wasting too much time on this. I'll call two solicitors for advice (any recommendations?) and send them a last letter stating impending legal action. They have failed to settle with me for 750. I will now add damages and the stress of going through the pain for 2 weeks (due to problems with nerves in the exposed tooth).

 

I think they will insist that the jar contains a notice that traces of seed may still be present. Yet I cannot see any other way of eating stuffed olives other than putting them in your mouth and chewing them with care.

 

Thanks

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.

[alexlondon]

As an update to this, I am taking Sainsbury's to small claims court. They passed it to lawyers who are strenously defending liability and asking for all sorts of information and playing all the usual tricks with small claims courts about documents not being received etc.

 

Luckily I have all the documents and have the time to respond to all he solicitors letters.

 

Oh I forgot: Sainbury's lost a customer spending on average 100Pounds a week - won't be long because they come off worse even if they win in court, which I sincerely doubt.

 

Will post the result after the hearing.

[andrew1]

Well good luck alexlondon, these things seem to go on forever and a day once you get into legals. Let's hope your wait will not be in vain.