Screw in Mc. Donald meal; no apology from the food chain

The screw which was found in the meal
The screw which was found in the meal

Suyash Karangutkar for आपका Times
Mumbai:

Despite a customer of theirs found a rusted screw in his meal, the US food chain did not bother to send him an apology but argued instead, Mumbai Bureau Chief gets you the entire story.

You must be frequent at Mc. Donald’s. Your kid must be loving the meal there as they offer happy meals but henceforth beware! Even you might accost a nail in French Fries or a fly in burger or coke.

Mihir Bijur found a screw in his meal
Mihir Bijur found a screw in his meal

A marketing professional from Kandivli, Mihir Bijur ordered a meal from this US food giant’s Kandivli outlet on the night of 21st December, 2013. Minutes after his meal was delivered to him, he who was curious to have it emptied the French fries in a dish. To his luck and the food chains fate, before Bijur could consume any of it, he found a huge screw. The screw in the fries, literally took him aback. Previously he had heard a lot about similar incidents but this was the first one he’d accosted and he decided to report it.

“I knew that the retailer won’t be able to help me out and so alongwith a photograph of it I directly tweeted to Mc. Donald in the US,” Bijur said while speaking to Aapka Times this morning.

Within an one hour, the tweet went viral. And 5 to 6 days later, he received a call from Mc. Donald Corporation’s General Manager Ritika Verma. “She kept on arguing and insisting that she knew her process very well. She eventually ended the conversation by saying that she’ll get back to me and that she needs to investigate how, when and if it happened. The word if really struck me as being a customer I was approaching her with a grievance. She could have apologized but she did not,” a disappointed Bijur said.

On Wednesday, he received an email and he demanded an apology at least but instead he was handled a stupid template that thanked him for sharing his feedback and assured that it will be shared with the retail. This template was the one they probably use for everybody. “This highlighted their ignorant attitude and revealed that they did not understand the magnitude of the grievance,” Bijur said.

The Letter that Bijur received from Mc. Donald Corporation.
The Letter that Bijur received from Mc. Donald Corporation.

On Social Networking, Bijur learned about many more and quite similar incidents through several people. He shared this too with the General Manager but she who claimed to know all her process clarified that she did not get in touch with Bijur because of his tweets.

Bijur received another mail from a lady Gauri Karnik, Mc. Donald, West and South. Bijur said that he later googled the lady and found out that she was a PR. Executive with the food chain. Now this was not done, says Bijur and that at least they should have asked some senior to deal this.

Online many have confessed of receiving a similar ill-treatment from the food chain. Some claim to have received flies in their burgers, cokes and frozen pattis in the burger, only burger but no pattis, etc.

“I know that kids are quite interested in the meals as they get a happy meal with it. Often kids don’t even check before eating. Such things can cause serious damage to them. It could have caused serious injuries to me had I not checked it before eating,” Bijur said.

He further added that although the consumer laws in India are not that strong but a US food chain like Mc. Donald cannot treat their Indian customers in such a manner.

Bijur currently is expecting an apology which has not been sent to him as yet.

 

(Suyash Karangutkar is Mumbai Bureau Chief at आपका Times and he can be reached via email at: suyashsince1998@gmail.com)

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