1. Mr White telephoned Waitrose on 9 January. He was requested to
return the product and foreign material for identification and
appropriate action.
2. The Waitrose supplier was alerted. The pest control records at the
production site indicated no signs of rodent activity, but an
inspection was arranged as a precaution.
3. The product and foreign material was submitted to the City of
Westminster Environment and Leisure Department on the afternoon of 10
January. An initial verbal report from Mr Wilkins there indicated
that the foreign material was vegetable matter.
4. A portion of the sample was returned to Waitrose on Friday 11
January. Examination confirmed it to be an irregularly shaped, very
thin fragment of vegetable material, size approximately 1cm x 0.5cm.
There were some signs of carbonisation and some adhered debris. The
cellular structure indicated plant material. There was no evidence of
any hardened structure, bone or hair. A small portion was stained
using Gramms Iodine and was found to be positive for starch. These
results were consistent with the skin of a potato, one of the
ingredients of the product.
5. The fragment of skin should not have been present in the product.
Waitrose has written to Mr White to apologise for the inconvenience
and concern arising from this incident.
Waitrose Customer Services on Usenet? Whatever next?
Come on Tris., 'fess up.
On the other hand:
> C:\WINDOWS>tracert 62.172.110.49
>
> Tracing route to content1.johnlewis.co.uk [62.172.110.49]
> over a maximum of 30 hops:
Ah well, better safe than sorry eh?
Path: uni-berlin.de!fu-berlin.de!isdnet!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!
postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail
From: customer...@waitrose.co.uk (Waitrose Customer Service)
Newsgroups: uk.local.london,uk.food+drink.misc
Subject: Waitrose's response to Mr White's posting
Date: 14 Jan 2002 09:18:20 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com/
Lines: 26
Message-ID: <2b138f9a.02011...@posting.google.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 62.172.110.49
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-Trace: posting.google.com 1011028700 13024 127.0.0.1 (14 Jan 2002
17:18:20 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: groups...@google.com
NNTP-Posting-Date: 14 Jan 2002 17:18:20 GMT
Xref: uni-berlin.de uk.local.london:251381 uk.food+drink.misc:49579
Surely they have their own newsserver? The address seems good, but
Google? No offence to Googlers, but....
Anyway
Cheers
Pete
A *response*... (gasp) *within* Usenet?!
(jaw hits floor)
Blogged and forwarded to The Register.
(Mind, they could have had the courtesy to post this within the original
thread...)
--
Manic
shave my èyébrows to reply
http://www.bloggerheads.com
They just did.
Perhaps if he had tasted the foreign body he wouldn't have jumped to
conclusions. I must say, I wondered all along how he knew it belonged to
a rat and not to any other rodent.
Jane
On its feet? Must have been a Hobbit
Jane
Someone is actually on the ball? Wow.
OK, while we've got you here, can I ask that Chris Evans be banned from your
Godalming outlet? He never buys anything, and only turns up for the
attention...
--
Manic
shave my čyébrows to reply
http://www.bloggerheads.com
Must admit that I was a bit aghast when I read the orginal claim.
Waitrose has always been my favourite supermarket. I just wish that it
was 100 miles nearer and I was richer!
(Mind you they went down a bit in my estimation when I read that they
sold instant mash)
Well done Waitrose!
--
Discounted books about food: <http://www.thisbritain.com/Books4Cooks.htm>
------------------------------------------
WellI am glad my theory was seen to be true.
It was a lot of fuss about nothing....a wind up.
Initially i thought it was driven by someone with a grudge with Waitrose.
Lets face it anyone who mouths off to that extent without waiting for
Waitrose to respond
must have thier judgement questioned.
Not the sort of thing I could ever be accused of :)
activator
I feel I should point out here that this is *not* the sort of thing that
Tristán would do.
He would, however, be inclined to believe Carol Vorderman when she claims
that she can solve his debt problems...
<snip>
I worked there for two years (on Saturdays) and must say (modestly) that the
staff there were some of the nicest I've ever met. And you wouldn't believe
how many of the customers would tip you for delivering their goods to their
cars in this day and age!
Great days, great days.
Spudgun
P.S. Who's filling the biscuit isle these days?
>went down a bit in my estimation when I read that they
>sold instant mash)
pre prepared mash, please :-)
--
Mike Reid
Walking the Thames path "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk/thames.htm"
>all sorts of unnecessary stuff like clothes
?
>The only quibble I have is that their
>car-park is on a huge slope but after all these years, their customers
>are used to that!
but unlike Tesco, the trolleys have a parking brake!
Me too.
>
> (Mind you they went down a bit in my estimation when I read that they
> sold instant mash)
Me too.
>
> Well done Waitrose!
Hurrah!
Mary
I totally agree. Lets be fair to Waitrose, they did reply, and they did
post the results here for members of the newsgroups to read, now I
suspect that may well be a first. a customer service set up actually
reporting back to customers. shows there is at least one store that is
up with the times.
Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk
>I totally agree. Lets be fair to Waitrose, they did reply, and they did
>post the results here for members of the newsgroups to read, now I
>suspect that may well be a first. a customer service set up actually
>reporting back to customers. shows there is at least one store that is
>up with the times.
And hopefully all these "pro" postings will outweight the "antis" if
anyone searches for Waitrose in Google Groups!
No grudge at all. We do 99.99% of our shopping at Waitrose (as it's next
door to my wife's workplace) and have had no problems at all.
To be honest, the resemblance to a rat's foot was uncanny. I could not start
tearing it apart to find out whether there was blood or bone inside as this
would have contaminated the specimen.
I was horrified at finding the object and, whilst not toxic, it still
shouldn't have been there. Especially in their expensive Bistro range.
If you found something like that that you were sure was what, in the end, it
was not, I am sure you too would have been horrified and would have wanted
to tell everyone, if only just to ensure they don't buy the product
themselves.
Anyway, I have e-mailed everyone whom I originally contacted, with
Westminster Council's report; and I have also replied in full to Waitrose's
e-mail as part of the original thread, which I feel was more suitable. See
FAO James Colley, which is part of the original Oh my God thread.
This does not mean, however, that I am still happy about there being a
carbonised lump of vegetable matter in my expensive food product, and it
still spoilt the enjoyment of the £35+ dinner that I had cooked. But the £25
has softened the blow, and I will continue to shop at Waitrose, although
I'll avoid their mash products. I prefer to make my own anyway, but my wife
was doing the shopping and I wouldn't have wanted her carrying back a sack
of spuds all across London! We get real potatoes when we go shopping by cab
or when I go.
Nothing excuses going public on this before exhausting all the
normal channels.
I once opened a meat product which may have come from
Waitrose, because at the time I also did practically all my
food shopping there, and inside was a dead blue bottle. You
could see its body and count its legs. 'orrible! However
washing it off revealed it was a small segment of pig skin
(bacon rind to you) which was complete with pig's stubbly
hairs. It frightened the kids at the time but overall it was
rather funny.
Please note that I have waited almost 30 years to find an
excuse to publicly humiliate Waitrose in this way. ;-)
MK
--
June Hughes
The only problem I have with Waitrose is that they don't have any
stores in the north of England or in Scotland :-(
I keep hoping they will take over a chain at some point as Tesco did
with William Low in Scotland. Maybe one day ?
Booth's is a reasonable alternative in North England, but Scotland
doesn't have anything close :-(
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Hewitt || Computing Support Team
Division of Informatics || EMAIL : Bill....@ed.ac.uk
Did you miss the August thread when I said I'd been to the Salisbury one and
was converted? Only to Waitrose.
The reply to your question is that I would use Waitrose if there was one
locally. Even a worm can turn :-)
M
> --
> June Hughes
It doesn't seem to me that you've humiliated anyone but yourself.
Mary
>
> MK
>
>
Yes, I do shop at Booths when I'm in Ilkely.
Mary
> Heaven knows, if Bas cooked dinner it would consist of
> stir-fried minced beef and onions again and again and again and again
> and again ...(but he makes up for it by doing most of the washing and
> all of the ironing).
We'd have pizza again and again. Home made, using bases I've made and
frozen, with good ingredients but the predictability is enough to make one
scream.
Mary
>
> --
> June Hughes
Are you a total prat or have you no sense of humour?
MK
From your original post........
" I was cooking my wife and I a special meal 'cause she was feeling poorly.
Roast chicken, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, home-made brie and nutmeg
sauce... and creamy mash."
Thirty five quid plus! I think you were done.
--
Wim
> > It doesn't seem to me that you've humiliated anyone but
> yourself.
>
> Are you a total prat or have you no sense of humour?
Mary has a sense of humour. ;o)
--
Wim
AHA! So this episode has actually been good publicity for Waitrose!
Admit it Tristan, you're a John Lewis mole!
ICMFP
Deep C
er ... <confused>
M <but still smiling :-)>
> --
> June Hughes
Thanks for saying it, June!
Don't work too hard though ...
M
> --
> June Hughes
>Dave Newt wrote:
>>
>> "M² T..." wrote:
>> >
>> > Gazing into my crystal ball I see Waitrose Customer Service wrote ...
>> >
>> > > results were consistent with the skin of a potato, one of the
>> > > ingredients of the product.
>> > >
>> >
>> > Poor Mr White put his foot in it ....
>>
>> Waitrose Customer Services on Usenet? Whatever next?
>>
>> Come on Tris., 'fess up.
>
>On the other hand:
>
>> C:\WINDOWS>tracert 62.172.110.49
>>
>> Tracing route to content1.johnlewis.co.uk [62.172.110.49]
>> over a maximum of 30 hops:
>
>Ah well, better safe than sorry eh?
Or perhaps that should be...
...better Safeway than sorry eh?
Dave
>Following up to June Hughes <juneh...@theacct.demon.co.uk>
>
>>all sorts of unnecessary stuff like clothes
>
>?
>
>>The only quibble I have is that their
>>car-park is on a huge slope but after all these years, their customers
>>are used to that!
>
>but unlike Tesco, the trolleys have a parking brake!
Tesco carts have one too. It's built into one of the front wheels and
saves you having to do any steering (if you're in a circular aisle).
Dave
Mary Fisher wrote:
> June Hughes <juneh...@theacct.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:VwD4IqC2...@theacct.demon.co.uk...
> >
> > Do you mean that if you lived near a Waitrose, you would actually use a
> > supermarket, Mary? I thought you hated all of them.
>
> Did you miss the August thread when I said I'd been to the Salisbury one and
> was converted? Only to Waitrose.
>
> The reply to your question is that I would use Waitrose if there was one
> locally. Even a worm can turn :-)
>
< feeling VERY let down >
And here's me thinking that this was the Great "Draco"
< wonders of shaking his head >
>In article <Zum18.33700$_x4.50...@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com>,
>Diver <di...@debutwebTHETRASH.co.uk> writes
>>Admit it Tristan, you're a John Lewis mole!
... or Rat...
>>
>How clever! I hadn't thought of that! Well done. Incidentally, the
>best thing I like about the John Lewis store card is that they take 10%
>off you every month so you are not paying thousands of pounds in
>interest on your purchases and they are paid off in no time at all.
Let's wait and see who is the first one to get free Vouchers! 10:1 on
June!
>>but unlike Tesco, the trolleys have a parking brake!
>
>Tesco carts have one too. It's built into one of the front wheels and
>saves you having to do any steering (if you're in a circular aisle).
Brilliant, I will look for it!
--
Mike Reid
Walking the Thames path "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk/thames.htm"
>
>William Hewitt (cst) <bi...@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote in message
>news:a24bj1$25av$1...@pc-news.cogsci.ed.ac.uk...
>>
>>
>> Booth's is a reasonable alternative in North England, but Scotland
>> doesn't have anything close :-(
>
>Yes, I do shop at Booths when I'm in Ilkely.
Hmm sounds like quality stuff.
So that song's all wrong then: 'In Ilkley, more Booth tat'?
You're not a Tyke, are you?
Mary
> > >
> > > Do you mean that if you lived near a Waitrose, you would actually use
a
> > > supermarket, Mary? I thought you hated all of them.
> >
> > Did you miss the August thread when I said I'd been to the Salisbury one
and
> > was converted? Only to Waitrose.
> >
> > The reply to your question is that I would use Waitrose if there was one
> > locally. Even a worm can turn :-)
> >
>
> < feeling VERY let down >
>
> And here's me thinking that this was the Great "Draco"
Who?
> < wonders of shaking his head >
I'll join you ...
>
>Gazing into my crystal ball I see Jane Willis wrote ...
>
>
>> Perhaps if he had tasted the foreign body he wouldn't have jumped to
>> conclusions. I must say, I wondered all along how he knew it belonged to
>> a rat and not to any other rodent.
>
>
>Red dreadlocks ......
LOL.
he has gone to ground I guess.
---------
Lady L
>Following up to dave....@bornagainvirgin.net ( Dodgy Dave)
>
>>>but unlike Tesco, the trolleys have a parking brake!
>>
>>Tesco carts have one too. It's built into one of the front wheels and
>>saves you having to do any steering (if you're in a circular aisle).
>
>Brilliant, I will look for it!
Sainsbury's have the same brake mechanism, but neither supermarket
seems to have the circular aisles the trolleys are obviously designed
for.
I like the American versions. They've got handbrakes which make it a
lot safer when traversing parking lots atop one at 20 mph.
Dave
Except for the creamy mash?
--
Wim
Mary Fisher wrote:
< shudder >
< eyes welling up with great tears >
Your relatives are not going to like this, probably, no; more than
likely turning over in there caves. :o(
>
>
> > < wonders of shaking his head >
>
> I'll join you ...
> >
< goes around looking for the book of spells and the right potion. >
>All the veggies were free range.
I saw some "free range chipolatas" the other day, they could go
foraging with your potatoes :-)
>>Brilliant, I will look for it!
>
>Sainsbury's have the same brake mechanism, but neither supermarket
>seems to have the circular aisles the trolleys are obviously designed
>for.
Ahhh, OK, got it now, should read more carefully.
Ah now that's more like it. Please let me know when you find one with:
Individual hand/foot brakes for each of the four wheels.
Independent steering on each axle.
Running board at rear to accomodate both feet or either foot when the
other is used for propulsion.
Frictionless bearings and improved suspension.
Pit crews at the deli counter and in fruit and veg.
Oh-oh...I haven't gone and desecrated a Sacred Tune have I?
I have bought the tea though. It gives London tap water a fair old
seeing-to.
> Gazing into my crystal ball I see Wim Jay wrote ...
> All the veggies were free range.
All those wandering veggies. Were they triffids by any chance?
Corinne
Handbrakes???? Where? Here in the Wild West, none of the
supermarket chains have handbrakes on the trolleys. Cup
holders and snack trays yes, but no handbrakes.
PS Am I winning on the voucher front? :))
--
June Hughes
Robert, you're not talking about that branch of the family we don't talk to
are you?
M
settling down comfortably on treasure
LOL actually there are! We are at the foot of the Rockies
and the land slopes. Would cost too much to level it, except
for housing. However, there are flat places in the parking
lot, so we try to park there.
Mary Fisher wrote:
> Robert Goodrick <rgoo...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:3C47DDA1...@shaw.ca...
> >
> >
> > Mary Fisher wrote:
> >
> > > Robert Goodrick <rgoo...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> > > news:3C4693A2...@shaw.ca...
> > > >
> > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Do you mean that if you lived near a Waitrose, you would actually
> use
> > > a
> > > > > > supermarket, Mary? I thought you hated all of them.
> > > > >
> > > > > Did you miss the August thread when I said I'd been to the Salisbury
> one
> > > and
> > > > > was converted? Only to Waitrose.
> > > > >
> > > > > The reply to your question is that I would use Waitrose if there was
> one
>
> > > > > locally. Even a worm can turn :-)
> > > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > > >
>
> > > > < feeling VERY let down >
> > > >
> > > > And here's me thinking that this was the Great "Draco"
> > >
> > > Who?
> >
> > < shudder >
> >
> >
> > < eyes welling up with great tears >
> >
> > Your relatives are not going to like this, probably, no; more
> than
> > likely turning over in there caves. :o(
>
> Robert, you're not talking about that branch of the family we don't talk to
> are you?
< thinks very deep very hard >
I hope not.
< ouch! that hurt >
< thinks hard and long >
but I thought that you was "Draco"
< thinks, I've checked the ancient scroll's. I know I'm not wrong >
>
>
> M
> settling down comfortably on treasure
< Ponders! How can this be >
>On Fri, 18 Jan 2002 04:17:18 GMT, dave....@bornagainvirgin.net (
>Dodgy Dave) wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 17 Jan 2002 11:25:15 +0000, The Reids
>><cleve...@fellwalk.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>Following up to dave....@bornagainvirgin.net ( Dodgy Dave)
>>>
>>>>>but unlike Tesco, the trolleys have a parking brake!
>>>>
>>>>Tesco carts have one too. It's built into one of the front wheels and
>>>>saves you having to do any steering (if you're in a circular aisle).
>>>
>>>Brilliant, I will look for it!
>>
>>Sainsbury's have the same brake mechanism, but neither supermarket
>>seems to have the circular aisles the trolleys are obviously designed
>>for.
>>
>>I like the American versions. They've got handbrakes which make it a
>>lot safer when traversing parking lots atop one at 20 mph.
>
>Ah now that's more like it. Please let me know when you find one with:
>
>Individual hand/foot brakes for each of the four wheels.
Fitted as standard. Each one cuts in unexpectedly at random intervals.
>Independent steering on each axle.
Its internal Super-Computer assures that by controlled application of
the aforementioned brake applications.
>Running board at rear to accomodate both feet or either foot when the
>other is used for propulsion.
Naw... Ya gotta be inside it. Standing on running boards leaves a
serious chance of surviving without too much brain damage. Forget it.
>Frictionless bearings and improved suspension.
They become frictionless the very moment the handbrake is applied.
>Pit crews at the deli counter and in fruit and veg.
Blonde or brunette?
Dave
>Following up to dave....@bornagainvirgin.net ( Dodgy Dave)
>
>>>Brilliant, I will look for it!
>>
>>Sainsbury's have the same brake mechanism, but neither supermarket
>>seems to have the circular aisles the trolleys are obviously designed
>>for.
>
>Ahhh, OK, got it now, should read more carefully.
Naw... I should write more carefully. ...Won't 'appen tho'! <hic>
Dave -the sensible mature one <hic, hic>
T'was in the Central Valley of Californicate. Might have been Walmart,
but knowing my luck it was prolly Montgomery Ward, so we'll never
know. *L*
Dave
Triffids? I thought they were the traditional gift for Mothers In Law.
Dave -ducking
>Gazing into my crystal ball I see lady laurietta wrote ...
>
>
>> >Red dreadlocks ......
>>
>> LOL.
>>
>> he has gone to ground I guess.
>
>
>I spoke too soon .....
>
>http://www.max-hits.net/index.html
>
>Something isn't selling - ho ho ho.
hehehe. it's mikey's own personal stand against capitalism (all
proceeds go to the Afghani children's fund....NOT).
---------
Lady L
No need to split hairs - a comprehensive selection should be available
at larger stores.
Do they provide cream though?
Mary
No. For sons in law.
Especially silly ones.
Mary
Amazon routinely list new books with 20% (or more) off the publisher's
price, as I'm sure you know. [Ob-Food+Drink] Shitstirrer.
LOl no wonder. Those aren't supermarkets.
Depends on whether you call that nasty powdered conglomerate
of chemicals 'cream' or not. Most have free coffee with
'creamer' and sweeteners available.
Wouldn't do to let the punters go for 20 minutes without
eating or drinking something. It's unpatriotic.
I thought I typed 'crema', intended to anyway, as a feeble joke.
Just shows that the fingers take over from the brain ...
Mary
<Gulp> Sorry Mary.
Dave -ducking a fast-moving triffid tendril
True, but they're both megastores. Whoops... Take two: They *were*
both megastores. My better half was well pissed off when MW went to
the elephants' graveyard.
Sit tight, I'll try to catch her. She's a dodgy bird and is almost
always out when I phone. I suspect you guys have been telling her the
truth about me. <grump>
Yup, she's out. It's 5:13pm for her and she ain't home. I'm sure she
times her shopping trips to wind me up. <g>
Dave -wondering why WalMart don't offer maps for those us us who get
lost in the bleedin' place.
Dodgy Dave wrote:
reason why, is so that you get lost looking for the only thing you want and on
that search you will buy things that you do not need. :o)
R
>Cup
>holders and snack trays yes, but no handbrakes.
tell me your joking, please!
I don't know why he should be. My supermarket has a bar in it and it's
lovely to shop and drink.
Not in the slightest! As I said, expecting the punters to
walk around a supermarket for the 20 minutes it takes to do
a week's shopping without eating or drinking is
unpatriotic....
LOL None of the Wmarts around here sell anything that could
pass as food and Monkey Ward's never even sold those items.
Most of these places don't have cafe in them, the way many
European supermarkets do. But they do offer free coffee and
the bakery and delicounters have things easily eaten while
shopping.
LOL A lot of these places have thought about that and make
the customer pay on the spot.
If there's one thing I've always hated, it's parents who let their kids
do that when they're in the supermarket.
Even now, if my mum nibbles the top of the baguette (no comments please)
as she's pushing the trolley round, I feel ashamed.
--
Dave Newt
JUST SAY NO TO RICH TEXT/HTML EMAILS
I would think that has more to do with the fact that she makes you ride in
the trolley....
--
Manic
shave my čyébrows to reply
http://www.bloggerheads.com
You don't think she makes me wheel it? SHe's got her bus pass now you
know - it's the least I can do :)
They had some very nice pump-action shotguns, but nothing in the way
of hand guns. I'd been hoping to check how well my skills had stood
up, but it wasn't to be. :-(
I did buy a big Maglite flashlight, but the cells partially exploded
on the flight home, blocking the chamber. Lotta use that is now!
Doh![1]
Dave
[1] Copyright: Homer Simpson
Dave