Waitrose's response to Mr White's posting
Waitrose Customer Service
associated documents from City of Westminster Environmental Health
Department:
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.
Dave Newt
>
> 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.
> >
>
Waitrose Customer Services on Usenet? Whatever next?
Come on Tris., 'fess up.
Dave Newt
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?
Peter Connolly
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
Manic
message news:2b138f9a.02011...@posting.google.com...
> Please find below Waitrose's response following receipt of the
> associated documents from City of Westminster Environmental Health
> Department:
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
Jane Willis
Manic <manic@deprčssivé.co.uk> wrote in message
news:DZS08.1$JO....@newreader.ukcore.bt.net...
>
> Blogged and forwarded to The Register.
>
> (Mind, they could have had the courtesy to post this within the
original
> thread...)
They just did.
Perhaps if he had tasted the foreign body he wouldn't have jumped to
conclusions. I must say, I wondered all along how he knew it belonged to
a rat and not to any other rodent.
Jane
Jane Willis
M˛ T... <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4mT08.23094$_x4.3...@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com...
> 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.
>
>
On its feet? Must have been a Hobbit
Jane
Manic
news:a20umo$tm9cr$1...@ID-85693.news.dfncis.de...
>
> Manic <manic@deprčssivé.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:DZS08.1$JO....@newreader.ukcore.bt.net...
> >
> > Blogged and forwarded to The Register.
> >
> > (Mind, they could have had the courtesy to post this within the
> original
> > thread...)
>
> They just did.
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
David Quinton
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>
activator
"David Quinton" <dav...@BizOrg.co.uk> wrote in message
news:71684u82j109d6kuj...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 15 Jan 2002 10:01:22 -0000, "Jane Willis"
> <jane....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >Manic <manic@deprčssivé.co.uk> wrote in message
> >news:DZS08.1$JO....@newreader.ukcore.bt.net...
> >>
> >> Blogged and forwarded to The Register.
> >>
> >> (Mind, they could have had the courtesy to post this within the
> >original
> >> thread...)
> >
> >They just did.
------------------------------------------
WellI am glad my theory was seen to be true.
It was a lot of fuss about nothing....a wind up.
Initially i thought it was driven by someone with a grudge with Waitrose.
Lets face it anyone who mouths off to that extent without waiting for
Waitrose to respond
must have thier judgement questioned.
Not the sort of thing I could ever be accused of :)
activator
Manic
news:a219h2$spt$1...@paris.btinternet.com...
<snip>
>
> ------------------------------------------
> 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.
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...
June Hughes
<dav...@BizOrg.co.uk> writes
>
>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!
no temptation to buy all sorts of unnecessary stuff like clothes, toys
and the like. Just decent food and drink, good service and great
customer relations. I have shopped at their Whetstone store for 17
years and I think, although it is small, it is the best supermarket
branch in the whole world. They change stuff without question or refund
if you ask. They go out of their way to be helpful and are always
polite. When I was pregnant with my youngest child 14 years ago, they
always made sure someone took my trolley out to the car and unloaded the
contents into the boot for me. 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!
--
June Hughes
Spudgun
"June Hughes" <juneh...@theacct.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:gLaFWELQ...@theacct.demon.co.uk...
> In article <71684u82j109d6kuj...@4ax.com>, David Quinton
> <dav...@BizOrg.co.uk> writes
> >
> >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!
> Hear, hear! BTW - not as expensive as you would think because there is
> no temptation to buy all sorts of unnecessary stuff like clothes, toys
> and the like. Just decent food and drink, good service and great
> customer relations. I have shopped at their Whetstone store for 17
> years and I think, although it is small, it is the best supermarket
> branch in the whole world. They change stuff without question or refund
<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?
The Reids
>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"
The Reids
>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!
Mary Fisher
> was 100 miles nearer and I was richer!
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
Michael Berridge
David Quinton wrote in message
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
David Quinton
<Michael....@ukgateway.net> wrote:
>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!
Tristán White
>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 :)
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.
Malcolm
message news:a23plm$uhqrt$1...@ID-47752.news.dfncis.de...
> activator wrote in message ...
> >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 :)
>
>
> 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.
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
<Trista...@rocketmail.com> writes
Well, at least you had the decency to post replies etc. However, £35+
on a dinner containing ready-cooked mashed potatoes, however expensive
or otherwise, seems a bit of a mistake IMNSHO. A bit of boiled rice, or
pasta would surely have been better. Never mind. I suppose at least
you tried. 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).
--
June Hughes
June Hughes
<mary....@zetnet.co.uk> writes
>
>David Quinton <dav...@BizOrg.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:71684u82j109d6kuj...@4ax.com...
>>
>>
>> Waitrose has always been my favourite supermarket. I just wish that it
>> was 100 miles nearer and I was richer!
>
>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!
>
supermarket, Mary? I thought you hated all of them.
--
June Hughes
June Hughes
writes
>
>Please note that I have waited almost 30 years to find an
>excuse to publicly humiliate Waitrose in this way. ;-)
>
problem I have with Waitrose is that they don't bring your shopping home
for you and then put it all away!!!! (Including clearing all the nasty
left-over bits from inside the 'fridge). That takes much longer than
doing the shopping itself.
--
June Hughes
William Hewitt (cst)
> The only
> problem I have with Waitrose is that they don't bring your shopping home
> for you and then put it all away!!!! (Including clearing all the nasty
> left-over bits from inside the 'fridge). That takes much longer than
> doing the shopping itself.
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
Mary Fisher
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
Mary Fisher
Malcolm <ov...@ndo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:a23vpp$iq9$1...@helle.btinternet.com...
It doesn't seem to me that you've humiliated anyone but yourself.
Mary
>
> MK
>
>
Mary Fisher
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.
Mary
Mary Fisher
> 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
Malcolm
news:3c45c35b$0$21...@news.zetnet.co.uk...
> > Please note that I have waited almost 30 years to find an
> > excuse to publicly humiliate Waitrose in this way. ;-)
>
> It doesn't seem to me that you've humiliated anyone but
yourself.
Are you a total prat or have you no sense of humour?
MK
Wim Jay
"Tristán White" <Trista...@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:a23plm$uhqrt$1...@ID-47752.news.dfncis.de...
>
> still spoilt the enjoyment of the £35+ dinner that I had cooked.
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
Wim Jay
> "Mary Fisher" <mary....@zetnet.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:3c45c35b$0$21...@news.zetnet.co.uk...
> > 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
Diver
AHA! So this episode has actually been good publicity for Waitrose!
Admit it Tristan, you're a John Lewis mole!
ICMFP
Deep C
June Hughes
<mary....@zetnet.co.uk> writes
>
--
June Hughes