Supermarket Outrage

PickyPicky3 · ‎10-22-2018

I did a curbside grocery pickup at Acme today. Didn't feel like cooking so I got an 8 piece package of storemade cold fried chicken. When I got home I saw the original label, with a sell-by date of yesterday, had been covered over with a different label giving today as the packed-on date and 5/16 as the sell-by date.

Somebody messed up and they got caught.

The department assistant manager immediately confessed to their disgusting practice and transferred me to the store assistant manager, who also confessed. (I should have been a detective?) He said he would have the store manager call me tomorrow.

They said they would refund my money and give me new chicken for free. I laughed and said I no longer trust their chicken. I let them know this kind of practice needs to be stopped, they should be fined, and I would probably call the department of health and other government agencies as well as post on social media. It's not a matter of money. He said he understood.

So forum readers, I have about 14 hours to decide what to say and do. I'd really appreciate your suggestions.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Just tell them what happened, they won't be surprised. The might get some type of citation but nothing will happen. This is a common practice with stores with meat and baked goods. They change labels to give themselves an extra day or two to sell things. It's like ground beef that is safe to eat but is beginning go brown, they just hide it inside fresh red ground beef.

Enufstuff · ‎03-12-2010

@PickyPicky3 I think that I would take the refund and not buy their cooked chicken again.

About a year or so ago, it was either online or on TV , I saw

what many if not most supermarkets commonly do.

They do remove outdated stickers and put on new ones for sell by dates. They do take packages of fruits like strawberries, remove the not so fresh looking ones and repack them all in new

packages. There were other things too.

Has anyone seen 90% lean ground beef selling on sale for a lower price than the 80% ground beef?

I have seen it twice in the past month. I think that they are taking the steaks that are not selling at their high prices and

grinding it up for the 90% ground beef.

The last time I was in a supermarket, I saw a steak priced at

$33. I don't think that it was much more than a pound.

icezeus · ‎10-30-2010

I would take the refund and not purchase this item from them again. How does the saying go. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Since this was a cooked item, I really do not think they would be issued a citation. This is a common practice amongst grocery stores. I was reading an article the other day which basically stated that there are not regulations or commonality amongst sell by dates and used by dates for grocery stores. I wish I could remember where I read it so that I could give you the name to read if interested.

Trinity11 · ‎11-16-2014

@PickyPicky3 wrote:
I did a curbside grocery pickup at Acme today. Didn't feel like cooking so I got an 8 piece package of storemade cold fried chicken. When I got home I saw the original label, with a sell-by date of yesterday, had been covered over with a different label giving today as the packed-on date and 5/16 as the sell-by date.

Somebody messed up and they got caught.

The department assistant manager immediately confessed to their disgusting practice and transferred me to the store assistant manager, who also confessed. (I should have been a detective?) He said he would have the store manager call me tomorrow.

They said they would refund my money and give me new chicken for free. I laughed and said I no longer trust their chicken. I let them know this kind of practice needs to be stopped, they should be fined, and I would probably call the department of health and other government agencies as well as post on social media. It's not a matter of money. He said he understood.

So forum readers, I have about 14 hours to decide what to say and do. I'd really appreciate your suggestions.

I saw this at the Acme near where we lived 20 years ago. Same with a small supermarket near us now in their bakery dept., cakes and cookies. Pathmark chickens, and Shop Rite too. Even Whole Foods on a piece of cheese changed the label.

Tori3569 · ‎06-27-2010

As someone who does food safety assessments as a part of my job, I'd just take the refund, stop going there and that's it. I might report it to the company's home office, but not on social media or anything else.

As mentioned in the post above, there is a different standard for cooked items. While I don't deal with anything actually being cooked in my stores, we do sell similar items and their shelf life is 3-5 days depending on the item. This may be different depending on where you are located however.

luvzchiz · ‎03-09-2010

@Tori3569 Just a note. Love the puppy with your name.

“If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”- Jimmy Buffet

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

I would call the health department. Stores shouldn't be allowed to get away with selling possibly spoiled food, especially something like poultry that can be rapidly ruined. How would you like for your child to be up all night with food poisoning due to corporate greed?

Unbelievable that some are willing to over- look it. Go sic 'em @PickyPicky3 .

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

jannabelle1 · ‎09-12-2010

As others have said, I'd take the refund and not shop there if it's that important to you. Contacting government agencies is a waste of time IMO because no one became ill from the cooked chicken that you're aware of I presume.

That's why I like to shop for myself and not rely on store employees to pick items out for me. Although, one day will probably not make a big difference in the appearance of that chicken. Is this a good practice? No, but many grocers do the same thing.