A thoughtful act of preparing dinner for his family turned into a nightmare when a man discovered mould in the cheese he had bought via Pandamart.
What he found more surprising was how Foodpanda’s customer service representative handled his complaint.
Image source: Facebook / Jan Rick Camara Mascarina
In a Facebook post last Saturday (April 17), Jan Rick Camara Mascarina recalled his experience in detail. He had ordered cheese, mushrooms and some sauces from Pandamart — an online grocery store run by the Foodpanda — to make pasta.
While prepping the second batch of pasta, he realised that a piece of cheese had mould in it. Checking the expiry date on the package, he found that it read Nov 2021.
By then, the first batch of pasta was already in the oven and he had mixed the cheese into the marinara sauce, he said.
Image source: Facebook / Jan Rick Camara Mascarina
Mascarina contacted Foodpanda immediately, complaining that his dinner was ruined due to the mould. He said he wasted money on the ‘whole marinara sauce base with premium beef and butter’.
Although he was offered a refund of $15 for the cheese, however, the man stressed that ‘people could get very ill’ from food gone bad, and demanded to speak to the manager.
Image source: Facebook / Jan Rick Camara Mascarina
The customer service representative complied and informed him that he would receive a call.
But his phone only rang briefly. He wrote: “I couldn’t humanly pick up the phone fast enough. This happens twice.”
Mascarina was promised a second call, however, when he picked up the phone, the other end of the line was silent before the call ended. The call was recorded and posted on YouTube.
This is not the first time Foodpanda’s customer service has come under the spotlight.
Earlier this month, a man said a rider took a detour while delivering his order from A&W, claiming that she was unable to find his address. He asked Foodpanda to cancel his order but was frustrated by its “template replies” and only manage to receive a refund in Foodpanda credits.
In response to his Facebook post, others shared their own experiences.
Image source: Screengrab from Facebook / Jan Rick Camara Mascarina
Not all agreed with his complaint, however, as some asked him to “stop being so entitled” and others said that “the chances of spoilt food are always present post packaging and processing.”
Image source: Facebook / Jan Rick Camara Mascarina
Image source: Facebook / Jan Rick Camara Mascarina
While Mascarina eventually got an additional $5 refund, he said he was disappointed by the insincerity of Foodpanda’s customer service.
He added: “Keep your refund. I refuse to continue to support a business that patronises me with fake concern.”
AsiaOne has reached out to Foodpanda for comment.
How To Prevent Food Spoilage
Image source: Stock
Food poisoning can be really difficult to deal with, especially in kids. Therefore, it’s important that we know how to prevent food spoilage. In fact, food safety should be one of your top priorities at home so here are ways on how to prevent food spoilage:
1. Always check the expiration dates. Ensure that your groceries and other food items you’ve bought are still far away from their expiration dates before preparing them.
2. Try labelling your leftover foods. If you’re storing food, it would help to label them with the date that you opened them on. This helps in keeping track of your food and whether they’re still safe to consume.
3. Know how you should organise your refrigerator. Keep in mind what foods should be frozen, which shelf they should be placed in or if they should be refrigerated in the first place.
4. Freeze your leftovers. If you’re in no rush to finish all the meals you’ve prepared from a big dinner, then it’s best to keep them frozen in the meantime. Leftovers are also best consumed within 3 to 4 days.
5. Make sure the food you prepare is properly cooked. Or in the case of leftovers, ensure that they are reheated thoroughly before eating.
This article was first published in AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
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