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A valued customer? I don't think so. Recently, I've been finding life in the UK more and more expensive so I've started shopping at Lidl to save a few pounds. So far, I've been impressed, especially by their pizzas and cheese. The prices are very good as well.
Recently though, I bought a can of baked beans. The ring pull on the tin wasn't working properly and got stuck half way. I tried to open it and ended up just hurting my fingers. I know, I know, I should have stopped and just thrown it in the bin at the outset.
Anyway, I thought I would write to Lidl and tell them that their packaging was faulty. I sent the letter, along with my till receipt to their customer services department. I didn't enclose the half opened can of beans because I thought it would make quite a mess in the post and would also be expensive to send.
I don't particularly want to go back and have to make a fuss...
After a few weeks, I got a reply from them, saying sorry you were injured and if you would like to return to the Lidl store, find the manager and give them this letter, then we will refund the cost of the tin of beans.
Hardly worth it, is it? All that way for 35p.
Look, I know that there are people that try it on and hope to get something for nothing but this was genuine. I think hurting your hand and wasting something you've bought is worth a bit more than 35p. I don't particularly want to go back and have to make a fuss with the manager either. I'm not expecting a lot - maybe just a £3 voucher to cover the cost of the original purchase and postage of the letter?? But no. Actually, I feel quite insulted.
So, if that's how they treat their customers - I'm switching to Aldi. Bye bye Lidl.
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Many modern tins now come complete with a ring-pull device, some even have a special 'key' attached to the side of the can, if not most supermarkets will sell you a 'tin-opener' for about £10.
Having worked with these products (cannery row) Collar is not completely without sympathy - I can understand where you're coming from but with the unreliable tin-openers we have, you can't really get a strong purchase to rotate the butterfly attachment. With different brands to consider, Collar is normally out of patience too and annoyed considerably more when the tin-opener breaks. Seriously my Tin-opener really is that bad and there isn't any other kitchen implement one 'can' deploy - supermarkets used to sell them in our town. We clearly need a new one.
OP- As it happens I've been there myself on a weekend breakfast food morning and there is always a severe lack of fresh items. My local pub is that rough and they have received several complaints from other diners so we do not eat there. And no, I don't want to soak and boil haricot beans for 10 hours, I don't have time! What's the point in having a decent sized cannery pantry but a tin-opener that can't cope with the demand and manage a simple epicurean's hunger needs?
What most people don't realise or care about is the way in which some lids are fixed to the torso of the tin by the factory staff.
The tools we get given and the way we are instructed to manufacture the cans, can be quite horrendous, but we are still expected to complete the task with a correctly fitted lid upon the can-top.
It's about time some Baked bean consumers realised we are not automations as they seem to think we are, It's time consumers gave us some feed-back (but not the beans) and some respect for doing a rather tricky job.
Oh dear, asking to much are we,with the poor conditions we get to fill the tins.
It is about time some people awoke and then deployed their olfactory equipment upon the Coffea arabica,.
Regards, Collar.
Jeff scott.