By flyboy88
Today (November 6, 2011) I purchased a box of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran cereal, once I got home I realized the cereal had a Best Before date of November 24, 2011. I contacted HBC Customer Service about the issue and they advised me to contact the store directly and speak to the manager and he would be able to refund and compensate for the issue. When I contacted the store directly I spoke to Neil who is a manager, he pretty much called me a liar. Neil told me it was impossible that I could have purchased an expired box of cereal from his store as Kellogg’s regularly come in to do product quality checks, as well each week employees check the Best Before dates of products and afterwards he would do his checks and sign off that nothing is expired. I told him that obviously a check failed as 40 minutes prior I purchased an expire product; he said the ONLY way it could have happened was 1) someone returned it and someone put it back on the shelve without checking the Best Before date
or 2) sometimes they don’t purchase direct from Kellogg’s but rather uses a 3rd party who by accident might deliver an expired shipment, however it would never make it to the floor. Neil told me I could come in for a refund.
I arrived about 10 minutes after getting off the phone with store manager Neil and I went to go look at the cereal section of the store. When I arrived I found Neil and another store employee emptying the shelves of cereal as majority of it has been EXPIRED. So after being told on the phone it was impossible that I purchased an expired product, I find him clearing the product of the shelves. I asked him how it was possible with all the product quality checks he previously told me about to prevent this from happening; he told me that someone he just gets busy and doesn’t have time to do the checks himself so he trusts that his employees have and just signs off that it has been done. I find this shocking as they clearly are NOT following Standard Operating Procedures, and its customers like me who are affected. Having looked at the stock which they were pulling off shelves and placing into shopping carts I could see most of it has been expired for almost 2 weeks, meaning anyo
ne who has purchased products in that time frame got expired stuff
Gazpache says...
“Today (November 6, 2011) I purchased a box of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran cereal, once I got home I realized the cereal had a Best Before date of November 24, 2011. ”
I’m assuming that you meant “Today, (DECEMBER 6, 2011)”
Because buying cereal on November 6 that has a date of November 24 isn’t expired yet….
dawn says...
This is why you write head office and tell them what you just did . They then should step in
flyboy88 says...
Sorry for the Type-o in my post… It was December 6th,2011.. with Expiry of November 24, 2011. I email head office and got a call from the District Manager; they are taking it very seriously
Jane says...
Manager Neil is full of crap. It’s up to the store to check for expiry dates on food products, not ‘quality checks’ from Kellog’s. Wondering which Zeller’s you were in.
dawn says...
If you find this again at this store or another one call your health dept that is one way for them to clean up there act .
Flyboy88 says...
I was at that Zellers at Vodden and Kenndy road in Brampton,ON. I will keep an eye out for this again as the district manager assured me things will be dealt with and changed. I will make sure to follow up as I have his direct number now!
sandie says...
I would have contacted Kellogs directly at the number on the box and informed them that the store was selling expired product. I did this with Wal Mart and some Kraft Kraft Dinner crackers as this happened on 3 seperate occasions over a 3 week period. The store itself as well called me a liar but the company issued me free product coupons. The next week when I went back to wal mart they didn’t have any of that product on their shelves.
Mary says...
I bought expired chips at Zellers the other day but it’s too far for me to return it
xXtiggerXx says...
My Zellers is the same way. You have to read the label and check if the packaging has been compromised. My location sells Pop Shoppe soft drinks that look horrible- caked with dust, sticky, and half of them have the lid rusted. My Bf brought this to the attention of an employee who gave the old o sorry we’ll take care of that right away. Two months later they haven’t moved. We now visit this store for a some laughs if we have some time to kill.
dawn says...
Write the company that makes the chips they will refund you just give the info on the bag and report the store to them . I did this with lays chip we picked up at wall mart they lays sent us a refund in the mail .
Aggie says...
Zellers in my area is known to have expired food. I don’t even know why they bother buying fresh bread…it molds everytime.
I’ve written to the company website and Hudson’s bay. No replies.
Just be careful. I rarely buy food from Zellers now.
JC says...
Having worked at zellers i know neil is full of crap. Kellogs never comes in the store to check product. they simply supply product to the warehouses who will then ship it on the trucks to the respective stores. Pepsi, coke, lays, old dutch and such are managed by vendors who come in to stock/check dates etc… and issues by those products should go to the respective vendors, whereas the kellogs expiry should have definitely gone to the Zellers store. Sure some products are missed now and then and that can be resolved by a return, but the fact that expired product was being shelved, and that the section was not checked after flyboy88 (sorry, it’s the only name I have) called it in is terrible
Flyboy88 says...
Tonight I received a apology letter and gift certicate from the Zellers District Manager who represents that location. I Have To go shopping tomorrow and will take a quick peek at expiry dates as I was assured the same situation wouldnt be repeated and now have the direct contact information.
dawn says...
Ya the store you worked at did not do this fine but I have seen this at other stores and not just Zellers .We are the ones that have to look at the date and make sure we do are part . You can no longer trust them to do it they are only looking at the bottom line .
LP says...
I purchased a loaf of that thick D’Italinao bread from Zellers a couple months ago. It is $3.50+/loaf. I always check the date and according to the tab was very fresh. It molded in about 3 days. I think someone changed the tags on it. It was bought in a town 20minutes from my house so I never rtd it. I don’t trust Zellers.
LP says...
I asked my husband as he works in a grocery store and he said Kellogs and General Mills do go to the grocery stores, but not as often as they used to. They scan the product but don’t actually pull each one individually and check the date. If they see out of code they pull it.
Carrie says...
I purchased Zellers brand acetomophin. When I opened the bottle and looked at the expiry day it expired 3 months earlier. I sent of an email to the company and specific store and never heard back from either. I tried to spend my money at Zellers because it is Canadian owned instead of Wal-Mart. But, when they can’t evern be bother to contact me over something like that I will take my money elsewhere.
puzzlecat says...
Carrie - Zellers is no longer Canadian owned so you don’t need to bother shopping there for that reason. Zellers has been American owned for a few years now.