A man was horrified by what he found when he opened his McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder burger.
Mark, from Southport, and his wife went to the drive-thru of the Southport branch of McDonald’s on Ocean Plaza Leisure Park on Wednesday, March 27. His wife Heather spent over £31 ordering various meals as a takeaway treat to feed their family.
However, when the couple got home and dished out their food it was Mark’s expression which made his wife know there was something very wrong with his Quarter Pounder burger.
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The mum-of-two said: “I thought that when I saw Mark checking the burger he’d found a hair or something but what he found was just disgusting.”
After inspecting his burger Mark found that on the underside of the bun there was mould growing on it. Heather added: “We’d never usually check under the bun but couldn’t believe that they’d serve something with literal mould growing on it.”
Heather said she rang the store to complain, who told her to bring the food back, which she did and was offered a replacement meal which she refused.
She said: “It’s just disgusting and there was no way I was taking a chance on getting another mouldy bun.
“It had taken 15 minutes to drive home, then we noticed the problem, complained on the phone and then had to drive another 15 minutes back.”
Mark escalated his complaint to head office but was met with a prepared response about buns. In an email chain seen by the ECHO, a spokesperson for the company told Mark that they were “disappointed they didn’t get it right” during their visit.
In the response, a member of the customer services team said: “To clarify, the branch has been in contact [on April 2] to offer their deepest apologies. Once you had notified them the branch investigated all buns on site.
“Of these, only one tray had mould and this was instantly disposed of. The rest of the buns were fine and were kept separate from the mouldy buns.
“I can understand that this incident must have spoiled your visit and I hope you will not be deterred from future visits to our restaurants”.
The couple were offered a £15 McDonald’s voucher “as a gesture of goodwill” but Heather said the voucher doesn’t even cover the cost of the money they spent.
Heather said: “We might have a meal waiting for us but we aren’t going to go there. A voucher that doesn’t even cover the cost of the money we spent is laughable.”
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We apologise to this customer for their experience. Food safety is of the upmost importance to us, and we place great emphasis on quality control, following rigorous standards to avoid any imperfections.
“We are sorry to hear we fell short of these high standards on this occasion. As soon as the restaurant team were made aware, they apologised to the customer and offered a full refund and replacement meal, however these were declined.
“We understand the customer is currently in contact with our Customer Services Team who are providing further support.”.
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Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
