How to respond to a customer who said he got sick from our product?

Hello,

A customer made claim to supermarket stating that he went to the Dr and stayed there for a few hours due to Salmonellosis. The claim that the supermarket submitted to us just indicated a few information that the customer gave to them. He just stated that he got sick due to our product and was in the hospital for a few hours. How can we formally respond to this customer? This happened a few months ago.

I will really appreciate all your help.

Thank you,

You need to confirm if this is true first. Ask for details about the product, and investigate! That way you have an honest answer. 

You'd need to get information on the product, lot number, BBF etc... which is unlikely as it was a few months ago, also it's very hard to prove causation unless there is a cluster of illnesses related to the same product.

I was in a situation similar to this last year. I did it like a complaint investigation. I gathered all information regarding product, lot number etc. From this you can pull the complaint bottle from your samples and send it/ conduct pathogenic testing. I would also go back to your environmental swabs. Once, you receive the results you can say the product was not the culprit or it was.  

In my case, it was not it turned out to be their lunch they had with our product. It got to the Department of Health so I had all sorts of food inspectors in my office. But, we cleared our name with the results. 

Without any real evidence you've got very little to go on - as per other suggestions, you need product/batch details, possibly preparation details (if not RTE), info on the diagnosis etc. It's highly unlikely that the doctor will have given a formal medical opinion to the effect of "your have salmonellosis from a product made by Micro&safety's company", and even if they did then it would be of questionable legal value, at least in the UK, without further results showing a genuine causal connection.

In the first instance you don't have many options beyond a "sorry to hear you've not been well" (being careful not to inadvertently admit, or imply admission of, any liability) and some generic overview of what you do as a business to avoid this type of problem, without going into lots of detail, while requesting the batch info so you can actually do the investigation - if the customer's complaint is legitimate then you potentially need to look at genuine corrective action, so you do want them to provide the batch code etc so you can investigate.

One further thought: What is the product? Does it actually support growth of Salmonella? Wouldn't be unheard of for a customer to make a complaint that doesn't actually stand up to logical/scientific scrutiny...

Phruit, 

Their email was very vague. He just sent the hospital bill and stated that he was sick due to eating our product. He sent all of this to the supermarket and the supermaket forward to me.He ate a ripen plantain. Does anyone have blank letter? I do not have any idea what to say.

Thank you,

Plantain as in fresh produce, sold still in the skin? That he should wash (yes, I know very few people do ;) ) and peel prior to consumption?

I tend to write each letter as required, but as a rough guess (not knowing your products, processes, site etc) I think I'd go with something to the effect of:

Dear (name),

We are sorry to hear that you have been unwell.
Unfortunately we have not been provided with specific details that would allow us to investigate the particular product in question, but if you are able to provide (batch number, date of purchase, whatever it is that you require for trace purposes) then we will of course look into this further.
Nonetheless we can confirm that we operate a comprehensive food safety and quality management system, and that our products and facilities exceed all regulatory requirements. We are certified to (BRC, SQF, etc if applicable) and are regularly audited by both internal and external parties. Our routine (product/environmental testing as applicable) includes (organisms etc if relevant) and we have had no adverse results.

Our business takes great pride in its products and monitors all complaints and consumer feedback as part of our process of ensuring continuous improvement. In this respect we can confirm that we have received no similar complaints.

As with all fresh produce, we recommend washing prior to consumption.

On the basis of the available evidence we do not believe that our products are the cause of your illness, so whilst as a business we would like to extend our sympathies we will not be able to assist with the medical expenses at this time.

If you are able to provide further details to allow a more thorough investigation, or would like to discuss anything further, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely...

Obviously prior to sending any communication you should conduct as much of an investigation as you're able - general review of whatever testing and controls you have for whatever might be a reasonable period around the potential complaint date. If you're under genuine significant time pressure then you can always send an initial "thank you for bringing this to our attention, we are investigating and will contact you shortly" letter, followed by something more substantial.

N.B. "Hospital bill" makes me think you're in the US? In which case you may want your legal team to look this over too, or to check with a lawyer and/or your insurers - medical bills can get expensive very quickly...

Plantain as in fresh produce, sold still in the skin? That he should wash (yes, I know very few people do ;) ) and peel prior to consumption?

 

I tend to write each letter as required, but as a rough guess (not knowing your products, processes, site etc) I think I'd go with something to the effect of:

 

Dear (name),

We are sorry to hear that you have been unwell.
Unfortunately we have not been provided with specific details that would allow us to investigate the particular product in question, but if you are able to provide (batch number, date of purchase, whatever it is that you require for trace purposes) then we will of course look into this further.
Nonetheless we can confirm that we operate a comprehensive food safety and quality management system, and that our products and facilities exceed all regulatory requirements. We are certified to (BRC, SQF, etc if applicable) and are regularly audited by both internal and external parties. Our routine (product/environmental testing as applicable) includes (organisms etc if relevant) and we have had no adverse results.

Our business takes great pride in its products and monitors all complaints and consumer feedback as part of our process of ensuring continuous improvement. In this respect we can confirm that we have received no similar complaints.

As with all fresh produce, we recommend washing prior to consumption.

On the basis of the available evidence we do not believe that our products are the cause of your illness, so whilst as a business we would like to extend our sympathies we will not be able to assist with the medical expenses at this time.

If you are able to provide further details to allow a more thorough investigation, or would like to discuss anything further, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely...

 

Obviously prior to sending any communication you should conduct as much of an investigation as you're able - general review of whatever testing and controls you have for whatever might be a reasonable period around the potential complaint date. If you're under genuine significant time pressure then you can always send an initial "thank you for bringing this to our attention, we are investigating and will contact you shortly" letter, followed by something more substantial.

 

N.B. "Hospital bill" makes me think you're in the US? In which case you may want your legal team to look this over too, or to check with a lawyer and/or your insurers - medical bills can get expensive very quickly...

Perfect reply letter for customer complaints, thanks for sharing Mr. pHruit. 

We also get similar complaints. 99% complaints were not genuine ( not because of our product). You might have not sold plantain only to that person. & if you can get any samples from the customer you can give for lab test. Also if you have back stock of the same batch then you can give for test to keep it as a record. You can also contact your supplier, to get assurance from their side also. 

Thank you all!

Hi micro and safety,

Post 7 is indeed eloquent. :thumbup:

Just In case you need to "formalise"  the incident/situation/investigation these documents may be of further interest -

com1 - Handling_of_Complaints.doc   139.5KB   59 downloads

com2 - Product Complaint Procedure.pdf   162.92KB   50 downloads

(useful sample but not 100% complete text)

com3 - Complaint Management Program.pdf   212.95KB   48 downloads

Tony's ifsqn webinar/slides also contain extensive background material -

https://www.ifsqn.co...ent/#entry91263

PS - I seem to recall that the recommended "washing of (some?)RTE fresh produce" has (micro) oscillated back and forth from Yes to No.. Not sure of current preference. (Just like the use of sanitizers in another recent thread here). I have certainly never, ever, washed a banana from a supermarket (or consumed a plantain afaik). :smile: