Service: Consumer Complaint Retrieval

Client:

Drinks Manufacturer

Objectives/background:

RQA Europe head office was contacted by a Drinks Manufacturer in the UK and asked to collect a bottle of wine directly from a consumer in Belgium within 24 hours and arrange for it to be sent back to the UK for analysis.

Methodology:

The RQA Europe head office contacted a field representative in close proximity to the consumer in Belgium and arranged for the bottle of wine to be collected and for a receipt to prove collection to be left with the consumer. RQA was asked to replace the single bottle with a crate of 12 bottles of wine as an apology from the manufacturer.

Outcome:

The bottle of wine was collected from the consumer within 24 hours and arrived with the manufacturer within 48 hours of RQA receiving the request. The consumer was satisfied with the outcome and it gave a good impression of the manufacturer by having the bottle picked up directly from them.

This ensured that the consumer was not inconvenienced in any way by being asked to ship the bottle to the UK themselves. The manufacturer came across as providing excellent customer service by involving RQA.

Other Case Studies

  • We retrieved a chilled beverage sample from Guernsey which was believed to have been contaminated with pesticides and delivered it to a client in the UK within 24 hours. The client was then able to analyse the sample and make a decision on whether to recall that batch.

 

  • We have retrieved a bottle of alcohol from a consumer in Belgium after they had complained that there was an insect inside the bottle. The sample was delivered to an expert insect laboratory for testing to determine whether the insect was already inside the bottle or had crawled in at the consumer's house. The retrieval and testing process took approximately 3 days.

 

  • We have retrieved packets of cereal contaminated with insect larvae from several supermarkets in the UK and had them delivered to the manufacturer for analysis within 12 hours. The consumers had returned the samples to the supermarkets after spotting the issue.

 

  • We have retrieved a box of wine from a consumer in Denmark that had complained about glass contamination. The consumer required a replacement sample. RQA retrieved and replaced the sample within 24 hours and had the complaint sample sent to a specialist glass laboratory for testing. The laboratory was able to determine that the glass had fallen inside the wine box at the consumer's house and was not present inside product at the time of purchase.