Seeing foreign objects in food, why do many people choose to 'expose' it on social networks?

Why do many people who find foreign objects in their food post about it on social media instead of calling the authorities?

Can't find common ground with the restaurant

Not long ago, a post on a culinary group with more than 2.2 million members accusing a vermicelli and fried tofu restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City of serving maggots to customers suddenly received public attention.

Contacting Ms. HL (24 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City), the owner of the post, this customer said that this was not the first time she encountered a "foreign object" when eating at a restaurant. However, this time things went too far, forcing her to post on social media because she could not find a common voice with the restaurant.

It is not difficult to come across posts alleging foreign objects in food on social networks.

“I was “exasperated” because of the restaurant’s initial handling. When I found out, I also reported it to the staff to check again and hoped to receive an apology and a satisfactory explanation. But from the beginning to the end, they still wanted to change the truth, even though I said the maggots came from the meat and had not touched the shrimp paste,” she said.

Ms. HL said that she works in the service industry, specifically marketing, so she knows that a sincere apology, taking responsibility, and not blaming the customer are things that businesses need to do when an incident occurs.

I watched a food-related program and really liked the saying that no customer wants to cause trouble during their own meal. Me too!

Ms. HL

Regarding the reason for posting the restaurant review on social media, Ms. HL said that she only wanted to warn everyone, as well as consider it a lesson for the restaurant to learn from. She said that she did not report to the authorities to reclaim her legitimate rights, because she thought that everything should stop at a post and she herself did not know exactly which agency to report the incident to to resolve this matter.

“I know that in such incidents, the business owner is the one who suffers the most. I think there will be problems that cannot be controlled, so I don’t want to be too stressed when the incident happens,” the diner added, saying that up to now, she still does not feel satisfied with the restaurant’s subsequent apologies. The incident then gradually calmed down, and the restaurant returned to normal business.

Ms. PA once posted an article accusing her of having a cockroach in her lunch box.

Being upset with the way the restaurant handled the situation at the time of discovering the foreign object was also the reason why Mr. T. (33 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) posted his complaint on social media. According to him, things would not have been so "noisy" if at the time of discovering the foreign object, the restaurant had handled his complaints responsibly, honestly and without distorting the truth.

“I thought very carefully before deciding to share these things on social networks, but if I didn't share them, I'm sure that I'm not the only one experiencing this situation, but other customers' health will be affected,” he said about the reason for posting the accusation online.

"I don't know which agency to report to!"

At the end of 2022, Mr. TH (22 years old, living in District 8) also posted on social media that the hot pot he ate had 3 maggots inside. At that time, he described: “To be sure, I took it out to check, I squeezed it and saw water spraying out from inside. I am quite sure these are maggots. Not just 1 but 3.”

Reporting the incident to the hot pot restaurant, Mr. H. was given a new hot pot portion to take home by the store staff, without any specific explanation from the staff. “I posted this to warn everyone to check carefully before eating.

I think frozen food still has a chance of having maggots. I don't mean to expose or generalize that hot pot restaurants here are dirty, because I've been eating here for more than 3 years and the deliciousness is undeniable," he said about the purpose of his post online.

Mr. H. said his online post was mainly to warn people.

According to Mr. TH, when the incident happened, he did not know which authority to report to in order to resolve the matter as well as warn others. The only thing he could do was post on social media because others had done the same thing when they discovered similar incidents.

After apologizing to customers, as well as investigating and coordinating with an independent third party to study the sample, the store explained that it was just a benign ingredient inside the chili seeds, not maggots. After that, H. also accepted the explanation, and the incident also calmed down over time. This dish of the store continues to be supported by customers until now.

Meanwhile, Ms. TT (24 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) said that many times, during her culinary experience, she discovered many "foreign objects" in the dishes such as: pot scrubbers, hair, fur... Many times, she kept quiet and let it go, but when she was upset, she reported it to the restaurant owner.

However, Ms. H. said she had never posted a complaint on social media or called the authorities, partly because she did not know which agency she should report to or through which phone number, and partly because she did not have time and was afraid of causing trouble.

“If I encounter such a situation at a restaurant, I will not come back again. If I do business without integrity, it will not last long, so I should not make a big deal out of it. If I know of any agency that will support me at that time, I will definitely report it,” she said.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/thay-di-vat-trong-mon-an-sao-nhieu-nguoi-chon-boc-phot-len-mang-xa-hoi-185230802135452808.htm