Reader Nohreen says she bought an apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and it turned out to be rotten inside. When she called the store to complain, they told her it wasn’t rotten, just brown from having been cut awhile ago. Nohreen said she’d bring the apple back to show them that it was actually rotten, but they told her not to waste her gas because there was nothing they could do about it. When she got to the store, rather than help her, she says the employees called security.

Nohreen writes:

… The worker said that she personally cut the apple and that it was not rotten. It was brown because it had been an hour since it left the store. The worker also said that they could not do anything about it because apples turn brown. I said I would go to the store to show the worker that it was rotten. She told me that if I wanted to waste my gas, I could go to the store but they still couldn’t do anything about it.

We got to the store at approximately 5:30 PM and proceeded to make a complaint to the worker. The workers would not acknowledge our presence and decided to call security on us instead. Security arrived and took our statement and informed us that if we wanted to make a complaint we would have to go to the mall concierge. After talking with security for roughly 30 minutes, we were escorted to the concierge. We explained what had happened and the person at the concierge informed us that we could not make a complaint at the concierge. He let us know that complaints were only taken at the security office.

The concierge gave us a piece of paper containing the phone number for the storeowner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. The store owner was contacted at 6:05 pm. The person who answered had the correct name but she was not the owner of the store. Afterwards, we walked back to the concierge to get the correct number. When we arrived at the concierge, we were told that he could not help us anymore because security had told him so. He then took the paper containing the number, crumpled it up and took it with him. He told us that he could no longer help us and that we would need to call the mall management the following day to get further assistance.

I was appalled that they called the security on me when I wasn’t even making a scene. I was just there waiting patiently for them. It was an insult to call a security on your customer. Also, we were told by the security that according to the employee per the owner they would not replace the apple. A child or anyone could have eaten that apple. I can only surmise the quality of their products and how they conduct their business. In my opinion, it only takes one bad apple to infect the rest of the bunch. When I went to the store, I wanted a replacement….now I want action. They need to learn how to conduct good customer service. I want employees to be trained better, and if needed, be reprimanded…not just employees but the owner as well.

Nohreen sent us some photos of the apple in question. We’re not botanists or anything, but that looks nasty. She says she’s filed complaints with just about every agency out there, and appears to have the situation well in hand, so we’ll just end this by saying, “Ew.”

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