Family Dollar Distro Center Rodent Infestation- products recalled - FDA

[storewanderer]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hun ... y-82994699

"Those products include human food, pet food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, medical devices and over-the-counter medications that were purchased in January or February from Family Dollar stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri or Tennessee."

This is really bad. Dollar Tree seems to be a very troubled organization between the sudden price hikes and now this issue with this Family Dollar distribution center going out of control.

Rodent issues aren't unusual, but infestations of this nature that are uncorrected for long enough to get government attention plus a product recall for entire categories of products sure are.

[veteran+]

I am so NOT surprised.

If only we had more auditors and more frequent audits ($$$$$).

[storewanderer]

I am so NOT surprised.

If only we had more auditors and more frequent audits ($$$$$).

I wonder who finally got them into trouble. Maybe a few hundred employee complaints to OSHA or something. But that would be state OSHA. Federal OSHA was screwing around with other things but still think this would be a State OSHA issue initially. So things got out of hand with this issue. Rodent feces from certain rodents can be deadly if disturbed (like, stepping on it; picking up a box that had the deadly Hantavirus infested feces on it and then that feces becoming airborne - you are screwed). If this distribution center had a mask requirement for the employees it may very well have saved a lot of their lives. Hantavirus is a big deal around Lake Tahoe. Anytime you work in an area that may have rodent feces you need a mask.

[Romr123]

I ordered several years ago from Amazon some food--it stayed (in the box) on the ground near the door for about 24 hrs and seemed to be beset by ants (in defense, it was ant season). It turned me off of ordering food from Amazon for several years (as they've gotten bigger and have WFM, less concern)

[storewanderer]

I ordered several years ago from Amazon some food--it stayed (in the box) on the ground near the door for about 24 hrs and seemed to be beset by ants (in defense, it was ant season). It turned me off of ordering food from Amazon for several years (as they've gotten bigger and have WFM, less concern)

I have heard of this type of thing also; specifically, pet food infested with rodents is one I have heard multiple times, through certain online sites (that do not necessarily specialize in pet product sales). It is also tough because the stuff is warehoused by multiple parties throughout the process. So difficult to know if it happened in a facility owned by the website, by the carrier, by some rail car...

There will be isolated incidents... I guess.

At least, isolated to the point that they don't necessitate a product recall involving basically all consumable goods sold over a 2-month period by 400 physical store locations...

[storewanderer]

Looks like they are closing the 400 stores involved in this mess. Probably to purge the categories impacted and re-stock with new product.

How do people get refunds for the potentially contaminated products, if the stores are closed?

The government should force them to open up to give refunds and ban them from selling any products from the impacted categories until they get this cleaned up.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... a-rodents/

What a pathetic waste of product at a time when so many categories are having shortages.

[BillyGr]

Looks like they are closing the 400 stores involved in this mess. Probably to purge the categories impacted and re-stock with new product.

How do people get refunds for the potentially contaminated products, if the stores are closed?

The government should force them to open up to give refunds and ban them from selling any products from the impacted categories until they get this cleaned up.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... a-rodents/

What a pathetic waste of product at a time when so many categories are having shortages.

I guess wait until they reopen? Or perhaps if this only impacts Family Dollar stores they would arrange to take the items back via a nearby Dollar Tree location?

[storewanderer]

I guess wait until they reopen? Or perhaps if this only impacts Family Dollar stores they would arrange to take the items back via a nearby Dollar Tree location?

That would be the right thing to do... let the accounting department figure it out.

Dollar Tree however has a no refunds policy. They only allow exchanges. Any time a refund is done there is extreme scrutiny before, during, and after the transaction from above the store level. Although they say no refunds, their cash register does allow refunds to be done (instances like, double scanned items) but it requires about 3 manager overrides and will show up on a report to be reviewed the next day.

[BillyGr]

I guess wait until they reopen? Or perhaps if this only impacts Family Dollar stores they would arrange to take the items back via a nearby Dollar Tree location?

That would be the right thing to do... let the accounting department figure it out.

Dollar Tree however has a no refunds policy. They only allow exchanges. Any time a refund is done there is extreme scrutiny before, during, and after the transaction from above the store level. Although they say no refunds, their cash register does allow refunds to be done (instances like, double scanned items) but it requires about 3 manager overrides and will show up on a report to be reviewed the next day.

True, though given that many FD items are more than $1 or $1.25, it would be fairly easy to identify what was being returned and why. Then again, we know companies always do what is easiest for the customers...

[storewanderer]

True, though given that many FD items are more than $1 or $1.25, it would be fairly easy to identify what was being returned and why. Then again, we know companies always do what is easiest for the customers...

They are still on separate POS systems. Dollar Tree has an old and really slow/clunky NCR interface they use. It is really, really bad. It barely works. In Canada they can't even process credit cards on it (have a stand alone terminal). I think the only reason that POS even hung around was due to the single price point and that all they do is ring sales up for $1 all day; no returns, no price overrides, no loyalty cards, no third party gift card activations, etc.

Family Dollar has a different POS and that one is a lot more efficient and works better to accomplish standard retail tasks.