A side-by-side image shows the pork leg listed on Pak’nSave’s website and the one received by Godfrey Rogers in his online order from Pak’nSave Hastings.
A side-by-side image shows the pork leg listed on Pak’nSave’s website and the one received by Godfrey Rogers in his online order from Pak’nSave Hastings.
A professional butcher says a pork leg cut delivered to a 92-year-old online supermarket shopper was “brutal” and would have made about 35% of the meat inedible after cooking.
Foodstuffs agrees the cut looks “unusual”, and has offered Godfrey Rogers of Havelock North a refund.
Rogers regularly orders groceriesfrom Pak‘nSave Hastings and decided he liked the look of the advertised pork, paying $18.36 for it with his regular delivery.
But he was shocked by how much of “the good parts of the meat” had been hacked out of the middle of the leg that arrived at his doorstep.
Rogers wants online shoppers to be wary before ordering meat.
“When I ordered it, I was looking at the picture of the meat on the website,” he said.
“That was what I was anticipating, I was not anticipating what you see now.”
Godfrey Rogers, who paid $18.36, was shocked by the amount of meat missing.
“If I were there, I would not have bought it, I wouldn’t have paid that because I realised that it was being shortchanged, but because it was forced on me, I feel aggrieved.”
Rogers said he had attempted to contact Pak’nSave twice by phone to raise the issue.
“I’ve tried to contact the head office, and I’ve hung on to the phone for ages and not got answered. I’ve tried to ring Hastings and got the same result there.”
He said a friend had a similar experience with Pak’nSave’s meat delivery service, adding to his concern this may not be a one-off.
“They don’t need to rip people off. They are making enough profit.”
Nick Comeau, a Hastings butcher with six years’ experience, told Hawke’s Bay Today the cut was “brutal”.
“A little too deep with the knife for sure. They could have eased up a bit on it,” he said.
Comeau said the pork also appeared to have excess skin and in some cases, poor animal finishing could affect the final result.
“But if the customer is looking at that photo, and then that’s what he gets, I can see why he’s disappointed.”
He estimated about 65% of the meat would be edible if it was cooked as one meal.
Rogers says he still plans to make the most of it.
Foodstuffs offered a full refund, acknowledging the cut looked "unusual".
A Foodstuffs spokesperson told Hawke’s Bay Today they had yet to receive a direct complaint about the order, but were happy to provide a full refund.
“We’re sorry to hear that one of our customers is unhappy with the pork roast they received in their online order,” the spokesperson said.
“The customer ordered a pork leg roast – bone in – and while it’s hard to confirm exactly what was packed, it’s possible the wrong cut was selected, or that the leg was halved in a way that made it look a little unusual.
“Either way, we’re happy to provide the customer with a full refund.”
The spokesperson said Foodstuffs encouraged unhappy online customers to contact the store directly or visit the Pak’nSave website to make complaints.
