Delicious Bubble Tea with Bonus Larvae - Unreasonable Request

S2 on 24/01/2019 - 00:08
Last edited 25/01/2019 - 14:30

Seeking the collective wisdom of the OzB community.
Not so long ago, many bubble teas were purchased to be shared among family members. One person thought their drink was tasting a bit weird and spat out the contents from their mouth to discover maggots larvae in it. Live and still wriggling maggots larvae. Sadly, the drink was nearly finished by this point and it's unknown how many maggots larvae had already been consumed by the one individual or any others. No maggots larvae were discovered in any other drinks.
The experience has left squeamish family members traumatised and unable to enjoy bubble tea without the fear of maggots larvae.
Naturally, the company has been complained to. They offered a weeks worth of bubble tea that can be collected over a month at a single location.
Question is, what could I unreasonably request as compensation?
I'd like to be unreasonable because at least one of my family members has munched on live maggots larvae. The preference certainly would have been for this to not happen at all.
Reasonable compensation suggestions are also appreciated.
Store name isn't being mentioned yet as a courtesy whilst discussions continue with the company.
Some voting suggestions below to get it started.

edit: as per the educational from Whooah1979, pegaxs and others, it's likely that the humble maggot has been miss-identified in this thread and the creature is actually a larvae (such as weeval). Particularly since maggots feast on dead animals and there was no meat in this drink (that I'm aware of).

Poll Options expired

  • 2
    One hundred million dollars! and not one cent less.
  • 33
    Public retribution, let the mob inflict justice - name the company and location!
  • 0
    Fifty bucks in cash. Now go away.
  • 3
    A weeks worth of bubble tea, sweet! Get more maggots for an endless cycle of free bubble tea.
  • 8
    The maggots add extra flavour. Should be grateful you weren't charged extra for them.
  • 6
    Other, my comments are below.
Food & Grocery Bubble Tea

Comments

  • Sage on 24/01/2019 - 00:16
    +18

    Should report it to the Food Safety Unit.
    A week's worth is definitely not worth it. The place should be shut down.

  • foxmulder on 24/01/2019 - 00:18

    Just order one without the maggots :) sorry to hear about your experience. When I used to work for Burger King (hungry jack now) a customer return a burger with few maggots under the meat. Since I have to check the burger before eating.

  • qwerty on 24/01/2019 - 00:22
    +5

    Just call health inspectors

    $50 or a couple free drinks isnt worth it and i doubt you can sue them for much more

    you could try claiming lost wages and doctors fees for a day off them but thats about it

    • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 11:28

      Very true. Unless they offered me thousands - which I think is unreasonably high - nothing would seem like adequate compensation for feeding my family maggots.
      I also wouldn't want the business to close because of one isolated incident.

      • bobwokeup on 25/01/2019 - 11:43

        Isolated incident or not, that should never happen in any restaurant. They would probably be temporarily shutdown until the kitchen area is cleaned up. If they can serve maggots imagine what else is behind closed doors.

        I'd be naming and shaming as well as reporting to the health authorities.

  • WreckTangle on 24/01/2019 - 00:27

    Just tell the council, what are you trying to achieve… surely you don’t want to drive them out of business?

    • HighAndDry on 24/01/2019 - 01:06
      +15

      There's a pretty solid argument that a food shop whose processes were so bad they served live maggots to customers shouldn't be in business.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/01/2019 - 01:34
    +9

    Thanks for helping my dieting. Every time I feel like eating, I will just revisit this post :/ bookmarked lol.

  • Some Human on 24/01/2019 - 02:14
    +4

    Who else had to google what bubble tea is?

    • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 08:45
      +1

      WHAT!? this shocks me even more than maggots in a drink.
      I highly recommend you try one and take foxmulder's advice.

    • [Deactivated] on 24/01/2019 - 09:16
      +2

      Not me, I know all about bubble tea since watching Ronnie Cheung international student.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/01/2019 - 02:25
    +6

    Got any pics of the incident?

    Seems odd to only have one cup affected..

    • HighAndDry on 24/01/2019 - 08:34

      Could've just been one added ingredient / topping affected.

      • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 09:54

        HighAndDry is all over this. One ingredient. To add suspense, I'll hold off on announcing the special maggot attracting ingredient.
        In relation to photo evidence, there is a video. But it is just zoomed in of the maggots wriggling in a tissue. Not very exciting. Sadly, there is no video of the drinker spitting out the maggots and everyone getting physically ill in disgust.

        • HighAndDry on 24/01/2019 - 10:01

          Thanks haha. I'm also going to hold off ordering any bubble tea until I know which shop to avoid and/or which ingredients to be especially careful about. For your sake though, I'd wait until either a resolution is reached with the shop or it looks like they won't be offering an acceptable solution, before disclosing their details, just to keep your options open.

    • whooah1979 on 24/01/2019 - 08:51
      -1

      What's even more odd it that the customer didn't see or take one look at what they were consuming. The containers are usually made of clear plastic which makes the contents very easy to identify.

      • ChillBro on 24/01/2019 - 09:16
        +3

        While the cup may have been transparent, the liquid itself is usually not.

        • whooah1979 on 24/01/2019 - 09:19
          -3

          Move the straw around and things may be more viable.

          • Bargain80 on 24/01/2019 - 10:25
            +3

            @whooah1979: if it's milk tea, you won't be able to see it easily no matter how hard you stir in.

            • whooah1979 on 24/01/2019 - 10:41

              @Bargain80: It depends on what the video shows. The most common maggots one may find in dry commercial foods are not maggots. They're larvae that may grow up to be moths and beetles.

              • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 10:57

                @whooah1979: You have a really good point. I'm unsure if the creature is technically a maggot or larvae. I will research the difference and report back.

                • whooah1979 on 24/01/2019 - 11:10
                  +2

                  @S2: Pantry moths and larvae are common in dry commercial foods. Maggots prefer a different environment and food source.

                  If it turn out to be maggots, then I would be more inclined to think that they were deliberately put in the drink.

          • ChillBro on 24/01/2019 - 10:40
            +1

            @whooah1979: No one drinks something expecting it to have maggots.

      • HighAndDry on 24/01/2019 - 09:36

        Easy to see maybe, but you can add a lot of toppings to bubble tea, including a lot of small squishy types. Given the person making the tea didn't notice the maggots either, I'm going to guess it was in a topping that looked a lot like actual maggots.

        • whooah1979 on 24/01/2019 - 09:50

          May we assume that OP took images of the container as evidence? It would be helpful if OP could uploaded the images so that we may see the artefacts in question.

          • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 10:09

            @whooah1979: No photos of maggots in the cup sorry. Definitely no photos of the full cup since no maggots were suspected initially. Drink was nearly finished by the time maggots were discovered. No photos of maggots in the cup since it was spat out onto a tissue.
            There is a video of maggots wriggling on a tissue. It does look like exactly what you imagine, maggots wriggling around.
            Surprisingly, other family and friends continue to drink bubble tea and many have made attempts at inspecting the drinks before consuming. As others have said, with the numerous pearls and jelly options, it's sometimes hard to determine if unwanted ingredients are floating in the depths of your drink.

  • KingJuf on 24/01/2019 - 02:30
    +1

    Bonus bubble tea for a week? No one in your family will want to have bubble tea again, especially from the same location.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/01/2019 - 03:10
    +3

    Report to health department. That is pretty bad. Clearly something has gone wrong there with food safety, food handing etc.
    If it's first report, I doubt they would be shut down. If nobody speaks up though, the poor food safety there will continue there, and it is likely somebody will get very sick from that place.
    I'm sure most here (if they drink bubble tea) really want to know which place it is, so they can avoid going there. Name them to the health department at least, so as to ensure it is looked into, and doesn't happen again. This wasn't just a hair in your food, this was a bunch of maggots I personally would rather a full bush quantity of pubic hair in food, rather than live maggots. Also hair in food is an accident, maggots in your food is on a whole other level of not following food safety and food handling regulations. Something that requires refrigeration was likely left out in the sun, or left sitting in shop unrefrigerated for a week, then someone has made a very poor choice to serve it up to people anyway.

    • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 08:46
      +1

      Chomping on maggots or bush quantity of pubic hair. I almost feel like this deserves it's own forum poll. I'm leaning towards the maggots with these options.

  • swapsey on 24/01/2019 - 07:22
    +1

    I once got maggots in a bowl of laksa. Took it to counter. They couldn’t believe it. So apologetic. Said they would check everything - noodles, tofu, soup. Whatever had the maggots (often found in flour) they would get rid of it. I was satisfied with their seriousness and a refund. You can generally tell when people care about this stuff and even I have had maggots in my flour. I also told them they need to keep every container air tight.

    • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 08:58

      This! this would have made a big difference. As I've been told, the response over the phone was passive aggressive - as if we were an inconvenience to them. The owner took two days to respond. I assume this was to verify if the claim were true, however, there has been no explicit acknowledgement of the maggots being removed - just that they will review the store practices.
      Having said that, I have seen the email response which was polite and professional, although the compensation offered read like the terms and conditions fine print when ordering infomercials.

  • whooah1979 on 24/01/2019 - 07:26
    -1

    many bubble teas were purchased
    One person thought their drink was tasting a bit weird
    Live and still wriggling maggots.

    You ordered many drink containers, but only one container had live animals in it? Did the drink contain meat? Which franchise was this? Do you take images as evidence?

    I've on a few occasions purchased bubble tea. They were all supplied in clear plastic containers. There is no way to consume this drink without seeing the content.

  • Topdog on 24/01/2019 - 09:10

    I would report this to your local council, if you have not already, talk with your wallet and buy from another bubble tea place, there are plenty around, Use Google/Social media to ensure people know.

    I would want to know if a regular place im going to is serving maggots. At the end of the day it could be a once off. , however they must be taught a valuable lesson that when serving food/drink, that cleanliness is important as well as checking stock for foreign objects.

  • Fier2 on 24/01/2019 - 09:12

    I love bubble tea but after reading this i know for sure i will shake it even harder to see what is inside. Make me wonder how come the person who drink it didn't realise what is it as you can clearly see what you are drinking. So, i definetly would love to know the name of the business . If you find live maggots, some people can be traumatised for life and seeking a further comoensation like free psychologist might not ne a bad idea. You should report the place to food and safety authorities at the same time. It might ut you from having any compensation but at least you will avoid someone else going through the same traume.

  • angusngon9 on 24/01/2019 - 09:27

    a week's worth of bubble tea at the same location is definitely not going to make the cut, especially if they sound passive aggressive.

    I'll go in this order:Franchise company, Centre Management (?) Local council and Food authority. Facebook/Instagram on the side - who knows, might get viral if you've got a video of it. One of my mates got live maggots in their ferroro chocolates and it got on media.

    But, please tell me where this bubble tea is- and I'll avoid it.

  • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 10:27

    Votes and comments show many people want to know the location. Fair enough, that would also be my vote and explains why I get along with this community so well. Haha.
    Before such a thing happens, I'd like to question - are you sure?
    Recently, I was in the bathroom near the food court of a shopping center and witnessed someone dressed clearly as a chef use the bathroom and walk straight out without washing their hands. I think this is way more common than any of us realize or want to admit.
    Another story is from an Indian friend who witnessed someone cooking on an India street with their bare hands whilst wiping their armpits from the heat with the same hands/arm. The reenactment was far better than I can justify in words. My friend said they still ate the food and it was delicious (I feel I have started digging a whole and am continuing to go down in - oh well). In truth, I love street food when I'm in Asia and there's no way any of those delicious food options meet Australian standards. Difference to this scenario is I know what I'm getting over there.
    I think our dining options would dwindle if we knew all the nasty things that happen in a restaurant kitchen.

    • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 11:41
      -3

      Just had an idea. We'll let the company know about this post, suggest they sign up to provide their side of the story and maybe offer a deal for the community. Maybe it could become a win for all.

      • bobbified on 24/01/2019 - 14:06
        +1

        maybe offer a deal for the community. Maybe it could become a win for all.

        Woohooo! free maggots for all!

      • S2 on 24/01/2019 - 15:51

        I thought this would be a popular idea. How come it was down voted?
        Obviously I'm not expecting them to offer maggots in their drinks anymore.

  • dust on 24/01/2019 - 10:54

    They offered a weeks worth of bubble tea that can be collected over a month at a single location.

    lol! How many more maggots do they think you want to eat?

  • [Deactivated] on 24/01/2019 - 15:29
    +1

    if you're weird enough to drink bubble tea you might like eating maggots

  • pegaxs on 24/01/2019 - 17:57
    +2

    Plot twist. Wasn't maggots but actually vanilla jelly strips… (I've never eaten maggots, but if I had to guess what they would look like and what texture they would be, this is it…)

    Not saying it's impossible, but how?? In the tea? In the milk?? In the pearls???

    Unless a maggot laden fly landed in the black pearls and blended in till it exploded, I can't see how this has happened. Maggots are tiny when born and feast on decaying, rotten things. They take quite a while to get to a decent size if they are eating well.

    Whole thing sounds like either a scam or a troll.

    If it was at Chatime, I'm surprised that it wasn't an extra 75¢ for the maggots…

    • [Deactivated] on 25/01/2019 - 00:48

      I thought the same as you until I pondered a little more.

      I am by no means a bug expert but I think the OP might be using the wrong term without realising? As in, the creatures might've been pantry moth larvae or something similar, which do look very much like maggots. Maggots in a kitchen would be pretty messed up.. pantry moth larvae in a kitchen is a nightmare but not completely unheard of. They like stuff like grains, rice, flour, etc. so it's possible, if we were to entertain this idea of the OPs story being true, that only certain ingredients in the bubble tea kitchen was affected.

      But I am merely speculating. Equally curious and naturally skeptical like you too. I do doubt anyone would mistake food for live, crawling bugs though. You'd have to be pretty special to do that.

      So I guess it's more a case of WTF were they, and how did they get there, etc. AFAIK, those jelly things in bubble tea are flour based. So yeah, I reckon pantry moth larvae. Doesn't make it any more appetising though..

      • pegaxs on 25/01/2019 - 10:10

        Yes, The only thing I could think of was Weevil larvae from maybe the powdered milk, not really maggots. But people see small white wigglers and automatically go to "maggot". The contents of bubble tea it not really a haven for any type of insects, let alone live ones.

        As for the pearls, the pearls are made from either tapioca (that come as small, dehydrated balls) or the jelly from agar (that kind of looks like salt). Neither I could see as being insect food, as both have to be prepared before use. (Pearls need to be expanded in water, agar needs to be mixed into boiling water.)

        The other thing that makes me dubious that this is all crap, is how cagey OP is being with facts. No photo, no video, no replies to questions about what that person drank compared to others and other things just lead to a lack of information and lack of credibility. The more I read the thread, the more convinced I am that it's a troll.

        • S2 on 25/01/2019 - 14:07

          Hahaha, thanks for the reply Pegaxs. I do appreciate the educational on weevil larvae vs maggots. Whooah1979 was all over me about the miss-identification too. Comments from this thread and images of weevil larvae suggest the insects are not maggots. I will edit the post to clarify this.
          In relation to the lack of details being shared, I am taking advice from HighAndDry and holding off as discussions continue with the shop.
          To reduce yours and other's concerns about the validity of this post, I will request the video and work out how to upload it here. It is a Friday so I do ask for your patience - it may not happen until next week. Be warned though, the video is pretty unspectacular - when it was recorded, there was no intention of posting it online.

      • S2 on 25/01/2019 - 14:22

        I do doubt anyone would mistake food for live, crawling bugs though.

        As per HighAndDry, depending on selection, the taste and texture of bubble tea can hide the signs of an insect in the drink. Whilst the larvae did wriggle in the tissue, I imagine being sucked and swirled up into someone's mouth with a bunch of pearls and jelly would make it's movement indistinguishable. One other thing to add is the person drinking didn't notice the taste was off until the end of the drink, when there is less content that could mask a disgusting taste.

  • AlienC on 24/01/2019 - 23:39

    Hard to verify good and bubble tea as it is all made in the back in huge huge barrels or pots stirred up then refrigerated.

    These guys probably left it out in the open eughh or worse didn't clean it properly or check their ingredients or preparation station.. kinda disgusting to think a fly got in there and they didn't bother to try and prevent it or watch it correctly.

    Would definitely ring council and tell them to send in an environmental health and safety officer to the store you bought it from so they can do a health and safety inspection check I did one today for my local subway as the food especially the sauces and salads tasted off.

    It is not the NSW Food Authority you ring as they only do specific retail product recalls and stuff like that if you want restaurants and local businesses it is handled by the local council in which the restaurant or store is located.

    That bit of information I learnt but you may have to give some personal information like name, address, contact number and date of birth probably to prevent prank/spam calls and the like etc.

    All the best in your future endeavours.. food health and safety mishaps is no joke report it because they will just do it again if you don't especially if you don't say or do nothing you have to be vigilant with these things trust me you don't want to get food poisoning some day it is the worst do your fellow person a favour and report the store to your local council :)

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