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Re:

Woolworths Customer Reports ‘Live Maggots’ in Mt Hawthorn Roast Chicken: What Was Reported and How Shoppers Get Refunds

A shopper's claim of live maggots in Woolworths roast chicken at Mt Hawthorn, what the 2024 reporting establishes, and how to document a grocery complaint and recover your money.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read
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A Leederville shopper says she found what she described as live maggots in a roast chicken bought from Woolworths at The Mezz shopping centre in Mt Hawthorn. PerthNow published her account on 13 September 2024. The contamination claim belongs to the customer, and the reporting does not establish a confirmed cause, a regulator finding, a recall or a completed store investigation. What the case does show is how a grocery complaint can be handled and what a shopper can realistically expect to recover, which is where the money questions sit.

What the customer reported

  • The purchase: roast chicken bought from Woolworths at The Mezz, Mt Hawthorn. The customer is identified in the report as Sarah, a Leederville resident.
  • What was eaten: she ate about half of the chicken at home. Her husband reheated some of the remaining chicken later that evening, before the discovery was made.
  • What was found: she described live maggots in the chicken. No independent identification of the material has been reported.
  • Health effects: no adverse effects were reported by the time of publication. This is the customer’s own account, not a medical finding.

How the store handled the complaint

According to the same report, the complaint moved through the following stages:

  1. Initial contact with the store. The customer raised the matter directly with Woolworths.
  2. Apology by email. She received an apology and was told the matter had been forwarded to the store manager.
  3. Refund offer for the chicken. The store first offered a refund for the chicken itself.
  4. Reimbursement for the receipt. After visiting the store in person, she obtained reimbursement for a receipt the report puts at $40. That figure is the amount of her own receipt, not a measure of anything wider.
  5. No further explanation. As of publication, she said she had not received a further explanation of what had happened.

What Woolworths said

A Woolworths spokesperson told PerthNow: “We take food quality and safety very seriously and have raised this with our deli team and supplier.” The report identifies the speaker only as a Woolworths spokesperson. The statement confirms that the matter was escalated internally and to the supplier. It does not say what was found, or whether the supplier was responsible.

What is and is not established

The table separates what the reporting states from what it leaves open. It is based on PerthNow’s 13 September 2024 article, the most detailed public account of this incident we could attribute, and it does not reflect any later coverage.

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Item Status in the reporting
Purchase at Woolworths, The Mezz, Mt Hawthorn Stated by the customer and reported by PerthNow
Presence of live maggots Customer’s description only; no independent identification reported
Origin (store, deli or supplier) Not established. Woolworths said it raised the matter with its deli team and supplier, with no finding given
Health effects None reported at publication; not medically verified
Reimbursement Receipt reported at $40, reimbursed after an initial refund offer for the chicken
Regulator involvement Not reported
Public recall Not reported
Similar complaints elsewhere The customer said friends had encountered similar problems; this was not substantiated

No broader pattern can be drawn from a single customer’s account, and nothing in the reporting supports one.

Woolworths’ product-safety reporting channel

Woolworths’ Australian product-safety page describes a route for reporting a product-safety incident. A customer can call 1300 767 969 or use the online enquiry form. According to the page, reports are recorded, assigned a severity rating, and may be referred for further investigation.

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The page limits this policy to products sold by Woolworths Group on Woolworths Online. The reporting does not show whether the same steps applied to the 2024 in-store complaint, so treat the phone line and form as the company’s published channel, not a guaranteed process for a deli purchase.

If you find something similar: a practical sequence

  1. Stop eating the food. Do not finish or reheat the remainder.
  2. Keep the item sealed and unwashed. Store it in a bag or container so the store, and any later investigator, can examine it.
  3. Photograph the item and the packaging. Include the use-by or label details and any deli tray or sticker.
  4. Keep the receipt or the card statement. A receipt is what the customer in this case needed for reimbursement. Without one, proof of purchase becomes harder to establish.
  5. Report to the store on the same day. Ask for the manager, and ask for the complaint reference number in writing.
  6. Follow up through the published channel. If the store does not respond, call 1300 767 969 or submit the online enquiry form, and keep a copy of what you sent.
  7. Escalate if the answer is unsatisfactory. Food safety is regulated by state and territory authorities in Australia. Raise the matter with the relevant food regulator if you believe the food was unsafe and the store has not explained what happened.

Money recovery: what to ask for

The Mt Hawthorn customer’s experience shows the usual sequence for a grocery complaint: a refund of the item, then reimbursement of the purchase price if the store accepts responsibility. The reporting does not say what consumer law entitlement applied in her case, and it does not describe any compensation beyond the receipt. If you have medical costs, a reheated-meal illness, or lost time, record them separately. Check your state or territory consumer agency guidance before assuming any claim will be paid.

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Documentation checklist

  • Original receipt, or the card or app transaction record
  • Photos of the item, packaging and any tray or deli label
  • Date, time and store location of the purchase
  • Names of staff spoken to, and the date of each contact
  • Written reply or complaint reference from the store
  • Any medical visit or cost, if you became unwell
  • A log of what was offered, what was paid, and what remains unanswered

Keeping this record is what allows a complaint to move from a verbal apology to a documented outcome, which is the gap the 2024 customer described when she said she had not received a further explanation.

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