President's Choice Food Cannot be Trusted.

Loblaws Inc., a multibillion dollar company, has a $12 million handout from tax-payers, but will not own up to its wrong doing, refusing to accept responsibility, apologize, or compensate for injuries caused as a result of its subpar and dangerous consumable products!

TORONTO - George Weston Limited colludes with Trophy Foods, Permian Industries, Allianz Global Corporate, and MGB Claims Consultants Inc. to obtain my signature on their release form rather than provide treatment for injuries they have caused.

The problem began when I was eating a package of President's Choice Dark Chocolate Coconut Almonds that I had purchased at a Shoppers Drug Mart. Suddenly, there was an excruciating pain followed by bleeding. It turned out I had bitten down on a brown oval foreign hard substance, around 20-25mm in diameter, and it had broken off part of a tooth and one of my fillings. This was mid February 2019. I was recovering from open heart surgery and ensuing financial losses.
I didn't head to a dentist right away, because I was short of money. After a few days, one of the staff in a local Shoppers Drug Mart, where I described what had happened, suggested that I contact the telephone number printed on the package. After a few calls, I reached Agi Chomroo, a President's Choice Customer Care person. I explained that I have no means to pay for a visit to a dentist. I was asked to send the package and the hard substance to them for analysis, which I did right away. Fighting the distracting pain, I kept following up with emails and phone calls to no avail, until the second week of May, 2019, when I received a call from Jennifer Pelkman, of MGB Claims Consultants Inc. They are insurance adjusters acting on behalf of the insurers for Trophy Foods. My condition was worsening. I suggested they send me to a dentist of their choosing and pay for the work. They told me that this is not the way they work.
Instead, I followed their instructions and visited a dentist for evaluation and assessment. I was to get back to them with the estimated cost. For this reason, I merely asked my dentist to give that estimate, and did not waste time explaining how the problem had happened. When I reported the cost to the company, they unexpectedly asked for my permission to contact my dentist, which I gave. When they contacted him, my dentist told them that I had existing periodontal problems.
Consequently, in September 2019, Ms. Pelkman claimed that my injuries were my fault. She offered just a small portion of dental costs as "a good will gesture" in exchange for my signature on a release form, and she declared: "Trophy Foods/ Permian Industries admits no liability for your injury in this matter." By Ms. Pelkman's "reasoning," a parallel can be drawn that an elderly woman with osteoporosis is responsible for a fracture caused by someone knocking her down.
I had been kept in limbo for four months to receive this slap in the face. Clearly, I had been sold a dangerous consumable by Shoppers Drug Mart. In contrast to me, this company has no financial hardships. It is owned by Lobwaws Inc., a multibillion dollar company. Moreover, my taxes have helped pay for a $12 million government handout to them. But they will not behave responsibly towards me, one of their patrons.
This felt like extortion and I refused to capitulate. I sent an email to the principals of MGB Claims Consultants Inc. (Shawn Malik, James Giffen, and Shawn Burnett). They did not answer. Then I emailed a letter of complaint about the way I had been neglected to Gordon A.M. Currie of Loblaws Inc., asking for a letter of apology by George Weston Limited and a commitment to prevent similar situations for consumers, for my dental bills to be paid in full immediately, and for compensation for the time wasted and the emotional roller coaster that they have me put through as I worry about the exacerbation of my health condition, and the damages Loblaw Companies Ltd., Trophy Foods Inc., and Permian Industries Ltd. have caused to my physical well being.
In response to my letter, I received a number of emails from Barbara Chaulk, a Customer Care Resolution Specialist, who set to work defending Loblaws Inc. and Trophy Foods' products and their "quality" and endorsing Ms. Pelkman's claim. I insisted that I needed to have an official response from Loblaws Inc. since it was the only name printed on the President's Choice Dark Chocolate Coconut Almonds package that caused the injury.
After a few weeks, instead of hearing from Loblaws, I received a call from Rory Lenahan, who claimed to be a Claims Examiner at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, which represents Trophy Foods. He communicated an offer to pay just dental costs, as estimated by the dentist I visited for an estimate previously, on condition that I sign the abovementioned release form, which I refused again until I have a letter of apology from Loblaws Inc.
What Loblaws has been doing is deflecting responsibility to its manufacturer, who has left any response to its insurance company, which, in turn, has left the forwarded matter in the hands of its claims adjusters. It is like a situation in which you buy a brand name cell phone, and its battery explodes and burns your face, and the company that owns the brand refers you to someone in South Korea who works on behalf of an insurance company that represents the manufacturer of the battery for the phone. What, then, is the point of building consumers' trust in phone's brand name?
All my emails after October 25, 2019 have been ignored and I have not received any answers. It is clear that upper management of this multibillion dollar company deals with problems they cause their customers by hiding behind low level staff to cover up deceptive practices and avoid responsibility. With this tactic, they hope to discourage their victims from seeking compensation and justice. They are taking unfair advantage of me because I have informed them that I do not have the financial means to hire a lawyer.
This constitutes collusion among George Weston Limited, Trophy Foods, Permian Industries, Allianz Global Corporate, and MGB Claims Consultants Inc. to obtain my signature on their release form rather than provide treatment for injuries they have caused.
Not only the condition of my teeth, but my overall health is getting worse due to the delay in badly needed treatment that should have taken place eleven months ago. Now I am on the verge of losing three more teeth as a result of their delays. My day-to-day life has been considerably altered during the last eleven months: I have been continuously on guard about whatever I eat and drink and deal with pain and discomfort on a daily basis, and nightly disruptions to my sleep. My mind is not free as I have to try to find money to repair my damaged teeth. To make matters worse, I have the worry of what the health ramification of my damaged teeth and gums are on my general health, considering my heart condition, especially after my recent open heart surgery, as well as how I will deal with this continuous, progressive condition in upcoming days and months. In short I have been deprived of basic joys of life, all for consuming a defective package of President's Choice Dark Chocolate Coconut Almonds, the responsibility of Loblaws Inc.

Bahman Yazdanfar
1-927 Danforth Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4J 1L8

Canaglobe Consulting focuses on identifying facts and figures in order to find practical solutions to business problems, employing extensive knowledge and experience to improve clients' administration and management systems, as well as developing results-oriented solutions for their specific marketing and sales challenges.

This release was published on openPR.