A California woman who purchased packaged rice from Amazon Grocery was shocked to discover something 'wiggling' inside the bag. San Francisco resident Amy Chau bought a bag of brown rice from the online store, which was on sale for $3 per bag. Chau initially believed she had secured a great bargain, but her excitement quickly turned to disgust when she noticed creepy crawlies inside the bag.
Discovery of Infestation
'This is my Amazon rice... that I bought from Amazon... and look what's in there!' Chau exclaimed in a video she recorded shortly after opening the bag. 'There's something in the rice ... which is really disgusting!' The nauseating footage revealed tiny insects, blending in with the rice color, moving throughout the bag. 'There were like worms... things wiggling inside an unopened bag of rice,' she told ABC7.
Chau admitted she did not inspect the bag upon delivery and simply emptied the rice into a container. However, after a few hours, she noticed moths flying around her home—an occurrence she had never experienced before. 'And then when I looked in my [rice] container, I opened [it] and there were a couple of moths that flew out,' she recounted.
Filing a Complaint
Horrified, Chau realized something was living in the rice. She inspected the second bag and recorded the gross sight of bugs crawling inside the unopened package. 'Complete disgust! It was really disgusting,' she said. Chau discarded the infested bag and filed a claim with Amazon. Emails obtained by the outlet showed the company approved a refund for her entire $300 grocery order, which included two bags of the bug-infested rice. The refund was scheduled to hit her account within seven business days, but Chau claimed she never received it.
Media Intervention
After nearly a month of waiting, feeling helpless, Chau contacted ABC7 to seek answers from the tech giant. The outlet reached out to Amazon on her behalf, and a spokesperson responded. 'We appreciate ABC7 for bringing this matter to our attention. Our team has resolved the matter directly with the customer and have apologized for any inconvenience caused,' said Lex Evans, an Amazon spokesperson.
Less than 24 hours after Chau contacted the outlet, she finally received the generous refund. The tech giant also added an extra $100 gift card for her troubles. 'It got resolved basically the next day... the speed was night and day,' she told the outlet. '[I'm] just relieved and happy that it finally got resolved,' Chau added.
