Business owner slammed after shock find in cheese block

Perth Now

26-05-2025

An Australian business owner has been slammed for claiming to have received 'diabolical customer service' after she found a rogue item in a block of cheese.
Julia Sakr, founder of pet bedding company Barney Bed, purchased a block of Maffra cheese from gourmet grocer, Fruitologist, in Bondi.
Upon unwrapping the cheese, Sakr was alarmed to see a dark shadow on the corner of the block. After further inspection, Sakr found a metal bolt imbedded in the cheese.
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Sakr reached out to Maffra Cheese Company with photo receipts to alert them of the contamination and request either a new block of cheese or a refund.
In response, Maffra requested a photo of the package showing the batch number and best before date to investigate the incident.
Unhappy with the email she received back, Sakr took to TikTok to air her frustration.
'I've already thrown it away, and you know my cleaners come once a week so by the time I get back from Cairns it's not going to be there,' she said. Julia Sakr discovered a metal nut in a block of cheese. Credit: TikTok
'To be honest I was a bit pissed off, because if a customer is telling you that they found a bolt in your cheese, that's not the response you should have, you should be like, I'm so sorry this happened to you.'
After further back and forth and no word of a refund, Maffra informed Sakr a police report would be filed.
'Someone please explain to me what a police report is going to do, like what crime did I commit? I bought your cheese and found a bolt in it,' Sakr said.
People of the internet have since piled on the business owner.
'The reason they asked for the batch and best before date is so they could investigate the production batch and issue a public food recall. Her initial response was perfectly acceptable and to industry standard,' one person wrote.
'Maybe she meant a police report to investigate someone tampering with the product between them and you. Like that time someone was putting needles in the strawberries, but you should get a refund regardless,' added another.
'The woman you contacted could not refund you in the first place as you bought the cheese from the fruit shop, they would have refunded you and then contacted Maffra to notify them,' a third said.