Intense feud escalates in ritzy suburb as cops become involved after customer complains about shocking discovery in a block of cheese

Daily Mail​

26-05-2025

A bitter feud has erupted in a ritzy beachside suburb after a customer complained to the owner of a cheese company about finding a metal bolt in her purchase.
Julia Sakr said she had bought a Maffra Cheese block at her local supermarket Fruitlologist in Bondi, in Sydney 's eastern suburbs.
'I had a hankering for cheddar cheese and crackers and I saw this gourmet piece of cheese,' the pregnant mother said in a TikTok video shared on Saturday.
Ms Sakr, who runs pet bed company Barney Bed, said when she arrived home she opened the cheese and discovered a little, metal nut inside of it.
'I broke up the top piece, and I saw on the backside of it a bolt. Like a metal bolt, you know, like a tool,' she said.
'This small block of cheese was $10 and it was at night time, so I wasn't going to go back to the Fruitologist to get it exchanged or get my money back,' Ms Sakr said.
Ms Sakr disposed of the entire block, not wanting to eat the cheese in case the rest was contaminated.
'The very next morning we were going to Cairns for a week and I only just got back yesterday, so I was like, "OK, I'll just email the company and let them know",' she said.
'Number one, so they know it's obviously an issue having a bolt in their cheese, and number two I just paid $10 for a small block of cheese I didn't get to enjoy.'
'So I said, "Hi there, I purchased your cheese from the Fruitologist in Bondi this evening and I found a bolt in there. I'm glad I spotted it before chewing on some cheese and crackers. How do I get a refund on this?"'
She said she received a response in the morning from the director who thanked her for reporting the incident.
Ms Sakr claimed the director asked for pictures of the batch number on the back label so she could investigate the incident.
'I was like, "how? I've already thrown it away," which I did, and my cleaners come once a week, so by the time I get back from Cairns, it's not gonna be there,' she said.
'And to be honest, I was a bit p***ed off because like customers telling you that they found a bolt in your cheese.
'I decided to get petty because I was like I'm not (going to) let this woman keep my $10 if that's the attitude she's gonna have.'
Then Ms Sakr said the director informed her the production line don't use nuts like the one in her photo, and all the cheeses pass through a metal detector.
'I responded with, "Are you seriously denying this? Why on earth would I contact you if this didn't happen?".
Ms Sakr had hoped the saga could have been 'nipped in the bud'.
Instead, she said she received an email, warning her the director would be contacting the police.
'Today I get a response from her saying, "I will be making a police report",' she said.
Ms Sakr shared a shot of the email apparently originating from Maffra master cheesemaker Ferial Zekiman.
'I will be making a police report. Kind Regards, Ferial Zekiman,' the email read.
It remains unclear whether the police report was intended to be made against Ms Sakr, or about the metal bolt that had been found in the cheese.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Maffra Cheese for comment.
Social media users agreed Ms Sakr had received less-than-satisfactory treatment over the complaint.
'Wow that is incredibly bad customer service,' one said.
'Be petty queen,' another said.
Others took the cheesemaker's side.
'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,' one wrote.
'Her initial response was perfectly acceptable and to industry standard.'
'The way I read their first reply email was that they wanted the batch number to make sure none others were contaminated, potentially pulling all others off shelves from that batch,' another agreed.
'And most of these places do use metal detectors due to the machinery used in production.'
Some viewers, however, said the situation could have been handled better by both parties.
'Her initial response was valid, all companies ask for bb dates etc after a complaint, but the rest of her interaction is absolutely ridiculous!' one wrote.
'She could have just explained why she was requesting that info rather than what she did.'