136 bags of breastmilk spoilt after service company cleaner unplugs freezer
A Singaporean woman took to Instagram to complain about a service company whose staff allegedly unplugged her freezer, causing 136 bags of her breastmilk to be spoilt.
Source: Instagram
On Sunday (14 July), the woman shared a series of Instagram stories on her account detailing her experience with Urban Company Singapore.
She demanded a refund and compensation for her and her baby’s loss.
However, she received what she described as “robotic” and “totally unempathetic” responses from the service provider.
Cleaner allegedly unplugged freezer
According to the OP, the freezer containing the 136 bags of breastmilk had been unplugged since Tuesday.
She claims the cleaner had removed the freezer plug to use a handheld vacuum and forgot to reconnect it.
Source: Instagram
“Wouldn’t one check what the plug is for before unplugging it?” she questioned, adding that the cleaner did not ask her before unplugging the freezer.
She also mentioned that her four-month-old baby is “dependent on her breastmilk to survive”.
“Back to 0 thanks to @urbancompany_sg. Pumped every 3 hours for NOTHING,” the OP wrote, showing the now-empty freezer.
“Only mums can understand my pain,” she added.
5 weeks’ worth of pumping
Speaking to MS News, the OP explained that she specifically bought the freezer on 22 May in order to freeze her breastmilk. This was to ensure a supply of milk for her second baby as during her previous pregnancy, she had a case of undersupply.
For around five weeks, OP stuck to a schedule of 3-hourly pumping seven times a day. She added that each pumping session took her around 20 minutes.
She had filled up the breastmilk freezer on 2 June, thinking that she then had an oversupply of milk. She said that even her main fridge, where they kept food and drinks, had become full of breast milk packets.
On Saturday (13 July), OP told her husband that she was thinking of getting another freezer. This prompted her to check if there was still storage space in her current freezer.
“I wanted to double check if there was still any space left in the breastmilk freezer and to my dismay, I found thawed breastmilk instead.”
Woman demands refund and compensation, gets S$14
According to OP, Urban Company Singapore responded to her Instagram messages, stating they are no longer liable as she discovered the unplugged freezer 72 hours after the service.
However, the woman defended herself, asking, “Who in the world checks on a freezer that is already full on a daily basis?”
Sharing screenshots of her conversation with the company’s representative, she said that the company was “totally unempathetic”.
Source: Instagram
“Is Jiten a robot? Zero empathy. Kept brushing off the issue. Consult team until don’t know consult till where. Cannot wait to close the ticket and mark as resolved,” she wrote.
She demanded a refund for the service she paid and compensation for the “emotional turmoil” the incident caused and the “loss of food” for her baby.
Initially offered S$14 refund
On Monday (15 July), a representative from the company contacted OP, offering her compensation for the incident.
“After consulting with our management team, we would like to provide you with 25% compensation for your booking,” the representative told her.
The compensation offered was 14 credits, which amounted to S$14.
“We’re really sorry for the trouble you’ve been through,” the representative wrote.
Source: Instagram
Appalled by this compensation, OP rejected the compensation and cancelled her booking and package effective on that day.
“Apparently, my 136 packets of breastmilk is only worth $14 to them,” she told MS News.
“I can’t even buy 136 empty milk bags with $14.”
She further shared that fellow mums in her breastfeeding group chat have learned of the incident and have empathised with her plight.
Many have expressed how hard the experience of breastfeeding is, with many struggling to even produce enough milk for their babies.
Source: Instagram
“Breastfeeding is a tough and lonely journey,” OP said.
Moreover, as she has gone back to work after her maternity leave, she is not able to pump as much as she had done before due to work commitments.
“This incident has caused me unnecessary stress…which in turn caused my milk supply to drop. It’s gonna take a long time for me to rebuild that amount of breastmilk again.”
Company refunds value equal to formula milk
On 16 July, OP received an update from Urban Company Singapore. They gave her another offer of compensation.
They said that they would “compensate the quantity of breastmilk amount in relation to formula milk”.
136 packets of breastmilk roughly measure 20.4L, which equates to 24 tins of formula milk.
OP adds that each tin of milk costs around S$66. The price is based on the brand of milk that her newborn had been given during her stay at Mount Alvernia Hospital.
In total, the compensation amounts to S$1550.16.
OP states that the company initially offered to send her 24 tins of formula milk as compensation, but she refused as she worried about the expiration dates of the formula as well as the lack of space in her home.
When asked if she was satisfied with the resolution, OP said that it was “hard to put a value” on the loss that she had suffered, but that “this outcome is fair and reasonable”.
She added that Urban Company Singapore’s representative, Brian, handled the situation with “utmost empathy” as he tried to reach a resolution with OP’s husband, unlike that of the “robotic” customer service rep.
“I have trust and faith in my husband’s judgment that the resolution outcome was the most fair and reasonable,” OP said.
MS News has reached out to Urban Company Singapore for comments.
Also read: 1-month-old baby allegedly scalded on entire arm while receiving treatment in M’sia hospital
1-month-old baby allegedly scalded on entire arm while receiving treatment in M’sia hospital
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Featured image adapted from Instagram
