My University is Selling Counterfeit Candy

[LuNoTiCK]

My school sold water that said not for individual sale.

 

[kyzen]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: kyzen

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: FrancesBeansRevenge
WTF?

You sure sound like a fun guy to hang around with...

You live in Australia, you have no place in this thread.

Much of what you've said in this thread leads me to believe you're extremely xenophobic.

Xenophobia denotes a phobic attitude toward strangers or of the unknown.

I know Australia is filled with pirates and criminals... and fuzzy animals.

If we're playing the definition game it's easy to find a definition that works good for your stance:

fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign



Why not just feed the Mentos to orphans? If they don't die, then the Mentos are likely safe to eat. If they do die... well, that's one less potential Disney movie we have to put up with.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: kyzen

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: kyzen

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: FrancesBeansRevenge
WTF?

You sure sound like a fun guy to hang around with...

You live in Australia, you have no place in this thread.

Much of what you've said in this thread leads me to believe you're extremely xenophobic.

Xenophobia denotes a phobic attitude toward strangers or of the unknown.

I know Australia is filled with pirates and criminals... and fuzzy animals.

If we're playing the definition game it's easy to find a definition that works good for your stance:

fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign



Why not just feed the Mentos to orphans? If they don't die, then the Mentos are likely safe to eat. If they do die... well, that's one less potential Disney movie we have to put up with.

You bring up a fantastic point. What if these THIRD WORLD MENTOS are not SAFE TO EAT FOR MY AMERICAN BODY?

 

[SurgicalShark]

See if you can contact Federal Trade Commission. Also, I don't think that it is counterfeit, either the candy shop operator is buying that candy from China town to save money and sell it to students at a price much higher than candy shop originally paid for "or" your university is getting duped by its vendor.

Also, it is common for multi-national organizations to create products under same brand name but with different tastes, usually to suite the locale.

 

[kyzen]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: kyzen

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: kyzen

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: FrancesBeansRevenge
WTF?

You sure sound like a fun guy to hang around with...

You live in Australia, you have no place in this thread.

Much of what you've said in this thread leads me to believe you're extremely xenophobic.

Xenophobia denotes a phobic attitude toward strangers or of the unknown.

I know Australia is filled with pirates and criminals... and fuzzy animals.

If we're playing the definition game it's easy to find a definition that works good for your stance:

fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign



Why not just feed the Mentos to orphans? If they don't die, then the Mentos are likely safe to eat. If they do die... well, that's one less potential Disney movie we have to put up with.

You bring up a fantastic point. What if these THIRD WORLD MENTOS are not SAFE TO EAT FOR MY AMERICAN BODY?

Well since the pic you posted suggests you've already consumed some, I think it's best to hope that they are OK. You might consider signing a Will though just in case, and leaving extensive documentation behind for any investigations into your death.

By "extensive documentation" I do of course mean some sort of ridiculous chain of riddles and puzzles, since that's all the rage these days.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: SurgicalShark
Also, it is common for multi-national organizations to create products under same brand name but with different tastes, usually to suite the locale.

Indonesians have bad taste.

 

[Beige]

Originally posted by: altonb1
You should look up the definition of counterfeit.

indeed.
Was a bit misleading and i was confused as to what exported/imported candy had to do with fake candy lol...

Since we do not know if the factory the candy came from was in the usa or indonesia i dont specify export/import. It was most likely to be exported from the usa though.

 

[zanieladie]

I would contact the school, OP. Please let us know what happens. I agree that contacting Mentos was a good idea too.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: Beige

Originally posted by: altonb1
You should look up the definition of counterfeit.

indeed.
Was a bit misleading and i was confused as to what exported/imported candy had to do with fake candy lol...

Since we do not know if the factory the candy came from was in the usqa or indonesia i dont specify export/import. It was most likely to be exported though fromthe usa though.

The candy was made in Holland. I do enjoy the Dutch, they probably keep their best candies "in-country."

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: tweakmm
Plus, as someone said, there is probably nothing wrong being done.

If nothing is wrong and that liquidation post is correct, why even bother having these "For Sale in Indonesia Only."

And actually, I do not see Nutrition Facts, because I can not read whatever language it is in.

Did the menthos tubes come in a pack? If so, was there nutritional info in English on the outer pack?

My client, who is a liquidadator, has shown me samples where the outer package of whatever must have specfic FDA-aproved ingredients + nutritional information, but the inner contents need not have them.

 

[axelfox]

Originally posted by: TechnoPro

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
At my university, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, your meal plan gets you a certain number of meals/week along with a certain number of spendable dollars "Plus Dollars" that you can use pretty much all around campus (except the bookstore).

Everyone always ends up with an excess of these "Plus Dollars" at the end of a year and they expire if you don't use them after the Spring Quarter. So I had about 300 Plus Dollars that I had to spend (or else they would go to waste) my last weekend at Poly. So I went to the Campus Market and bought $300 of over-priced items (probably have a retail value of $100 or less). Among the items I bought, were 10 rolls/packs of Mentos.

Today, while having one of the packs (I just finished unpacking, procrastination++), I noticed that the Nutrition Facts were not in English and at the end off the roll it says, "For Sale in Indonesia Only."

Picture

I obviously have never been to Indonesia and bought these in the United States. Since I bought these at a more than average price ($1.25 / roll - I told you, over-priced), I am pissed that these weren't even supposed to be sold in Indonesia.

Who should I call? Cal Poly is profiting on the sale of goods not meant to be sold within the United States. I wouldn't really care, except they've shafted me on a lot of things and I want 1. my money back and 2. real, american candy. (Plus, these Indonesian ones taste stale, despite the marking of what appears to be good until December 2007).

I've already emailed Mentos, using their "Contact Us" form, is there anyone else I should contact before contacting Cal Poly? I bought these two weeks ago, so maybe just one box was bad or maybe the entire shipment? I smell international scandal!

Sometimes, a product will be marked for export but will never make it to the final destination. Rather than destroy the items, the manufacturer will sell to a wholesale liquadator, since they typically will not be purchased by normal retail channels (i.e. full price gorcery stores, pharmacies, etc.). The wholesale liquadator will then sell to dollar stores, Christmas Tree shops, mom and pop stores, and similar.

As for how they landed in your university, that would surprise me since they are being sold at full retail prices. Someone is making a tidy profit somewhere on the food chain.

This is probably the case here; they are called "grey market goods." Usually a company will sell the same product in a foreign country for much cheaper. A company buys the excess inventory and sells it in USA for usually cheaper than the USA version. Some have stopped the importation of such goods on a copyright or TM infringement theory.

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: axelfox

Originally posted by: TechnoPro

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
At my university, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, your meal plan gets you a certain number of meals/week along with a certain number of spendable dollars "Plus Dollars" that you can use pretty much all around campus (except the bookstore).

Everyone always ends up with an excess of these "Plus Dollars" at the end of a year and they expire if you don't use them after the Spring Quarter. So I had about 300 Plus Dollars that I had to spend (or else they would go to waste) my last weekend at Poly. So I went to the Campus Market and bought $300 of over-priced items (probably have a retail value of $100 or less). Among the items I bought, were 10 rolls/packs of Mentos.

Today, while having one of the packs (I just finished unpacking, procrastination++), I noticed that the Nutrition Facts were not in English and at the end off the roll it says, "For Sale in Indonesia Only."

Picture

I obviously have never been to Indonesia and bought these in the United States. Since I bought these at a more than average price ($1.25 / roll - I told you, over-priced), I am pissed that these weren't even supposed to be sold in Indonesia.

Who should I call? Cal Poly is profiting on the sale of goods not meant to be sold within the United States. I wouldn't really care, except they've shafted me on a lot of things and I want 1. my money back and 2. real, american candy. (Plus, these Indonesian ones taste stale, despite the marking of what appears to be good until December 2007).

I've already emailed Mentos, using their "Contact Us" form, is there anyone else I should contact before contacting Cal Poly? I bought these two weeks ago, so maybe just one box was bad or maybe the entire shipment? I smell international scandal!

Sometimes, a product will be marked for export but will never make it to the final destination. Rather than destroy the items, the manufacturer will sell to a wholesale liquadator, since they typically will not be purchased by normal retail channels (i.e. full price gorcery stores, pharmacies, etc.). The wholesale liquadator will then sell to dollar stores, Christmas Tree shops, mom and pop stores, and similar.

As for how they landed in your university, that would surprise me since they are being sold at full retail prices. Someone is making a tidy profit somewhere on the food chain.

This is probably the case here; they are called "grey market goods." Usually a company will sell the same product in a foreign country for much cheaper. A company buys the excess inventory and sells it in USA for usually cheaper than the USA version. Some have stopped the importation of such goods on a copyright or TM infringement theory.

Perhaps I am naive, but I would have a hard time thinking gray market goods would make their way onto the shelves of a campus store. Then again, greed and stupidity often go hand in hand.

 

[BooGiMaN]

ummm..errr...have you forgotten about that night you and your freinds got drunk and became involved in a series of adventures involving murder, spies, international intrigue and gambling at the french riviera and you dressed up as a woman in a bar that happens to have sold mentos where you lured the evil men away while your friend searched the mastermind's office that was located...in..in ...indonesia!!!!!

dun dun dun dun!!!!!


or wait that may have been a movie a saw

 

[intogamer]

Just cause its for sale in indeonesia doesn't mean it is made in indeonesia

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: intogamer
Just cause its for sale in indeonesia doesn't mean it is made in indeonesia

I already said it was made in Holland.

Reading the thread is over-rated anyway.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: aka1nas
How do you know that the makers of Mentos didn't enter into an agreement with the university to sell excess inventory that they can't unload to the university cheaply? Just because it says "for sale in Indonesia" doesn't mean there's any force of law behind it.

It says, "For Sale in Indonesia Only."

Sucks. And your uni's points policy sucks. Here at Duke if we haven't spent all of our "Flex" (flexible-spending account) points by the end of the year it appears as a credit on our bursar's bill. With food points it's different though... only the first $100 counts, after that it's 50% of the remaining balance after $100. Several of my friends went to the Washington-Duke Inn at the end of the year (really really formal dining that costs $50/plate) using their leftover food points...

Edit: And yeah our campus stores are all *#%%# rip-offs as well. A gallon of bottled water costs about $1.85 while a gallon at Whole Food Market (which is also d@$* expensive) costs 99c. Everything costs 50-200% more than an average grocery store, which means they're making a killing... good thing my buddy has a Costco card

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: aka1nas
How do you know that the makers of Mentos didn't enter into an agreement with the university to sell excess inventory that they can't unload to the university cheaply? Just because it says "for sale in Indonesia" doesn't mean there's any force of law behind it.

It says, "For Sale in Indonesia Only."

Sucks. And your uni's points policy sucks. Here at Duke if we haven't spent all of our "Flex" (flexible-spending account) points by the end of the year it appears as a credit on our bursar's bill. With food points it's different though... only the first $100 counts, after that it's 50% of the remaining balance after $100. Several of my friends went to the Washington-Duke Inn at the end of the year (really really formal dining that costs $50/plate) using their leftover food points...

Yeah, Cal Poly shafts you for pretty much everything. At the beginning of the year, there was only two places you could use your meals and one of them was a sandwhich shop open from 10am to 4pm. Luckily, the student government petitioned to add another place with the ability to use "meals."

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Yeah, Cal Poly shafts you for pretty much everything. At the beginning of the year, there was only two places you could use your meals and one of them was a sandwhich shop open from 10am to 4pm. Luckily, the student government petitioned to add another place with the ability to use "meals."

Similar thing happened here... With freshmen living on East Campus we were given 12 meals/week on the freshmen meal plan at the "Marketplace" which was mediocre cafeteria food. After agitation from the student government we've progressed from a 1) meal-equivalency plan (missed breakfast = discounted lunch) to 2) ditching our old food service provider to 3) now incoming freshmen only have to eat 5 meals/week at the Marketplace... lucky froshies...

 

[Googer]

Since they are counterfiet, no one really knows what kind of ingredients may lurk inside.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Yeah, Cal Poly shafts you for pretty much everything. At the beginning of the year, there was only two places you could use your meals and one of them was a sandwhich shop open from 10am to 4pm. Luckily, the student government petitioned to add another place with the ability to use "meals."

Similar thing happened here... With freshmen living on East Campus we were given 12 meals/week on the freshmen meal plan at the "Marketplace" which was mediocre cafeteria food. After agitation from the student government we've progressed from a 1) meal-equivalency plan (missed breakfast = discounted lunch) to 2) ditching our old food service provider to 3) now incoming freshmen only have to eat 5 meals/week at the Marketplace... lucky froshies...

Student government is a joke though. Especially at Cal Poly. The candidates who ran for positions had to be some of the most worthless twats I've ever encountered.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: Googer
Since they are counterfiet, no one really knows what kind of ingredients may lurk inside.

Exactly, I MIGHT DIE!

 

[TechnoPro]

I e-mailed my client, a wholesale liquidator, the following:

XXXXX:

A guy on a technical forum I am a member of asked a question that made me think of you. He bought Menthos candies from his university campus store. He looked at them and they are marked "For sale in Indonesia only" and the nutritional info is NOT in English. My guess is that they couldn't make it to Indonesia for whatever reason, so a wholesaler bought the lot and sold to the University. They are being sold at full retail, actually at a premium since the campus store overprices everything. Does that sound legit to you? Have you ever sold food products marked for sale in other countries to universities? Thanks for any insight on this.

Regards,


XXXXX

He just wrote back:

Hi XXXXX,

It is not illegal for Menthos to sell these in the USA. It may have been a cancelled Indonesian sale, and they authorized their distributor to sell it.
Or, they heavily discounted it to a trader like me, with restrictions to export the product, and the restrictions were violated.

There are many other scenarios.

The bottom line is that the distributor sold it into the university, and the university is getting full price. Usually, they get away with it unless someone complains.

You should suggest to this guy, that he call the 800 number on the pack and complain. Firstly--he should tell them that he would like the nutritionals in English. Secondly he should complain about paying full price. Most likely they will thank him for calling and send him coupons for free packs.


Let me know how it turns out.

XXXXX

 

[Alprazolam]

quit your bitchin'

 

[MrCodeDude]

I received a reply back:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding Mentos. We appreciate hearing from our consumers. You have purchased what we call " diverted product ". It is manufactured by us for sale in another country however someone other than us is bringing it into the USA. I will forward your information on diverted products to our Sales and Marketing Department. I will send a replacement to the address in your email.

Which I interpreted as:

Thank you for being a good red-blooded American who is intolerant to candy's not intended for American consumption. You are an asset to your country. Your university has very shady business practices and we're going to be shortly kicking ass and eating Mentos (the American versions). Feel free to join us in our barrage against this injustice! We will not rest until all of this counterfeit third-world intended candy is out of our beloved United States of America. Please enjoy the coupons I will be sending you so you can enjoy the real tasty goodness that is American Mentos.

 

[Born2bwire]

Heh, your Uni sucks.