Okay, SERIOUSLY?!

[Pagan]

I have however come across the odd batch that had too much sweetener or something in it and tasted wrong. I tell people it's too sweet and they won't unless until I make them try it.

You could have somehow gotten hold of some meant for Mexico. Their sodas generally are much sweeter than in the US. The Coke (Coca-Cola), I swear, is like eating the sugar bowl with a little bit of Coke flavoring. Blech.

[EricKei]

That could be because -- to the best of my understanding -- most of the sodas intended for markets outside of the US use actual sugar for their sweetener, rather than HCFS. I'm fairly certain there's already a nice rant about the stuff on here somewhere ^_^

Some people prefer the sugar type (whether cane or beet-sourced), some prefer HCFS type.

[wolfie]

Usually the distended bottom comes from the can being frozen. The concave bottom is actually there to allow the contents to expand without bursting the can.

"Oilcanning" the concave bottom takes more force than distorting the top JUST enough to unseal the opening, and a frozen can of soda is a VERY touchy beast - the slightest bump will set it off. How do I know? I left a few cans of soda in the cooler in my truck (unplugged, lid open for ventilation), and ambient temperatures got far enough below freezing to affect the soda. Came back to my truck on the Monday, and the cab had been "redecorated".

[Lace Neil Singer]

I once bought a sixpack of Coke, and one of the cans was completely empty, tho sealed. I sent it back to Coca Cola with a letter, and got a £10 gift voucher, enough to buy a few sixpacks, in return. I guess they were worried about being sued or something. I got a £20 voucher from Nestle once, but that was something worse; a multipack of Kitkats, and the last one had a BITE taken out of it. It was all sealed, so I never noticed til I opened the packet.

[Seraph]

I once bought a sixpack of Coke, and one of the cans was completely empty, tho sealed. I sent it back to Coca Cola with a letter, and got a £10 gift voucher, enough to buy a few sixpacks, in return. I guess they were worried about being sued or something. I got a £20 voucher from Nestle once, but that was something worse; a multipack of Kitkats, and the last one had a BITE taken out of it. It was all sealed, so I never noticed til I opened the packet.

Prrft. I once bought a 24 pack of Pepsi, and EVERY can in it was flatter than Kansas. I know Pepsi isn't terribly carbonated in the first place, but this was like....ew. Called them up, they only sent me a coupon to cover most of a new pack. :P I wasn't terribly happy.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Speaking of sealed but empty, I got Annie's Mac and Cheese (it's like Kraft in the Blue Box only in a Purple Box and IMHO way better) where the box was completely sealed, but you could tell that the box was empty. Straight up empty.

I was pretty confused.

[Lovecats]

Speaking of sealed but empty, I got Annie's Mac and Cheese (it's like Kraft in the Blue Box only in a Purple Box and IMHO way better) where the box was completely sealed, but you could tell that the box was empty. Straight up empty.

I was pretty confused.

That's their new no calorie mac and cheese.

[EricKei]

But...but...but calories make it FUN! o_O

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Prrft. I once bought a 24 pack of Pepsi, and EVERY can in it was flatter than Kansas. I know Pepsi isn't terribly carbonated in the first place, but this was like....ew. Called them up, they only sent me a coupon to cover most of a new pack. :P I wasn't terribly happy.

I've ran into that issue with the 2 ltr Pepsi bottles a few years back. Luckily it was only one or two bottles, but still annoying.

Is it me or does the regular Pepsi taste not quite as bubbly as I remember it back in the 70's and 80's?

[Teefies2]

I once bought a bag of corn chips out of a vending machine that was THREE months past expiration date. I wrote to the company, only to inform them that they needed to get a better handle on their restocking procedures, I didn't ask for any compensation.

The bag of corn chips cost $0.25 (this was a long time ago). The company sent me a check (!) for $0.25. Cost of the stamp to send it to me (not counting someone's time, the envelope, etc.)????? $0.38. Yep, real efficient use of resources there, especially since I didn't ASK for any compensation!

[Pagan]

I've ran into that issue with the 2 ltr Pepsi bottles a few years back. Luckily it was only one or two bottles, but still annoying.

Is it me or does the regular Pepsi taste not quite as bubbly as I remember it back in the 70's and 80's?

Which is fine with me, since I like my soda flat. Which is probably because it takes me about 3 days to drink a 16oz soda in the first place.

[EricKei]

Is it just me, or do most diet sodas taste much better when flat? Or rather, do they not make the transition from "harsh, malted battery acid" to "mellow, malted battery acid"?

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Is it just me, or do most diet sodas taste much better when flat? Or rather, do they not make the transition from "harsh, malted battery acid" to "mellow, malted battery acid"?

I drink Diet Pepsi and to my taste buds, it's horrible when flat. Especially when it's mixed with Barton's Canadian.

I recently had to start buying the 12 pk cans b/c a 2 ltr would go flat by the time I had drank 2/3 of the bottle. Less waste for me.

Besides, the cans taste slightly fizzier than the 2 ltrs.

[ADeMartino]

Speaking of sealed but empty, I got Annie's Mac and Cheese (it's like Kraft in the Blue Box only in a Purple Box and IMHO way better) where the box was completely sealed, but you could tell that the box was empty. Straight up empty.

I was pretty confused.

Having worked a number of jobs in packaging plants, I can tell you that it's fairly common for a 'dud' to get through. Usually it occurs if they have to stop a machine for whatever reason - shift change, maintenance, etc. They're supposed to check the first few packages out of the machine once it starts back up, but.... well, you know.

[wolfie]

I once bought a bag of corn chips out of a vending machine that was THREE months past expiration date. I wrote to the company, only to inform them that they needed to get a better handle on their restocking procedures, I didn't ask for any compensation.

This past week, I was at a TA in VA, and they had on the shelf 7 "heater meals" of the same variety that had expired in October, and in the clearance section (getting rid of that brand) Bridgeford pepperoni, with some sticks being current, and some expired. Clearly they hadn't been "weeding" their stock (although both products are still good past the date, just can't sell them).