Madison, who does not want her surname published, spent 10 hours in hospital after she swallowed something sharp while eating a paella at a Nando’s restaurant, and a month later is planning to see a specialist for an ongoing throat issue.
When Madison contacted Nando’s, they offered her a $13 voucher to compensate for the inconvenience of the experience – less than the company’s $15 birthday vouchers.
The whole experience has left Madison in disbelief.
“It’s almost comical,” she said.
The 30-year-old business owner was eating paella at an inner Melbourne Nando’s restaurant after work on July 10 when she swallowed something she shouldn’t have.
Madison said she felt something sharp in her mouth, but automatically swallowed it before thinking to spit it up.
“I was so tired that I didn’t compute,” she said.
“It was super sharp. It went down the middle of my oesophagus, and it felt like it was lodged there.”
She started choking so she ran to the bathroom to try to cough the object up.
But Madison said she couldn’t seem to move the object in her throat, and was just coughing up blood.
She said she could not speak because of the pain and was terrified what had happened to her.
“I couldn’t talk – every time I said anything it felt like a piece of glass was cutting my throat.”
Madison then texted her father – who was waiting at the restaurant table for her – and he decided to take her to hospital.
As she was leaving the restaurant, a staff member asked Madison if she was ok and apologized for what had happened.
At Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital, Madison’s injury was prioritized in the emergency department and she was seen by a doctor shortly after she arrived about 7.30pm.
Over the next 10 hours Madison was admitted and had an X-ray, a camera put down her throat, and a CT scan, as stated in hospital records seen by 9news.com.au.
She said doctors could not find the object in her throat, and suggested it had passed through her throat already.
With a large number of emergency surgeries happening at the hospital, Madison declined the doctor’s offer to put her under anesthetic for her throat to be examined in theater.
It was 5.30am the next day by the time she left the hospital.
Madison said her pain and discomfort then continued for more than a week.
“I couldn’t speak for a week, I could barely swallow,” she said.
“Every time I moved my tongue it felt like my throat was being pierced by something.”
A month on from the incident, Madison said she was organizing to see an ear, nose and throat specialist because she was still having discomfort in her throat.
An appointment is expected to cost upwards of $250.
Madison said she was not after financial help for what has happened, but has been shocked by Nando’s response to her experience.
She emailed Nando’s about what had happened two days after the incident.
“I am not asking for anything – I just wanted to make you aware,” she wrote in an email seen by 9news.com.au.
Weeks later, a Nando’s worker advised her the company had conducted an “internal investigation” into the issue and offered Madison a $13 voucher as compensation.
“We are deeply sorry for the incident that occurred… Just checking in, how are you going after the incident?” the response read.
“We hope that the voucher works to compensate for what has transpired.
“The restaurant is also happy to invite you over for a compensatory meal.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Days later Madison was sent an automated $15 voucher for her birthday.
Madison has said she found the offer of $13 “rather insulting”, describing Nando’s reaction to the serious situation as “comical”.
“They’re not seeing the severity of the situation.”
Madison said Nando’s made her favorite food, but the experience had turned her away from eating it.
“I’ve gone from eating there at least twice a week to probably never going again,” she said.
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A Nando’s spokesperson told 9news.com.au the company acknowledges its response to the issue could have been better, and that steps have been taken to improve the handling of issues in future.
“Nando’s takes food safety extremely seriously and has an internal team dedicated to reviewing, investigating, and responding to such queries,” the spokesperson said.
“We acknowledge that our initial response to this query could have been improved and did not live up to our high standards of customer care.
“For that we have apologized.
“We have provided further training to our recently hired Customer Care representative to ensure prompt and appropriate action is taken for matters such as this.
“Nando’s did undertake a full investigation at the restaurant, followed up with the customer to check in and the restaurant franchisee has extended an invitation to the customer to return for a complimentary meal so he can personally apologize for the inconvenience.”