The Bank Saloon

You are giving me a very surprising education about Spain, Andy! It reminds me a little bit of the elderly USSR/Russian immigrants I knew in San Francisco - especially the lack of trust even in each other. Maybe especially in each other. Silently fuming over being cheated, or whatever. Yes, a product of totalitarianism sounds about right.

Hahahaaa...OK!

Because protesting about these things is not in the Spanish character (mind you, talking behind everyone's back - now there's a totally different ball game), shops and commercial enterprises are required by law to have official 'complaint forms' prominently displayed.

I wanted to complain about some pasta I bought and used, only to realise near the end that it wasn't wholemeal (needed because I am diabetic). I don't make this sort of mistake so I went back to the supermarket and saw the problem. The packet info didn't state 'wholemeal' anywhere but it did state '5% added fibre'. The labeling on the shelf categorically stated 'integral' the Spanish for wholemeal. But 5% added fibre does not equate to wholemeal, except in the mind of an uninformed employee (I later found the same thing at other branches so this was not a local but a corporate mistake).

In my limited Spanish I tried to point out the error to the manager but met with stony indifference. So I took a complaint form, and with help, filled it out sent it off. I heard nothing. So we sent another, and another - still nothing.

Eventually a lawyer student of mine told me that unless I was specifically claiming a refund, it would be ignored. It seems that the notion of complaining about anything except being cheated out of money is a concept still too far!!

3 years later and the shop is still claiming their product to be 'wholemeal'. I don't shop there anymore, even though it is the closest to me. What else can I do?

That is bizarre, Andy. That kind of thing is annoying at best, but dangerous at worst. I can't fathom any part of that story happening in that way here or in the UK...or Germany... Scandinavia...especially because it's related to a real health concern!