Grandad horrified after girl, 9, finds BLOOD splattered all over brand new £30 Argos tent
A GRANDFATHER was left horrified after discovering the Argos tent he bought for his nine-year-old granddaughter was covered in BLOOD. Paul Chapman, 66, picked out the £29 Christmas present last year, with the little girl unwrapping it with her dad this month. But Paul said he received an urgent call from his son moments later, […]
A GRANDFATHER was left horrified after discovering the Argos tent he bought for his nine-year-old granddaughter was covered in BLOOD.
Paul Chapman, 66, picked out the £29 Christmas present last year, with the little girl unwrapping it with her dad this month.
But Paul said he received an urgent call from his son moments later, with the sickening news.
The retired cop told The Sun Online: “They were going to have a sleepover in the lounge but when they unwrapped the tent out of its packaging, they found it was heavily contaminated in what appeared to be blood.
“He sent me pictures – I was a police officer for 30 years and I’ve seen enough crime scenes in my time and it my opinion it was definitely blood.”
Photographs show several parts of the nylon tent smeared with the red substance.
Horrified Paul, of Upminster, Essex, immediately contacted Argos – bounced from customer care on the phone to the Lakeside Retail park store before finally writing to the company to demand answers.
The tent was then sent back to Argos, who had it tested – with the swabs confirming the splatters was blood.
Paul then spoke to the retailer again, asking them to test the blood to ensure it was not carrying any diseases that could have been a danger to his granddaughter.
Certain blood borne viruses can live for days outside the body.
According to the NHS, both hep C and hep B are able to survive outside the body in patches of blood on surfaces for several weeks.But to add insult, he said Argos refused to test the blood further – likewise telling him to contact police himself if he was concerned.
SHOCKED AND APPALLED
Paul said: “The company have failed to provide me with a satisfactory explanation why they won’t have the blood tested for pathogens.
“To offer to send the tent back to me so I can get it tested is in my opinion disgraceful and an abdication of their duty of care to customers.
“I haven’t asked Argos for anything apart from having the blood tested.
“I appreciate the risk of cross contamination is low, but there’s still a risk and I want to understand what it is.”
He added: “The amount of blood on the product is very concerning and this may be a malicious act, which is why I’ve asked Argos for their full support.
“I’m shocked and appalled they have taken this stance over further testing. Now the contamination has been confirmed as blood I’ve reported the matter to Essex Police.”
MOST READ IN NEWS
He said the company had since offered him a £29 refund, and told him he would have to organise more tests on the blood if he was concerned.
But Paul said he didn’t want the refund and that Argos was missing the point.
Sainsbury’s, which owns Argos, said in a statement: “We are investigating this isolated incident with the supplier.”
