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Rotadet Hotel Limited, Ikorodu, Lagos has sued Guinness Nigeria PLC, brewer of Smirnoff Ice the sum of N170m in the Lagos High Court due to its alleged negligence in the production of the Smirnoff Ice with Batch No L9024L70011941 and Expiry date 240120. The action was taken after the efforts to resolve the matter at the Lagos Multi-door Courthouse failed.
In a case between Rotadet Hotel Limited and Guinness Nigeria PLC at the Lagos Multi-door Courthouse, Rotadet stated through its solicitors Oluwole Kehinde and Rosemary Thomson (Mrs) of OKC Attorneys, Lagos that on May 21, 2019, one of its valued customers, Tommy Buks and Company Ltd signed a contract to use Rotadet hotel facilities for 24 months.
“On May,24, 2019 Mr. Iyiola Adewole of the said Tommy Buks and Company Ltd ordered for a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, produced and sold by the Respondent, from the Applicant’s Hotel for consumption . Surprisingly, the said customer discovered that there was a fly in the bottle of the Smirnoff Ice with Batch No L9024L70011941 and Expiry date 240120 served the customer by the Applicants Hotel. Copies of photographs showing the bottle and receipt of purchase of the product shall be relied upon by the applicant.”
It added that the said customer was shocked and later informed the applicant that because of the incident, it would no longer be using the facilities and thereby rescinded the contract earlier signed with Rotadet.
“Thus the singular act of negligence by the respondent in the production of manufacture and sale of the product resulted in loss of over N70,080,000 (Seventy Million and Eighty Thousand Naira) to the applicant.”
They stated that the presence of fly in the said bottle shows clearly, negligence on the part of the respondent, which resulted in colossal loss of earning and loss of profit to the applicant.
“The respondent has a duty of care to produce and manufacture qualitative, consumable, and hygienic product for merchandise and human consumption.”
However the Company Secretary /Legal Director Guinness Nigeria PLC, Rotimi Odusola had earlier stated in a letter to the solicitors of Rotadet Hotel that Guinness Nigeria Plc is a reputable company committed to producing high quality and safe products.
“We are passionate about our consumers and therefore place high premium on the satisfaction which our consumers derive from every experience or encounter with our products. We pride ourselves in excellent service delivery and consumer satisfaction as such we continue to do our best to ensure that our products reach consumers in a safe and consumable state to enable their continued and satisfaction enjoyment.”
“That being said, we would like to thank your client for her continuous patronage and assure you and your client that the report will be thoroughly investigated in a fair manner.
“However, in order for us to properly address the complaints, we need to conduct an examination of the unopened bottle of the alleged Smirnoff alcoholic beverage to ascertain the authenticity of its source. We therefore request that you kindly make available to us the unopened bottle of the product to facilitate this investigation and further engagement of this issue,” he stated.
Guinness Nigeria has sent his defense to the suit but not date for hearing.