Tesco air freshener melts car dashboard

Jul 17 2011 by Mr Justice, Sunday Sun

THERE was a stink when driver Thomas Drysdale bought an air freshener from a top supermarket.

He said the Tesco own-brand product leaked and melted part of his car dashboard.

Thomas said the plastic interior bubbled up as if it had been coated with paint stripper.

He asked for my help when Tesco said it could take months to investigate the complaint.

Months? We can’t be having that, so I agreed to take his case, spoke to Tesco, and he was offered compensation within days.

Tesco will cough up the £840-plus bill to have the car repaired and will pay for a hire car if his Audi A6 has to be off the road for any length of time.

The meltdown started when Thomas, of Ponteland, Newcastle, bought a double pack of Tesco Value Car Airfresh.

He said: “I left it in the car overnight and I could not believe what had happened by the morning. It had leaked from the top and ran down the outside of the container, dripping onto the air conditioning unit and the heater.

“The push buttons for controlling temperature were destroyed and had bubbled up like paint treated with paint stripper.

“I went back to the supermarket, where I was asked to take photos and fill in a claim form.

“I took the car to my Audi dealer, who says it will cost £840 plus fitting to carry out the repairs.”

Thomas said he was unhappy with Tesco’s response after he was told it would take three months to carry out an investigation.