Accrington: Asda customer's 'contaminated' fuel concern

Chris Pilkington says that the fuel, bought from the Accrington branch in Hyndburn Road, damaged both of their vehicles and has cost them dearly in garage bills.

However, the supermarket chain has said they have investigated Mr Pilkington’s complaints and that they have received no other the complaints about contaminations from other customers who were served with the same fuel.

Mr Pilkington, who is self-employed and depends on the use of his van, says he has been served contaminated fuel twice by the supermarket, the first time in December 2020 and again in March this year.

He said: “This is the second time I have had problems with my vehicle and on both occasions my garage bill has come in at just under £1,000.

“I’m not the only person who has had problems with Asda Accrington, I’ve been introduced via my garage to a lady whose car has had to be written off.

"I’ve lost just short of two grand in garage bills and my van’s been off road for four days so I’ve lost that business too.”

Mr Pilkington also says that the company has not dealt with his nor the other customer’s complaints adequately.

He said: “We have both been emailing Asda to try to resolve the issue and when we compare the replies it would seem that they have been telling me one thing and the other lady a totally different story.

“I’ve been passed from pillar to post and they think I’m going away, but people need to know about this.”

Mr Pilkington said that when the fuel was examined by a mechanics at a local garage, they found that it contained a mixture of petrol, diesel and water.

An Asda spokesperson said: “Although we have not received any claim from Mr Pilkington about this issue, as soon as we were made aware of his complaint we immediately investigated and found that on the day that Mr Pilkington refuelled his van we served 369 other customers with the same diesel and to date we have received no other complaints.”