An Epsom mother-of-four was not lovin’ it when McDonald’s tried to “bribe” her to keep quiet with £20 of vouchers and an apology after she found a fingernail in her cheeseburger.

Becky Crandley, 27, a part-time carer from Sefton Road, Epsom, had been hoping to enjoy a quick meal at the chain’s branch in Epsom High Street with Harley, 9, Lacey, 6, Tommy, 5, and Daisy May, 2, after a hospital appointment on Tuesday, July 5.

Your Local Guardian:
Pic credit: McDonald's

But as she dug into her cheeseburger and her children ate their Happy Meals, Ms Crandley discovered a sharp fingernail in the burger. Tests by McDonald’s’ food technicians have since confirmed that the “foreign object” in her burger was indeed a fingernail.

Your Local Guardian:

Ms Crandley explained: “I bit into the cheeseburger and I felt something sharp in my mouth so I spat it out and realised it was a fingernail. I could see the teeth marks where it had been bitten off.

“I was disgusted by it. I took it to the counter to show them, but they tried to say it was just a piece of plastic.

“They acted as if they thought it was OK for a bit of plastic to be in there.

“My two-year-old could have eaten that and she wouldn’t have known to take it out of her mouth.”

Disgusted, Ms Crandley contacted the chain’s customer service team and despite telling them she would never eat at McDonald’s again, was eventually sent £20 of vouchers for the restaurant.

Your Local Guardian:

On the apology letter she received (pictured above), her surname is spelt incorrectly as ‘Cransley’.

She said: “I found it really rude and consider (the vouchers) a bribe to keep me quiet.

“I rang them back and told them I’m disgusted that you have sent me vouchers when I have said I would never eat there again.”

Ms Crandley adds that her experience has made her wary of eating at any fast-food outlet.

She said “I went for an all-you-can-eat Chinese takeaway last weekend and I went picking through my food – but I shouldn’t have to do that.”

Aida Mutapcic, assistant customer services manager for McDonald’s UK, sent Ms Crandley a written apology letter and £20 in McDonald’s vouchers.

The letter read: “I’m sorry you were disappointed with your meal.

“We’ve heard back from our food technology laboratory, and we’ve found that the foreign object in your meal was identified as a piece of fingernail. We found no reason how it could have made its way there and we take measures to prevent this at every stage when we prepare your food.

“The quality of our products and the wellbeing of customers is very important to us. All our products are stored, prepared and cooked to exact instructions and we also closely monitor our suppliers to ensure that they meet the high standards you and we expect.”

Got a story? Get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk