One family in Shanghai was recently dismayed with what they believe to be fake Nestle water being delivered to their home. While many of us are very familiar with the process of getting large bottles of filtered Nestle water delivered, others depend on their ayis to take care of the task.
This was the case with Siu Tang and his family, but after taking it upon himself last weekend to fill their water needs, he investigated a bit further into their supplier. Using common water tickets (as pictured below) his ayi was gathering water from Galaxy Water Station (银河水站), run by a local couple who claimed to be distributing Nestle water and supposedly supply water for large complexes, including One Park Avenue.
However, upon close inspection, the bottles they most recently distributed have slightly different labels, including evident discoloring and differing bottle code text.
When Tang’s ayi called them about the obvious differences, they apologized for the mishap, explaining that their supply ran low and that this was a one-off experience. They immediately offered to exchange the bottles, but Tang declined the offer.
He has come to find out that Galaxy Water Station is not an officially registered supplier of Nestle water. “It sickens me to my stomach to think where they have been getting their fake water supply from," said Tang. "If makes me even more afraid now as my 3-year-old son and 16-month-old daughter have been drinking this for weeks."
When Urban Family called Galaxy Water Station for a comment, they claimed they had been receiving their supply from Nestle and Coca Cola directly and were unaware of the claims at hand.
Many people in Shanghai resort to second hand distributors of Nestle because they are often cheaper and have more flexible delivery options. Nestle themselves require you to be home for the delivery.
The lesson to take away? Investigate your water carefully. If you depend on your ayi, make sure the supplier she uses is registered. Download Nestle’s WeChat page (ID: NestleCN) to find legitimate suppliers and photos of what your bottles should look like.
