A WWYD...kind of shocking but also funny

[mrsv98]

Tonight DD purchased some Bella Sara cards so she could get the online code. She has played on the site before and it is a nice safe place. She took the world's fastest shower and then started entering the codes. I later sat down at the computer and looked at the top card which happened to be a code card and saw this code:

4SFU-*K3D-....​

Substitute the asterisk for the proper letter and you have a lovely obscenity. Thankfully DD was oblivious and we got a hysterical laugh out of it but would you do anything?

Since they make a big deal out of providing a safe environment, I did email and attached a picture suggesting that while it may be "randomly" generated, there ought to be safe guards in place to prevent this happening. I of course, did not ask for anything, but I can imagine someone with not such a sense of humor would be offended and make a big stink.

I have a pic but I am afraid to link it for fear of points...from a Bella Sara card...who knew??

 

[kimblebee]

I think it's pretty funny. I would do nothing, like you, because it is randomly generated. Anyone young enough won't get it and the ones that do will have heard it by then anyways. I also agree that there are people who would make a big stink of it and demand some sort of compensation for their mental anguish.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Oh wow. Funny, but not. I agree that something geared
towards children should have some kind of measure in place to prevent codes from spelling out profanity. Oops on them.

 

[jmskinner]

That sounds like an employee thought they would sneak one through and they did. I would report it just so the company knows.

Glad your daughter was oblivious.

 

[hereyago]

A few years ago, DD must have been about 7 or 8. We went for a little weekend trip to D.C. We go to the zoo and I believe it was the primates area. Instead of don't tap the glass, someone had "erased" the gl. DD was oblivious to it until the bonehead in front of us made a comment.

Last year, DD was 10 at the time. She ordered a movie for me from Netflix. Usually, she only gets "kids' movies, but she thought she would suprise me and get "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" because I adore Russell Brand.

One small issue: I take a bathroom break and she is yelling and covering her eyes,full frontal male nudity. So, I changed that movie until she went to sleep.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I would raise my eyebrows, giggle and otherwise ignore it (assuming I even noticed).

 

[MAH4546]

That sounds like an employee thought they would sneak one through and they did. I would report it just so the company knows.

Employees don't sit around and write computer-generated codes.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I also agree that there are people who would make a big stink of it and demand some sort of compensation for their mental anguish.

You know it! There was a news item the other day where a woman had purchased a bag of chocolate-covered caramel disc candies. (Sorry, don't know what they were/name brand.) She pulled one out -- three had melted together to form the male anatomy. It was one of those, "Huh? Ohhhh, I see, sure..." kind of things -- like the Virgin Mary in toast.

But she was all horrified and suing and saying, "What if a child had gotten this?"

 

[mrodgers]

How old is the daughter, 2?

My 6 year old would have picked up on it. Once they are riding a bus to school, it's amazing what they come home asking from hearing the 6th graders on the bus (even down to the 1st graders..) We don't build a wall around our kids, they know exactly what that word is, from the first day home from kindergarten when they heard it 1589 times on the 45 minute bus ride and asked.

Depending on the parents, you even hear words like that coming from 4 year olds....

 

[mrsv98]

How old is the daughter, 2?

My 6 year old would have picked up on it. Once they are riding a bus to school, it's amazing what they come home asking from hearing the 6th graders on the bus (even down to the 1st graders..) We don't build a wall around our kids, they know exactly what that word is, from the first day home from kindergarten when they heard it 1589 times on the 45 minute bus ride and asked.

Depending on the parents, you even hear words like that coming from 4 year olds....

She is 10 and and it just isn't language we use in our house. DD goes to a neighborhood school so no bus. We aren't prudes and occasionally utter a mild oath around her but she is usually the one admonishing us about bad language!

In any event, I will be very interested to see if I get a response from the company. I didn't ask for anything or include my address as a hint but I did feel they should know they dodged a bullet.

 

[Rora]

I think you did the right thing.. thank goodness DD didn't notice!

 

[Darsa]

My DD14 wouldn't have noticed it either 'til about last year or so. Some kids just don't zero in on stuff like that (thank goodness mine doesn't!).

I wouldn't make any kind of stink about it; considering the codes are computer generated, it's really nobody's "fault".

 

[catycatcat4]

Send it to failblog.

 

[mrsv98]

OP here,
just thought I update that the company responded in a timely fashion and we very embarrassed by the whole thing:

Yikes! We have never had this happen before, and we sincerely apologize. Yes, our codes are randomly generated on these cards. This is being sent to the employee in charge of quality control, and we will certainly do our best to keep this from reoccurring.

As an apology, we have added 400 Horseshoes to your daughter’s account.

Bella Sara Community Team

Journey into a magical world of horses at BellaSara.com.

Now the only problem I have is explaining to DD how a small fortune suddenly appeared in her account! I think they handled it well and quickly too.

 

[Missy1961]

Good result! And you're right, it's shocking but funny at the same time. And I wouldn't have known that word at age 10. My parents used mild swear words, I didn't hear that one until I was in high school. I don't think my younger nieces & nephews (under 10) know it either, but I'm not asking!

 

[Darsa]

Very nice!!

 

[kristilew]

Another vote for sending a pic to failblog.

And, sigh, I miss Bella Sara days. So sweet! And I could bribe with those cards for days

 

[TheRatPack]

At Target's family bathroom there is a baby changing station called the Sturdy Station....someone erased the S and the Y in sTurDy.....only me and my oldest dd caught it....my 7 year old was oblivious. We laughed about it though....while it wasn't very nice of someone to deface the sticker on the changing station....it tickled my funny bone to see it called that....I mean it is to change diapers LOL

Glad the company compensated your dd with some horseshoes....she'll be excited I'm sure

 

[laurie31]

At Target's family bathroom there is a baby changing station called the Sturdy Station....someone erased the S and the Y in sTurDy.....only me and my oldest dd caught it....my 7 year old was oblivious. We laughed about it though....while it wasn't very nice of someone to deface the sticker on the changing station....it tickled my funny bone to see it called that....I mean it is to change diapers LOL

Glad the company compensated your dd with some horseshoes....she'll be excited I'm sure

That's really funny. I saw one once where the "C" in "changing" had been removed. That was actually kind of creepy.

OP - it sounds like you and the company handled the issue very nicely. (and my kids would NOT have known that word either! And they rode the bus to public school and everything! ).

 

[kimblebee]

That's really funny. I saw one once where the "C" in "changing" had been removed. That was actually kind of creepy.

OP - it sounds like you and the company handled the issue very nicely. (and my kids would NOT have known that word either! And they rode the bus to public school and everything! ).

I admit it took me a second to get what you were saying. In my head I was pronouncing it like changing without the C sound LOL