Wonky Bread And Air Rage: When Gripes Go Viral

From food fury to flights from hell, social media has turned some hilarious customer complaints into viral hits over the years.

As a not-for-profit online ombudsman service is launched to help people resolve their grievances out of the spotlight, here's our top-10 list of the most memorable public grievances.

1. Virgin Atlantic Rant

One of the funniest airline passenger complaint letters was written to Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson by an anonymous author who criticised the food on a flight as a "culinary journey of hell".

The disgruntled passenger sent the email after a journey from Mumbai to Heathrow in 2008.

The writer included pictures of the food and likened the main course to being given a dead hamster in a box as a Christmas present.

He said another course looked like a bhaji in custard but it was actually "a sour gel with a clear oil on top".

He added: "It's only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter."

Virgin said Sir Richard Branson telephoned the author and thanked him for his "constructive if tongue-in-cheek" email. The airline said Virgin was sorry the passenger had not liked the in-flight meals which it said was "award-winning food which is very popular on our Indian routes".

2. Damaged Guitar

Canadian musician Dave Carroll claimed his guitar was damaged by baggage handlers at Chicago's O'Hare airport and filed a compensation claim against United Airlines in 2008.

But when the airline rejected his claim he recorded a protest song called "United Breaks Guitars" which went viral on YouTube and was seen by millions of people.

The company then changed its tune following the negative publicity and apologised to him for the incident. They also offered Carroll two guitars and other props for his second video and donated $3,000 (£1,900) to a jazz organisation as a "goodwill gesture".

3. Topshop

This July, the high street fashion chain agreed to stop using "unrealistic" tall and skinny mannequins after a woman's complaint attracted thousands of likes on Facebook.

Laura Berry posted a photograph of a mannequin in a Topshop store in Bristol, criticising its "ridiculous" shape and calling on the retailer to be more "responsible for the impression you have on women and young girls".

She wrote: "This mannequin is quite frankly ridiculously-shaped. Young women aspire to the somewhat cult image your store offers. Yet not one mannequin in your store showed anything bigger than a size 6.

"So today, I'm calling you out Topshop, on your lack of concern for a generation of extremely body conscious youth."

Topshop said the mannequin was based on a size 10, but said it was not meant to be a representation of the average female body and added the company would not be placing any more orders for that particular style.

4. Sir Patrick Stewart In Cable Rant

The Star Trek and X-Men actor took to Twitter to vent his anger as he claimed he had waited 36 hours for his cable television to be fitted at his home by Time Warner and had "lost the will to live".

The message in 2012 was retweeted more than 1,700 times and Time Warner support tweeted back, saying: "How can we assist you?"

But it was too late for the British star, who replied: "If that question had been asked at any time in the last 36 hours it would have been of value. But now…"

Even fellow Star Trek actor William Shatner joined in the row, sharing his own gripes with the company as he tweeted: "I've been trying to get TWCable_LA to put CRN Digital Talk Radio back on my service. Been waiting 4 weeks for an answer Terrible."

5. FedEx Fence

A senior vice president at FedEx apologised after one of the company's delivery drivers was caught on CCTV throwing a computer monitor over a fence.

The video was uploaded to YouTube in 2011 by a person thought to have been the customer and has been viewed more than 9.5 million times so far.

6. Restaurant Outrage

Bride-to-be Melissa Grogan-Morgan posted a complaint on a restaurant's Facebook page expressing her disappointment that her hen party had to sit on two separate tables that were not next to each other and complained about the service.

She was then shocked by the response from the eatery which called the group "the chaviest worst most vile people ever to grace out restaurant.

It added: "Wouldn't know fine dining if it slapped them in their ugly faces! Best thing ever is that they won;t return. Bottom of the barrel.

"And five out of 18 of them turned up 1 hour and 10 minutes after the booking time and expected fresh starters...are you having a laugh... What absolute trash they were. We pity the groom!"

Following the response earlier this year, the restaurant was inundated with negative feedback on their Facebook page and the owner later apologised.

7. Obese Passenger Complaint

On his blog 2013, traveller Rich Wisken wrote a letter to Australian airline Jetstar complaining he had been put next to a man as big as "an infant hippopotamus" and who smelled like "blue cheese" and a "Mumbai slum".

In the letter, which went viral, Mr Wisken said he thought he would have extra room as he had paid an extra $25 for a seat by the exit.

But instead he found himself "pinned to my seat by a fleshy boulder" and despite asking the crew for another seat he was unable to sit elsewhere and so spent the Perth to Sydney flight "smothered in cellulite, taking shallow breaths to avoid noxious gas poisoning".

8. 'Wonky' Bread

David Walker took to Facebook to apparently vent his frustration after he found an oddly sliced piece of bread in a loaf he bought in Morrisons in Newcastle in June.

He wrote: "Morrisons Killingworth! You listen to me, you listen good and you listen hard. Do you hear?

"Right! Look at this photo, just look at it! These 2 adjoining slices of bread have just been taken out of a loaf bought from your store. To say I am monumentally outraged would be an understatement."

The post was liked more than 27,000 times, as Morrisons responded: "Hi David, I hope the shrieking's stopped now and that the house is peaceful again.

"The wonky loaf won't be any good for your sandwiches but would make a very attractive organic doorstop! Can you PM me your address please and we'll sort something out for you! - Jay."

Mr Walker later admitted his post was a joke, adding: "A lot of people have totally missed the point of my complaint."

9. Lost Luggage

Disgruntled British Airways passenger Hasan Syed took to Twitter to complain about the airline losing his luggage in 2013.

But rather than criticise using his handle, he reportedly also spent hundreds of pounds to buy a "promoted" tweet to complain about the poor service and get his message across to BA's followers.

His tweet said: "Don't fly @BritishAirways. Their customer service is horrendous."

The message was seen by tens of thousands of people and picked up worldwide by media organisations.

The tweet appeared to be successful as a BA spokesperson later said: "We would like to apologise to the customer for the inconvenience caused. We have been in contact with the customer and the bag is due to be delivered today."

10. Missing Bacon Rasher

A Tesco customer was surprised last month when his tongue-in-cheek complaint about only getting six rashers of bacon in what was supposed to be a pack of seven was met with a funny response from the supermarket.

Ben Roberts from Derby wrote on Facebook: "I looked down at the tray and then at the packet, then back at the tray and once more took a real good look at the plastic.

"SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! There was only 6 rashers of bacon. 6. I could not believe it! Mortified! I called my other half into the kitchen but quickly dismissed her as she did not seem to understand the problem."

Jamie, from Tesco customer care, replied: "Well, it sounds like you've gone through a whirlwind of emotions for a Sunday morning.

"As a fellow bacon fan I can fully understand your shock, disappointment and unadulterated anger at finding only six rashers in the packet."

Mr Roberts was given a full refund and tens of thousands of people liked the social media posts.