SF woman finds insects inside rice bags from Amazon: 'There were things wiggling in it!'

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Do you buy packaged food online? Here's a warning before your next bite.

Some food sold on Amazon Grocery is showing up with unwanted visitors inside. 7 On Your Side got answers from Amazon after a San Francisco woman discovered insects in rice she ordered online.

"This is my Amazon rice... that I bought from Amazon... and look what's in there!" the customer says in a video she recorded. "There's something in the rice ... which is really disgusting!"

The woman, Amy Chau of San Francisco, said she was just trying to buy brown rice. It was a busy work week, so Chau skipped the grocery store and ordered rice online from Amazon Grocery: two bags for around three dollars each. It was on sale and seemed like a great deal -- until she noticed the rice moving.

Then she inspected the bag.

"There were things wiggling in it!" Chau said.

She took a video and shared it with 7 On Your Side. "There was like worms... things wiggling inside an unopened bag of rice," she said.

At first glance, it's easy to miss because the insects blend in with the rice grains. When the package arrived, Chau said she didn't think to inspect it. She opened it and emptied it into a container.

"When I came back home, I saw that there were a few moths flying around in my place that I never noticed before..." Chau said.

"And then when I looked in my container (where I keep the rice) ... I opened (it) and there were a couple of moths that flew out," she said.

"Two flew out...?" asked 7 On Your Side's Stephanie Sierra.

"Two flew out of the container!" Chau said.

That's when Chau said she realized something was living in the rice. She checked the second bag left in her pantry and took more videos.

"Complete disgust! It was really disgusting," she said.

"This rice... you threw it away?" Sierra asked.

"Yeah -- threw it away!" Chau said. "It was just not fun dealing with this at all."

Chau said she filed a claim with Amazon, and emails show the tech giant approved a generous refund of $301 for her trouble, with the money stated to arrive within seven business days. But Chau said she never got it.

"I just felt kind of helpless -- so that's when I called ABC News On Your Side, because I just felt they were ignoring me the whole time," Chau said.

"How long were you trying to get answers from them?" Sierra asked.

"Three weeks to a month!" Chau said.

After 7 On Your Side reached out to Amazon on Chau's behalf, a spokesperson responded.

"We appreciate ABC7 for bringing this matter to our attention. Our team has resolved the matter directly with the customer and have apologized for any inconvenience caused," said Lex Evans, an Amazon spokesperson.

"Finally hit my bank account!" Chau said. "It got resolved basically the next day after I contacted you... The speed was night and day!"

After 7 On Your Side contacted Amazon, Chau received her refund the next business day -- plus an extra $100 gift card for the distress. A nice return for those three-dollar bags of rice, and a good reminder to always doublecheck the packaging.

"Just relieved and happy that it finally got resolved!" Chau said.

Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.

7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. If we are able to assist, we will reach back out to you.