Loads of you have contacted us regarding the image (attached) that's been doing the rounds on social media regarding the game Pie Face. Understandably many parents are worried as it's HUGE this Christmas and many of us have bought it to play with the kids over the festive period.
We've looked into this to try and find out exactly what's happening and see if there are indeed any safety issues or concerns. We contacted Hasbro, the manufacturer of the game, directly this morning. They've informed us here at Playpennies that they're aware of this notice and stated that is was issued by B&M Stores. The reason for this, according to Hasbro, is that some counterfeit Pie Face games have been found at B&M Stores and as a result they have taken the decision to issue this notice. The original and genuine Pie Face game has no issues at all and if you haven't bought it from B&M Stores there should be no problem with your purchase. If you want to contact Hasbro directly their telephone number is 00800 22 42 72 76.
So next we moved onto B&M Stores to see what they had to say and to try and find out how customers could find out if they had a genuine product and what they had to do next if they didn't. B&M Stores informed us that they simply have no stock and that no recall notices have been issued at all regarding the product. I put the information I had been given by Hasbro to them, and again was informed that they simply had no stock and were unaware of any recalls at this time. Their telephone number if you wish to contact them directly is 0151 728 5400 (I chose option 9 and asked to be put through to Customer Service)
So if you haven't bought Pie Face from B&M you should have no issues. If you have bought from B&M and are concerned you may have a counterfeit product, I suggest you contact them directly. There may be some delay in the information getting passed to the customer service team but Hasbro have clearly stated the notice has been issued due to counterfeit products being found in some stores. Not all perhaps but as far as Hasbro are concerned at least, there have been some.
If you wish to see what all the fuss is about, you can check out Pie face HERE
With an RRP of around £19.99, it's pretty much sold out everywhere and being snapped up as soon as it appears online!
Updated 9th December at 15.00, B&M have confirmed the following on their Facebook Wall :
Pie Face has been withdrawn from further sale at the request of our supplier due to a licencing/branding issue. There are no safety issues and the product has not been recalled.
So it looks as though our earlier info was spot on, you heard it here first folks!
as far as B & M are concerned it has not been recalled.
Hi Debbie :) Yes it looks as though, as we said this morning, it's been withdrawn due to a "licencing/branding issue". We'll have to watch this space I guess to see exactly what that means!
Hi, I used to work for B&M, when it says "use reason code 47" it means the product isn't fit for sale so please be careful guys!!!! x
Really? Thanks for that Freebird, we do like a bit of inside info here! Many thanks for letting us know!
Reason code 47 is just a code that won't effect the stock loss margin during stock take. It's usually used for refunded items but it's nothing to do with the quality of the product.
Thanks for that :)
I asked a friend on Saturday if they had any pie face games in stock as he is the manager at my local b&m and he told me no they are being recalled for safety, that's why a lot of stores were selling them recently for £4.99. So they were aware at least 4 days ago!
How can we tell if one is fake?
Mine came from amazon marketplace so cpukd easily have come from bnm first
Well that's the thing Db, B&M were rather tight lipped on the whole matter when we contacted them today. All we can suggest is it that you're concerned you contact them on the telephone number above.
There's a specific batch code, no idea what it is but I'm sure b&m should know and should supply.
Hi B&M were selling these at just £4.99 a couple of weeks ago :-(
We got ours from smyths if it's any help to see if yours is a fake on the bottom there are loads of symbols to the right of the bar code there is a yellow triangle with a red lion a CE mark and green circle with a dark green and lighter green arrow in it the a R in a circle just about that to the right then you have the has to gaming symbol above the bar code there is a number in two different type setting 0515 and in bold and larger type B7063 then normal type 102 with s little box with 00 at the end
The box is also stamped under the barcode with numbers 626016
Hope that is of some help
Thanks for that Caz, helpful info for folk there xx
I got mine from b&m a few weeks ago for 14.99 just checked barcode and symbols akk the same as Caz detailed on the one from smyths so maybe its the ones that they were selling for 4.99 that are fake. Thank you for info Caz feel alot better now
ive noticed the box above all this is engraved with what I think is serial number which is 5 numbers long and a letter mine ending in B
Hasbro has been made aware of counterfeit PIE FACE product available at B&M Bargains stores in the UK. These products have been withdrawn by B&M Bargains. This withdrawal does not affect the genuine Hasbro PIE FACE game, which continues to be available nationwide. We advise all consumers with concerns about counterfeit PIE FACE games purchased from B&M Bargains to contact B&M Bargains directly.
Thanks for that. I believe that's what we said in the blog but really appreciate you coming on to confirm.
I ordered pie face through Amazon and was told the delivery time would be extended. When it did arrive it had come from Canada, anyone else had one from there?
our pie face isnt from b&m but it has a curved hand. Is this a counterfeit one?...
Well it was only B&M that seemed to have the issue siobhain but if you're concerned in any way I suggest you contact the retailer you bought yours from directly. Good luck!
I'd also have this issue with the curved hand after buying from Amazon and am now concerned it isn't genuine. Would be interested to know if you found any further information out?
Again it was only B&M that had any issues as far as we're aware but if you have any concerns regarding the product you purchased you would have to contact the retailer (in your case Amazon) directly.
Curved hand is normal, the counterfeit ones state they are 4+ rather than the 5+ for the original, also check the symbols at the bottom with the lion in triangle, the C and E, the circle with arrows with the ® and check the barcode typical 0515B7063102, hope this helps would add photo's but it won't let me
Thanks for that Beth, very helpful.