Mum confronted with Tesco Christmas wrap ‘surprise’ after opening packet

A meal deal has long been a staple of British supermarkets – a discounted bundle comprising a main, a snack and a drink. Numerous retailers now offer more expensive “premium” versions for customers seeking something rather more luxurious, and Tesco’s Finest range features one as well.

The selection includes sandwiches such as New York deli-style pastrami with Emmental and smoked Scottish salmon with cream cheese. Wrap enthusiasts are also accommodated, with choices including a festive chicken and bacon wrap with gravy mayonnaise. Elena Popescu opted for the festive wrap when she visited a Tesco Express in Sevenoaks, Kent, on October 30.

Her £5.50 Finest meal deal also featured boiled eggs and a Starbucks coffee, but she claimed she felt cheated when she unwrapped it.

A photograph reveals the wrap still in its packaging, with a gap between the two portions that had been hidden by the cardboard sleeve. The retail worker anticipated a complete wrap, but instead discovered it had been divided into two sections, creating a space for the sauce pot.

Elena, from Sevenoaks, Kent, said: “I was completely shocked. I am literally missing a piece of my wrap. I couldn’t believe it, it was not filling at all and I was so disappointed.

“I feel like the Tesco packaging was misleading and I’ve been ripped off. For a premium meal deal, it tasted alright but it was a very small portion.

“The packaging was very nice and wrapped up but it was misleading. I honestly thought the dip was on top of my wrap but it was in the middle of it. It was a festive one as well; it’s not really in the festive spirit to do this to their customers.”

Elena claims she hasn’t contacted Tesco to lodge a complaint but will exercise greater caution regarding her purchases from their stores going forward. She maintains she anticipated more from a premium meal deal product and claimsd the wrap was identical in size to a standard meal deal main.

Elena is now urging fellow shoppers to verify the weight of their Tesco wraps and sandwiches before buying them to avoid being left “disappointed” at lunchtime. Elena said: “I would recommend others to now check the weight of the product so they can check how filling it’s going to be and what you’re going to get.”

After posting a video displaying her festive Tesco wrap on social media, the footage garnered more than 180,000 views, with users also believing the packaging was “misleading”.

On the Tesco website, other customers who submitted reviews of the wrap in earlier years expressed similar dissatisfaction regarding the size of the meal deal product.

One review reads: “Bought in store. Looks like you’re buying a 10-inch wrap with a dip – you’re not.

“There are two three-inch wraps and in the middle of the packaging area, where the marketing stuff is, containing only the dip. It’s not what you think it is.”

Another reviewer commented: “Absolutely stunning. The gravy mayonnaise sounds awful but it’s the best thing about the wrap.

“My only complaint would be that the wrap, compared to others in Tesco, is very small, to make room in the packaging for the post of gravy-naise deliciousness I imagine.”

Tesco clarified that the wrap is identical in size to the other wraps within their Finest range, adding that as the product is packaged with a dip pot, a gap will be visible between the two wrap halves once the dip has been removed.

Any customers unhappy with a product are urged to return it along with their receipt in exchange for either a full refund or a replacement.