Woop Christmas dinner disaster slammed for mouldy bread, small portions and broken glass | Daily Mail Online

2021-12-27 07:47:40 By : Ms. Lily He

By Peter Vincent For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 03:30 EST, 25 December 2021 | Updated: 03:59 EST, 25 December 2021

A service delivering deluxe Christmas dinner in a box has been branded a disaster by customers who had to make frantic last minute runs to the supermarket.

Kiwi company Woop boasted it would provide 'the easiest and most delicious Christmas ever' with their bumper festive feast kits which cost up to $600.

They even tempted fate by taking to Facebook and telling customers they couldn't wait to get feedback on their Christmas dinner kits. 

Hundreds obliged - but they served up a banquet of complaints after many were left furious about tiny portion sizes and damaged goods.

Woop promised their meal boxes would deliver 'the easiest and most delicious Christmas ever - but hundreds of customers were furious with what they received. One called the debacle 'Fyre Festival in a box'

The company's slick marking images promoted delicious Christmas meals easy to make using their boxed ingredients

'Woop? More like p**p!' Dean wrote on the company's Facebook page, sharing images of rotten green beans and squashed tomatoes that arrived in his food box.   

The furious customers deluged Woop's page with a bitter backlash over serving sizes, prices, the freshness of the food and and the customer service.

Several said they were especially disappointed because they'd liked the company's boxes in the past, while a few did say they were happy with what they received.

Woop tempted fate when it said it was looking forward to hearing back from its many Christmas food box customers

One man said the beans in his box were 'visibly rotten' and the tomatoes were squashed

One of many photos of mouldy loaves that Woop customers posted on the company's Facebook page

Several customers complained their boxes seemed to provide only one prawn per person

'Loved our Woop box,' said Kel from Hamilton. 'Had it tonight for dinner and it was great, portion sizes and flavour was on point!'

But most feedback was less positive. 

Overall it seemed that just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

One woman reported that two glass jars in her box arrived smashed, claiming her box was dropped over a two-metre high fence.

'From Woop to WHOOPS in a matter of hours,' said Max, from Feilding. 

One of most common complaints was the inadequate amount of food provided for  the number of people the box claimed to feed.

Kiwi company Woop boasted it provided 'the easiest and most delicious Christmas ever' - and it even tempted fate saying it couldn't wait to hear customers' feedback to delivery of their boxes, which cost up to $600

'Have I got the wrong box? I think you’ve accidentally sent me the sample sizes! Hi ho hi ho, it’s off to the store I go,' Katie joked.

'There’s going to be no leftovers for Boxing Day. My ham is pitiful. I’ve had bigger corned beef!' said Corrina.

'Seriously disappointed with the amount of food delivered! Are you thinking we are feeding 6-8 toddlers?' wrote Alex.

One woman claimed to receive mouldy bread and 'bruised slimy kale, rotting coriander, freezer burnt apple' (pictured from her post)

Facebook comments on Woop's Facebook page were not what the company intended when it looked forward to feedback

Images of Woop's Christmas meal ideas looked delicious, but online customers complained the ingredients delivered fell short of the mark

'A piece of turkey the size of my car keys and a quarter of a loaf of bread isn’t going to feed 8 people. Like everyone else I’m now spending Christmas Eve fighting in the supermarket despite spending hundreds of dollars on a food box,' said Jane.

'Not sure how our box is meant to feed 10-12 people? I counted and we’ve received 12 prawns for an entree. Yay… 1 prawn each!' wrote Leah.

'I received my box but certainly not enough for 10 to 12 people Woop this disgraceful I have to go and buy more food after working all day, I want a refund it is no where near $600-worth of food,' wrote Megan from Napier.

Several wondered if Woop had an agenda with with the small portions. 

'Christmas is not the day of the year when everyone needs to be eating weight-loss size portions,' wrote Ingrid, from Wellington, who asked for a refund.

Several Woop customers complained the sauces and marinades they received were already past their use by dates - although Woop responded they were useable and it was simply a printing error

Terasa wondered: 'Is this a ploy to reduce the obesity epidemic?' and added she would probably have to serve guests 'cheese toasties' because of the lack of food.

Lee-Ora posted a photo comparing the carrots she got in a Woop box compared to what her sister was sent by a different company. The Woop portion looked about a third the size.

Several people also posted that the sauces and marinades they were sent had already expired, according to the labels, by the time they arrived.

'I thought the portions looked a bit small but I always think that! Now I have done a recheck of my ingredients and discover two of my sauces had also expired. Lid swollen on the sauce for the prawns - don't think will risk serving that,' wrote Angela.

Woop replied on Facebook that it was merely a printing error: 'The correct best before date is the 27th December (not the 17th). Apologies, for this concern but rest assured these sauces & toppings were only produced a few days ago,' Woot replied. 

Others were sent bread that had gone mouldy.

'Also have the expiration date issue on a couple of the sauces,' wrote Keitha. 'As well as this biology experiment of a "loaf" of bread.'

'The single roll to feed four people is covered in blue mould spots despite still being two days off its expiration date,' wrote Lee. 

'Many of the vegetables are squashed, bruised, freezer burnt as well. I can’t believe I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for mouldy, damaged food in such meagre portions.'

She listed off: 'Bruised slimy kale, rotting coriander, freezer burnt apple'. 

One woman said she was mortified by the small ham and turkey she received in a box meant for six to eight people

One customer complained she received far fewer carrots in her Woop food box than her sister did in hers

The company's deliveries appeared to have been a nightmare too.

'Where is mine?' pleaded Philippa, from Auckland. 'Away on holiday in 20 minutes and still hasn’t arrived. Looks like Christmas lunch won’t be happening.'

Another woman, Lomandrie, had to open the door after 10pm to receive her box, only to find one key item was missing.

'I am completely missing the Canapés and now I am going to have to go to the store again which is what I was looking to avoid and that is why I spent $375 for that convenience.'

'Trying to get hold of someone at Woop is harder than trying to talk to the Queen, no return phone calls, no return emails,' wrote Shane Brockelbank, whose bag of prawns spilled inside the delivery box.

Daily Mail Australia approached Woop for comment, but they admitted on the Facebook page they had been hit by a barrage of complaints.

'We are currently experiencing a large number of queries and our Customer Experience Team is working hard to answer your questions,' they posted.

'Thank you for your patience and understanding.'

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual

We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.

You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.

Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group