By Melissa Fleur AfsharShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA Thanksgiving dinner that was supposed to bring comfort and convenience to an elderly woman ended up igniting debate among Reddit users—after her family discovered the so-called "pre-cooked" meal was frozen solid and far from ready to eat.
Reddit user u/THEREALOFFICALCAFE posted about the incident on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit on November 27, drawing more than 12,000 upvotes and sparking hundreds of comments.
In the post, the Reddit user described how their grandmother had purchased a $130 pre-cooked Thanksgiving meal from a grocery store that included turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, candied yams, and two pies.
But when the meal was picked up by the user and their father, they were shocked to find it frozen solid.
The post quickly struck a chord among viewers on Reddit, with commenters sharing their frustration over misleading holiday meal promotions and advice on what to do in similar situations. At the heart of the backlash was the allegation that the store's advertising misrepresented what customers would actually receive.
"My dad and I went to pick it up, and when we got it back to her house everything was frozen in Tupperware, and the turkey needed to be baked for 2.5 hours or longer," the user wrote in the post. "The advertising in her newspaper and at the store in no way indicated any of this."
They continued: "All the pictures showed steaming hot food. I figured that we would probably have to warm it up for 20 minutes or so, but that was way out of the question, as it was already almost 2:00 (2pm). Obviously, this promotion was geared toward people like my grandma who have a hard time making big meals. So, to sell her something that was advertised as cooked and give her the complete opposite is one of the scummiest things I’ve ever seen a company do."
The family had expected some degree of preparation would be necessary, but the reality left them scrambling just hours before the planned holiday meal. While the Reddit user did not reveal the name of the store, the criticism was pointed.
"I’m not even mad about the food, since I’m not a big turkey guy anyway. But I am mad that she basically got something she didn’t pay for," they added.
Confusion Over Terms
Commenters on the thread debated the definition of "pre-cooked", with some noting that technically the label could apply to items that still require lengthy reheating, and said that the elderly woman had clearly misunderstood what was for sale.
"This is 100 percent how stores sell pre-cooked dinners, and it should be if you don’t want the food to be rotten. Sorry you didn’t know how this works, but it is definitely not false advertising," one viewer said, while another added: "We got a similar meal and the turkey took 2.5 hours, this is normal."
Others responded with more empathy, pointing out that marketing images showing hot, ready-to-serve meals can easily mislead.
"I work in a store that sells meals just like this for both holidays. Everything is prepackaged in containers that are meant to be sold retail style. The turkey is ordered pre-cooked and packaged for sale on the floor but without a sales tag. We specifically tell customers who order this for the first time that the meal is cold and will have to be heated for their dinner. The turkey takes about 2 hours or so to heat through," another viewer shared.
"They probably told OP's grandmother that it would take around 2 hours to cook," another said.
"I'm sorry your grandmother misunderstood and it sucks it was more time than expected but it sounds like everything was pre-cooked and just needed to be heated," another commented. "They have to keep everything refrigerated or even frozen for food safety reason especially after its cooked. Meals like this are always sold like this. Even pre-cooked turkeys have to be heated."
Newsweek reached out to u/THEREALOFFICALCAFE for more information via Reddit.
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