A New Zealand man says he was handed three "half-eaten" bread rolls with his KFC order and was only offered a $10 voucher as compensation after complaining.
But a KFC spokesperson has confirmed it was merely a simple tong issue.
The unnamed man posted to the 'New Zealand' sub-Reddit on Monday, claiming he'd ordered four bread rolls with his takeaway order.
"[I] got three half-eaten bread rolls," he wrote.
"I begged them to check the cameras to see where they got the box from, but they refused to cooperate at all."
KFC in New Zealand is owned by Restaurant Brands, which also owns chains like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
A spokesperson for the outlet said after looking at the issue internally, they can "confirm that the tear in the dinner roll was caused by picking up the item with tongs".
"The customer should have received a non-torn dinner roll and so we have provided a $10 voucher for the inconvenience this has caused."
The man said he'd "never had any problem with KFC before".
"They didn't want to check the cameras because they knew they'd given me the wrong box so they offered me $10 in-store credit," he said.
"Needless to say, I'm going to be visiting another place next time I have a fast food itch."
Other Reddit users were grossed out by the image.
"[My] first thought is a person taking a bite out of it, although could be rats? Might be worth an email to the local council about their food safety practices," one person wrote.
"The good thing about KFC is they have set the standard extremely low for fast-food chicken. It can't get any worse," wrote another.
But others agreed with the KFC spokesperson that the damaged rolls are the result of over-enthusiastic tong use.
"Yeah, that's just the employee ripping them to shreds when getting it out of the bag with tongs. If you're going to risk your job eating something it's not going to be a bread roll!" someone pointed out.
