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Original poster

What Fresh Hell Is This...

90 replies

StormzyinaTCup · 15/12/2022 20:08

Anyone else having trouble trying to get into a WHSmiths roll of wrapping paper?
I get that they are doing away with the plastic cellophane which is good but did anyone at design HQ actually test that the 'tear here' strip actually does tear😡. I have teeny weeny bits of black sticky paper all over the floor and I'm still not there yet. Maybe I have bought three dodgy rolls?

OP posts:
Damnautocorrect · 15/12/2022 20:14

No. You need to heat it up. Use a hairdryer. Few seconds of warming and they unroll.

learnt from bitter experience

NippyWoowoo · 15/12/2022 20:14

I bought their blue and silver foil Santa paper and it slid off easily once I cut it at the top

What Fresh Hell Is This...
BecauseOfTheRain · 15/12/2022 20:16

I am having the exact same problem!! I have been raging about it for the past hour. Will try the hairdryer on my next roll.

LubaLuca · 15/12/2022 20:18

I had the same problem with Tesco paper. I could not get the bloody labels to peel, I ended up shredding some and cutting others with a small knife.

Thank you for the hairdryer tip ^, hopefully I'll remember it in 12 months' time 😄

AutumnCrow · 15/12/2022 21:00

Thank you for the tip.

I thought I was lost in the matrix yesterday and had wild eyes for a horrible minute.

Ramble0n · 15/12/2022 21:03

I thought it was just me being dim. I could not get into the Tesco roll at all!

Worriere · 15/12/2022 21:08

Mine said it included extra paper to account for ripping 🤷🏻‍♀️ surely could have just designed it better? Took me bloody ages.

Original poster
StormzyinaTCup · 15/12/2022 21:24

Well, I did manage to get some wrapping done eventually.
Thanks for the hairdryer tip👍I would not have thought of that.

OP posts:
Whendovescry03 · 15/12/2022 21:28

I'm pleased to know that others have found the Tesco wrapping paper a pain in the arse to get into!

JimJamJolly · 15/12/2022 21:33

Haven't bought wrapping paper yet... And don't own a hairdryer, so I'll bear (bare?) this in mind when I buy some!! Thanks 🙂

weebarra · 15/12/2022 21:34

Thank god it wasn't just me. I ended up attacking the thing with a pair of scissors.

holein1 · 15/12/2022 21:35

JimJamJolly · 15/12/2022 21:33

Haven't bought wrapping paper yet... And don't own a hairdryer, so I'll bear (bare?) this in mind when I buy some!! Thanks 🙂

Get it from Lidl - really pretty, quite thick and £1 a roll!

Circumferences · 15/12/2022 21:53

Oh my god I ended up swearing at the wrapping paper from WHS and it now has a repeat pattern hole through the entire bloody roll from trying to unpeel the evil label.

They could surely just use a rubber band or something? Then at least you'd get the paper and a lovely spare rubber band.

Evil. Evil. Evil.

HappierTimesAhead · 15/12/2022 21:56

Yep, same issue with MandS paper. Wasted half the roll by cutting into the tape. Why is Christmas so hard?!

Ramble0n · 15/12/2022 22:30

I went into Wilkos and bought packs of single sheet wrapping paper because I ruined half the roll of Tesco paper, hacking away with the scissors.

Londoncatshed · 15/12/2022 22:37

Tesco crappy paper here too. Extra paper but impossible to get into without ripping loads. The paper itself, is also very thin. Edges keep poking through. Next year I will spend more and buy better quality. Been saying this for at least the last 15 years!

mum2jakie · 15/12/2022 22:44

My husband has been moaning his neck off about the WHSmith wrapping paper this week! Struggling to get into the roll and it rips really easily too. Crap!

dapsnotplimsolls · 15/12/2022 22:45

Same problem with Co-op paper - there were about 5 strips and I was in a hurry - gahhhh!

Crystaly · 15/12/2022 22:49

I bought a roll like this and struggled but then realised there was a little tab at the top which you pull straight down and it rips it neatly open. Does yours have similar?

jtaeapa · 15/12/2022 22:50

I sliced it with nail scissors. It was a stupid pain though. The tabs didn't seem to work.

Original poster
StormzyinaTCup · 15/12/2022 22:54

Crystaly · 15/12/2022 22:49

I bought a roll like this and struggled but then realised there was a little tab at the top which you pull straight down and it rips it neatly open. Does yours have similar?

Yes, my roll had four different pull tabs at various points but not a single one ripped open neatly😡

OP posts:
Brrrrrrrrrrrr · 15/12/2022 22:54

Home Sense/ TK Maxx for wrapping paper- it’s always excellent. Sostrene Greene otherwise.

AutumnCrow · 15/12/2022 23:01

Circumferences · 15/12/2022 21:53

Oh my god I ended up swearing at the wrapping paper from WHS and it now has a repeat pattern hole through the entire bloody roll from trying to unpeel the evil label.

They could surely just use a rubber band or something? Then at least you'd get the paper and a lovely spare rubber band.

Evil. Evil. Evil.

Same here. I actually felt ashamed.

HootyMcboob76 · 15/12/2022 23:08

Oh my God, I've had this problem this year with WH Smith wrap too! I bought 12 rolls of the bloody stuff as it was on offer, I've wasted approximately 1/3 of each roll as the ripping goes right the way through the roll.
Whoever designed that "wrap" systems needs strung up. It's is appalling.
I complained to the customer services and they refunded me 1/3 of the price of each roll.
There is no way to get it off the way they say. The peel bit does NOT peel, and when you eventually get it going it rips all the way around the actual paper, not to mention there are FOUR of the bloody things to get off!
Terrible.
Clearly designed by someone who hates Christmas.

LucyWhipple · 15/12/2022 23:10

M&S is the same. I’m sure last year they had paper circles that just slipped off but the stickers this year are absolutely ridiculous.