You order the "meal" but charged "a la carte"

So a friend and I drive through McDonald's. He orders a "number 3 meal" with a Sprite. We get to the window to pick up the order and he gets the sandwich and the Sprite but notices there are no fries which are included in the "meal." Then we look at the receipt and instead of being charged for the meal, we are charged a la carte for the two items? What happened to the order for the "meal"?

McDonald's fixed the problem giving my friend his fries.

But as we drove away my friend said this happens frequently: he orders a "meal" but he isn't given a meal -- just the sandwich and the drink. The fries are excluded.

It's never happened to me, but I am not a regular "meal" eater at the Golden Arches. I do order "meals" at Carl's Jr. but never ran into a problem.

Anyone else run into a problem of not getting the meal and/or being charged a la carte?