Coles Supermarkets Australia
Reviews and Complaints

Every week day I shopped at Coles Kareela. It has been my choice of supermarkets for almost 30 years. Firstly, for its convenient location to our home, the friendly and helpful staff, and the availability of many different products. I am sorry to be writing to you to inform you of my extreme dissatisfaction with the lack of staff and products on the shelves.
Wednesday 14 Feb, approximately 6:30pm I went to do my normal shop for dinner and lunches for the following day. I looked for the usual salad items but settle for tomatoes and cumbers, as there was little to choose from and no staff around at the time. I went to the Deli for cold meats for lunches but the women behind the counter, Sharon, was so busy trying to serve the 12 customers in front of her (which I actually counted) she couldn't even look up, so I decided to go to the Service Desk to call a Manager. I was informed there was no Manager in the store for at least another 15 minutes and no one extra to help in the Deli.
The young man, asked if he could help in any way but I noticed, he too was on his own doing the best he could, serving some customer cigarettes at the front and serving the line of people at the first register. There must have been at least 8 to 10 people waiting, some not as patient as others. The Self-Serve line was much the same with customers on each available register. After returning to the Service Desk after 20 minutes, there was still no manager
Thursday 15 Feb, I made a point to go in to the store earlier in the hope the manager was still around. As the front service area was extremely busy I went to the office at the back of the store. One of the staff, Jason I believe his name is, was sitting at a computer. I knocked and asked if I could speak to a manager. He didn't even turn around but said, "Go in the next door on the right." I questioned if I was allowed in there, as it was out the back dock. He answered with a negative attitude, "Well he's in there. You want to see him, don't you?" I pushed the double doors opened a called out "Excuse me." There were two staff members breaking up a pallet. The young guy, Jimmy asked as he walked towards me could he help me? I explained I was sent in here as I wanted to speak to the manager. No sooner had I said that and Paul, the manager stepped out of a door to my right and said he was the manager.
I explained that in the time I have been coming to this particular store I have never been so disappointed with the lack of service due to the lack of staff and the endless empty shelves on a daily basis. I also suggested the employment of staff would be in the stores favour so they could restock the shelves so as to make more money by selling products rather than saving money on not rostering staff. Both suggestions I believe are only common sense, to cater for the customer demand. He categorically said he was in the store until 8pm Wednesday night and all Sharon, from the Deli needed to do, was call for help. That confused me as to why he didn't answer the call from the Service Desk?
The conversation was cut short due to another staff member, Jason approached to listen in. I said it had nothing to do with him, and I would not speak while he was there, do to him calling me something profound in passing, some time ago. The manager looked at him in shock. I explained I'm not here to discuss anything about that incident, I would just like him to address the staff numbers and product demands.
I felt Paul showed very little concern, but offered his apologies and said he will look into it, with reluctances.

On 04 December 2017 at 0952 AM, I entered goods and a cash out transaction on a machine at Sebastopol Victoria branch. The transaction appeared to be incomplete when the button for "Print Receipt" was pressed. A call for assistance brought an inspection of the machine and I was told it needed to be reset. (At the time I noticed the papre reel was not connected.) The assistan then took my items and repeated the transaction on another machine. On returning home I checked my bank account to find that the transaction had been debited to my account twice. On returning and reporting the matter to the manager (who was busy stacking fruit!) I was bluntly and rudely told that she could do nothing and to consult with my bank. Due to the large number of complaints dealt with by my bank (and perhaps the fact that Coles deals withe NAB) I am still awaiting resolution and refund.

I am a loyal customer of Coles for a very long time. I used to be with Woolworths but I was so disappointed with their bakery items especially the bread that initated my move to Coles.
I have noticed of late that I have been getting very dissatisfied with the breads that is coming out of Coles as well. I do my shopping mostly at the norwest market town at BellaVista. I have tried different types of bread including the vstone baked varieties. I find them either very doughy or dropping off like little balls of bread while slicing. the consistency is not right.
2 days ago I bought apple cinnamon easter buns and were so looking forward to have it with a cup of tea. Both my husband and i were utterly disappointed as it was very doughy and extremely sweet. this bakery has lost its quality of the products! At this point my husband has instructed me to try the Bakers delight.
I have been ignoring the issue for a while giving it some excuses but its happening a lot and im having to make a change..
i would like you to respond to my message.
my email is rajini.[protected]@hotmail.com
thanking you,
Rajini Nagendra

Wednesday 14th February 2018 @ approx 6:15pm. There were 2 women serving at delicatessan & the one who was rude was the shorter of the 2, wore glasses & was quite big in statue. 3 things I noticed was her lack of patience & therefore her attitude toward me was short of acceptable which was evident when I noticed her roll her eyes when I made a request. This is my first time submitting a complaint as I am quite easy going but this ordeal shocked me enough to forward one. I like shopping at Coles in general because the prices & service is 2nd to none but I'm sad to say this employee was very unprofessional! I do not wish this type of experience upon any other customer so I hope processes could be made to manage this sort of behaviour in future.

Store 5693 served by Di register 008 at 8 pm 11/02/18 my daughter in law approached the service desk were you purchase tobacco she had vouchers from the myTOMRA return and earn she had waited to be served and was refused serviced to collect her money the Coles worker said sorry we are two busy you will have to come back later the shop had 1 hour till close my daughter in law walked back to the car park and told me her concern she told me there was another older lady there and she was saying the same thing refused service I went back to the store with the myTOMRA vouchers and asked the lady to cash them in she said was the other young girl with you I already said we don't have time I said neither do I can you plz cash them in she stated it will take two long I said can you plz cash them in she started complaining about how she has two do the tills and you no what's it's like Coles won't put on any staff here you work for them you should no we have so much to do I stood my ground and said I would like the items to be cashed in please I'd like some service she did after asking 3 times Coles supports this recycling and it had a very negative impact the money was goin back into the store that was the plan but we left and spent it else we're

On the 31st January I purchased a Rustic Baguette 280g to serve with mussells as we had guests for dinner and when I cut it into slices there was only the crust for about 2/3 of the loaf. What were we supposed to soak up our juices with. Quite embarassing

Went to the Coles store in Westfield Geelong and they advised me to do a complaint on line. If this is your quality then I will not be buying from Coles in the future

Barbara Burnell
[protected]@yahoo.com. au

9th Feb 2018, approximately 9.30am. Staff at the Braybrook store on Ashley st were extremely unhelpful when I arrived with six large bags full of scrunchable plastics. We are family of five and accumulate this type of plastic very quickly and as my three children are under the age of five I don't have the luxury of dropping recycling off as frequently as I'd like. I explained to the staff I had lots of bags and they would not fit in the small collection bins offered. They didn't pay much attention and said just squash them in. I lifted my hand and showed them some of the bags and said I have more in my pram. One of the the female staff members looked disapprovingly shaking her head and another male staff member once again said just squash them in. I explained I was not going to 'squash them in' and that I would just place them on top.
I had previously watched a show with Regroup recycling and they had acknowledged their bins were not large enough and that if we were to have too may bags for recycling the staff in the supermarket would be able to take the bags and put them directly into the collection bins 'out the back'. This did not happen and more importantly, rather than staff helping a parent with multiple bags of recycling and with three small children in tow I felt the they were quick to judge and not quick enough to help and show support for the recycling efforts Coles Supermarket is supposed to be supporting.

Her name is Deirdre every time our family members go to Coles and she is supposed to be working she goes to the counter and tells the staff to watch us because we are thieves.Staff come and stand over and watch us put our groceries through and now we go to the checkout so they do all of it themselves.Then they check our bags.Just because she has a gripe against our family she needs to do her job and not make trouble for your customers.

I.was at coles this afternoon and about to through the self service check out with a small trolly when one of the workers a woman of asian appearance stop me in my tracks and said very rudely you cant come through here pointing to the sign up above saying baskets only! Okay so i went.and stood in line to be served . While standing in line i noticed the same woman letting other people through with same small trolly as i had...
I felt very uncomfortable the way she spoke to me and been going to the coles for over 17 years now..

At about 9.15am on 6/2/18 my wife and I were in the self serve register at the North Rocks supermarket. We have been regulars here for over 11 years, we are fully conversant and competent with the self serve register.
We had weighed our brushed potatoes and bagged them and had placed some nectarines on the scales when this woman ( Caucasian, 50yrs approx with heavy British accent, light hair colour and glasses ) dives between my wife and I and starts re arranging the bag of fruit.
Her sudden movement was starting, the fact she made body contact put us initially in fear of a robbery and someone trying to snatch my wife's bag. She then said that's right now, " I said the scales didn't change" my wife was outraged that this woman now thought she was trying to in someway steal some fruit, that was already balanced and not touching the edge of the counter and wholly on the scale platform. As this employee came from our left between us it was impossible for her to have a clear view of the scale.
Her voice tone was accusing and her manner obtuse and ignorant.
My wife tried to explain that the weight was right, and this woman then went into the already packed bags, removed our potatoes and re weighed them. I said you got to be kidding, she then babbled on about that's why she is here to check and watch...My wife then said lady your incredibly rude and this is the worst customer service I've encountered in my life, the woman then said is this your change, I said what change we haven't even paid yet, she then retrieved a small amount of coins from the chute at the bottom of the machine. I said, lady it's not ours, how could it be, what did we steal that as well. My wife attempted again to have reasonable dialogue with her, and she then blamed the machine stating it didn't know what it's doing. Iam personally disgusted at the innuendo that either my Chinese wife or myself a 4th generation Australian are accused of cheating the scales when they were fine, then stealing less than $1 in change from the previous customer.
Neither of us have encountered this person at the store previously and not only was the incident upsetting but also the glares and looks from the other customers watching and looking on from adjacent machines and isles were embarrassing, the woman invaded my comfortable body space and continued to observe our payment transaction, I dismissed her saying it's fine lady, we know what to do, we have used this before you know. As we paid my wife kept saying why did she accuse us of stealing, that's wrong and and Iam complaining. I suggested that rather than carry on any conflict in the store, I would email the details of the incident through.

James warwick
[protected]
jf.[protected]@outlook.com

I was shopping today 4/2/2018 at coles green valley NSW, it was around 3:00pm when I noticed the lady serving at the deli have left the mortadilla and smoked turkey and salami out opened on the bench unwrapped and flies were standing on it while she served customers, it was absolutely disgusting knowing I have been eating this thing out of your store for the past 3 years I will not purchase any product from the deli any more and I recommend that you train staff more about hygiene and the sensitivity of those products and what they can cause of diseases to us and to our children. I would like to be informed about what actions green valley store have taken towards this matter.

Hi there

I have purchased two bottles of green smoothies very recently at Coles in Horsham 3400. One was a bottle of Kale Spinach and Banana and the other was Pear Mango and BaNana. I noted that both bottles have identical bar codes and identical list of ingredients. 9 [protected]

The front labels are quite different - giving the impression that kale was the main ingredient in one bottle while pear was the main ingredient in the second bottle.

I feel that is confusing and misleading. Pear bottle batch no is 015182 17.35 with Best before date 14.06.18. Kale bottle is [protected] and best before date is 29.04.18.

I appreciate a response

My name is Pauline Mann
Address 19 Young St Horsham 3400.
Email [protected]@yahoo. ie

Kind Regards

Pauline

Purchased 8X250g of Jeffs Unsalted butter from Coles Caroline Springs in Victoria Australia with BBD 15/06/18 on 01/02/18.
Used 4 blocks to make a cake and when had the cake in oven, started cleaning and found there were black Spots (Probably Mold) on the wraps.
Checked all four wraps and all of them had mold on it, as I purchased 8 and there were other four which I was going to use for butter cream, I opened them and found all had mold on it.

Very lucky that we found out as the cake was supposed to be used for a family get together and everyone could have fallen sick.

Had to throw away the cake wasting all ingredients and wasted 4 hours of labour in making the cake. Had to buy a cake from the shop next morning.

Went back to the store and they gave refund for butter. Asked them to lodge a complaint but they said they cannot help at this point please leave your details and someone will call me in the morning. They took the wraps and the 4 blocks of butter.
Didn't get a call yet so filing complaint here as this is very serious and need to be sorted out. I think there should be a product withdrawal or recall as I could still see the same butter on the shelves when I went to the Coles this morning and someone could get seriously sick.
I need to know why this has happened and what corrective action the company is taking to ensure that their product is safe in future.
Looking for you quick response or will escalate the matter further with food regulatories
Please feel free to contact me if you need more details
Munish Khosla, +[protected], [protected]@yahoo.com

Hello
I have been a customer within your store Coles Sylvania for a very long time
and have spend a lot of money over the years but i never experience this sort of customer service.
I was doing my normal shoping and purchase a Maybeline lipstic .
Went i got home and open the packet the lipstic was the wrong color in side.
I went back to the store end explain to the customer service lady what has happend with my receipt and she was very nice and told me to go and get the right one and if it is not there she will refund me the money.
I did not want the money i just wanted what i paid for.
As i went to look they did not have it it was out of stock so i return and the lady was not there it was Faith.
I told her the same think and she refuse to take it back she was rude abrupt and made me feel humiliated in fron of other customers.
She told me it is not our problem and you have open the packet
I told her yes how would i take the lipstick out?
She will not take it back and when she called the office they must have told her to refund me the money and the other lady got back and she still was not happy to give me the money.
What count of customer service is this?
By law if you buy something that is not what you have purchase and it is wrong you should refund or replace.
I was made to wait with 2 full knee replacement till she checks with every one.
Am not a little kid am 64 years old and i was made look like a thief.
Not happy at all.
Thank you

I refer to service at coles gladstone queensland australia - on inquiring about lost property of an item left in a trolley I was approached by a man in his mid thirties with light hair and beard - he had a non coles hat on and bluntly asked why I was waiting at the customer service counter - on advising I was waiting for help with lost property he just walked away - I tried to further communicate with him and got totally ignored - he walked in front of me on the other side of the counter and serviced a teen ager wanting to buy cigarettes - I am not sure if he had a dislike for elderly men as I noticed he was very courteous to the teen buy cigarettes - I find the women staff at gladstone coles fine helpful courteous and friendly but this man was the opposite to this - it was enough to put me off shopping at coles which is my regular supermarket - but to be ignored when seeking help with an issue is inappropriate and not the service standard

I know a person that just got released from jail on guns and drug offences and called the area manager and got a full time job with out putting in an application and i was sacked because i was asking for more hours is this how Coles run there stores this is the mackay store's area manager Kirby person of interest Trent oxford i will post on social media as well

the TV week comes out about a week before the fits date in its tv programming, once again I went to buy it on Monday, and the old ones were still on the shelf that started on the previous Saturday, as I have been caught before I now always check the date, surely it would be good business to ensure that unsuspecting customers do not end up with an old one like I did and have to make an extra trip to fix it.

Hi,

I bought 6pot sets of Tasmania's Tamar Vally Yogurt Expire date on 05.02.2018 from Glenquiry Coles in maquarie field nsw.
Unfortunately 4 of the pots has fungus .my 2 years old son takes this yogurt regularly but we are lucky that we had checked before we feed him.
It's a great concern and a higine issue that fungus on the pot far before the expire date!
Coles should be more responsible to keep right temperature on there cooling system and should be more careful to choosing product.
Thanks
Sinthia

I am writing to provide a suggestion of the customer service in the Coles Store 630, CS Croydon, Victoria.

I picked 2 mini pineapples at the shelf which clearly signed as $1.50 each. During my check out at the machine, a staff member (Niha) came around with another young male staff and they started to look through the bag, shuffling my 2 pineapples, scanned, swapped, rescanned, then proceeded to fix my shopping prices, etc..(I am in the process of scanning items before paying). This went on without neither of them looking me in the eyes and told me what was going on. Of course, I can have an educated guess that they thought I had picked up a $3 pineapple and tried to pass it as a $1.5 mini pineapple. I told them that I picked both from the same place with the sign of $1.5 each. Niha told me in accusing tone that I should have scanned the item. However, I could only follow the instruction on the screen at the time, I was doing all the fruits, the screen told me to look up the items and then automatically weighted the fruit or asked for how many items, I was unaware of any mix-up.

What upsets me is their attitude, they only talked to each others, carrying on with the swapping, scanning etc. without communicating with me! Why, am I a criminal get caught in the act? and they were so generous to let me go quietly? honestly, they were bringing new pineapples item in then scanned, swapped, not right, oh scan this one, oh scan that one. I have not got a clue which one is the original that I picked. Later, Niha walking up and down watching me like a hawk (not helping me with the packing or anything else, just watching). At one stage, walked up to me asking rudely "what did you scan last?", ready to catch me with another "fraudulent", I supposed. I must have been cleared because she then stepped away after glancing at the item and the screen. For goodness sake, since when a normal grocery shopping becomes like this. Another staff named Debbie came over and the two of them talked to each others, like in the cop show "Damn, this is the one, but we have to let her go for lack of evidence" . I feel like I was accused and marked without anyone telling me that. I had been shopping at this store for a long time, a loyal Coles customer, you can check my flybuy account. This bad experience should not have had happenned if they had looked me in the eyes and told me clearly what went wrong and how they fixed it. In this case, I am 100% sure it was their staff who put the wrong pineapple into the wrong location, says sorry to customer is what they should have done instead of accusing me of something and allowed me no explanation what so ever. My efforts to explain was ignored I was reprimanded and probably will be watched like a thief every time I came for shopping. Well, this is a violation of basic human right in my opinion. I have the right to shop in peace, the right to be informed what is going on, and the right to defend myself. Very disappointed at this.

The reason I put this story in public is I am very afraid that in the pursuit of profit even now every customer is treated as a potential risk to the store. What's next? One day when I am doing my grocery shopping in Coles, all of a sudden, their staff surrounding me and tackling me down to the ground for daring to mixing up some items that their staff had wrongly put in the wrong shelf. God helps us all.

Hi
Today I went into your Sunnybank hills store (22/01/2018 at 17:54) with my 19 month old son
I was at the self serve checkout putting through my items (a hot chicken and a top) when I just finished paying for my items I over heard a staff memeber saying to another staff member she hasn't paid for Pepsi max or nappies (I felt as though as soon as I walked through the self serve checkout I was being judged) (I hadn't even walked away from the checkout before the staff member had said this comment to another) I than turned around and said to the staff members I brought these at Woolworths do you want to see my receipt (as I felt as though the staff member was saying I had stolen the goods I felt hurt and upset by this) I was holding my son at this point
One staff member was nice about the matter and checked my receipt
I went away to another store and on my way back I asked another staff memeber what the staff member (the rude ones name was) she said what was it about so I told her she then told me not to worry about the matter and to get over it cause they get a lot of people that steal in their shop (I said to the lady I understand but it's the way she has handled the situation as I have worked in retail before) I asked her again what her name was and she said well it's the assistant manager of the store.
The staff member did ask me if I wanted to talk to her and I said no I was going to talk to the manager on the phone and put a complaint in about the assistant store manager.
I left the shop and drove home when I got home I phoned the store to ask if I could speak to the store manager the person on the phone was like why do you work here I said no I want to talk to the store manager for a complaint
The lady (Lucinda) said Aaron (Bemet) no longer works at the store
That she was the store manager I started to tell her about the complaint when she said that was her on the floor that told the other staff member to check
I said but you didn't there is away about asking a customer (who pays there wages) of asking she (Lucinda) then said don't put words into my mouth I didn't say you stole them I said you hadn't paid for them (which is the same thing)
She then said well is there anything else I can help you with (before trying to help me) (she was trying to get me off the phone) (she was very rude instore and on the phone)
I said I will not be shopping at this store again because of this matter
She said well sorry you feel that way and Hangup on me

So I guess what I'm trying to say is Lucinda needs to retained or something in customer service and not be so rude