Perth Coles shopper’s $55 mistake because of little-known rule
- Mother charged $55 extra for a Coles click-and-collect order
- She didn’t know that the weekly offers had already changed
- READ MORE: Urgent warning for all shoppers
A mother of four was unexpectedly hit with an extra $55 on her grocery bill because she didn’t realize the weekly deals had already ended.
The Coles customer from Perth placed a grocery pickup order worth $450.37 just before midnight on August 6.
But after I paid the full amount online, the bill suddenly, without warning, jumped to $504.70.
When the customer contacted Coles to ask what had happened, she was told that the week’s deals had already changed because the order had been processed on Australia’s Eastern Standards Time, which is two hours ahead of Western Australia.
She claimed there were no warnings when she placed the order that the total on her screen was incorrect.
“I feel terrible that they took that extra money. I didn’t expect to pay that,” she wrote online.
A screenshot of her checkout screen showed that there was nothing wrong with the order and also indicated that she had saved $100.
To make up for the mistake, Coles’ mother was offered a goodwill voucher.
A Perth mother was shocked to find she had been charged $505.37 for her weekly grocery shopping, while Cole’s click-and-collect till showed a total of $450.37 at 11.35pm on August 6
The mother of four asked the supermarket what had gone wrong and was told by a representative that she had missed the closing date for the weekly offers
She decided to cancel the order and get a full refund.
“I just think it’s ridiculous that Coles would rather lose $450 on shopping than admit they made a mistake,” she fumed.
“It makes me horrified to think how many other people have been caught out by this.”
A Coles spokesperson apologised and said an “investigation” was underway into why the price shown at checkout differed from the price the woman was charged.
“We have refunded the full price of the cancelled order and apologize to our customer for the inconvenience,” the seller said. told 9News.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Coles for further comment.
The weekly specials at Coles change every Wednesday and the order in question was placed late on Tuesday evening.
Click-and-collect orders are processed in EST and this will impact the transition from weekly specials, but the Perth mother said she received no warning of this
Coles’ website warns shoppers that the closing date for weekly offers on click-and-collect orders varies by time zone.
The closing times are 9.59pm for Western Australia and 11.22pm for South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Other customers who responded to the mother’s story were similarly outraged that she received no warning on the checkout screen that her offers were no longer valid.
“That’s really ridiculous,” someone said.
“This happened to me too. I called and got my original amount back because it wasn’t in the fine print,” added another.
“If we switch to cashless payments, it will stay that way,” said a third.