Coles Supermarkets Australia
Reviews and Complaints

I can tell you in a few short words why so many people are incensed at the phasing out of plastic bags: because NO THOUGHT was put into improving the aisles where we are now being drive by lack of manned registers - the self-service registers. I would suggest you take your management team shopping on a busy Saturday morning, where the SS aisle is a seething mass of full trolleys, people juggling bags and requesting help, children running through the narrow space out of boredom, trolleys butting into each other, and so on. It's a nightmare.

My husband uses 3 or 4 cloth bags inside each other, as one cloth bag will not stand up enough by itself without folding over - only for the machine to tell him to remove the last item. It can't even cope with a few cloth bags.

IMPROVE THIS SYSTEM. MAKE THE AISLES WIDER. ALLOW FOR FOLDY BAGS THAT SLOW THE PROCESS DOWN.

GET YOUR MANAGEMENT TEAM OUT OF THEIR OFFICES AND INTO THE STORES.

I had to shout; it makes me feel better!

I am very DISAPPOINTED with the latest Coles / Fly Buys bonus point Promotion.
An elderly person such as myself or a single person living alone just does not have $140 to spend in one shop.
Previously you offered bonus points on fruit and veges one week and dairy products another week. That was FANTASTIC.

Even if you offered 100 points for $50 or more spent in one shop, that would be great.

Jill Rowsell.

Hi.
My name is Giesela.
I would like to submit a complaint about your coles mini promotion.
I know of several children who are now collecting but are not able to purchase the collectors case as they started collecting late.
I have contacted numerous stores and I have been told by all of them that they will not be getting anymore cases in.
This is wrong on behalf of Coles as the promotion is not over and you should be supplying all items until promotion is finished.
I am very disappointed as many people are advertising the cases for obsurd prices.
This is exploiting children who are captured by your promotion.
You need to bring out the cases as it is your responsibility to have all stock available as part of your promotion.
I hope that you can rectify this.

I bought a pk (200grams) of coles bran mixed frozen berries. When I tasted them they were sour, therefore I was not able to use them. This was disppointing.
Here is some information in regards to the product...
Expire date- 9th May 2020
No... LOT CF 8129 4-5.
Hope this helps.

Customer details
Jennifer Judge
7 Fellowes Street Merewether 2291
jennifer.[protected]@det.nsw.edu.au

To Whom It May Concern,

We are writing with regards to the recent rewards program implemented by Coles where a mini collectable grocery item is available for every $30 spent.

We are happy that Coles finally commenced action to reduce the availability of single use plastic bags as we are very concerned about how plastics are impacting on our environment. We are very confused as to why short term use plastic items are now being offered by Coles Supermarkets. The fact that the Mini Collectables rewards program coincides with the decision to stop providing single use plastic bags indicates that Coles does not have a genuine concern for the environment.

Coles chief customer officer Simon McDowell is reported to have said that the decision to phase out single use plastic bags is "part of our ongoing program to improve environmental outcomes throughout our business". We are disappointed that the values identified by Coles are not reflected in the company's actions and practices.

We are aware that Coles have had a positive response to the Mini Collectables program however we now expect stronger and more positive leadership from Australian Companies around important social and environmental issues.

Yours Sincerely,

Jessica (11yrs) and Justine

First I would like to say congratulations on this promotion as my daughter and I have had a lot of fun collecting the minis.

Obviously this mini promotion has been a success to the community and all around Australia, We have been only shopping in the coles supermarkets to make sure we can get the collection. We are and a lot of other people are disappointed there was only a few folders allocated to each store and that they are no longer available.
I have given coles a lot of money and I've put in a lot of man hours to get the set for my daughter...We would love a file to put them in to.

I am writing you this to ask if I can receive one of these files which I am happy to pay a minimal price for or could you make more of these files for those who have collected the minis and have not been able to get a folder for there collection.

Can you please respond at your convenience.

My name is Heidi Schravesande
85 ullinger loop marangaroo. Wa. 6064

Phone [protected]

I do not care to be given the unsolicited opinion of some kid named "Joseph" at a checkout, he is supposed to be there to do his job, and shut his mouth. If I want his opinion, I will ask for it. I have been shopping at this store REGULARLY for over seven years, and the standards have been slipping with regard to customer service, but this individual in particular needs to know his place. The only really good service comes from the dairy section in that store.

Hi
How are you
I think there needs to be a series 2 mini collectables ones this one has died down. Surprise people with a series 2
You can do more products like
Soup
Pasta
The rest of the oak range
Shapes
Milk
Mouth wash
More fruit products
Coles chicken
Nesquick
More cereal brands
More frozen food items such as chips and pizzas
Peanut butter
More baby products such as baby wipes
Smith products
Candy items such as mentos tic tacs Allen's lollies

I think that you can have many more items and it will expand the kids excitement and give them a wider range of products to play with. And I think you'll send everyone crazy again.

Thank you for hearing me out and I hope this gets through to someone that can make this happen.

And the Coles mini limited edition hand is so amazing and a really cool item to have.

Kind regards Mitchell Pedler ([protected])

Dear Sir or Madame,
I received our online home delivery early today, the laundry liquid leaked over the 6 products. I pointed this out to the delivery man who advised me to contact you for a refund.
The items concerned are:
Salada 2.00 x 4 (8.00)
Laundry liquid 1.50
Muesli 3.50
Pretzels 2.50
Total $15.50
Clearly as these items have had chemical detergent on them they are spoiled.
Attached is invoice detailing items and photos of the items.
Thank you,
Lisa Donnison

Christian kentarsoz posted on facebook how his sister works for coles and has over nine boxes at home of little shops also posted a photo of 50 unopened little shop packets half nutella and half oak which he was going to sell how is this right when we shop hard to collect these things at $ 30 for 1 and people like that get them so easily. Not very happy.

This product says best results to oven cook. When I followed the instructions, it resulted in a plastic type smell coming from oven and when I opened the oven there was a lot of smoke and even more chemical type smell. There were little black specks on top of the lasagne, they looked like they may have been from the black container.
I am concerned that I was breathing in this plastic smelling air.
Are you able to advise me any health hazard I may have faced from cooking the lasagne this way?

Treated like free labour while no teaching happened and manager of coles australind not there apparently with personal issues, don't we all, didn't care about the work that is required from the person to complete course. I just wasted 72 hrs of my 80 hrs of work placement to find out that I have to redo all the 80 hrs with anothet company so I can pass my course.

My name is Johann, this morning I went shopping at the Coles in Coburg, there are two Coles stores there, I went into the one just behind Coburg station.
As I was in there I was just about to get my milk but I stopped. The reason I stopped is because a member of staff was loading new milk into the fridge. I noticed he had a bad cold and was continuously sneezing and wiping his nose with a dirty handkerchief. I noticed he kept loading on the milk with the very hands he had been using to wipe the snot out of his nose with his handkerchief. I thaught this was so disgusting and unhygienic. I am about to buy this milk and this guy is sneezing around beverages that I am going to drink. I told him what are you doing, I told him to go and wash his hands, he left reluctantly. For all I know all the milk he loaded up in the fridge was done with his contaminated hands. This is totally disgusting, I have worked in food industry, the moment you wipe your nose you wash your hands even if it is with sealed products. I complained to the manager Steve and he scoffed at me and thaught I was over reacting, he clearly stated it doesn't matter the milk product has a lid, this is from the manager. If he allows this practice what else is going on at the Coles in Coburg.

The guy loading the milk was Samir an Indian guy with glasses.
People have kids and this sort of behavior causes cross contamination and is totally unacceptable in my view. When you work with food you have to be extra careful.
Samir doesn't care and neither does the manager, they seem to think cross contamination What of it, no one will know. I believe they need to be investigated.
That manager in my opinion is breaking food and health laws by not addressing issue seriously. What if a child gets sick from Samirs [censored] ways of conducting his work. Lets put him in the Ceo office and he serves your food while he is sneezing and wiping his hands and dirty nose with a dirty rag and than he serves you your drinks without washing his hands. Next thing you the entire board of directors is sick from one careless employee who has no regard for food safety or hygene. He is committing a crime in my eyes.
One day if the world is hit by a virus it will come from cross contamitation from an employee like SAMIR who doesn't give a toss. Air born germs combined with the dirt from his hands and the biological pathogens being extreated by his nose, No one knows how clean or dirty he really is, I don't, Do you. But do you want a guy like this preparing your milk which you are about to give your baby, Think about it.
Diseases come from the most extrodinary places and people like Samir will be one of those people responsible. You may think I am being dramatic, just look at human history and all the diseases we have had. And a manager not taking food and health and hygene practices seriously is a shame and an emberassment to the high standards that Coles lives by. Think about it.
My name is Johann, my number is [protected] and I am writing to the CEO because I care about peoples well being and the well being of our children. People like Samir and the manager Steve are putting people at risk in my opinion.
NB when I told Steve he scoffed at me and defended SAMIR DISGUSTING ACTION of sneezing and wiping his nose and not washing his hands and that is a fact!

This evening I purchased 10 garlic Kiev's from coles in Warragul.
I was charged $20 as the Kiev's are currently $2 each.
Upon arriving home, we only received 9.
As the Kiev's are packed and wrapped by the staff member, it's not practical to then open the package at the counter to count them. We trust that the staff member has put in the required amount without me checking.

Hi there, I purchased a pack of 200gm (or thereabouts) Coles branded smoked salmon during the morning on Saturday 11/8 and my Mum, partner and I had it for lunch on the same day in bagels (we always consume smoked salmon within 24 hours of purchase and are vigilant about that).

My partner and I also had it for lunch again the next day. Around 8pm on Monday 13/8, I started feeling extremely tired and in the hours following, I developed intense nausea, constant diarrhoea and shaking / sweating and heart palpitations. My partner developed all of the same symptoms approx one hour later and then also started vomiting violently. We were both up for the whole night. My Mum messaged me from her home to advise she was projectile vomiting around 9pm on the same Monday evening. These symptoms subsided approx 24 hours later but even right now - almost 48 hours later - I am still feeling unwell with mild nausea, sweats and general fatigue / weakness. My Mum and partner are the same.

I would be grateful for a refund but I suspect that won't happen. An apology from Coles and an assurance that they will commit to ensuring the safety of all fresh and frozen products for other consumers ongoing would be appreciated. This was clearly listeria poisoning.

Coles is our nearest major supermarket but I am hesitant to ever shop there again.

We were in your store this morning and there weren't enough checkouts open for the amount of customers that were waiting to be put through. I am not happy as they could have put at least another couple of operators on to cope.

This needs to be addressed or we won't be shopping there again. We find this store convenient as its within the shopping complex and we go to different stores for what we need.

Dear Sir/ Madam

I went into Coles tonight to exchange a product, I paid in cash, unfortunately I didn't have a receipt it was thrown away, with a new baby you don't have a minute to think sometimes and I paid in cash, my assumption was that at least I would be entitled to an exchange, I purchased this product last week, I can even tell you the price, I completely understand about providing proof of purchase but if it scanned on the register isn't that enough proof for at least an exchange, I got the blunt remark by the manager no receipt, no refund or exchange apparently it's a new policy, that any refund over $10 without a receipt is up to the descretion of the manager. I find this unsatisfactory, I felt like I was treated like a thief. I have no use for this product what a waste, the lady at the counter said that every Coles was different, I find this amusing shouldnt all of your supermarkets uphold the same policy or every supermarket has its own rules according to the socio economic structure of the community which then I find prejudice, by all means have your rules or regulations but don't place predicaments on the customer especially when they have done the right thing. If your super market has an issue with security why place it on the customer, i'm surprised and shocked at what I thought would be a simple exchange to sorry no can do, what is the world coming too.

I have emailed Coles manager Sanctuary Lakes about trolleys left around the area
they can be left there for extended periods of time.
It is making the neighborhood look like a third world country.
Coles have to put wheel locks on their trolleys to stop them from leaving the car park.
Response from Coles today was that the trolley would be picked up today and in future call the number to report.
The trolley in Finchley Road Point Cook has been there since last Thursday 9/8/18 so I dont know what day they do pick up.
The roads are narrow and these trolleys can be pushed onto the road and possibly cause a accident, I wonder if Coles could be negligent if this does occur.
Regards
Les Foreman

Your idea to help with recyclable bags was great, but does not work for the following reasons:
1. Bags are too large and too heavy to carry when full.
2. Your check out staff does not know how to pack large bags, and by the time you get home, everything is broken.
3. The bags are large enough for clothes, think about it.
4. I'm not the only person complaining about having to bring our own bags, everyone is cranky and upset when shopping. How many bags do I need? The bags are too heavy! Etc. So it makes shopping very unpleasant.

The first store that comes up with a solution, will get everyone's business. I hope it is you because I like shopping at coles. But your staff must learn how to pack the bags, and i'm tired of getting home with broken eggs, spilled berries, and broken crackers etc.
Sincelery,
Debie delaney