Is Coles cracking down on thieves with a controversial 'new policy'? Find out the truth here!
- Replies 17
With the cost of living crisis in Australia, some supermarkets have experienced a sharp uptick in theft in recent months.
But the launch of a controversial ‘new policy’ at Coles–whereby staff manually weigh expensive-looking ‘bulky’ items–has left some shoppers scratching their heads.
The incident started when one customer posted on social media about how an employee intervened and offered to weigh some of the items they were scanning at a Coles self-serve checkout.
'I just went through Coles self-checkout, and the Coles fella (sic) came up and said he has to scan the meat and 'bulky items' for me now, a new policy across all stores.'
'I said: “Is that because people have been stealing meat?” And he said it was. Anyone else had this yet?' he asked.
The post attracted over 1,000 interactions, with many revealing experiences at their own local supermarket.
The supermarket giant denied staff are specifically required to weigh any items for customers, but they also did not deny the practice altogether.
'Coles is always looking for ways to improve how we serve our customers and provide exceptional customer service,' a Coles spokesperson said.
'Our team members are always encouraged to help our customers where possible, and by asking them if they would like a hand with scanning or lifting bulky or heavy items out of their trolley or basket, is just one of the many ways we can assist them when checking out.'
Social media users were quick to jump into the discussion, with many criticising the measures as an inconvenience. Some even suggested that with the new policy, 'We’re gonna go full circle and just have checkouts again, aren’t we?'
While another said: 'Yeah, my Coles has security tags on meat.'
'Can't you just go to a non-self checkout register?' a third shopper asked. 'Or are there stores where that totally isn't an option now? I've started habitually avoiding the self-checkout when I can now. I would rather keep someone in a job than let AI falsely accuse me of stealing.'
Many have been wondering if Coles is replacing staff with self-service checkouts.
Coles’ Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer Matt Swindells says that Coles has more team members than ever before, not only because of the introduction of self-checkouts in the last 20 years but also because of the more recent surge in online grocery shopping.
While self-checkouts could mean fewer people are needed in the stores, those jobs are being offset by the additional roles Coles introduced in the digital field, such as personal shoppers and online delivery drivers.
‘We've never had more team members in our stores, and we've never had more vacancies,’ Mr Swindells said.
You can read more about this here.
Have you experienced something similar at the self-service checkout? Let us know about your experience in the comments below!
But the launch of a controversial ‘new policy’ at Coles–whereby staff manually weigh expensive-looking ‘bulky’ items–has left some shoppers scratching their heads.
The incident started when one customer posted on social media about how an employee intervened and offered to weigh some of the items they were scanning at a Coles self-serve checkout.
A shopper was intervened by a Coles employee to weigh some of their items while at the self-serve checkout. Image source: Shutterstock.
'I just went through Coles self-checkout, and the Coles fella (sic) came up and said he has to scan the meat and 'bulky items' for me now, a new policy across all stores.'
'I said: “Is that because people have been stealing meat?” And he said it was. Anyone else had this yet?' he asked.
The post attracted over 1,000 interactions, with many revealing experiences at their own local supermarket.
The supermarket giant denied staff are specifically required to weigh any items for customers, but they also did not deny the practice altogether.
'Coles is always looking for ways to improve how we serve our customers and provide exceptional customer service,' a Coles spokesperson said.
'Our team members are always encouraged to help our customers where possible, and by asking them if they would like a hand with scanning or lifting bulky or heavy items out of their trolley or basket, is just one of the many ways we can assist them when checking out.'
Social media users were quick to jump into the discussion, with many criticising the measures as an inconvenience. Some even suggested that with the new policy, 'We’re gonna go full circle and just have checkouts again, aren’t we?'
While another said: 'Yeah, my Coles has security tags on meat.'
'Can't you just go to a non-self checkout register?' a third shopper asked. 'Or are there stores where that totally isn't an option now? I've started habitually avoiding the self-checkout when I can now. I would rather keep someone in a job than let AI falsely accuse me of stealing.'
Many have been wondering if Coles is replacing staff with self-service checkouts.
Coles’ Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer Matt Swindells says that Coles has more team members than ever before, not only because of the introduction of self-checkouts in the last 20 years but also because of the more recent surge in online grocery shopping.
While self-checkouts could mean fewer people are needed in the stores, those jobs are being offset by the additional roles Coles introduced in the digital field, such as personal shoppers and online delivery drivers.
‘We've never had more team members in our stores, and we've never had more vacancies,’ Mr Swindells said.
You can read more about this here.
Last edited:
.png){kind=icon}
If people still want to be stupid about it and hang around in a queue that's down to them I suppose. For a few items I'm quickly in and out of self serve and still see the same people queueing as I go out. 
science and stop chasing the mighty dollar 
for you shareholders profits 
simple 
