Shoppers furious on Coles parking loophole: ‘People feel entitled’
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As online shopping continues to soar in popularity, retailers like Coles are offering solutions such as Click&Collect.
The Click&Collect service, launched in 2022, was designed to make shopping faster and easier for customers.
However, some shoppers find the experience anything but convenient due to a frustrating parking loophole.
The Click&Collect service allows customers to order from the Coles website or app and then drive to pick it up from a store where an employee delivers the groceries to their car. The process is meant to take under 60 minutes.
However, some customers in Wentworth Point, in Sydney's Inner West, have found their experience marred by 'entitled' individuals parking in the designated Click&Collect spots and leaving their cars to go shopping.
One irate customer took to social media to vent his frustration.
'Coles Click&Collect—feeling angry every time we go to get our groceries, people feel entitled to park in the spaces provided,' he wrote in his post and uploaded images of unattended cars parked in the designated spaces.
This sparked a flurry of responses, with some sympathising with the man's plight, while others admitted they had stopped using the Click&Collect service because ‘the spaces are never available’.
'I stopped Click&Collect for this reason, it’s always Thirsty Monkey customers that I’ve encountered, and once [a person] whom I asked to move—as it was raining and the Coles staff member was there with my groceries—told me she was warming up her car and wouldn’t be long,' another customer shared.
Interestingly, some questioned the placement of the Click&Collect parking spots on the street, suggesting they should be located in Coles' underground garage.
‘Can’t understand why it’s on the street, surely they can have spaces in the underground car park! It’s so frustrating,’ a shopper said.
‘I won't stop doing it. You have a whole car park downstairs,’ one man wrote.
In response to the growing discontent, a spokesperson for Coles urged shoppers to use the supermarket's underground parking and leave the Click&Collect spaces for customers using the service.
‘We know that many of our customers rely on the convenience and value of our free Click&Collect service in select locations,’ the spokesperson said.
'We encourage anyone who isn’t collecting a Click&Collect order to consider the needs of those who have selected this service and park in one of the other many parking spots available at our supermarkets.'
However, it appears the rule for the designated Click&Collect parking spots is not being enforced, and some locals have taken advantage of this loophole.
Coles explained that it did not enforce parking guidelines at the Wentworth Point store and suggested the matter be directed to the City of Parramatta council.
The council, however, stated that the parking spots lay on private land and they do not have jurisdiction over them.
It’s understood that the City of Parramatta has no authority to enforce any fines or remove any vehicles within the pictured zone.
The owners of the Marina Square shopping centre have been contacted to clarify whether the parking spaces fall under their jurisdiction.
While supermarkets do their best to make parking a more pleasant experience, some car park features can cause quite a debate among drivers.
In a previous story, a new car park feature in one shopping centre was hailed as a ‘genius’ innovation for some, but others have slammed it as an unnecessary complication. You can read more about it here.
Have you experienced similar issues with the Coles Click&Collect service or other retailers? Let us know in the comments below!
The Click&Collect service, launched in 2022, was designed to make shopping faster and easier for customers.
However, some shoppers find the experience anything but convenient due to a frustrating parking loophole.
The Click&Collect service allows customers to order from the Coles website or app and then drive to pick it up from a store where an employee delivers the groceries to their car. The process is meant to take under 60 minutes.
However, some customers in Wentworth Point, in Sydney's Inner West, have found their experience marred by 'entitled' individuals parking in the designated Click&Collect spots and leaving their cars to go shopping.
Customers were frustrated about others parking in the designated Click&Collect spots. Credit: Facebook
One irate customer took to social media to vent his frustration.
'Coles Click&Collect—feeling angry every time we go to get our groceries, people feel entitled to park in the spaces provided,' he wrote in his post and uploaded images of unattended cars parked in the designated spaces.
This sparked a flurry of responses, with some sympathising with the man's plight, while others admitted they had stopped using the Click&Collect service because ‘the spaces are never available’.
'I stopped Click&Collect for this reason, it’s always Thirsty Monkey customers that I’ve encountered, and once [a person] whom I asked to move—as it was raining and the Coles staff member was there with my groceries—told me she was warming up her car and wouldn’t be long,' another customer shared.
Interestingly, some questioned the placement of the Click&Collect parking spots on the street, suggesting they should be located in Coles' underground garage.
‘Can’t understand why it’s on the street, surely they can have spaces in the underground car park! It’s so frustrating,’ a shopper said.
‘I won't stop doing it. You have a whole car park downstairs,’ one man wrote.
In response to the growing discontent, a spokesperson for Coles urged shoppers to use the supermarket's underground parking and leave the Click&Collect spaces for customers using the service.
‘We know that many of our customers rely on the convenience and value of our free Click&Collect service in select locations,’ the spokesperson said.
'We encourage anyone who isn’t collecting a Click&Collect order to consider the needs of those who have selected this service and park in one of the other many parking spots available at our supermarkets.'
However, it appears the rule for the designated Click&Collect parking spots is not being enforced, and some locals have taken advantage of this loophole.
Coles explained that it did not enforce parking guidelines at the Wentworth Point store and suggested the matter be directed to the City of Parramatta council.
The council, however, stated that the parking spots lay on private land and they do not have jurisdiction over them.
It’s understood that the City of Parramatta has no authority to enforce any fines or remove any vehicles within the pictured zone.
The owners of the Marina Square shopping centre have been contacted to clarify whether the parking spaces fall under their jurisdiction.
While supermarkets do their best to make parking a more pleasant experience, some car park features can cause quite a debate among drivers.
In a previous story, a new car park feature in one shopping centre was hailed as a ‘genius’ innovation for some, but others have slammed it as an unnecessary complication. You can read more about it here.
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