$77 detail on Coles receipt exposes 'foul' shopper 'rip-off'

An eagle-eyed Coles customer caught in the crossfire of the "locked" prices scandal has slammed the supermarket giant as "foul" over a $77.50 refund.

The shopper was left shocked at the whopping credit added to his transaction on Sunday, which came days after Coles issued an apology for incorrectly raising the price of 20 popular items during a recent promotion, both in-store and online. The customer shared a photo of his receipt, saying he "noticed a $77.50 credit", which took his bill down to $241.21. "I'm not complaining, but just wondering what it could be," he said.

Coles has since confirmed to Yahoo Finance that the credit was most likely a customer refund following the pricing issue that was revealed last week. The retailer notified Flybuys members that they would be refunded the full cost of the affected products purchased and that this would be deducted from their next shop.

"We incorrectly increased the ticket price of 20 products before the end of the promotional period," a spokesperson for the supermarket said.

"As a result of this error, we are refunding the full cost of the items to customers. Coles has processed refunds for customers who used their Flybuys card or purchased through Coles Online."

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Any customer who purchased those items — which included cream, dishwashing tablets, chopped tomatoes, cereal, and a pregnancy test — in-store, is being asked to visit the service desk with their receipt for a full refund.

"We know cost of living is the biggest focus for so many of our customers," the spokesperson added. "We sincerely apologise to our customers for this mistake and we are working quickly to make it right."

'How much are we getting ripped off?'

While the Coles shopper was more than happy to get his money back, he was left with a sour taste in his mouth.

"That's pretty foul of them [Coles] because $77 is a lot for pricing errors that could've easily been not noticed," he wrote on Reddit. "It's good that they gave me the refund without me having to do anything but they probably only did that because I'm a Flybuys member."

Other users agreed that plenty of non-Flybuys members would've missed out on the refund because they didn't opt for a receipt at the register, or threw it out as soon as they got home and unpacked their shopping. Another questioned how Coles could refund entire shops.

"How much are we getting ripped off from these supermarkets when they can refund that much to one person over 20 items that were wrongfully increased in price," the Reddit user said. "We are getting scammed for the basic essentials, and it makes me mad."

Consumer advocacy group CHOICE first raised the alarm in October over increased prices for goods that were supposed to have their prices "locked", making a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

"This kind of behaviour from Coles is exactly why we gave them a Shonky Award earlier this year," CHOICE deputy director of campaigns Andrew Kelly said last week. "A retailer as big as Coles failing to keep its pricing promises is simply unacceptable, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis where so many people are already worried about the price of food and groceries."

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