'Check your receipts': Coles shopper reveals how she scores free groceries
An Aussie mum has revealed how she manages to score free groceries at the till.
The mum from Manly in Sydney took to Facebook to share her secret which bagged her a one kilogram tin of Milo and a roast chicken for free last week.
“Is everyone aware of the Code of Scanning Practice 1984 at supermarkets?” she asked users.
“If the price on the shelf is lower than the price the item scans, you get it free.
“Check your receipts before leaving [the] shop ladies. They have to refund [you] and give you [the] item.
“I usually find two to three items every week!”
The Scanning Code of Practice is a voluntary code that many supermarkets have signed up to, including Woolies, Coles, and some IGA and Aldi stores.
Under the policy, if an item scans higher than what the shelf price says, the customer is entitled to receive the first item for free.
Any subsequent item will be charged at the lower price.
It does however exclude tobacco, liquor and items without a barcode, while purchases must be under $50.
The policy is well detailed on Coles’ website as part of its ‘promise on price scanning'.
“If a single item scans at a higher price than the advertised or ticket shelf price for that item, we will give you that item free,” it said online.
Do cashiers honour the 'scanning' policy?
The Aussie mum’s Facebook post has since received more than 120 comments, with others sharing their supermarket savings.
“Hubby got a free pack of two pillows because they scanned wrong,” one woman said.
“I do this all the time,” another wrote. “Got a box of free Magnums the other week.”
“I got free stockings for an entire winter when I was a teenager doing this because they refused to update the sign,” someone else claimed.
While others encouraged shoppers to stand up for themselves if the cashier fails to honour the policy.
“A lot of the time they think people don’t know this, and they will try to just change it to the shelf price,” someone said.
“At the service desk, they have a Code of Scanning Practice brochure,” another wrote. “ If they try to argue, I whip it out of my purse.”
“I never used to bother saying anything but got sick of getting ripped off at every shop,” someone else added.
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