'Check your receipts': Woolworths shopper's plastic bag warning

A Woolworths customer who noticed an unusual charge on her shopping receipt has warned others to check to see if they too have been stung by an extra cost.

The woman claimed a staff member intentionally scanned a reusable bag that belonged to her on at least three different occasions as she was checking out.

In a complaint to the supermarket’s Facebook page on Wednesday, she explained her confusion at how a crumpled-up bag inside her handbag was confused with a brand-new one.

“For the third time (that I am aware of) you have charged me 15 cents for my own bag,” the disgruntled shopper wrote.

She said it was not about the money, but she wondered how many other people had not noticed the extra charge.

The woman said even though she always kept a reusable bag in her handbag so she didn’t get “caught out”, her pre-emptive measure seemed to have backfired multiple times due to careless staff members.

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“Those bags are so neatly and tightly folded that it should be quite obvious to anyone that they have not just been picked up in store that day,” she wrote.

“The scrunched-up handles and few little tears are also a dead give away. Not to mention the fact that when I hand it over I say, ‘Here's my bag’.”

The woman urged others to “check your receipts” as she was convinced she was likely not the only unfortunate victim being charged several times for her own bags.

“I'm not the only one this would be happening to. Shame on you Woolworths,” she said.

Another shopper suggested a nifty hack that would make it impossible for a bag to be scanned more than once.

“Scratch out the barcode with a permanent marker. It’s not their fault if it keeps scanning because you haven’t,” they wrote in a comment.

Woolworths says it is an isolated incident

A Woolworths representative put the problem down to the error of one of its team members, writing in a comment that staff “wouldn't intentionally re-scan” the reusable bags.

“We'd be more than happy to fix it up next time you're in store. We like seeing our customers bring their own bags and wouldn't intentionally re-scan them,” the representative said.

“If you can please let us know the store visited, that would be appreciated and we'll ensure the feedback is forwarded to the store management team. We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your understanding.”

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