'Why, Coles?' Woman stuck with 500 plastic bags she didn't want
A Coles shopper has hit out at the supermarket giant on Facebook over an ongoing issue with her home delivery, urging the supermarket to reintroduce the "no bag" option for customers.
Mum Chantelle Barrett, from Maryborough, Queensland took aim at the sheer number of plastic bags she's been forced to pay for and collect with her Coles orders, racking up a collection of about 500.
Each bag costs 15c which is automatically charged for all online orders. That means Ms Barrett has spent $75 so far on bags she claims she will never use again, on top of the $8 for each delivery to her house.
The Coles customer wrote on the supermarket's Facebook page sharing a picture of some 500 bags bundled together, but that's not even all of them, she said.
"500 bags. Bags full of bags. So many bags," she wrote.
"Wish there was the option for no bags when getting groceries delivered. Why do you make people pay for these bags then take them back for free?"
Ms Barrett told Yahoo News Australia that she's had over 160 online orders delivered to her house and each time "over 15 bags arrive".
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She once raised the concern with the delivery driver who said "nothing" she claims, and continued handing her the bags.
"There is no option for no bags. So we can't say no to them as we are charged for them. So they just sit here and build up," she said.
"We live out of town with 4 kids. So I avoid going in-store to shop as it becomes a bit chaotic. Online delivery is much easier."
Ms Barrett said it is possible to return the bags in-store however you don't get any money back, and considering Coles charge 15 cents per bag, customers are left reeling.
Widespread fury: 'Waste of money'
Before the coronavirus pandemic, shoppers had the option to select "no bags" on their order which meant the individual grocery items would be delivered directly to their door in a crate.
But in 2020, the supermarket was forced to make necessary changes for "health and safety reasons," a Coles spokesperson said at the time, adding that "bags were essential to keep items together during the shopping process."
Throughout the pandemic, Coles shoppers slammed the decision claiming it was "a waste of money". Many others said they were trying to "reduce plastic" so paying for new bags for each delivery wasn't ideal.
Around the same time, a Melbourne woman was angered over the number of plastic bags used for home delivery, with just one or two items per bag.
Meanwhile, another shopper fumed after she received her vegetables wrapped in individual plastic bags.
Coles responds to plastic bag problem
A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that "our Click and Collect service provides customers with the option of ‘bagless’ collection."
But they failed to address the bagless option for home deliveries saying it's unknown if the policy will change.
"Coles Better Bags are made from 80% recycled plastic and designed for re-use however they can be recycled through REDcycle bins, which are available at all Coles supermarkets," the Coles spokesperson said.
"Our ambition is to become Australia’s most sustainable supermarket and our Together to Zero strategy sets out ways in which we will reduce our impact on the environment across key sustainability areas including climate change, waste and hunger."
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