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Coles shopper furious after missing out on free chook

A Coles customer is angry after he was refused a free hot roast chicken, despite the store’s popular policy of a free one if none are available.

Sharing his annoyance on the store’s Facebook page, the customer said: “You have a sign saying if you miss out on a hot chicken the next one is free.”

“Well guess what I did, and when I asked about it I was told it doesn't count because there were some cooking.”

An RSPCA Approved Roast Chicken.
A customer has slammed Coles' free roast chicken policy. Source: Coles

The store’s policy entitles customers to a voucher for a free roast chicken if the popular item isn’t available.

He continued: “If it's not true just take the sign down!”

Confusion over Coles' free chicken policy

However, it seems the finer details aren’t exactly clear to customers.

While the disgruntled customer labelled the Coles policy ‘misleading’ others said the policy is only available if there are no chooks to cook across the entire store.

Coles trolleys. Source: AAP
Coles has been criticised for not honouring a well-known chicken policy. Source: AAP

“They honour it if the store has no chickens left at all in the store,” one person commented pointing out that you may need to wait for more to be cooked.

But the angry customer behind the original post disagreed, saying: “It says if you miss out... I did... I'm not hanging around for 20 mins to get it.”

Others also disagreed, arguing the policy is valid if there are none available on shelves – not across the entire store.

“That’s incorrect. If there are no chickens in the Bain Marie that you can just grab then they will issue you with a voucher, it’s not if the store runs out of chickens,” another customer said.

A roast chicken dinner.
A Coles customer was hoping to pick up a roast chook, but was left disappointed. Source: Coles

The store’s voucher, which has previously been shared on Facebook, states: “Sorry we’re out of Coles hot roast chicken. Please use this voucher and get one free on your next visit.”

It’s understood that a Coles customer can use the voucher for up to seven days to claim their free bird.

Coles responds to customers

A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the policy can be difficult to implement across all states as different stores have different trading hours, meaning chickens are available at different times.

“We promise our customers that our Hot Roast Chicken will be available at the times that they want them the most,” a Coles spokesperson said.

“These hours differ from store to store, as there are different trading hours in different states and regions.

“We encourage customers to speak to their local store’s deli manager if there are no hot roast chickens available.”

The store’s free roast chicken policy was largely unknown until a customer had the ‘free barbecue chicken’ promise honoured back in 2019 and posted about it on social media. The post prompted the store to confirm the policy.

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