Coles shopper outraged by 27-plastic bag home delivery
A Coles shopper has slammed the supermarket giant for its “excess wastage of plastics” when she received 27 plastic bags with her online order.
The outraged customer took to the Coles Facebook page to call out her local store in Parabanks, South Australia, for the “social distancing” of her groceries.
She said that items such as rice, bananas and bread did not need their own bags.
“I know we are in lockdown and for us quarantine, but why, oh why did you need to pack my groceries in 27 separate bags?” wrote the customer on the Coles Facebook page.
The baffled customer shared a photo of the stack of Coles Better Bags she received with her order, saying that her online order could have easily been packed into 10 bags.
“Now I know you have to bag groceries for online orders, but 27 bags. I could have packed it into 10 easy. We don’t need this much wastage,” she wrote.
The Parabanks shopper did not believe that the three loaves of bread she ordered needed to be separated into their own bags, or the seven bananas be divided into numerous bags.
“I know we are in quarantine but I really don’t think the bread or bananas need to social distance, do you?” she asked the supermarket.
Meanwhile, fellow shoppers took the opportunity to share their own outrage in the comments, saying they were “disappointed” and “angry” with Coles for their plastic wastage.
Customers allege Coles profit by charging for plastic bags
Customers are growing increasingly frustrated with Coles’ superfluous use of plastic bags in their online orders, with some alleging that they are using it as a tactic for securing additional profits.
“It seems like this is a common occurrence for Coles online but, a single item or two in a bag?” wrote one shopper on the Coles Facebook page, alongside a photo of a single package of bacon sitting in its own plastic bag.
“They use about double the bags they need, their bags might be cheap so they get away with it, but imagine how good their add on sales are by doing this to everyone!” she wrote in her post.
Anyone who has spent any amount of time on the Coles Facebook page will attest that this disgruntled shopper is not the only one claiming that Coles is profiting from charging customers for additional plastic bags.
“Unhappy and disappointed with the way Coles wasted bags for online shopping,” posted one shopper, along with a photo of several Coles Better Bags spread out on her kitchen floor.
“My order was delivered like this... I don't know how much I was charged for these unnecessary bags,” wrote the baffled shopper, who deemed the supermarket’s plastic bag use as "unacceptable".
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Coles say plastic bags prevent cross-contamination
A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that they use plastic bags for “health and safety reasons” to prevent cross-contamination between different items.
Therefore, the amount of plastic bags used varies from customer to customer, as Coles needs to separate certain items, such as fresh foods and cleaning supplies.
“We are disappointed to hear about this customer’s experience and will contact them to learn more,” said the Coles spokesperson.
“Bags are essential to keep items together during the online shopping process and are necessary for health and safety reasons with some products.”
The spokesperson explained that the Coles Better Bags can be recycled at all of their stores and the supermarket has been able to collect “more than one billion pieces of plastic” since the inception of its REDcycle scheme in 2011.
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