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Coles shopper shocked by bizarre new online order trend

Coles shoppers are becoming increasingly frustrated at the supermarket giant over the excessive use of plastic bags in their online orders.

One Richmond, NSW shopper was especially frustrated when she took to the Coles Facebook page on Tuesday to say that she was “horrified” by the amount of plastic bags she received with her first Click and Collect order.

“Not only is this a complete overuse of plastic but we got charged for each plastic bag and this is how they were packed?!?! One plastic bag per fruit item?!?!” wrote the customer on Facebook, alongside a photo of multiple Coles plastic bags containing one to two items in each.

Coles customers have slammed the retailer for their plastic bag use. Source: Facebook
Coles customers have slammed the retailer for their plastic bag use. Source: Facebook

The disgruntled shopper then shared additional photos of her online order, which showed two loaves of bread in one bag and a bottle of sauce and a single banana in the other.

“I did it once last Covid... never again. Packaging the reason,” commented one user on the post.

Customer calls out Coles’ Click and Collect plastic bag fail

Meanwhile, another annoyed shopper has called out Coles for allegedly forcing customers to pay for the additional plastic bags she received in her Click and Collect order.

The frustrated shopper posted a photo of a single package of fresh thyme in a Coles Better Bag to the Coles Facebook page.

Coles customers have slammed the retailer for their plastic bag use. Source: Facebook
Coles customers have slammed the retailer for their plastic bag use. Source: Facebook

“My last two Coles online Click & Collect orders have been disappointing,” wrote the shopper in her post.

“I am forced to pay for plastic bags (I am assuming because of Covid but it doesn't explain on the website) but instead of items going into one bag (which they could easily do) there is one item in each bag!” she said. “Plus I have to pay for it!”

Coles say plastic bags are necessary for ‘health and safety’

A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that they were “disappointed” to hear about the customers’ experience and would reach out to them to learn more.

However, the spokesperson said that sometimes Coles needs to use separate bags for ”health and safety reasons”, especially when trying to prevent cross-contamination between items, such as fresh food and cleaning suppliers.

“Bags are essential to keep items together during the online shopping process and are necessary for health and safety reasons with some products,” said the Coles spokesperson.

It’s for this reason, that the number of plastic bags used for certain orders may exceed the amount customers have chosen when completing their online order.

The spokesperson said that it’s worth noting that Better Bags are recyclable, so they can be returned to the Customer Service Agent if they opt for home delivery, or to the team members at the Click and Collect pick-up points if they don’t wish to go into a store.

“Coles Better Bags can be recycled at all Coles supermarkets. More than one billion pieces of flexible plastic have been collected by REDcycle since 2011,” said the Coles spokesperson.

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