Coles staffer's 'amazing act of kindness' brings customer to tears

A Coles customer has shared her gratitude to a kindhearted staffer who gave her a helping hand in her time of need.

The appreciative shopper shared a post to the Coles Facebook page where she recounted how the generous staff member at the Arana Hills store in Queensland stepped in after she was unable to pay for her groceries during a power outage.

“Today I was in the Arana Hills store, Queensland. A storm in the area cut the power to the shopping centre. I picked up the minimum amount of groceries to cook dinner. Just less than $10,” the shopper wrote in her post.

“Unfortunately, due to the power outage, I was unable to pay using my mobile, despite trying a number of times,” she added.

When the disappointed customer started to unpack her groceries to be returned to the shelf, a junior Coles staff member approached her to lend a hand.

“A junior Coles staff member swiped her card and said, ‘I’ll get that’ and proceeded to pay,” wrote the thankful Queenslander.

The Coles team member, Josie, had just finished her shift at the Arana Hills store and was waiting in line to pay for her own groceries when she noticed the customer having issues paying for her items.

A power outage in the suburb and surrounding areas had caused banking payment apps to slow, which is likely why the customer was experiencing issues.

This is when Josie stepped in to pay for the customer’s items herself as an act of kindness.

‘She made me cry with the amazing act of kindness’

“Dear Coles Senior Management! Her name is Josie. She works in Coles, Arana Hills,” said the woman.

Alongside the post, the shopper shared a photo of the kind Coles staffer’s name badge, which reads: “Josie” and features a sticker of the rainbow flag in support of LGBTQ community.

The woman said that Josie was a “superstar” and that she was brought to tears by her generosity.

“She made me cry with the amazing act of kindness to resolve the inconvenience of the power outage,” she wrote.

“I am so impressed and still blown away by this. I will be contacting the store manager tomorrow to let them know, [as] this awesome young woman deserves acknowledgment” she concluded.

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Coles ‘proud’ of staff member’s act of kindness

A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that they were “proud” to hear that one of their team members was able to help a customer in need.

“At Coles, we see examples of team members going above and beyond for customers every day,” said the spokesperson.

“We are proud to hear that team member Josie from Coles Arana Hills was able to assist this customer,” they said.

Concluding: “Hopefully this will inspire similar acts of kindness within the store and community.”

This is not a one-off for the supermarket giant. Recently, Coles made headlines when “amazing workers” from their Melton store were the highlight of a young son's days during the pandemic and multiple lockdowns.

Similarly, a grateful customer publicly thanked a staffer at Coles Edgeworth who packed her groceries for her after a rib injury made it difficult.

“My faith in humanity is restored and I am feeling very grateful,” wrote the shopper in a post to the Coles Facebook page.

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