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'It's a dud': Confusion over Coles pregnancy test

Pregnancy tests don’t always give the desired result, but one brand that has been causing some consumers a headache has been doing so by yielding no result at all, or even, a completely incorrect one.

One woman, who purchased the Coles brand of pregnancy test because it was “the cheapest”, complained the product had remained completely blank after she had performed the test.

“Don’t bother with these cheapies. I got them I was 99% sure I wasn’t pregnant but had a few symptoms so wanted to be even more certain, and I went for the cheapest, figuring they’d do a good enough job even if not as sensitive as better brands,” the woman said in a Facebook group, also sharing a photo of the unresponsive test.

“I know I can demand my money back (though they better not ask for the pee soaked sticks back) but it’s still a waste of time.”

The woman's post drew mixed reviews from others who had used the product. Source: Facebook
The woman's post drew mixed reviews from others who had used the product. Source: Facebook

Other people in the Perth-based group responded to the post with mixed experiences of also using the Coles brand, while others pointed out the test could’ve simple been faulty, which can happen with all pregnancy tests “no matter the brand”.

“I got a reading of 134 but barely positive on this brand. Useless,” one woman said.

Another added: “I used these. First one was faulty so I took it back (in packaging and told them my story). They threw it in bin and I got another one and found out I was pregnant.”

Another woman who had also recently purchased the Coles test said the ink “went everywhere” when she tried to use it.

“These are sooo sh**,” read another comment. “Coles has no other so I used these. Some didn’t show up anything. Some showed up positive. Wasn’t keen to take mine back. Coz really who wanna take a piss covered stick to get a refund?”

Another woman shared a photo to the thread of an apparently used pregnancy test from the Coles brand which showed a confusing result of no lines, but completely coloured in shapes.

“My test a week ago!!” the user wrote with two laughing emojis. “I got my period four days late”.

One of the comments added to the original post said the test had told her she want pregnant when she was wasn't. Source: Facebook
One woman uploaded a photo of a confusing result she received from the test. Source: Facebook

Someone else said: “I had used one of these about three weeks ago and it came up with a positive. I’m not pregnant. My husband almost died.”

A 2017 review of home pregnancy test kits by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which is part of the Australian Government Department of Health, found four in ten pregnancy tests on the Australian market failed the TGA’s reliability tests.

The watchdog found 22 of the 27 test kits sampled passed testing and were shown to work reliably and a total of 16 pregnancy tests were withdrawn from sale as a result.

Pregnancy self-test kits rely on detecting the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone for the reliability of results. To be marketed in Australia, a urine pregnancy test kit must be included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods which is administered by the TGA.

A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the supermarket was following up the customer’s concerns with the supplier.

“Coles takes the quality of all our products seriously and we understand the sensitivities involved in taking a pregnancy test,” the spokesperson said.

“As always we offer a full refund or replacement to customers who are not 100% happy with any Coles brand product with proof of purchase.”

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