Woolies customers angry as Earn & Learn school promo stickers run out
Parents are up in arms about the latest Woolworths promotion, with reports the Earn & Learn stickers have run out at supermarkets all over the country, weeks before the campaign is due to end.
The supermarket giant’s latest shop-and-earn campaign is rewarding Australian schools and Early Learning Centres with new science, technology, maths, and arts equipment for money spent in store.
According to the Woolworths website, for every $10 spent at the supermarket until June 25, shoppers will receive an Earn & Learn sticker. These can be collected and allocated to a local school, to be redeemed for new equipment.
But parents are furious to find the stickers have run out at Woolies stores across the country.
“Why should my school be penalised for you running out and failing to get more in. This has been weeks now,” one woman wrote on the Woolworths Facebook page on Wednesday night.
“Very disappointed Woolworths yet again another promo that our store has come up short and ran out of stickers,” one man wrote.
“How are we meant to help our local school when our store ran out 2 weeks ago and said they wont be getting more?” he asked.
All Woolworths Australian stores affected
Shoppers expressed the same problem at their local stores, from Hervey Bay in southern Queensland, to Mount Hutton at Lake Macquarie, NSW, and down to Ringwood in east Melbourne - and many in between.
“I really love the Earn and Learn stickers, it really helps the children where I work. However, our store ran out of stickers what feels like weeks ago! This is something that seems to happen out here every year with this promotion,” one woman wrote on Facebook.
“My local Woolworths has run out too. Considering the promotion runs to June 25th it’s a bit ordinary,” a Melbourne woman wrote almost 2 weeks before the scheduled end of promotion date.
The Woolworths website even warns shoppers the stickers have become scarce as the promotion nears its end.
“Earn & Learn stickers may be unavailable through some online orders due to popular demand. Your local store may still have some stickers left but be quick, the promotion ends June 25 or while stocks last,” the website reads.
One customer suggested the supermarket could permit shoppers to leave their receipts in the school's box to count towards its total, in lieu of stickers.
Woolies Earn & Learn promotion proves popular
A Woolworths spokesperson told Yahoo News this year’s campaign was met with “overwhelming” popularity, after more than 300,000 pieces of equipment was given to schools across the country in its previous Earn & Learn.
“The 2019 program has been running since the start of May and stickers are only available while stocks last. Due to demand and strong community support, a few of our stores may now have run out ahead of the campaign concluding on June 25,” they said.
The retailer added that this year’s promotion has been bigger than ever. Woolies said it released more stickers than previous years, but had more than 1000 more schools and early learning centres register to be a part, taking the total number of participating schools to more than 15,000.
Meanwhile Woolworths customers have again been filmed filling trolleys with baby formula tins.
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