Woolworths system error leaves customers out-of-pocket
Customers have been left out-of-pocket for several days after a Woolworths system error caused the orders of online shoppers to be cancelled.
One of the impacted customers took to Facebook on Monday after being notified she would not be having her order delivered and could be left waiting up to five days for a refund.
“What is this? You have taken my money, my order has somehow been cancelled due to a system error, I have no groceries and you won’t be refunding my money for 3-5 days?” she wrote to the supermarket.
She shopper expressed that she was “not happy”, and she was seemingly not alone, as others left comments indicating they had experienced the same thing.
A copy of the email she received from the supermarket stated it was “very sorry” it had to cancel the woman’s order due to a “system error”.
“Please accept our sincerest apologies for the cancellation. We know that you use online shopping with Woolworths as a convenient solution for your grocery needs, so we’re extremely disappointed to let you down.
“Your order will be refunded for the amount you were charged. Depending on your bank and method of payment, you’ll receive your refund in the next 3-5 business days.”
The email also offered the woman a gift card worth $15 to spend on her next Woolworths order.
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It seemed the gesture didn’t go down too well though, with others complaining about the inconvenience in comments to her post.
“Have just had the same thing also. Very inconvenient. Plus it all doesn’t go back into your cart,” another person said.
The original poster agreed, labelling it “disgusting service”.
Someone else said they too had been left “very upset” as a result of the system error.
“Money won't be refunded back into account for 3-5 days. So what do we do till then? They should of contacted all affected via text/email/call and given us an option of store credit, refund or different delivery,” she wrote in a comment.
“Now we can't get any food for 3-5 plus an extra day to wait for the next delivery day.”
The shopper added not only would time be wasted re-doing her order, but she would also need to navigate a host of new specials given that they changed on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the supermarket told Yahoo News Australia the error had impacted a small number of its customers.
“Earlier this week we experienced a technical error, which regrettably impacted a small proportion of our online customers,” they said.
“The issue has since been resolved and all orders are being correctly received and dispatched once again. We've contacted affected customers to apologise and provided gift vouchers in recognition of the poor experience.
“We've issued refunds on affected orders, but financial institutions can take a few days to process these back into our customers' accounts.”
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