I had two odd issues with Coles yesterday, after placing my online shopping order:
- I happened to notice a discrepancy between the emailed order summary and the online order summary given in my online account. The price of every item in the online order summary was consistently 7% higher than in the emailed order summary. I worked out that the higher figure was in fact the correct figure but I was puzzled.The very willing telephone consultants couldn’t explain the discrepancy. Can anyone here explain it?
- I decided to notify Coles of the discrepancy via their online feedback form, so that they might correct their systems. I didn’t need any restitution; I just wanted to tell them. What followed was a bizarre exchange of emails, which I copy below for your entertainment. I gave up after three irrelevant replies from Coles. My question is: is Coles trying to use AI to answer me, or do their staff not have the time to read my emails, or is there some other explanation for the odd replies?
My feedback to Coles via their form:
In case you don’t already know, I thought I should tell you that there is an approximately 7% difference between each price in the order summary in your email and the corresponding price in my order summary on the webpage. The totals in the two cases are the same, causing an apparent error in the total in the email. I gather that the webpage order summary is the correct one. I can send you my spreadsheet with my calculations if you wish.
Coles’ irrelevant reply, at 17:15:
Dear Agnes,
Thank you for your email.
A pre-authorisation is a temporary hold of the estimated order value on the available balance on the credit/debit card or PayPal account that you provide when placing your Coles Online order.
This means when you place an order on Coles Online, the value of your order will not be charged until your order is picked by our team members for delivery.
We hope this information has been helpful. Thank you for choosing to shop with Coles Online.
Kind regards,
Myles
Customer Service Agent | Coles Online
My reply, at 17:19
Thank you, Myles, but I did not ask about pre-authorisations. - Agnes.
Coles’ reply, at 17:26 (a lengthy explanation of pre-authorisations)
Dear Agnes,
Thank you for contacting us regarding the pre authorization.
Unfortunately the final invoice has not been generated yet. Please contact us back a bit later once the invoice is finalized. Also, let me explain, a pre-authorisation is a temporary hold of the estimated order value on the available balance on the credit or debit card that is provided upon checkout of a customer’s Coles Online order.
This means when a customer places an order on Coles Online and completes the ‘checkout’ process, the estimated value of their order will be ‘pre-authorised’ on their credit card but payment will not be charged until their order is picked by our team members for delivery.
Coles has introduced pre-authorisation to provide our customers with a clearer view of their bank balance, by showing the pending transaction on their account.
Lastly, as we don’t know the final cost of an order until it is picked and packed (due to out of stock or weighted items like meat, fruit etc), Coles Online will not charge your card until this time. This means that the pending amount that appears on your bank statement until the day the order is picked, may be slightly higher or lower than what is eventually charged. Once we know the final cost of your order, that total will be debited from your account. Any difference (if the final cost is lower than estimated) will be released back into your selected bank account. While most banks release the pending funds within one business day to your bank account, there are some banks that could take a few days to release those funds.
We hope this information has been helpful. Thank you for choosing to shop with Coles Online.
Kind regards,
William
My reply, at 17:34
Thank you, William, but I was not asking about pre-authorisations. I do understand about them. I don’t actually have a problem myself, but I just want to be helpful and let your technical people know, if they don’t already, that there seems to be an issue with the numbers in the email summary. The individual price of each item in the email is about 7% less than the individual price on the webpage. The email is internally inconsistent because the listed total is not the total of the listed numbers. In case it’s of any use, I attach my spreadsheet with my comparisons.
Happy Christmas
Agnes
Coles’ reply, at 17:38
Dear Agnes,
Thank you for contacting Coles Online.
I am sorry to hear about the poor experience you have encountered with your order.
This is certainly not the service we aim to provide our customers and rest assured I have passed on your feedback to our store team who prepared your order, to avoid this occurring again.
Once again Agnes, my sincere apologies for being unable to meet our goal and provide you with a convenient service.
Kind regards,
Archie
After this, I gave up.
