Woolies Latest Acts Of Stupidity

Selecting the wrong flavour when shopping and then realising this when you got home falls into the change of mind. It is like buying a shirt and then realising when you got it home it was the wrong size or didn’t like the colour in the sunlight…these are also change in minds.

As the ACCC states: ‘Retailers don’t have to give you a refund or exchange if you simply change your mind. Always check the store’s returns policy.’

The Woolworths change of mind policy was amended mid-2020 when they started getting goods returned by hoarders…those buying up on toilet paper etc trying to make a quick buck by on-selling them at inflated prices. Woolworths new Change in Mind policy is legal and conforms to the information provided on the ACCC website.

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No. It does not.

As it turned out, the 4 packs I bought for my wife yesterday were also the wrong flavour so I took them back today.

The person at the dis-service counter said to go and get the right ones and she would exchange them.

When I returned, she was gone but had told another person who knew the 4 packs I had were for an exchange.

Then the stupidity started when she scanned the 4 returned packs and the 4 exchange packs and claimed I had to pay another $1.40.

The 4 packs I bought yesterday scanned at $3.50 each but I received 10% off the total bill.

So the grubs at Woollies tried to refund the 4 packs at the discounted price I paid yesterday whilst attempting to charge me the full price today.

Thje employee tried to claim that it was a return but I pointed out it was an exchange for the same product with a different flavour.

As it had become obvious to her that I was going to brighten up their day, she said she would see what she could do.

After checking my dockets when I got home, all she had actually done was to give me my original receipt back with the 4 replacement packs of biscuits.

As my old grandad used to say, “All they teach them is how to cheat and thieve”.

P.S.

I recalled my previous experience with this particular Woollies employee.

When I bought the prawns on 22.12.2020, the person went to put them in a flimsy plastic bag so I asked her if they had the proper prawn bags as Coles have had for years.

She said that they had prawn bags but she thought that they were only for cooked prawns as that is what is printed on them.

Yesterday, I had to again ask for a prawn bag and the person grabbed 1 of abour 10 sealed cartons of them off the bottom shelf of a work bench and opened it.

Whilst Woollies employees don’t understand that the bags work for both cooked and raw prawns, they obviously expect that their regular customers are even dumber with the message on the back of the prawn bag.

“PEEL BEFORE CONSUMING”.

Only at Wooworths.

“Every struggle is like mud - there are always some lotus seeds waiting to sprout.”

While you may not agree, it is Change of Mind. It is change of mind as the retailer (in this case Woolworths) did not select the wrong flavour when shopping. The shopper did. There was nothing wrong with the product. If one gets home and makes a mistake, it isn’t the retailer’s fault. Even though you may have selected the wrong flavour instore, and you think you haven’t changed your mind in relation to the purchased flavour (as you bought the wrong one), it falls into the definition of change of mind.

It is similar to this case example where a shopper bought the wrong sized shoes (rather than flavour) and this is change of mind and comes under the store’s change in mind policy. In this example the shopper didn’t change their mind in relation to the shoe size, but selected the wrong size when ordering online. This example shows that making the wrong purchase decision or selection at the time of a purchase falls under the definition of a change in mind.

Woolworths are right to refuse a refund under their current, advertised Change of Mind Policy.

If for example the biscuits were labelled as Chicken Flavour but when you got home you found that they had been wrongly packed and were BBQ flavour, then this isn’t a change of mind but a faulty product (as it is different to what the label says). In such case, the purchase resolution would come under the ACL.

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You obviously did not read Woollies returns policy which I included in my original post.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/about-us/returns-policy

" Exchanges

We will happily provide an exchange where you have changed your mind about a product purchased from Woolworths provided that the product:

  • is returned to us with a receipt within 30 days of purchase;
  • is in its original condition, including with packaging; and
  • has not been used and, if a perishable product, is not expired or within 2 days of expiry."

There it is straight from the horse’s mouth (or the other end).

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6 posts were split to a new topic: Your best Shopping Tips

This returns policy - since Covid - is very annoying. I accidentally bought the wrong type of tinned cat food for my daughter’s cat (she’s fuzzy and prefers fish) but I wasn’t allow to exchange/get a refund of the two tins. How stupid is that? I can understand for perishables but tinned items?

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The Staff responsible for actioning these requests have failed to deliver on Woollies own current exchange policy that I posted a link to above.

You should give these fools a serve if and when you next visit, as well as contacting their head office.

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I’ve actually just sent them a message via Facebook. I’ll reply with any response I get.

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I received the same spiel as above.

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Did you have a receipt and was it within the 30 day period?

If it was no to one or the other (or both), then the exchange policy doesn’t apply.

Yes to both, though I was asking for a refund, as that is what was usually accepted in the past. I would have my digital receipt. Might try again with all this information. Though it’s past 30 days now.

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They won’t give a refund with their new change of mind policy (which was changed through action of Covid ‘hoarders’ spoiling it for all). They should allow exhange to another cat food varieties or potentially (but less likely) against non-cat food items.

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Just point out to them that it is over 30 days due solely to their incompetence or dishonesty.

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While policies seem to be relaxing we had issues at both Coles and Woolies where the stores were hard about return/exchanges. One was a mistaken product (wrong flavour in our basket) and the other was a terrible juice product - we wanted to exchange a second unopened one for a different brand.

The mistaken product was so sad too bad change of mind and the ‘exchange’ was simply refused. We did not pursue the former w/Woolies but went to Coles corporate for the latter as a satisfaction/quality issue and they approved the exchange; we took their email to the local and they honoured it.

Nothing ventured, …

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Even our useless local Woollies is not that stupid.

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In my experience, Woolworths staff are not grubs.

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Welcome to the forum.

In my experience in the usual way of things they are a mix of good people and good workers and some not so good, some who rarely make an error and others who are not so careful. There is plenty of evidence that Woolie’s policies and systems from time to time throw up anomalies and stupidities. When they work correctly of course it is unremarkable.

This range of outcomes can be found in any large organisation.

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Welcome to the community @whosthatgirl.

Also my experience. The staff, workers employees or however we like to put it of any business are just like the rest of us when at work.

When a business delivers a bad outcome, it is rarely the staff who are to blame. Even if they are, it’s an issue for the management who on complaint would hopefully resolve any consumer complaint in a constructive way.

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