Coles
Ad customer service

Last week I went to Aldi for the first time in about 2 years. I've been to Aldi stores less than half a dozen times since they arrived on the Gold Coast. I usually shop at Coles and occasionally at Woolies.

As I live only 2 miles from Miami One, the Coles there is the supermarket I prefer to shop at and I visit several times a week, having done so since it opened. I have always had very good service there, and have sent a couple of emails mentioning exceptional service when I've received it.

I'm not familiar with the Aldi "routine" so while there I had to buy 4 plastic shopping bags to take my groceries home. Yesterday I took the 4 Aldi shopping bags to Coles with me. I thought it would be useful to "recycle" them, and the green bags I keep in my car are getting a bit tacky with beach sand and dog hairs on them. I had no idea that the Aldi bags would cause a problem in Coles.

I had $160 worth of groceries and went to the checkout, with Cheryl an older lady serving as checkout "girl". Cheryl grabbed my Aldi bags and shoved them down to the end of the checkout and said, "I won't be using THOSE bags. If you want to use them, you'll need to put your own groceries in them." I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly, so I said, "Sorry?" and Cheryl said again, "I won't use those bags, you can put your own groceries in them if you want to."

It was quite busy at the time, and there was a queue behind me, I don't like confrontation either, so I just quietly said, "Is this company policy?" and Cheryl said, "It's at our personal discretion." She didn't look me in the eye, and had an expression of distaste, making me feel as though I was being punished for doing something disgusting.

I watched while Cheryl used the Coles regulation issue grey plastic bags, and slunk home feeling like a leper.By the time I got home though, I decided to give Coles Miami a phone call, and I was put through to "Malcolm" who was the manager. I told him what had happened, and he denied that use of other stores' bags was at "personal discretion" and that he would be having a word with Cheryl. Our phone call was brief, he seemed to be in a hurry, and I didn't feel as though Malcolm had heard me out or taken me seriously.

I am still feeling very unhappy with the treatment I received from Cheryl, humiliated in front of a queue of other customers, and I am annoyed that she felt the need to lie to me about the "personal discretion".

I am a homewares distributor, with a "territory" of 2, 500 homes from Miami to Burleigh, and I have lived in Miami for 12 years. I know EVERYONE and have a very large number of friends and acquaintances, many of whom will be told the story of the cranky checkout woman in Coles who refused to use my Aldi bags and treated me disdainfully.

Company: Coles
Country: Australia
State: Queensland
City: Miami

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