Today I had to collect my Woolworths online shop but got a notification that there were 7 deli items out of stock and they would refund these - literally everything I ordered from the deli. These items were for school lunches, dinner additions etc. Things I couldn't do without. I have 'Allow Substitutions' on and this made even less sense.
I called the local Woolworths up and was told the Deli were understaffed and when this is the case, they do not fulfil the online orders. I asked if the person picking my order lined up at the deli and was refused service and they said 'no, the deli fulfills the online orders themselves'. Instead of finding a way around it, they have just refunded over $50 worth of items.
This makes absolutely no sense to me?! Am I overreacting?
18 Replies
Grocery shopping is the only thing I refuse to do online.
Missed items, ridiculous substitutions, short expiry dates on meat & milk. It's just not a good enough service yet to make it worthwhile if I'm having to go to the store to get items not in stock or exchange items without enough time on them to use (like multiple bottles of milk expiring in two-three days for a weekly shop!!).
It's a shame because it's a fantastic time saver. I'm sure it'll get better with time and when staffing & stock levels improve.
You are a bit. I live an hour away from supermarkets and online shopping for pick up would be ideal for me but everytime I've tried, stuff gets left out or replaced with something not even close to what I wanted. Then get all the way home before knowing what I don't have and have to wait another week. So I do it myself. I actually do the shopping myself because I'm the only one that knows what is a priority for me and what I would be willing to substitute. Not some random shopper in Coles or woollies. Current staff shortages also need a bit of understanding. Is there a reason why you couldn't go in there yourself?
Does it matter why someone isn’t going into the shop themselves? The question is about an online service which isn’t meeting expectations
Well yes, because unless there's a really good reason its just laziness. She expected the shopper to line up when its not part of their job putting extra stress on that person's day and possibly not filling other orders on time. I see disabled people shopping, little old ladies that can't stand straight, people with cancer, mums with a tribe of kids, surely op can go to the deli counter for her 7 items. You don't pay extra for online shopping you get what you're given and shouldn't expect special treatment.
I use online shopping because I work full-time and it means I have time to cook healthy meals, spend time with the kids and hubby, walk the dogs, garden, renovate the house, take kids to sports etc.... You name it. Choosing not to walk around a shopping centre doesn't mean you are lazy.
Different commenter here. I agree, I don't think lazy is the right word! If anything, utilising a free click and collect shopping service is nothing short of genius.
To me, this issue is more about misplaced energy.
Realistically, it would've taken 15 minutes tops to run in and grab the deli items which is probably the same amount of time it took to call Woolies, question the refund and write this post...
It takes me just as long to go shopping as it does to actually order it online plus having to go in anyway because the order is incomplete, so I don't know why people think it saves time. It only takes an hour.
I'm in a regional area, so don't know if it's because of that, but when I shop, there are so many bare shelves.
They are also very short-staffed, doing recruitments drives.
I wouldn't even consider online at the moment.
Should they still offer the service if they can't fulfil their obligations, probably not, but they do and this is the reality.
Its a free service. If you don't like it, don't use it.
They literally told you they didn't have enough staff to process your order. How does that not make sense? It couldn't make more sense...
It's a public holiday today (at least where I am), there's probably one kid single-handedly running the deli, absolute bare minimum personal shoppers and checkout attendants due to that fact.
You were refunded, let it go.
I work retail. No company wants to refund you or not properly fulfill your order but sometimes it's unavoidable!
I got blasted over the phone recently because I had to refund an online click and collect order. The item the customer purchased couldn't be located on the shop floor but our website said it was available, this usually happens because the item has been stolen. She told me how incompetent I was because I hadn't updated the store website to reflect this which a) isn't my job! IT deals with the website and B) unless I see a theft take place I usually don't know something is missing until I need it for an order or until we do our stock discrepency checks.
It's inconvenient sure but not worth wasting too much energy over.
I mean.. First world problems!
So I work retail myself and I just want to say that when we can't fulfill your order that means we simply can't do it. We do want to because we want your money! So please don't take it out on retail workers, we are trying and we are actual people and not just robots. We do have our limits we can do and unfortunately you just happened to order at a time when our limit was full.
👏👏👏👏 THIS!!! I am sick of people treating us like crap because of things we can't control!
This has happened to me a couple of times.
It's annoying but I just parked the car, ran in and grabbed the things I'd been refunded and got on with it.
Life throws inconveniences our way sometimes. Not the end of the world...
I work in a store and had a man ring up wanting heaps of information about different products over the phone. There were only 2 staff on and about 30 customers in store. I told him that I'm sorry but I'm unable to give him all the info at this time due to having to serve customers and could I call him back when it's quieter and he absolutely blew up at me telling me I'm horrible etc. What you see is that they couldn't fulfill your order for 7 items..what you don't see is that they only have 2 staff members on and hundreds of customers who are getting cranky because they have to wait for their orders and then on top of that they also have online orders too, which they have to choose to not do to prioritise the in store customers who will yell and be aggressive to their face if they aren't given what they want. Sorry you couldn't get your 7 items but it would have been because of a good reason and they weren't just doing it to piss you off for no reason.
When you get the notification of items not packed just pop in and grab your stuff before picking up your click and collect.
Yes.