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Coles has apologised for prematurely raising the price of 20 items it had previously “locked” as part of a promotional period, and is offering refunds to thousands of affected customers.
The supermarket raised the cost of 20 items, including cornflakes, pregnancy tests, dishwashing tablets, chopped tomatoes and barbecue briquettes, the prices of which had previously been marketed as “locked” to help households budget further.
Coles has apologised for the error.
Coles became aware of the discrepancy after consumer advocacy group CHOICE submitted a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
A Coles’ spokeswoman said the ticket price was incorrectly increased before the end of the promotional period.
“We know cost of living is the biggest focus for so many of our customers,” the spokeswoman said. “We sincerely apologise for this mistake, and we are working quickly to make it right.”
“If CHOICE hadn’t picked up on this significant error, it’s possible thousands of people would still be out of pocket without even realising.”
Coles will place the products back on promotion. Those who used their Flybuys card or purchased through Coles Online have already been refunded for the full item price, while others will have to show a receipt at the service desk.
CHOICE Deputy Director of Campaigns Andrew Kelly said Coles’ failure to keep its pricing promises was simply “unacceptable”.
“Coles has been touting how they’re supposedly helping with the cost-of-living crisis, all while banking huge profits and not following through on pricing promises made to their customers,” he said.
“If CHOICE hadn’t picked up on this significant error, it’s possible thousands of people would still be out of pocket without even realising.”
In an analysis earlier this year, this masthead found a 35¢ difference in Woolworths branded two-litre milk between convenience-style Metro stores and traditional stores, which Woolworths acknowledged was due to error, and rectified.
Coles and Woolworths will face a Senate inquiry into supermarket prices early next year to investigate whether the companies have been price gouging customers during a cost-of-living crisis.
Both companies recorded profits of more than $1 billion in the past financial year, and account for more than 60 per cent of the nation’s grocery market.
Food and grocery inflation is at 4.8 per cent, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics quarterly data, which is lower than the overall inflation rate of 5.4 per cent.
While lamb and vegetable prices have fallen, the price of some staples have increased: Bread prices are up 12.6 per cent in the year to September, fish prices have risen 8.7 per cent, while dairy has increased 10.2 per cent.
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