Shopper's fury at 'annoying' feature in Coles basket

“Someone needs to be fired!”

Laura Jackel

3 min read

July 23, 2024 - 5:23PM

Image: TikTok @elohzed

Lifestyle

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You may not have given the humble shopping basket much thought until now, but since both Coles and Woolworths have rolled out new designs in the last 12 months, shoppers have begun sharing their basket woes online.

One disgruntled customer named Loz has given the single handle designs very bad reviews, calling for someone to “please explain” why the environmentally friendly baskets have completely replaced the old two handle versions.

“I don’t know who is responsible for this nonsense,” Loz says in her first TikTok about the Coles’ baskets.

“But who the f**k’s idea was it to change the baskets? This is just not ergonomic.”

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New basket design at Coles: Convenience or annoyance

"Someone needs to get fired"

While Loz films the basket hanging awkwardly from her arm she continues: “Do you understand how awkward these are to carry? Can someone at Coles please tell me the reasoning…for the one handle?”

She ends by explaining that the two handled versions were much better and that someone “needs to get fired”.

In the comments, many of her followers agree with her sentiment.

“Yes ! They are so bad, why the hell is everything changed for the worse I don’t get it ?”

Another agrees by saying: “They kill my arms”.

In a follow up TikTok Loz says that “you’re not going to believe this” but Woolies have changed their baskets too.

"Too hard to hold"

“What is going on?” she asks before saying she knows it sounds like a petty “first world problem” but that if you overload the basket, it becomes “too hard to hold”.

She demonstrates how when they get too heavy they aren’t stable, unlike the “OG baskets” with two handles, which distribute the weight more evenly when filled with goods.

While Loz questions why this basket design change has occurred, some of the users in her comments have interesting theories.

One suggests it's actually to increase your spend: “It’s so you get a trolley then you fill it with more things and spend more.”

And another believes people were stealing the OG designs because they were so good: “I reckon it's so people stop taking them.”

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Bring back the two-handle version!

Loz is not the only woman upset about this new design.

Elsie Stuart in Newcastle has made two now viral TikTok’s viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on the very same single handed basket issue.

She is petitioning Coles to bring the old baskets back and has plenty of support.

While the one-handle Coles’ and Woolies baskets are apparently made of 100 percent recycled plastic, shoppers online are not happy with the change. Especially since the old two handled designs have begun gradually disappearing from stores around Australia.

"These baskets are an example of our commitment to sustainability and proof we are committed to working with industry partners to find sustainable solutions and move towards a circular economy," a spokesperson for Coles told Yahoo News.

"The baskets have undergone rigorous testing and have been largely well received, with some customers describing them as a stronger and more durable option."

"It's too big bro!"

In a final TikTok shared just three days ago, Loz says she has tried to take on feedback from people online who have told her she needs to carry the new basket with her hand instead of over her arm. In the clip she can be seen attempting to hold the basket but when weighed down with goods the issue becomes obvious: "It's too big bro! It hits my leg when I walk" she adds.

While Coles may have conducted some "vigorous" testing it is not clear who this testing was with.

We hope that Coles and Woolies are taking the feedback on and listening to their loyal customers who would like to retain some of the double handed baskets too.