'I don't want a refund!' Frustrating supermarket rule has online shoppers fuming

The error often occurs with home deliveries and people are fed up. 

Shoppers who rely on the convenience of online shopping and having their groceries home delivered are being forced to go out of their way because of a common error made by the supermarkets. 

How many times have you ordered something from one of the supermarket giants only to receive a heap of substitute products you didn't order, have eggs broken, items missing, or the delivery doesn't show at all? 

Chances are you've experienced one of these and chances are you've heard the same response from the store. 

"We're sorry this has happened. We will issue you a refund."

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Shoppers are fuming over common supermarket error with online deliveries. Image: Supplied

We don't want a refund. We want our shopping!

Unfortunately for them, this isn't the response customers want. For any busy parent, it's not about the money. It's about the groceries we need NOW. You know, to feed the kids?!

One unhappy customer shared a video this week that put a spotlight on the issue of common home delivery errors made by Woolworths and Coles. 

Eliza, a mum of twins, took to social media to complain about the constant issue of getting online orders wrong and frequently receiving substitute items in her home delivery. 

“Sometimes things don’t always go right and there’s weird product substitutions, or it’s not the exact fruit and vegetable I would have picked, but I sort of just live with that because it’s part of the delivery experience,” she shared on TikTok. 

“But what sh*ts me the most with Woolworths delivery is when they miss an entire bag or several bags and they won’t re-deliver. They always offer to give you a refund but I don’t want a refund, I just want my items delivered. I need these groceries.

“Instead I have to go out to the shops and purchase the items that were missing, which is really inconvenient because I would have just done my whole grocery shop in person if that was going to be the end result.

“I feel like, if it’s their mistake, they should deliver it.”

RELATED: Mums share hilarious online shopping fails

Shoppers are fed up

Aussie mum Dominique told Kidspot she was left rather frustrated recently when this exact incident happened to her.

“I had friends coming over for dinner and instead of braving the grocery store with my toddler I did an online shop. When my delivery arrived, half the ingredients were missing and I couldn’t make the dish I planned anymore,” she shared.

“I spoke to the grocery store on their support chat and told them a bag was missing and they said they’d refund me within 2-5 business days and they were sorry the bag went missing. I explained I didn’t want the money back I just wanted the items delivered and if they could re-deliver the missing bag. They said unfortunately they were unable to do that and the only action they could take would be a refund as delivery had closed for the day."

What’s more, the store wasn’t willing to compromise for their error. 

“I asked if my husband could come past after work and do a click and collect, but that was also not an option so then I was stuck with half the ingredients for a meal and only a couple of hours before my friends were due to arrive for dinner, so it was a complete waste of time.”

Carly had a similar annoying story after shopping at Coles online for the first time. 

"I ordered once from Coles and then just heard nothing. I had to call to find out what happened to my order and the phone got passed between three different people before they said they could send me my money back... which I didn't want," she vented.

"I wanted to cook dinner with the weekly grocery budget I'd already used and not have to wait to see money back in my account. I ended up doing direct-to-boot the next day so I didn't have to wait for delivery and haven't ordered online since. With the time I wasted on the phone, I should have just gotten in my car!"

Single mum Nama says she has received the wrong order so many times that she has now been flagged as a shopper with a suspicious background for reporting it. 

"I have had someone else's groceries delivered to me so many times and then when I call to report it, I have to re-order my order because I bloody need my groceries. It's happened so often that the online guy the other day had the audacity to tell me my account is 'on audit' because I keep reporting that my order was never delivered."

Mum-of-two Elizabeth said she finds it incredibly frustrating when common items are listed 'out of stock'. 

"I hate when you get out-of-stock messages for items like chicken breast or milk - what the?! You have no chicken or milk available?? Very frustrating."

Back to the shops you go! Image: iStock

RELATED: Shoppers spot ‘disgusting’ detail on woman at checkout

The supermarkets respond

Referring to the annoying complaint made by many, Woolworths defended their personal shoppers to news.com.au claiming, just like any other human, they "don't always get it right."

"While our teams work hard to provide a great experience every time, we don’t always get substitutions right, or, selected items may be out of stock," a rep from the supermarket giant said in a statement. 

“We encourage customers to contact us directly should something be amiss with their order so we can rectify it as quickly as possible.”

But how wrong is wrong exactly? Mum of three, Jordana, claims just last week she received cabbage instead of lettuce!

Kidspot also reached out to Coles for comment. 

Originally published as 'I don't want a refund!' Frustrating supermarket rule has online shoppers fuming