Coles customer shares anger over supermarket’s anti-theft trolley

A shopper has lashed out at the major Aussie supermarket over a new trolley feature, which is designed to stop thieves.

A woman has lashed out at Coles over increased security measures implemented by the Aussie supermarket giant.

Jessica Dorante took to social media to explain that she had only gone into Coles for a couple of items, noting when she went to pay for her shopping she didn’t use the self-serve area.

“I went to a human because the self-serve was packed,” she explained.

“I just finished paying for my groceries, and I went to push my trolley away, and at the same time I pushed my trolley away the alarms in the self-service area start buzzing. The lights are flashing, the gates are flashing red and they wouldn’t let anybody out.”

Jessica said her own trolley made a weird buzzing sound and stopped working, as the wheels locked and she couldn’t push it.

Jessica has complained about Coles anti-theft trolley measure. Picture: TikTok

Initially, Jessica thought the wheel was jammed so she kept trying to move it before the checkout assistant who served her said she had to wait.

“She said it was to prevent theft and I was like, ‘I just paid you’. She said because the self-service alarms are going off the trolleys are disabled,” Jessica recounted.

Jessica was stunned, and had to wait for an employee from the other checkout area to come over once the issue had been resolved who “had this machine that she pointed at the wheel” of her trolley to enable it again.

“So even though I wasn’t in the self-service checkout area, I was still affected by what was f***ing going on in there and I couldn’t leave Coles,” she said.

Coles responded to the video. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Coles stores feature trolley antitheft technology. Picture: Stewart McLean

She said there were no gates stopping her, just the trolley full of groceries she had already paid for.

Jessica added that her particular local Coles has glass fencing all along the front gates that have to open to allow shoppers inside the store, as well as cameras overhead at the self-serve and throughout the aisles.

News.com.au understands that the smart gate technology and the trolley locks have no interconnectivity and the lock was likely the result of a malfunction.

“While most of our customers do the right thing, unfortunately a small number don’t,” a Coles spokesman told news.com.au.

“Coles has a range of security measures in place to reduce theft from our stores including CCTV, electronic article surveillance (EAS), and in some stores new smart gate technology that automatically opens as customers make payment for their products.

“Additionally, trolley lock technology has been in place at a number of our stores in recent years and this technology uses sensors to prevent trolleys leaving the store if someone hasn’t first paid at a register.”