Coles shoppers lash supermarket for ‘annoying checkout problem’

Shoppers have unleashed after an “annoying checkout problem” forced them to ditch their shopping – with some labelling the situation “not on”.

Furious shoppers have lashed out at Coles after a technical issue that affected card payments at checkouts left them unable to buy their groceries.

Some shoppers were forced to abandon their trolleys and shopping baskets at the tills after discovering the supermarket was battling “IT issues” that prevented them from paying for their food on card.

The Australian retailer has confirmed the issue has since been rectified, and claimed the outage only affected the Coles store in Trinity, Western Australia.

But those who had to leave stores without their groceries have slammed Coles, claiming the situation left them “humiliated”.

Gary Duffield had spent 45 minutes in the supermarket when his card declined just before he exited, leaving him unable to purchase the goods he’d sourced from shelves.

“It wasn’t the best feeling to have my card declined 3 or 4 times, to have to call my wife and ask her to put some money on the it when there was cash on it,” he told news.com.au.

“It was humiliating.”

Coles shoppers have lashed the supermarket for not accepting card payments, forcing them to abandon their groceries. Picture: Facebook

Mr Duffield said the worst part about the situation was that “shop workers looked on, knowing there was a problem”.

“There were two more people who had the drama when I was in store,” he explained, stating he had to quiz staff about the situation.

“I didn’t get upset with the young lad, but was firm with the duty manager. I wanted to know why no announcements were made. I was annoyed with his response that only some cards were impacted.”

As a result of the blunder, Mr Duffield had to ditch his grocery shopping and head to a local pub for his dinner.

He also shared the frustrating situation on Facebook alongside a photo of his loaded up trolley, which included a fresh baguette, milk, cheese, cereal as well a packet of Wagon Wheels and a box of lemon Bakewell tarts.

“Heads up Coles have IT issues, have had for two days,” Mr Duffield wrote.

“Happy to let you shop, then turn you away without dinner.”

Many argued the situation 'was not on'. Picture: Supplied

His post, which featured in the Foodies & Coffee Snobs of WA Facebook group, was quickly met by others who had shared similar experiences of leaving stores “empty-handed”.

“I had this problem and had to leave my stuff because I don’t carry my physical card and only use my phone. I got told to go home and get my card. When I said that was an inconvenience for me, I got told by the staff that it’s an inconvenience for them too,” one woman shared.

“Another annoying problem with Coles supermarket self checkout…,” someone else said.

As one mused: “And they keep pushing us into a cashless society.”

“WHAT, so the whole shop open, in you come, fill your basket, get to checkout and computer says NO, WTF!!! Coles,” another raged.

There were also others who revealed they’d been able to pay during the period of technical issues, but claimed in order to do so they had to input their person PIN number directly into the cash register.

“My phone passcode was asked for at register! The people need to know. This is not on,” one woman responded.

“I had to put my phone passcode onto the register… weird,” another said.

Coles has apologised to anyone affected by the “technical issue” at its checkouts.

“Due to a technical issue affecting our Trinity WA store earlier this week, some customers were unable to use card payment,” a Coles spokesperson said.

“We apologise to any customers for this inconvenience.”

A similar situation occurred in Sydney earlier this week. Picture: Facebook

Earlier this week a similar situation had occurred in one of Sydney’s busiest Coles stores, with a sign appearing at the entrance of the Westfield Bondi Junction branch.

“Cash only, sorry for any inconvenient [sic],” the handwritten notice read.

One local shared the news on Facebook, writing: “‘Cash only’ at Coles Bondi Junction tonight, as ‘the system is down’.

“A great reminder to everyone of the importance of keeping cash.”