Coles self checkout coin ‘hack’ you should be avoiding

A Coles shopper who shared a self-serve checkout “hack” has gone viral on TikTok – but supermarkets have warned against the act.

A woman dumping a handful of coins in a self-service machine has gone viral on TikTok — but supermarkets have warned against it.

In the clip, which has been viewed more than 240,000 times, a Coles shopper can be seen lifting the flap of a coin slot before dumping lose change into the chute.

She explained she was shocked to discover you can lift the lid and rid of your coins in one go, instead of inserting each coin one-by-one.

A Coles shopper shared a TikTok video of a coin ‘hack’ which has gone viral. Picture: TikTok

“I just discovered this and it honestly blew my mind. Also when you pay with coins, it’s basically free,” she captioned the clip.

The “hack” helps speed up the check-out process, however many TikTok users condemned the act, saying it jams the machine.

“The coins slots were added because throwing a bunch of coins inside the machine was making it jam up which makes us waste our time fixing it. Pls don't,” one Coles employee wrote.

“And then it will jam the machine and you’ll have to wait twice as long for staff to fix what you did,” said another, while a third added: “Please don’t do this jams the machine”.

It shows her lifting the coin deposit flap and dumping a handful of coins in the slot to speed up the checkout process. Picture: TikTok

A Coles spokesperson warned against the act, adding regardless of whether you’ve used the single slot cover or lifted the flap, the coins will be counted one at a time.

“However, we do not encourage customers to put an excess amount of coins, i.e. piggy bank full of coins,” a Coles spokesperson told news.com.au.

“The purpose of the coin flap is to prevent debris, food and other small objects from getting into the machine which could cause jams.”

The spokesperson also revealed to news.com.au it will be rolling out new options to help customers check out more quickly, including its popular belted self-check outs and packing benches.

But Coles has warned against the ‘hack’, saying it can risk jamming the machines if too many coins are inserted at a time. Picture: TikTok

“These are being installed nationally as part of our refurbishment program,” the spokesperson said.

“The new format combines two experiences that customers were already familiar with – belted lanes where customers are served by team members and our existing self-check-outs.

“On the self-service trolley checkout, customers are able to scan their purchases more easily when they have a trolley or a bigger basket and pack their bags the way they like.”

A similar TikTok at a Woolies store also went viral last year with the supermarket chain also condemning the act. Picture: TikTok

Coles has already seen positive feedback from customers with the choice at check-outs with the spokesperson explaining that it “frees up space in the busy self-service checkout area”.

Meanwhile, a similar coin “hack” went viral on TikTok at a Woolworths store last year with the supermarket giant also condemning the act.

It showed a shopper lifting the coin deposit flap, dumping multiple coins at once.

“Oi Aussies, did you know that at Woolworths you can pull this up to insert your coins when you have too many?” she wrote on the video.

Woolies advised that by lifting the cap, it can risk jamming the machines if too many coins are inserted at a time.