Woolworths explains self-serve checkout price glitch after customer left confused

Woolworths has explained a glitch that occurred at one of its self-serve check-outs, which many Aussies claim left them “genuinely concerned”.

A Woolworths customer was left extremely confused after believing a glitch had resulted in them being overcharged while purchasing items through the self-serve checkout – but the supermarket giant has revealed the truth behind the situation.

The customer took to social media to share a photo of a self-serve checkout screen at the Woolworths Macarthur Metro store in Brisbane, which appeared to show a higher total than the sum of the scanned items actually cost.

The photo was posted to the Reddit Australia group, leaving thousands of commenters scratching their heads.

“Was annoyed that the amount due on my Woolies purchase did not equate to the individual items I purchased,” the person wrote.

While the self-serve machine claimed the total cost of the items was $17.90, manually adding up the items indicated the actual cost should be $15.70.

A Woolworths customer noticed a confusing detail when using the self-serve checkout. Picture: u/CleanDivide690/Reddit

The Brisbane local claimed they don’t always manually add the cost of items together when doing self-checkout, but “couldn’t help” checking as there were only a few items and they thought the total “looked fishy”.

The customer flagged the discrepancy with staff, who reportedly “double checked” his math before arriving at the same conclusion.

They claimed the staff members “weren’t sure” why the machine was displaying a higher total, and in the end decided to remove the mangoes from the purchase and give them to the customer for free.

“I ended up paying $14.10 (on checking my bank records just now) which I just paid and didn’t think further,” the customer wrote.

However, Woolworths has now confirmed to news.com.au the original $17.90 total was correct and the “technical issue” was due to the price of the mangoes displaying incorrectly on the screen.

“We’ve looked into this transaction and can confirm that the total of $17.90 was correct, however the mango price of 80 cents each that appeared on the screen was incorrect due to a technical error – they were on clearance for $1.90 each,” a spokesperson said.

News.com.au understands the correct clearance price of $1.90 for each mango was used to reach the original total, even though the technical glitch meant the unit price displayed as 80 cents each on the self-serve checkout screen.

“We understand why this customer was concerned and we apologise for the confusion caused. Our team resolved this with the customer in-store, providing the mangoes free of charge,” the spokesperson said.

“This appears to be an isolated incident at our Macarthur Metro store, involving the clearance price of a batch of our Calypso Mangoes.”

The number of self-serve check-outs has been increasing in recent years.

Self-serve check-outs have become an increasingly divisive subject in recent months, with many major international retailers scrapping the machines in the wake of customer feedback.

The system first began to be introduced in stores nearly a decade ago, but, in recent years, there has been an increase in customer backlash to the machines, with many complaining about the dwindling number of manned checkout lanes.

US superstore Walmart and UK grocery chain Booths are among the retailers who recently announced self-checkout systems would be removed following a series of complaints.

“Our customers have told us this over time – that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable [and] they’re obviously impersonal,” Booths managing director Nigel Murray told the BBC.

Discount department retailer, Canadian Tires, have also followed suit, removing all of its self-checkout stalls in its Mississauga and North Bay, Ontario, stores.

The company was applauded for the move, with many customers saying they were “happy” to see the machines removed.

“I think that it’s much more customer-focused. It’s not relying on the customer to do the job for the retailer,” one said.

Despite many Aussies calling for our local supermarkets to introduce a similar approach, our major retailers have given no hint that they will follow suit.

Both Coles and Woolworths have recently added new security features to their self-service areas, in a bid to reduce the rising rate of thefts.

Both Woolworths and Coles have installed new security technology to combat shoplifting. Picture: Supplied

Both supermarkets have recently introduced automatic gates in some of their checkout areas, other security measures across the stores include new surveillance cameras and trolley lock technology.

However, Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci recently addressed one of shoppers’ biggest gripes with self-service check-outs.

In a “grocery inflation” update sent to customers last month, Mr Banducci responded to the question of whether the supermarket giant’s “focus on technology (and prices) [is] coming at the expense of our Team”.

Those who complain about the presence of self-service facilities in Australian grocery stores often argue they’re “reducing the number of jobs”.

But, in the email, Mr Banducci insisted there are now “more jobs at Woolies not less”.

“Self-service check-outs and the perception that this results in a reduction in team members in-store is a passionate dinner table topic in our house,” he wrote.

“The fact is, we employ more people than ever before and, with the popularity of online ordering, this year we’ve hired 5500 Personal Shoppers, so there’s more jobs at Woolies not less.”