Woman denied compensation after slipping in poo at Coles Westfield Geelong

A Geelong woman who injured herself after slipping on an ‘unusual hazard’ is still chasing compensation from a major supermarket chain.

Kerry Mutke claims to have injured herself after slipping on excrement in the Westfield Geelong Coles. Picture: Kerry Mutke

A Geelong woman who claims she slipped in human faeces in a major supermarket says she is yet to be properly compensated for the “shocking” incident.

Kerry Mutke says she went into “shock” after she fell victim to an “unusual hazard” that left her “covered in faeces” at the Coles in Westfield Geelong around noon on May 8.

Ms Mutke was shopping when she stood in a pile of what she believes was human excrement at the back of the store.

She says her right leg slid almost a metre out from under her, which caused her to land heavily on her left side and injure her wrist and knee.

“It was a really significant slip and I can’t believe I’ve got no ongoing injuries; I’m very, very lucky,” Ms Mutke said.

“I could hear somebody dry retching … it stunk.”

“It was chaos … a staff member rolled over the pile of poo that I had slipped in with the wheel of a flat-bed trolley … there was s**t all through the store.”

Ms Mutke claims her initial cries for help were ignored by staff as she lay on the ground. Picture: Kerry Mutke

The humiliating ordeal was made worse by the fact that Ms Mutke was “still standing” and “covered in” the alleged human waste as she completed an incident report with a staff member.

A spokeswoman from Coles said they had apologised for the “deeply” concerning incident.

“The safety of our customers and team members is our number one priority … this is not the experience, we wish for anyone, whether it’s our customers or team, to have in our stores.”

Coles said their team works hard to minimise risks in their stores, “We adhere to a ‘clean as you go’ policy, which requires all team members to remain vigilant and address hazards as they arise.”

Ms Mutke’s attempts to seek proper compensation have been unsatisfactory, she said.

“Coles have been unwilling to cover my medical expenses and they told me they would clean my shoes for me, which hasn’t happened,” she said.

Ms Mutke said her $464 Nike Air Max 95’s have still not been cleaned by Coles. Picture: Kerry Mutke

“They came back to me yesterday and offered me $200 which I’ve declined; I’m $1500 out of pocket … but because I didn’t suffer any prolonged injury they’re not admitting liability.”

“The way they have treated me is revolting.”

The Coles spokeswoman said Ms Mutke’s public liability claim was denied after an internal review found the company not to be at fault.

“We have carried out a thorough investigation of this unfortunate incident which has determined that the unusual hazard was on our store floor for a minimal time frame of less than two and a half minutes prior to the incident.”

However, Ms Mutke “calls bulls**t” on the timing and said she was denied access to the CCTV footage.

“There’s a camera directly above it that would’ve recorded it all.”

Coles deny the video was withheld or removed.

“We look forward to welcoming this customer back to our store again for a better experience.”

Originally published as Woman denied compensation after slipping in poo at Coles Westfield Geelong