Took advantage of the Coles 10% promo on eBay and they emailed last night to say about a third of the order wouldn't be delivered. These were pasta items.
It was delivered today and included one item I didn't order too.
Are others having items cancelled at the last minute with orders? ACCC views this kind of behaviour - luring customers in with discounts to make the sale then announcing late that items aren't available - very, very unfavourably. So if it's widespread they could get a fine.
I don't doubt it. They're a bloody huge company though and this is their main job! I mean, $1.3bn EBIT and they can't get a database right? C'mon
did you order more than the limit you were allowed?
Nope. System caps orders on certain items.
Their sister company, Dan Murphy's does the ole bait and switch trick as well. Advertises a promotion with a hefty discount, charges your credit card immediately and 3 days or so later tell you they cannot deliver. Claiming they will immediately refund the credit card charge; a week later and still waiting for the refund
Technically they're owned by Woolies, but I'm just trying to get a sense of how widespread this is…
It does actually take 3-5 days for a refund to clear on a credit card
Not quite a bait and switch in the scenario you're describing. Refunds can take a few business days, albeit a week does sound a bit long.
Wait so bait and switch. They have baited you with a 10% discount and then switched to…what? This is not them getting you in the door and then upselling you
The 'switch' in this case would arguably be the rest of the items in the basket If you order pasta and a pasta sauce, and they only deliver the pasta sauce I'd say there is a strong argument you probably wouldn't have purchased the sauce you now can't use.
That being said I think its a bit of a long bow to say they are doing a bait in switch. Last I have read into it a large amount of definition is the quantity of supply available needed to match the expected demand. If Aldi doesn't get hit with everyone one of their weekly specials it would be pretty rough when you sell out pasta.
@OP Our office has had issues with woolies on occasion. I think it would be sub 1% of total orders of that product that have issues, not like the ACCC Bait and Switch expectation of only having a few of the items. All Coles would need is their database log saying what sales were like last time and how their ordering decisions were made.
TBH they are losing out as much, if not more, than you. They want to make the sale, make this lot of profit and keep you as a customer. There are lot of things (like the $1/L milk and $8 chickens) which they fight over because keeping people coming in the door is the real model for them making the billions.
EDIT: I do feel you got the short end of it, maybe worth a complaint if you're annoyed so at least if it happens again you can at least have a bit of a paper trail
The same thing is happening when you order on Coles website at the moment. Nothing untoward about it, demand is high and you are ordering perishable items.
Pretty sure Coles are not scared of the ACCC either.
Pasta was pretty shelf-stable last time I checked. If it was cheese or something I'd understand….
Not sure why everyone is so happy to brush this aside? How does competition work if you don't know what you're buying?
Not sure why everyone is so happy to brush this aside?
We don't sweat the small stuff.
Over thousands or millions of orders, it would add up though!
I don't think you understand the difference between bait and switch and lack of supply.
"Bait advertising takes place when an advertisement promotes certain (usually 'sale') prices on products that are not available or available only in very limited quantities. It is not misleading if the business is upfront in a highly visible, clear and specific manner about the particular product 'on sale' being in short supply or on sale for a limited time"
No such disclaimers were provided.
Have you read the news lately? Or been into a store in person? I seriously doubt Coles only had 2 packets of pasta and were luring people in with a fake discount. Not every inconvenience to you personally is a legal breach.
COVID has been going for 4 months now! It's a billion dollar a year business and I'm trying to establish if they're using the crisis to build more profits. Not sure why you're so keen to defend them?
I'm not sure about ordering from eBay but when you order from Coles online you have the option to select whether you would like a substitute product for each item purchased if that item isn't available. These sub items are then charged at the cheaper price of the original or sub product. Meaning the more costly sub product would still be charged at the cheaper price of the item you originally chose to purchase.
That's not bait and switch. Make sure you have the correct setting for substitute product requested (or not) on each item.
Good to know those features are on the normal site. eBay doesn't have them…
Many have complained about the items they received as substitute. I ordered Ritz crackers 300g packet and received as sub a packet of 6 individually wrapped crackers - cost more than the one I wanted but total weight 150 g. Very difficult for someone else to make these decisions for you.
That leaves them free to pawn off their inferior products that nobody actually wants.
Dude there are supply chain issues going on right now.