I was at my local Coles last night and didn't have a coin to unlock a trolley. Usually one of the attendants has a tool to unlock the trolley, however they told me to go to the Service Desk counter and obtain a free token. Aldi charges $0.99 for this and this is free and reusable that can be attached to a keychain, so I think this is worth sharing with the community.
Funny that, my insurance premium is now less than compared to the previous suburb I use to live in that didn't have coin operated trolleys.
funny i reported abandoned trolley on a nature strip and 3 weeks later woolies still havent collected
Probably waiting for 1 more trolley to make the trip worth it.
I reported two abandoned trolleys in a park two months ago. Still there :)
Ring your local scrap metal dealer. Some councils also impound them
Have heard of some stealers, stealing super weird things like
pipe of a vacuum cleaner
handle/knob of a drawer
and in my own house my useless/worthless bicycle disappeared (never ridden in past 3 years, quite rusted, and wheel was warped, etc) nothing else got taken, (no noone in household throwed away that bike)
Someone stole my new recycling bin from in front of my house.
It's actually a council requirement in my area to have these coin locks on the trolleys. Stops trolleys ending up all over the place.
Costco put up a big stink about having to do it as well, but they did in the end.
Some Woolworths also just give them away if they're available.
mine denied when i last asked
or maybe they didnt have .. dont rmbr
damaged mine when they tried removing with pliers im angery bc no small trolleys were stationed
Yeah, the locking mechanisms are terrible. For example, when the chain attaching to the next trolley is pulled tight, it won't unlock. You have to lift the back up to get the lock to disengage.
Then other times, a perfectly normal coin just gets stuck for no random reason.
Good for Aldi trolley
And that bag returner guy come in to return the trolley tokens (from other trolleys) for $1 refunds.
Aldi at Wolli Creek been handling out same thing since last month for FREE.
Aldi gave me a free one when I asked.
what magic do u say
"Hey, I want to shop here but I don't have a coin to get a trolley."
"You can buy one of these for $1"
"I'm not going to pay you for the privilege of shopping here"
"Just have it"
my first thought is wow then 'entitled' but i want a free token !
Thats one of the reasons why I didnt shop much at aldi, had to get trolley from Coles/ woolies like everyone did. I understand they pass on the savings to us, but I feel trolley is the BASIC thing that they need to provide customers to shop.
but they do provide the trolleys…
The token system is designed so the trolleys get returned.
They do, I forgot to get 2$ most of the times as I dont carry coins. And due to the low number of already multi tasking employees, getting a token and trolley is difficult. Apart from that, my car is parked on a totally different floor on the mall. Should I go and then come back? Easier to just goto coles and buy my stuff than do a cirus of taking the cart from coles to aldi to save a couple of dollars. Also Aldi does not sell everything I want, so back to coles again.
@John Doh: I understand your grief, I don’t shop at Coles because they charge me 10% extra to pay for all the unlocked trolleys that litter the streets. 😀
@RockyRaccoon: That is true, but then you have a lot more choices. I agree Aldi stuff like butter and milk are all slightly better, but there are loads of other stuff that are better at coles due to mutli brand choice. Its just a matter of personal preference. Just look at the crowd at colesworth and then compare it to aldi. There is a reason why there is that difference. I for one, can never complete my shopping at aldi. And when it comes to fresh vegetable and fruit prices, they are a tie. If I consider time as money then it makes no sense for me to shop at both places and spend an extra 30 mins to save a few bux.
@John Doh: If you use a $1 coin then leave the trolley anywhere you like. No need to borrow one from Coles. Which will save you money even deducting it’s cost.
Also if you abandon the trolley, a kid or other person will take it back for you to get the coin, win win.
Although like you I find Aldi doesn’t have everything I need, so I buy first in coles (as they in my centre are close to each other) wrap it up in my Woolies replaceable shopping bags and go shopping at Aldi. One trolley does both. No two runs back to the car, 30mins saved there. 😀
Good initiative.. atleast we won't have stunnads leaving trolleys in car parks.
trolley narc will get them
This looks handy. I hate trying to return a trolley and they haven't left another trolley there to pop the coin/token back out.
Plus keeps the trolley people stay employed.
Don't be one of those people, just return your trolley
best use-case for this is when there's a dumb trolleyperson that doesnt leave a dummy trolley behind
or
stupid customers plugging wrong trolley type to wrong lane
so have to walk all the way back inside
how does removing it work?
pop in turn pull out.
Nice, wish i knew this before. I always find coles/woolies trolleys at Aldi trolley parks and I cannot park them there.
You can buy them on eBay as well.
Cool!
Trolley Opener
We don't want to open the trolley, we just want to unlock them
Instructions unclear. Built a fort with shopping trolleys.
So 8 bucks for something I could do with a coin on a paddle pop stick?
Can get them for ~$2 on ebay (used to be cheaper pre-covid) or 3D print your own if you have a 3D printer.
I paid $0.35 for a Trolley Token last month at Woolies now everyone saying it's free??
how do u sleep at night knowing u got robbed $0.35 ??
he sleeps in a woolies trolley, at home
I will walk on the street tonight trying to find an unwanted trolley with a coin in it
I paid $0.99 for ALDI’s!
To be fair, the ALDI token is nicer.
Could have got a $1 coin for 1c extra. Does the same thing and will always be worth $1.
It's the 10c & 20c coins you want, the metal in them is apparently now valued at ~ 14c and 28c respectively.
Hang on…
So using a coin to take a trolley was meant to disincentivise you from dumping your trolley… but now they are handing out tokens for the trolleys so you lose nothing for dumping your trolley. Right.
ikr. Maybe the analytics team have figured they lose more in sales to ppl buying less due to no trolley access, when compared to trolley theft/loss
It goes on your key ring so the assumption would be that you aren't going to leave your keys in a trolley.
Why put it on your key ring if you're going to dump it?
Well that would be a stupid thing to do
@spaceflight: Yes indeed… kinda like putting coin operated trolley locks on trolleys, then handing out trolley tokens?
@cooni: Not really because the token goes on your key ring so the assumption would be that you aren't going to leave your keys in a trolley.
You need to remove it from your keys to use it though….
No you don't
See the hole at the top, that's to go on a keyring.
The part in the middle, that's what you hold onto
The part at the bottom, that's the part that goes into the trolley.
@spaceflight: That's not how it works. The token needs to be removed from the holder that attaches to your keyring. It's just a plastic disc the same size as a $1 coin.
The coin locks are often a council requirement to prevent stray trollies. Handing out tokens sort of circumvents this.
So….do you still have to jam your trolley into another to get your token back?
Or are these going to be considered disposable, with all trolleys eventually having one taking up permanent residence?
Yes. To get your coin/token back.
Aldi's are metal innnit?
You guys have been paying for trollies?
I was surprised too.
I made my own release hook to get my coin back so never have to worry about losing coin. Just get a semi hard piece of plastic string (whipper snipper one are best) bend it into u shape and it can be used to release the coin. You can then use one end of string to pull it out by passing the lock mechanism.
I'm outraged I have to pay for a 10c bag
Don't worry. Soon, you won't even have that option.
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/au/en/media/latest-news/2…
Already happened in SA where I shop. :(
Do yourself a favour and grab a bunch now if you use them…
The real question is how did you get bag for 10 cents?
they are 15 cents+ everywhere, and most Woolworths stores usually dont even have plastic bags in stock
Time to get my $2s back :)
Got some freebie ones from Woollies, a while back, should’ve grabbed a few more.
In Collingwood the trollies seem to be intermittently free/coin. Mainly because the streets seem to be littered with them because people refuse to return their trolleys. Some areas look like metal animals mating.
Collingwood trolleys are motorised??
Now that's a sight I'd travel for
I wonder if gym key tags will fit in the aldi trolleys
mines fobs a bit thiccc than the coinslot.
;)
Bro who you calling a fob?
They used to charge like 50c or $1 for them.
I lost mine a few weeks ago and went and asked for one expecting to pay for it and they gave it to me for free.
Put your nail in
I have one of these. Off a tin of corned beef and the like you buy at the supermarket. Works like a charm.
Ghetto. I approve.
If you were particularly unscrupulous you would just go and snap one off the bottom of a tin. No purchase required.
which tin link?
@capslock janitor: Corned beef tin like this one.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQYy6RG…
It will be a hassle to remove/re-attach to the key chain every time you use it, unless you are okay to hang the entire key chain off the trolley.
Trolley key is much more convenient, cheap and DIY-able if you can be bothered.
That's what my key shown above does. Insert it, unlock the trolley, rotate it sideways and remove. No keys left in the trolley.
I was referring to the plastic token.
Why would you take it off your keychain every time you wanted to use it?
That's not where the cart goes
Obligatory thanks OP bought 10
says AU $4.92 for 2
Crack trolley biscuits
what??
I've been carrying a 3d printed trolley key designed for aussie trolleys for a while now. Attached to my keyring and you don't need to retrieve it when returning the trolley.
Thingiverse seems like it's down at the moment so no linky. You can print off a bunch in a few minutes.
I was at my local Coles last night and didn't have a coin to unlock a trolley.
What area do you live in? Wanna know so I can avoid.
Why not just remove the trolley locks all together….
ppl will cart them home
But wull take some push. Get it? Push cart.
I shall see myself out.
OP lives in an area with high crime rate. Even trolleys are not safe.