AI reviews summary
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Coles is appreciated for its friendly delivery staff and the convenience of its home-brand product range. However, the online shopping experience is frequently undermined by missing items, poor produce quality, and unreliable delivery tracking. Customer service interactions regarding refunds and order errors are a recurring point of frustration for many.
Coles Dalby is a national disgrace. Trying to buy groceries with cash at 6:00 p.m. shouldn't feel like a masterclass in failed customer service. Only one traditional checkout was open, completely bottlenecked by customers with overloaded trolleys. Refusing to waste an evening waiting in a stagnant queue, I moved to the self-serve area, where only… Read more
two registers accept cash. One was permanently occupied, forcing me to use the other. Because the store fails to provide basic service, I had to grab an empty box off a shelf to pack my own groceries. The broken, over-sensitive machine instantly locked me out. It didn't happen just once; it locked me out three consecutive times over a simple cardboard box, forcing me to wait repeatedly for a supervisor to tap a screen. We are paying customers, not unpaid employees to be herded like sheep into broken automated systems just to save on staff wages. It is an insufferable, shocking way to treat people. Hire staff, pay your workers, and do your job. Until this store restores actual human service, I will continue to leave my trolley abandoned wherever I please. 1 star.
It was so good till it was terrible. Sunday night my regular delivery arrives. Great dinner for the family. But its not my$330 order its obviuosly someone else s mince etc. Id guess$50 As I start to realise what's missing I notify them. Big mistake once uploaded you can't add to the missing report. I've confused the confuser So then down the… Read more
email route, which seemed promising, till: " our record s indicate you recieved your delivery, we are closing this querry" ( computer says no! ) I don't have that money to waste and lose. It's just been devastating, absolutely devastating. I've asked to see the proof, maybe the photo they took, but no communication back. Don't risk them.
I Will never again shop at coles again they have lost a customer who been with them for over 30 + years 0ver charged at Coles Helensvale when doing a shop for lavazza 1kg ground coffee was on special with the yellow tag showing it for $35 per 1kg that was on (29/10/26 ) for the priced $35 each pack so brought two packets . Upon checking my… Read more
receipt at home found they had charged me the full price of $50 for each pack.a total of $100 for 2 kg pot if lavazza coffee ( I always buy it when on special never at $50 per 1kg pot As we don’t live in Helensvale I took it back to our local Cole’s in Yamento store and spoke with service staff member and I showed the service staff my docket and explained that it was on special the day of the shop for $35 as per the marked docket in Cole’s Helensvale The staff member checked her scanner said it was $50 in their store and they could not verify that the special price of $35 from Helensvale I did ask if they could call and verify their price with them as they would have a record if their specials that day/week I got an abrupt No I then advised again that the coffee had their yellow special tag on the day I shopped that it was $35 per pack but again the service staff member would only give me a refund of the amount I paid . So much for their Cole’s service I understand it was a different store and their guarantee that if your overcharged you get the item free up to $50 and the guarantee this I did not get , because the girl told me I had to take it back to the store in Helensvale to verify the $35 price , .this would have been a 4 hour return trip trip. So only option was to take my refund of $100 and take my business else where . As you can imagine was not a happy customer as I though Cole’s was better than this and they stand by their guarantee . Also i did advise the staff member I would do a review in their store and she replied she’d do a review on me - way to go Cole’s that was very rude of her I thought. But on a happy note went to Woolworths less that a half a kilometre from Cole’s Yamento and got my lavezza 1 kg ground coffee for $ 35 per pack so brought two . Look like woolies will be my go to store now and not Cole’s , cost of living is high enough as it is without paying the incorrect price at the checkout , seems Cole’s is not up yo scratch with their special prices / so buyers now check you tickets and I will too check my docked in store to stop overcharging . Would have uploaded my receipt but the service person only gave me the refund socket back not my original docket as she should have Sheron
Reviews with attachments
- +2
My Manager ordered me some flowers to be delivered to my workplace today for my birthday ( uber eats delivery) The flowers looked somewhat tired & you could tell they were days old.... however when I got them home & unwrapped them they were even worse... absolutely disgusting! They smelled, the flowers were old soggy & shrivelled up, others were… Read more
flopping over at the top and some of the leaves had dark black spots on them. These were hidden under the carefully placed wrapping. I called customer service and I could give them the order name and where they were delivered to, but as they were a gift I don't have the order number, so they don't want to know about it. Shame on you Cole's.
I gave Coles Online another chance because of a $20 voucher, despite having a disappointing experience previously. Unfortunately, it reminded me why I stopped using the service. One example was the bok choy I received. If I were shopping in-store, I would place fresh produce in a bag for hygiene and protection. Instead, it arrived unwrapped,… Read more
dirty, and covered in soil (see photo). It certainly wasn’t presented in a condition I would have chosen myself.
To make matters worse, I ordered chicken as part of my weekly groceries. The payment was deducted at checkout, only for me to receive an email later saying the item was out of stock. This means waiting several days for a refund on money that should never have been charged in the first place.
I was also automatically charged $2 for bags. My order arrived with only three bags, which at $0.25 each should have cost $0.75. I cannot understand how the charge reached $2.
Between the poor produce presentation, charging for unavailable items, delayed refunds, and questionable bag fees, I cannot recommend Coles Online. I’ll be returning to shopping in-store where I can personally select the quality of the products I’m paying for.
Bought product today (coles kichen real fast food chipotle cheese Guacamole & corn chips) pull plastic back to half way and the plastic wouldn't come off. I pull until it rip off with all the biscuits flying everwhere. So I didnt get to consume most of the product, very disappointing. I will never repurchase it. Coles needs to do better. From Joshua Tidy [Content Removed] Show details
I pay a lot of money for organic bananas that are mostly rotten in a couple of days. They were good months ago. This week alone I've had to throw out maybe 10 bananas which were very black. $$$ 6.50 a kg.
Don't buy any electrical item from Coles – I bought Thomson 12L AirFryer from Coles and after 3 months here we are. Nothing works other than digital displays and lights. The warranty says to return it to the place of purchase, and it was 86 days; but Coles don't accept it. If they can't handle returns for electrical products (at least within 3 months), they shouldn’t sell them. I am… Read more
contacting the THOMSON AirFryer company and going through it, what a waste of time and money!
Update: THOMSON support team is far hilarious. They expect me to drive 20km and courier the air fryer at my expense.
Bought weekly groceries today from COLES East Village, Sydney and unpacked all items at home. Bag of 8 oranges contained 5 rotting oranges - not impressed.
The worst experience I have ever had with this people. If there was a way to review a negative star I would. Got my online order cancelled and all they did was process a refund that takes days to clear yet I am without groceries. Ordered at 7am but the delivery person was not patient enough to even come in to the building he just left.. pathetic customer service
Very disappointing quality – Premium Eye Fillet On 22 October, we purchased three premium eye fillet steaks from our local Coles supermarket. Despite the packaging displaying a use-by date of 5 November, we were extremely disappointed when we opened the meat. It immediately gave off a horrible, unpleasant smell, and the meat itself appeared… Read more
unusually fluffy in texture, with a dark red/brown discolouration. It certainly didn’t look or smell like fresh, premium-quality beef.
What concerns me further is the extended shelf life indicated on the packaging, with a use-by date two weeks after our purchase. This raises questions about the freshness of the product and the quality control measures in place.
For a major supermarket retailer like Coles, customers should be able to trust that meat marketed and priced as a premium cut meets appropriate standards of freshness and quality.
It’s incredibly disappointing to pay a premium price for a product that appears to be of such poor quality.
Coles needs to do better when it comes to quality control, particularly for premium fresh meat products.
Friday I purchased a load of sourdough Vienna from Coles Williamstown. We all complained how salty it was and as we cut into it the following photos show what we found. We stopped eating eat straight away.
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Why sre they advertising 1kg harris coffee beans @ $25.50 when they only sell harris ground coffee? Show details
Coles Multi Insect Killer spray does not work on flies, despite saying that it does. Show details
30% water in your beef mice ripping people off while you make billions especially with the cost of living you should be ashamed of yourself as a company.
I went into Coles at Norwest and purchased a golf putting mat which was advertised with a sign for $13 down from $26. At the self serve checkout it came up as $26. I told the attendant I can take a photo of sale sign as she was busy. I came back and the manager Tom was there. He saw the sign and verified the discount to $13. I went to my car and… Read more
decided it was such a good deal I will buy another one. When I saw the manager from 5 minutes prior I told him I'll get 1 more. He told me he put the price back up to $26. I thought he was joking but he wasn't. I understand Tom is doing his job but that is ridiculous. For the sake of him saving $13 i now have a bad taste in my mouth about how I was treated. There is such a thing called doing the right thing by the customer. I worked in retail for 10 years and looking after the customer is number 1. I now won't be giving Coles anymore of my money. So Coles, for the sake of saving $13 , you will now lose thousands by not getting a cent of my money. No common sense very disappointing.
Coles Epping NSW. I returned one packet of grated cheese because it had slashes on the back of the packet from shelf stackers using blades to open cartons. Obviously that packet had to be disposed of. When I arrived at the service desk I had to wait while the attendant finished using a Stanley knife to flatten an empty box. Touché. But then I saw… Read more
something more troubling. The person in front of me was also returning a different type of grated cheese. They had no receipt and just changed their mind, and were offered a store credit. Then the attendant, without looking at the best before date, gave it to an off sider and said “go and put this in the fridge”. I asked the attendant “how long has that been out of the fridge?” Now he had no way of knowing the answer to that question. He said his usual practise is that “if it feels cold it is OK”. So something bought weeks or more ago, unsure of refrigeration, is then put back on the shelf and offered to other customers as fresh?
Coles has gone to all the trouble to have fridges & freezers that control and record temperature, but it all relies on the fingers of the guy at the service desk?
Is this what happened with some frozen fish I bought recently? It was disgusting when opened. So maybe somebody bought it from Coles, defrosted or whatever, returned it for a refund, and it was put back on the shelf, and then I bought that same packet. Apologies Simplot!
Latest follow-ups
Sunday morning, it's 9am and there is ONE register open - with a lengthy queue and a senior cashier under immense stress. Her customer has a $500 shop, whilst the remainder of us have less than a dozen items and are agitated at the lack of cashiers.… Read more
Again, I put my few down and left (weekly event). The elderly cannot stand that long and the consensus of locals here is have a cashier and not use 'do it yourself'. I don't know why staff don't take stress leave as they are clearly suffering it! Maybe a Class Action?
Follow-up · No better at Glen Innes! Walked out again last Sunday at 10am, when the 1 checkout had 6 senior people queued - 3 with overfilled trolleys and 3 of us with a handful of items. The young woman was oblivious! So I put my 4 items down and left, which prompted her (appeared shocked) to notice her environment and finally call "priority 1! What does it… Read more
Order not Delivered.. Contacted Coles call centre and was told it was delivered?????? Not sure how they are 100% sure from another COUNTRY. Called the Driver who also argued it had been delivered despite me insisting that it wasn't. Eventually… Read more
received this Order 2 hours later with Warm Milk and Defrosted Freezer goods, after 5 phone calls. NEVER AGAIN.
Follow-up · Driver delivered it 2 Streets away. Coles compensated me for the Order. The very next Delivery order I had items missing, so had to Call Again, then received a Credit on my next Order. Things haven't gotten any better, I want what I Order when I Order it.
Very Disappointed – My most wanted items left in the delivery drivers car only realised after she had left...I will not be using the COLES ONLINE again as I DO NOT TRUST THEM TOO GET IT RIGHT...
Follow-up · YES I received a refund immediately / Customer service were excellent..HOWEVER I do not give second chances to anyone so I will NEVER EVER online shop again with COLES they simply do not care and the bottom line is $$$$$$...THEY do not give damn about there Customers.
Positive reviews
I recently bought a bag of Basmati rice and it had live insects in it. By the time I went to use it I had lost the receipt. Regardless, the manager and another staff member were able to refund the item and they assured that they would check the remaining shelf stock. Very good interaction and outcome.
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I had the very best experience with online, click & collect recently. While part of my Order was 'missing' Coles Online Support and the stores' Click & Collect Team flew into action, and gave 200%+ in immediately remedying this genuine mistake. I cannot thank them enough. I am.actually pleased that this happened because, believe it or not, it was exactly what I needed to restore my faith. -
Coles Peanut cookies have a good crunch and taste with a good peanut to cookie ratio. They need to improve the packaging more times than not the majority are broken in the packet.
Negative reviews
I tried coles after being a loyal woolworths customer, the first couple of orders were find but ever since ive had missing items or substitutes being unreasonable, for instance buying a family serve and recieving a single serve. Ive complained and they dont care, too busy hiring people who arnt Australian that are chatting to thier relatives on… Read more
the phone in another language instead of taking the time to fix mistakes, just getting told to lodge online to get my money back however online is so much harder to get a refund compared to woolworths and it stays as an online credit so you actually dont get the refund unless you make another online order and then tour stuck in the same situation again. The amount credited to the online account is nowhere near what i paid for the missing & incorrectly substituted items. Total waste of money and i wont ever be doing another coles online order.
Appalling in every conceivable way. 10 calls later and all are based off shore. Zero customer service or accountability for their epic stuff ups. Coles you are a pathetic excuse for a huge supermarket company. Look after customers or I will be shopping elsewhere. IGA are a far better choice Do better Coles.
Unbelievable uneducated robots answering the phone off shore!
I have noticed the quality of premium steak has slipped lately.Some of the packets of steak were very rough looking. I ended up purchasing at the nearby butcher.
Recent reviews
My cheese platter won’t have any cabanosi after deli served me these dry old cabanosi that I wouldn’t give to my dog, I knew as soon as I was up wrapping it that it looked wrong, weird colour so to check it I cut a tiny bit and Ewwe yuk can’t be… Read more
having that on a platter. I should have paid attention when I ordered but I was just glad to finally get served. How does the stressed out guy in the deli not notice it’s too old to sell!! Arggggh
Follow-up · No I don’t have the time to drive back there for a refund, waited longer than a customer should as someone asked for a bbq chicken and there were none packed. Didn’t pay attention to if the store was clean just wanted to get out of there
Luckily there are 2 Woolies in Bathurst so don’t have to return
I am stuck at home after surgery so I did a Coles on line order mainly to get bread. They managed to substitute everything but bread so I rang the help line and David said he would email the store and sort it out for me...bread basic right. How many loaves were there to substitute it from. My order just arrived ...no bread. How disappointing.… Read more
Fortunately Woolworths have Milkrun so I can get bread, any type of bread...delivered today. Thanks Coles...you substituted everything else but you couldn't find a loaf of bread in your extensive collection to substitute? Then your helpline promised to sort it and didn't. Yes, I'm really disappointed . Bread...amazing, such a rare commodity and they had my phone number Not happy at all.
Today I purchased a tub of Yarra Valley Persian Fetta from Coles Northcote Plaza. The product had not been sealed properly and was off. While Coles did refund the cost of the product, when I asked for 2 for 1 for compensation, the manager processing the refund ignored me. After processing the refund, I asked again about compensation rather that… Read more
refund given the inconvenience of having to take this product back he just said that was against Coles policy. This is obviously an extremely poor policy because Coles bears no responsibility for selling poorly packaged products. When I collected a new tub of the product I discovered the fridge and other products in the fridge completely covered with oil from leaking tubs. Coles will just keep selling these and hope the purchasers do not return them, thus keeping there profit and ripping off customers. Time to lift your game Coles.
Additional could not post the receipt to verify as the service member did not give me my receipt back funny that only the refund receipt