An Australian mother has called out Coles after the supermarket chain “halved” the size of its paper bags for deliveries.
In a video posted to social media, the woman expressed her shock after discovering Coles’ brown paper bags were significantly smaller in a recent order.
“So I got my delivery from Coles today. What is that? Why have Coles bags been halved? Can someone explain it to me,” she said.
“Coles, I’m just telling you, from now on, if I find out you charge the same for big bags as you do for these half bags, and you give me more half bags because you can’t also fit as much as the big bags that are on it.
A Melbourne woman, known on social media as ‘The Mummy Blogger’, called Coles after her online order was delivered in half-size bags (pictured).
Coles employees explained that the retailer only uses smaller bags for online orders because they fit better in the crates used in-store by employees who pack the orders.
In response to the mother’s video, many Australians spoke out against the change.
However, Coles workers hit back and explained why the bags were smaller.
“It’s because old paper bags are too tall to fit properly in the checkouts that shoppers use in store to collect their order,” one person commented.
“They are made specifically for in-line checkouts, the larger bags used to tear off the top.”
Coles employees also clarified that online shoppers do not pay less for smaller bags.
“You are charged a flat $1.50 for bags when you shop online,” one employee explained.
“They have the same capacity; the larger bags are filled with the same quantity as these smaller bags. They now go into our boxes when we go shopping,” wrote another.
The shorter paper bags, reduced by 13.5cm, were trialled over a three-month period in 48 stores across South Australia.
Coles told Daily Mail Australia that after the “successful trial” they decided to move to shorter paper bags for all online deliveries.
“While the paper bags available in store will remain unchanged, the new version of Coles Online will fit more easily into packing crates, leading to less damage and better reuse,” Coles said.
Just like the in-store paper bag, the new version from Coles Online has undergone rigorous independent testing and been found to safely hold the same 6kg of groceries.
“All of our paper bags can be reused multiple times and are made from 100% recycled paper which, unlike soft plastic bags, can be recycled curbside. »
