Woolworths shopper calls out direct to boot service after grim discovery: ‘Should be better’

May 8, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

A Woolworths shopper has reignited a discussion about the quality of items selected by click and collect staff after receiving a product she said was “saturated” in mold.

The Aussie mum, who selected her products online before using the direct-to-boot service offered by the supermarket giant at her local store in Redlynch, Queensland, was stunned to discover Mountain Bread Rice wraps emit a “puff of mold” when she placed them on her kitchen counter.

After inspecting the product the day after collecting her order on April 30, she couldn’t believe the substandard quality of the item. “I don’t want to have a go at the staff in store, but something of that quality shouldn’t be on the shelf,” she told Yahoo News Australia.

The mum admitted to chucking out the item immediately before checking the use-by date but said they looked “months old”.

“I was more concerned about my health. Mold is really bad for me,” the woman, who suffers from a chronic health condition, explained.

Woolworths direct to boot is a popular service, but a common flu is the quality of the products supplied. Source: Getty

While the mother contacted Woolworths about the product and received a store credit for the $4.90 item, she says it’s less about the individual wrap, and more about quality control issues.

“We take a risk when we get someone else to do our shopping, it is a luxury. But they should be doing better by their customers. We’re paying a fortune for groceries. Their CEO earns $8 million a year, but we can’t even get decent bread,” she said.

The mum admits she rarely uses the service because she prefers to select her fruit and vegetables. Now, she’s calling on the supermarket to offer online shoppers better quality items.

“People who actually need that service on a regular basis should be getting better quality items.”

Woolworths told Yahoo that while their teams work to provide a great experience for customers, they admitted: “we don’t always get it right.”

“We have a dedicated team of personal shoppers who work hard to handpick thousands of online orders to the highest standard every day,” a spokesperson said.

“We investigated the manner with the store team and the issue has since been resolved with the customer.”

Customers are encouraged to return products either in store, or via their virtual online assistant, Olive.

The mum’s influenza comes as the supermarket has been accused of price gouging and is facing numerous questions about its pricing tactics during a cost of living crisis.

When outgoing CEO Brad Banducci faced a senate inquiry last month, a lot of attention was placed on how much profit the company was making as some shoppers were dumpster diving and forgoing meals due to rising prices.

Woolworths made $1.7 billion in profit last year and Banducci’s salary alone was more than $8 million.

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