A gentle reminder to always do your own maths when you’re finishing a grocery trip has come from Reddit, when one user noticed that the amount they were being charged at a Woolworths self-checkout was MORE than the total sum of their items displayed on-screen. Big yikes.
This week Peter Dutton wanted you to boycott Woolworths because they weren’t selling Australia Day items, so we can only imagine how furious he is going to be when he finds out the supermarket giant nearly overcharged a customer due to clunky electronics.
(Just kidding, he won’t care, it was a political grift.)
Redditor u/CleanDivide690 was conducting a run-of-the-mill grocery shop, purchasing standard items such as biscuits and mangoes, but when they finished using the self-checkout they glanced at the total and noticed something was wrong.
The computer had miscalculated the total of the items, and wanted to charge the unfortunate customer 14% extra!
CleanDivide690 shared that they were rightly peeved to see the incorrect charge appear.
Woolworths total amount due is more than the sum of my actual purchases
byu/CleanDivide690 inaustralia
“Was annoyed that the amount due on my Woolies purchase did not equate to the individual items I purchased (1.60 + 4.20 + 5.26 + 4.65 = $15.70),” the user wrote.
And yet the amount that the Woolworths self-checkout displayed was $17.90, a whole $2.20 more than it should have cost.
“Hoping that you all don’t get taken advantage by Colesworth even further amidst all the already inflated prices,” wished the shopper.
In the comments of the post the user clarified that they spoke with staff who “weren’t sure themselves”.
“One of the attendant double checked my math to also arrive at $15.70.”
Thankfully they were able to sort it out in store, and ended up paying a total of $14.10 once they removed the mangoes from the equation.
“But now I’m having more questions as those mangoes turned $17.90 -> $14.10?”, said the bewildered Redditor.
How did this happen?
Was this a glitch in the system, or something more sinister?
Well, according to other Redditors the error may have been in the mangoes being on “special”.
As u/Thylacine theorised, the computer may have “displayed but didn’t honour the discount pricing,” as the total price that was being shown on the checkout’s screen would have been correct, if the mangoes weren’t on discount.
“Mango = $3 x 2 = $6 (when not on special) Nutella biscuits = $6 (when not on special) +$5.25 + $4.65 = total of $21.90. When we subtract your $4 rewards savings that is $17.90,” they calculated.
PEDESTRIAN.TV reached out to Woolworths for some answers to this bizarre situation and received the following response:
“We’ve looked into this transaction and can confirm that the total of $17.90 was correct, however the mango price of 80 cents each that appeared on the screen was incorrect due to a technical error – they were on clearance for $1.90 each,” a spokesperson said.
“We understand why this customer was concerned and we apologise for the confusion caused. Our team resolved this with the customer in-store, providing the mangoes free of charge.
“This appears to be an isolated incident at our Macarthur Metro store, involving the clearance price of a batch of our Calypso Mangoes.”
So in conclusion, Woolworths tech was indeed faulty since it undercut its own special pricing on mangoes.
Thankfully though, the customer walked away with free mangos, and that’s a win in anyone’s book.
Nevertheless, always check the total!
At the very least, you could snag yourself some free produce as happened here.
The post Woolworths’ Self-Checkout Tries To Charge Customer More Than Total Sum Of Items, Redditor Claims appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
