Woolworths shamelessly targets grieving woman for her inheritance
<p>A worker at a Woolworths-owned pub has revealed that staff meetings were held to discuss how to encourage a woman to put her inheritance into poker machines after her parents passed away, reported <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/woolworths-targets-grieving-woman-for-her-inheritance-whistleblower-20180326-p4z6af.html" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The Sydney Morning Herald.</strong></em></span></a></p>
<p>The woman, who was nicknamed “Queen Bee” by staff, previously worked in a professional job but started gambling while on workers compensation after the death of her parents.</p>
<p>The allegation was made by two staff members who worked at different pubs owned by Woolworths pubs subsidiary, Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH).</p>
<p>“We basically had a staff meeting straight out saying … ‘When she comes in, day or night or whatever, just treat her like Queen Bee.’ Like she will get this, that, free drinks, free food. They kept her there. If the music was not to her liking, in the gaming room, bang bang bang. We would go there and change the music back to hers,” one of the woman told MP Andrew Wilkie in video-recorded interviews.</p>
<p>“Anything she said, complained about, or wanted, she got. It was always to her liking, always. And even if she was wrong, she was right.</p>
<p>“I felt a bit guilty doing it to be honest, but that’s part of the job when you are working in ALH,” one of the women said. </p>
<p>ALH owns 400 pubs around Australia and is 75 per cent owned by Woolworths.</p>
<p>The other staff member explained how gamblers were given free alcohol to entice them to continue gambling, though “Queen Bee” did not drink.</p>
<p>“You’d never obviously get someone intoxicated, you’ve got to use the [Responsible Service of Alcohol guidelines]. But we would give people drinks to make them happy, tipsy and they will stay on the machines. They’re going to spend probably a lot more money than when they were sober,” the staff member said.</p>
<p>Mr Wilkie said targeting a vulnerable person to extract pokie profits was “especially predatory”.</p>
<p>"This is not mind games anymore, this is almost like a physical assault to keep people in their venues.''</p>
<p>Mr Wilkie called on regulators in all jurisdictions to investigate ALH.</p>
<p>Last month, Fairfax discovered that staff kept records about the habits of key pokie players on a Google drive so that all ALH chains could access the information.</p>
<p>“It’s pretty much all venues,” said one in a video interview. “I’ve been to venues where they do the same tactics. And it’s not OK.”</p>
<p>The whistleblower said that Queen Bee was middle aged and came in regularly after her parents’ death.</p>
<p>“She was depressed, she was also on workers comp, so she wasn’t working. And the money that she had, she obviously didn’t know what to do with, because she was laid up, not working.</p>
<p>“I saw her lose, at least two grand every night, honestly. And the one reason I know that is because I cleared all the pokie machines at night-time.</p>
<p>“Basically her machine is reserved for her only, especially if we know she is coming in,” the staff member said.</p>
<p>“Sometimes she would ring up and ask, 'Is anyone playing our machine,' or her machine I should say. And we’d be like 'Yep, yep yep.' So she’d be like, 'Maybe I will come in in half an hour' ... You’d just put a reserved sign on it and wait for her to come in.</p>
<p>"Because she wouldn’t play any other machines, and it was apparently too important for her to go anywhere else, even though she was only going to other ALH pubs."</p>
<p>A spokesman for ALH said that the company was committed to the responsible service of gambling.</p>
<p>"To this end, we are currently reviewing our responsible gambling practices across the country. ALH note the allegations.</p>
<p>"We have actively encouraged all staff to raise any concerns regarding the operation of our venues, we have made a public commitment to be a leader in responsible gambling and we need to get to the bottom of any conduct which falls short of our values, so we can deliver on this commitment."</p>
