Coles and Woolies targeted in self-serve checkout scam
When you think of organised crime the last thing that comes to mind is baby formula, but that’s exactly what has been targeted in the latest self-serve checkout scam.
A Sydney mother of two caught the criminals red handed on Sunday evening, when she spotted customers sneaking dozens of tins of baby formula through the self-serve checkout at Coles Broadway, in Sydney’s inner west.
Belinda* told Kidspot she noticed a large group of people who had made it their mission to purchase as much formula as they possibly could, a sneak through what they couldn’t.
Belinda said, “Not to exaggerate but there would have been easily 20 individuals purely buying formula that night — in that one hour. Seriously they were everywhere — no wonder staff can’t keep up! Even the security guard was saying it’s a daily occurrence that they have to escort people out and strip formula at registers when they refuse.”
Coles and Woolies have introduced a four-tin per customer policy following a massive shortage of baby formula, mostly due to people buying the products in Australia and on-selling it to China for vastly inflated prices. When Belinda shared what she witnessed just three days ago on Facebook — the reaction was overwhelming.
“I see so many messages on Facebook of mums desperately searching for their formula brand when their child will not take anything else. They often share, reach out and tell other mums when they find some brands but really when is this going to stop?” she asks.
“I have had many friends whose children simply don’t drink just any formula and will not feed at all until the formula is found. They have resorted to sending extended family to other areas and asking relatives on the other side of Sydney to look locally.”
Belinda reportedly alerted an employee about what was going on.
“She said they are just struggling to manage the situation, she quite often gets verbally abused and has to get security — she said they are waiting when she arrives to open the store at 6am,” Bianca was told.
“She has caught the same people who come every morning, changing clothes and coming back in for more at 8am after being stripped of formula. They even hold stock so that they can try and release it gradually to keep stocks up for mothers.”
Coles and Woolies have both commented on the scam:
Coles statement on the issue:
“Due to supply issues, we have a number of infant formula lines that may not be available in all stores. Coles is committed to ensuring our customers have access to these products and as a result we are temporarily limiting sales quantities to four units per customer.
“In circumstances where parents have a genuine need for additional tins, obviously we will take that into account. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”
Woolworths policy:
All Woollies stores have technology at the check-outs so customers are not able to ring up more than four cans of baby formula in one transaction.
“Woolworths understands the frustration that our customers can feel when they are unable to buy the products they need, particularly baby formula,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.
“We have reduced our purchase limit on baby formula from eight cans to four cans to help increase availability for our customers.”
What are your views?
* Name changed for privacy reasons.