Eagle-eyed Woolworths shopper warns fellow Australians to double-check prices at self-serve checkout

Eagle-eyed customer shares Woolworths hack every shopper should be aware of after his item scanned 15 cents higher than the shelf price – as others defend the supermarket giant

  • A Tiktok video warns supermarket shoppers to double check prices at checkout 
  • Frustrated shopper scanned his iced coffee and noticed a price discrepancy
  • Some people commented that it happened regularly in supermarkets  
  • Supermarket employees have outlined how shoppers can get an item for free 

A savvy supermarket shopper has warned fellow customers to always price-check scanned items after being charged more at a self-serve checkout.  

The eagle-eyed Woolworths shopper posted the video on Tiktok under the @halffiloaussie handle after noticing a price disparity between the shelf price and the scanned price of his iced coffee. 

The video urges other supermarket customers to be vigilant when scanning their products.

‘Always double check the prices when using supermarket selfserve checkouts! Woolworth’s please explain???’ says the video’s voiceover.  

The video is captioned: ‘imagine how much they rip you off without you even knowing’ 

It shows the Tiktok user grabbing a 275ml Suntory Boss Double Espresso Iced Coffee can off a Woolworths shelf. 

The Video then zooms in on the price ticket showing the iced coffee advertised for $4.20. 

However, when scanned at the self-service checkout the cold beverage is priced at $4.35 – a 15 cent increase.  

‘It’s not the 15 cents, it’s the principle,’ Halffiloaussie comments. 

The Tiktok video, uploaded by user Halffiloaussie, shows the savvy-shopper grabbing a 275ml Suntory Boss Double Espresso Iced Coffee off a Woolworths shelf

Fellow supermarket shoppers were quick to comment, echoing the shopper’s frustrations.  

‘Woolworths do it ALL the time,’ one person wrote.

‘I know its not much but if you do a big shop and majority is like this it does add up,’ another person comments. 

Woolworths has apologised to the customer and has confirmed that the price difference was due to ‘human error’.

‘We take great pride in offering our customers a positive experience in our stores and are disappointed to have missed the mark on this occasion,’ a Woolworths spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.  

‘While we always strive for accuracy and clarity, we do unfortunately see human errors from time to time. 

‘We apologise to the customer for the error and we are working with our store teams to have this resolved quickly.’  

The product had an advertised shelf price of $4.20. However, when scanned at the self-service checkout the cold beverage is priced at $4.35 - a 15 cent increase.

The product had an advertised shelf price of $4.20. However, when scanned at the self-service checkout the cold beverage is priced at $4.35 – a 15 cent increase.

Some supermarket employees jumped to Woolworths defence, noting that the ticket price had not been changed yet. 

‘They probably just forgot to replace the tickets. They literally get changes every single week,’ one user commented.

‘Right now there’s literally hundreds [ticket changes] a day. Some will be missed,’ another wrote.  

‘As someone who works in a supermarket, it’s [changing shelf tickets] the bane of my existence,’ commented an employee.   

Other comments took the opportunity to highlight the supermarket Scanning Code of Practice, a policy which entitles customers to receive a product for free if the item scans higher than the advertised shelf price.  

‘Coles worker here, it actually is a policy! They just generally don’t do it because the customers don’t really know about it,’ wrote one supermarket worker. 

‘I work as a supervisor at Woolies service desk and if it scans up the wrong price from the ticket you get it for free,’ chimed in a second.

Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, and some IGA stores have signed the voluntary code. A copy of the code is usually found at the service desk. 

Some products are excluded from the code including tobacco and liquor products, third party gift cards, items without a barcode, and items with a shelf price of $50 or more. 

Tiktok users were quick to point out that Woolworths (pictured), Coles, and Aldi have signed the Scanning Code of Practice which entitles customers to receive a product for free if the item scans higher than the advertised shelf price

Tiktok users were quick to point out that Woolworths (pictured), Coles, and Aldi have signed the Scanning Code of Practice which entitles customers to receive a product for free if the item scans higher than the advertised shelf price