I am so over Coles right now. I have told them 3 times about a long life dairy product that is passed the date and still on the shelf. I even emailed head office who said the store manager has been asked to review it - CROCK. Its still on the shelf 10 days over.

Does Coles have a legal obligation to remove the product from its shelf or is it tough luck to the consumer who doesn't check the date. I am ready to report this incident to the appropriate authority but have no idea who that is. Don't know how much it will achieve but I will feel better if I do.

I also walked past people yesterday in the same store who where discussing that the products they were looking at were expired too. If you don't check the date of food you buy then you are being ripped off.

Food hygiene issues are generally investigated by your local council. Not sure if this fits their guidelines though? I'd ring them and ask.

I have had this problem with Coles too, it is very annoying to get home and find things are expired.

You think that's bad. At my local woolies I spied some cheese that had gone moldy(it was chedder) I told them about it and they said they would get right on it. Two to three days later it was still there. Yuck. Then about two weeks later shopping at another woolies there was the same type of cheese all moldy. This time I picked it up and marched over to the deli and handed the damn thing over to them and told them that it disgusting of them to have it there and that they should be checking their stock more often before someone sued them. Makes me remember why I shop for my meat and veg at butchers and fruit and veg shops.

I'm not sure but you could try your state consumer complaints commission.

I have to take back some off chicken today to Woollies that I bought yesterday, it's only about the third time this has happened .

I was a bit shocked the other day at a discount supermarket to find that nearly everything I looked at was way out of date including a bottle of Fuze (softdrink) that contains no preservatives. I would have thought this was illegal .

.

my coles were bad for this too, but since their reno's, they have been good. Before dd was born, i used to eat the le snacks, i purchased one 6 months out of date. took it back, 3 weeks later they still had them on the shelf with the same date.

. Twice now I have bought chicken wings for my dogs from the deli at my local Coles, arrived home, opened the bag and they have been off and . It is not only a total PITA to go back, but such a waste of money if you don't. It makes me really cranky too.

Complain to your local council. They should send a health inspector through the place.

Personally I would be loading it all into my trolley, marching up to the customer service desk, plonking it down and proclaiming in the loudest voice that you have found this past used by date food and that it should be removed from the shelves.

Only at the busiest time of course

I hate that too.

Last year I bought some chicken chipolatas from our local Woolies and when I got home found they were 3 weeks out of date. I phoned the store and they all but called me a liar (very, very rude, like it was my mistake) until they went to check the rest of them and found more out of date.

It's the responsibility of teh store to stock food that is not expired or past its best by date!

It really annoys me too! BUT I have come across dairy products at Woolies in the past that were off yet they were within their use by dates! I was told that this could be bad handling...in which case I don't know who you'd refer to! Hard to prove!

kim

Not sure who's responsible, but just had to share my story...

I found one of those ginger bread Elmos in the Coles bakery section with a use by date of 18 months prior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't the only one there either - all of them were either 12-18 months past expiry date. I complained too and yep - were still there a week later.

DIS--GUS--TING! (as my friend's 8 year old daughter would say it)

I complained to a guy stocking the dairy section of my local woolies on the weekend as 3 yoghurts I picked up had all expired at least 2 weeks earlier. Not sure what he did for them but I am sure there are a lot of people who don't check expiry dates when they are shopping. I always do for all dairy products.

You can imagine my horror when the positive pregnancy test that I got from Coles was nearly a year out of date ( I should of checked the date before doing the test!).


There was nearly 20 boxes of crystal clear on their shelves that was out of date .
I spent a very anxious hour rushing back to coles to get a replacement test to redo.

Luckily that came up as positive as well.

The store needs to take action on this.I used to work for woollies & i regularly did random date checks on sections.Alot of it comes down to whoever filling shelves not rotating stock.It used to peeve me off to no end when i did these checks.

I know in the store i worked in we'd action it as soon as we were aware of it.It needs to be taken off show a.s.a.p.I'd keep complaining to headoffice if you see at store level nothing was done over it.

I highly reccomend you check all use by dates yourself too.

I have had this problem as Coles as well, and have been surprised at how common it is these days. We've had mouldy bread, mouldy rolls, mouldy burritos, mouldy cheese, etc etc. I rarely go back, couldn't be bothered by the time I get it all home etc.

I agree with a PP who said to load it all up in a seperate trolley & take it to the front desk at a busy time. I will be doing that next time for sure. That should stop them leaving the stuff on the shelves.

Surely a current affairs program would be interested in checking this out? It's obviously more common than first thought.

It's so disgusting.

Oh I see this at Coles often but what gets me is the stuff that expires/use by say that day or the next day and they like take 20c off the full price. I used to shop at Safeway and they would drastically reduce near spoiled stock by about 80%. It was generous, with up to 5days remaining on the expiry and they'd still drastically reduce. At this Coles you are lucky to get a few cents off the full price. I dont buy their markdowns because they are so stingy trying to get virtually full price for their spoiled stock.

I just called the local council who said they are allowed to sell food past the "best before" date BUT they should inform the customer they are doing so which is usually done with a price reduction.

Because they are not doing this it will be investigated I am going to email my correspondence and give them a listing of dates that I brought it up with them. I don't know what will come from this but I am over these supermarkets taking customers for granted. From your stories its everywhere you look (or don't look until its too late and inconvenient to do anything about).

I like your thinking but if history repeats they will only put it back on the shelf after I have left the store

Excellent - I'm glad you are following it up.

This is one of my pet hates.

I have bought yoghurt a couple of times that has been out of date. I now check everything.

Have definately learnt about checking the dates in Coles, especially their fruit juices.

I am always finding expired dairy goods at my local Coles, I now make sure I check everything before it goes into the trolley.

Thought I'd let you know the progress if you are interested.

The council called me back yesterday before I had actually emailed them. It was a different person and she had spoken to the manager who said it would be rectified and was surprised because BLAH BLAH BLAH. She said if any more problems to ask for the store manager himself

Not exactly sure what would come from this. But this wasn't it.

Anyway I was nearby today so just had to pop in to Coles. Couldn't believe it when the same product was still on the shelf. Spoke with the manager who said he thought it was milk rather than cream. He seemed genuine and appologetic enough and said he would make sure it was removed.

Will check next time I am near - I am obssessed with it now

Funnily enough I Coles Head office has replied to my last email today, which was sent on the weekend. I have to show you part of the email . So obviously they have lots of customer issues to deal with. No wonder there hasn't been coles representation on A Current Affair

Last week at Woolies I bought some meat which said that it was porterhouse steak. I cooked it and I swear to god it smelt and tasted like ham. I scraped it off everyones plates and threw it in the bin. Am still wondering what the heck it was!

I have also bought meat that has been off even though the expiry date was 4 days away. Took it back as it was a bulk pack and cost a lot of money. They got all p***sy with me about it.

Jerks

Yes, shops have a legal obligation to stock goods within BB dates. Any goods out of BB dates need to be removed. otherwise people can get very sick.

If you have any complaints - certainly tell the manager or customer service person, however their job is to make money and if your complaints aren't going further they mostly will not act.

I would first complain to the manager BUT I would also follow it up with a complaint to the appropriate government body. They have the power to investigate and fine the store.

Coles must be slack everywhere. I have eaten a packet on corn chips and noticed they were out of date and once nearly bough baby yogurt that was days out of date

My local coles is getting slack with that too. Dh bought some chicken from there and when he got home we realised it was off It was so gross that he took it back and got lamb instead and we have never been able to eat chicken from coles again.

Majority of the time I check this stuff so rarely do I get caught out

DH was in Perth coles last month and had to buy DS formula.They had 4 tins on the shelf for the formula that we needed and all of them where out of date and very dusty. DH checked the date and they where 6 years yes 6 years out of date I couldn't believe it....

They are suppose to rotate the goods on the shelves and long life is suppose to check the dates, I think it is suppose to be taken off the shelf 2 days before it has expired! But while packing shelves there is no time to rotate products.

I recieved a second email from coles - what a toss. They refer to milk - the product in question was cream

They also told me the manager I spoke with was friendly - I indicated that I thought he seemed uninterested in the matter and they had the audacity to correct me on this.

I suggest if you ever have an issue like this and want it to be addressed, don't waste your time contacting head office, I got more achieved speaking with the local council.

If you ever buy an out of date product return it - you are entitled to your $$$ back. Any problems speak with the local council health section and lodge a complaint.

Unless of course you get somewhere by loading your trolley and dumping it at the service desk

If ever you get home and notice the sell by date is passed, ring the Company direct - i.e Sanitarium or Bergen or who ever - no good I know if its Coles own for example.
They will give you a much better reimbursement than the price you paid. I do this with products not up to scratch. Just had a loaf that went blue mouldy 2 days before best by date and I called the Company, they sent me a $10 cheque. I think they should too, why should we be inconvenienced and then only get back what we paid. I want the product not my money back.
Nicki

There is a difference between "Use by" and "Best before". "Best before" can still be used after the date, but at your own risk. the manufacturer will not guarantee that the product is still as good as it should be. This is usually for dry goods such as flour etc.
"Use by" is different, and should definitely be discarded after that date - meats, milks, cheeses etc.

OP - good on you for following this up. Not many people do - I never have, as I"m too lazy. But obviously it's getting worse. If a council gets enough complaints they will start to do more checks, which should also help decrease the incidence alot.

Was at Coles again yesterday. The good news is they don't have the product past the date on the shelf any more The bad news is they don't have it on the shelf at all and I was told each time it would be in the next day

So nicki-b I decided to call the company. Hopefully someone will call me back and help sort this out properly. The trouble is due to DH being lactose intolerant. Lidells is the only brand of cream I know of that he can have and now they don't have it at all. Coles has stopped stocking a few of their other products and I would hate to see it happen with this too.

So its off the shelf which means no one gets caught out, but we have to miss out all together from Coles. Its a shame when you think you've had a win but you really loose.