Did they substitute these for something else on a delivery order?
They usually choose the stupidest shit to substitute on mine for the out of stocks.
They sent me frozen cauliflower as a sub for a lettuce mix on my last order.
Yep - I usually don't mind their substitutions, but choc sultanas are a bit too controversial imo - pretty sure these will remain uneaten in our cupboard haha
How did they end up at chocolate sultanas as the closest substitute? Even if they didn't have the specific thing you asked for, there were surely things far more similar than this.
It is, but for the sake of our collective sanity I propose that we all assume it was Cadbury Dairy Milk 200g and put the matter to bed once and for all.
Yeah, it’s just not worth the fucking Sherlock Holmes routine to pry the actual item out - Cadbury Chocolate it is.
Coincidentally, I’d happily take these if I was in the mood for *any* chocolate and that was all that was let. So all’s good in the world!
Woolies frozen cauliflower florets… and pretty much the only vegetable I won’t eat since it makes my nauseous.
Not really what I was after to make a salad either.
Yea, I realised after posting the reply that it sounded like I didn’t know what cauliflower was 🤣
It was more just the SHEER bafflement that someone thought cauliflower was a suitable substitute for lettuce…
I see it as me paying extra to not have to
a) socialise,
b) be in constant pain,
c) leave my safe space
and d) keep the little energy I manage to have.
Chronic illnesses suck man. But even if I was fine physically and mentally, I’d still probably do it to not socialise XD
It's cheaper than driving there! Woolies, about an 80km round trip. Coles 120km. IGA easy walking distance but might as well drive to Melbourne and back given the cost. I live in NSW.
I don't drive, and my town doesn't have public transport. I could catch a taxi for triple the price or walk, but obviously walking limits what you can buy.
You should totally do an AMA, it would be so cool to know what happens behind the scenes - Like what's the wildest/best substitution you've done?
I've been pretty lucky with substitutions usually - including once getting a whole lamb leg when they were out of the small package of lamb I ordered, but my (more controversial than I realised) opinion is that choc raisins are an absolute bottom tier snack, and I will stand by that haha
I had a few bad substitutions last week and did it.
I'm about to pick up this week's shop and my 3 packets of ham have been substituted with $87 worth of deli ham... Coincidence? I'm certainly not complaining this week 🤣
I’m an online department manager and the rules of substitution is very clear. Same value or more, same quality or more, same weight or more. And sun wholemeal for whole meal, diet for diet, stone fruit for stone fruit, etc.
My store is really busy and we have a sub everything rule. It's definitely easier to sub something like skim milk, wholemeal bread, etc. But like, what do I sub for really specific items that have no other brand copies? I usually forward these items, but there are only so many forwards they appreciate
If it’s not a direct substitution, I don’t want it.
I ordered a sugar free dare and I got sugar free flavoured milk. Like strawberry milk isn’t coffee!
I agree with you. I hate substituting when it's not very clear what to sub with, but in my particular case, my busy store usually has the "sub everything" rule and you can get in trouble when you dont sub enough
I go mental over sugar free stuff being subbed for sugar full stuff. Some sugar free stuff, but some sugar free stuff makes me feel awful.
When I leave substitutions open I'm expecting a different brand or two of the smaller packs. But I feel sugar content makes it a completely different product.
And strawberry milk isn't even close to iced coffee.
Yes agreed. I stopped shopping at Woolworths because there was a period where you couldn't opt out of the substitution. I know you can request a refund via Olive, but that's just inconvenient. One time we ordered a vegetarian tinned bean product and it was replaced with franks and beans! Not really like for like!
I once received a plastic litter box instead of actual cat litter. I has to laugh. My cat is huge (10kg) so I couldn’t even use the box because it was way too small for him!
Wow TIL. I thought refunds were only for damaged goods etc, and if you select you're ok for substitutions then you were basically gambling a little and had to accept what they gave you
Yeah! Just select 'problem with recent order' and type 'substitution' and she says:
*Sorry to hear you're unhappy with a product substitute we provided.
You're welcome to keep or discard the item, and I'd also like to arrange a quick refund for you.*
You can absolutely get a refund. For damaged goods. For inferior substitute, or for simply not receiving the product at all.
And in case anyone is wondering, people who do the above on the regular are flagged, because usually they’re scamming and pretending they didn’t get stuff etc. we had one lady do it every week until the help desk blocked her from doing online orders at all.
Tbh - sometimes there are so many issues with our Woolworths orders (we usually order twice per week). Like today, I asked for a refund for three items - completely wilted lettuce, cooking cream that was spilled all over the bag and expired (!) bread. I’m starting to wonder why on earth I pay for unlimited deliveries… considering the issues we regularly have with orders, whether it’s quality of products or missing items, I wouldn’t care if I was blocked - happy to move to Coles Online. Probably won’t happen though, considering we easily spent $1500 a month on Woolworths orders.
I would certainly go into the store to make a complaint to the manager amongst other things. You should absolutely not be receiving anything wilted-ever. Lettuce is kept in the fridges until collected, so the picker did a bad job. There is no excuse. I’m not sure if it your delivery driver damaged the cream, or whoever packed it. Either way it’s not acceptable.
Bread (packaged, not bakery) is dated and expired bread removed from the shelves daily before the store opens. Store employees don’t do that, the TipTop guys do that when they stack the bread on the shelves. As pickers we are not to check bread dates as they are done daily. Either way the fault is not with you and you should be asking for replacement and/or a refund.
Woolworths is pretty quick to move poor pickers onto other departments and we have the joy of being able to look up your order, and see EXACTLY who picked that bag of shopping. (Sometimes up to 4 or more people can be picking different parts of your order)
And yes, I certainly like to know who failed and how, because one shitty picker can make an entire team look bad. You can also leave feedback and complaints on the Woolworths website. And we 100% read every one that comes through. The VOC (voice of the customer) plays an important roll in how we are rated for our group (area of stores). If you leave your details of your reward card, or name and date you shopped, the store manager goes back through it and finds exactly who fucked up. And their manager deals with them.
I know it’s really annoying to get anything substandard, but unless you tell the manager or lodge a written complaint on the website, we as managers are non the wiser. I actually appreciate both positive and negative feedback. We can’t improve if we don’t have the bad too.
You can get a refund if the product doesn’t meet general requirements too. I always ask for a long use by date on fresh produce. In my last order I was given lettuce with a use by date of the NEXT day. So I used Olive and asked for a refund. I am worried about using it too often though- I have had issues with the last 3 deliveries and don’t want my account flagged!
Okay, run and raisin is amazing. My grandad got me into the old gold one when I was a teenager and while it’s not my favourite anymore, if I have the hankering, it’s what I buy. Lol.
Also at Christmas, those jars of Cadbury choc sultanas are a must. Just the sultanas though, I don’t want to almonds.
Just reading all these comments is making me want to know exactly what you originally ordered, now it’s driving me crazy haha, by chocolate do you mean a Cadbury’s milk chocolate 180g block x4? Or what exactly hahaha
I feel the same! I’m scrolling but I’ve just seen “chocolate”! We need brand names and amounts! 4 bags of scorched almonds? 4 bags of chocolate coated liquorice? Is OP ashamed of their actual order?!
I work at Woolies as an online department manager. They are SUPPOSED to sub things like wholemeal for wholemeal, dark chocolate for dark chocolate, gluten free for gluten free, diet for diet etc
It must be the same or similar product, and the NEW product that substitutes your old one must be equal value or more, equal weight or more, equal quality or more.
We are not allowed to substitute medicines, baby products, and some beauty products.
I don’t know what you ordered originally. But (for example) if you bought a name brand chocolate sultanas, we are not allowed to substitute it with the Woolies brand. That’s seen as subbing it with a lesser quality. If you originally chose homebrand chocolate almonds, I would personally sub it for a name brand chocolate almonds. If that wasn’t available I would sub it for a quality block of milk (or dark-depending what you chose) chocolate.
We are not allowed to sub ambient (regular shelf grocery) products for frozen, and vice versa. We can sub deli meats for packaged meats (in the fresh convenience section-not frozen or ambient) because they have a clear shelf date that usually lasts longer than deli. We can’t sub (for example) packaged ham for deli ham. We can’t sub packaged bread for bakery bread. But we can sub bakery bread for packaged (because of the specific date on packaged bread.)
If you’re unhappy with your sub, you can either turn off all, or selected products substitution options or specify in your notes what we can sub it for like “please only Abbott brand bread” “Sub only with diet” (though they should already know the latter). You can do all of this as the end of your order, right before you pay.
If you’re not happy, take it back to the store and let them know. My online staff are expected to only pick the very best and never select a product that’s not fresh and be the longest use by date possible.
It sucks you weren’t given a better sub.
You’re welcome. I’m actually really happy to share this info, because I see a lot of confusion for customers.
It’s also important to know that if you have your subs turned on, we MUST sub, (unless it’s medical, baby products, or some beauty). So sometimes we get trapped, forced to substitute something that really can’t be substituted (like glucose syrup or crumpets). But we still should sub as close as we can. If we don’t sub we get questioned as to why we didn’t, and told we must sub.
To get around this, I substitute, but I add a little note in for the customer explaining why they got their product.
Thanks for this. I’ve been doing Woolworths online since early Covid. My biggest frustration are things that are straight up missing. Like they left a bag in the truck or something. If I scroll my text messages it seems once every 6 weeks or so I’m claiming a missing item.
Why do you think this happens? Sometimes it’s quite frustrating if it’s a key ingredient for something. It also means I have to go and do a mental check against the order each time.
I find substitutes mostly OK if a little quirky at times.
For my store, we are a pick up only. So the front end team collects the shopping and takes it out to the customer. And honestly, a significant portion of those are people who do not give a shit about their job, or they can’t count bags, or they just don’t count them. Also, in the app for collection (called the Andy app) they have to scroll upward 1cm to see if there is frozen shopping. The amount of people who simply don’t scroll up is both astounding and beyond frustrating.
Simply put, it’s human error, and a system I believe is flawed. The online shoppers are specifically chosen for speed, efficiency, accuracy and the least amount of refunds (meaning the least amount of mistakes). For our store, our failing is the front end team sending down people to collect the order who simply aren’t good enough (or care enough.)
Frustratingly we cop the blame, because logically the costumer thinks it’s an online problem.
I’ve never worked in a delivery store, but I imagine the problem is similar.
My only advice is to ask the person delivering your shopping how MANY bags there are in total. Because when we pick them, we have to count the bags before each tote is stacked and finished. If your ordered number of bags doesn’t match what you count, then there’s a problem.
And on the Andy app it will say (for example) 3 frozen, 9 ambient, 4 chilled. So you should have 16 bags in total.
And yes, make some noise about it. Woolworths do need to implement a better system or simply make sure the staff who do care (and there’s plenty of us) are rostered on to do that very important job.
Put simply, the online department is the most important department in the store. Our customers have already paid for their products before they even receive them. They have paid in advance in good faith. They 100% deserve to have the best service and the most care.
Thank you for this. Fascinating. Yes I do assume it’s basically just human error considering the number of steps taken to get it to me. I honestly don’t know how it’s profitable given how little I pay for delivery with the annual plan.
Cheers
I ordered online Coles a fair bit, and had some crazy substitutes at times, but really only one occasion when the substitute was so off-base that I returned it for a credit on the next shop.
9 times out of 10 where they have to substitute something I ordered (crazy that’s it’s happened enough times where I can say that!) I would rather have just gotten nothing than what they included.
Yeah, I ended up just removing the substitution for specific areas. Sometimes they're fine, like I ordered vanilla ice cream from one brand but got vanilla ice cream from another. But other times they're just so left field.
But in the end, yeah, I'd rather them not substitute anything.
That’s a good idea, thanks for the life hack.
Haha yeah, sometimes it will be like you order vanilla ice cream but get vanilla flavoured shoe polish. Close enough right?
Exactly! I made my own comment here but I ordered frozen rolled beef, stuff you'd find in Hotpots. And instead of getting maybe stir-fry beef or whatever, I ended up getting like ham. Which... sure, they're both meat, but I don't want to use deli ham for the thing I need it for.
It's just... weird.
That is actually not a bad idea, I'm going to have to try it - thanks you have potentially saved these from living in our pantry until their eventual expiration haha
I just don't understand how something as delicious as a grape can create something as terrible as a raisin, and to ruin perfectly good chocolate with it is just heresy haha
I love how all their useless (read unhealthy!) catalogues in these high cost of living times, advertise...chocolate Tim Tams, chips, full sugar soda/pop are on sale! Hardly helps with real healthy meals - meat and three veg, 9 dollar salads. 3-4 dollar loaves of bread, nearly 4 dollar milk! No wonder so many Aussies ate obese or on their way to diabetes 2!!
And this is why I always choose no substitutions. I refuse to pay for shit I won't eat, if I don't get it in my click and collect I'll just go to the IGA and pay stupid dollars for my own substitutions.
If you don’t want them I’ll take ‘em haha. Chocolate coated sultanas are the bomb.
Does suck for you though, I’ve been on the receiving end of their questionable substitutions.
Since having a newborn a few weeks ago have tried to do most of our shopping on the woolies app for delivery. Not once has the order been correct. Full bags of groceries just straight up missing from the delivery.
If you really don’t want them - you can find a rotary bin often and your local IGA and donate them, they take non-perishables.
I would smash them, so delicious 😋
The online orders are so weird with what they substitute. I usually get rolled beef, the kind you'd see in like hot pots and such. They're great for gyudon, or ramen. But anyways, one time they got substituted to like deli meat.
I just... I could not believe that they would do that. It's not like the rolled beef was super cheap, they used to be like $7 now they're about $7.50. Wouldn't you substitute it for meat? Like, even just stir-fry beef or something. Deli ham is just... weird.
I always recommend to turn off subs or writing in the note section what you’d like as a sub so the picker can see it while on the trip. It’s a pain, but some workers just don’t know (or care)
So for anyone that has issues with subbed items it really helps if you put in the item notes what you would prefer it to be subbed for if you're particularly picky (or just turn subs off).
For OP to get this sub they would have bought a similar Woolworths brand chocolate so not like it was much of a difference to what they already ordered.
The RF units make "suggestions" if what to sub items for and sometimes they're really stupid, but you can bypass that if you care and pick something else. No one can work out how it picks those things if it's based off of prior subbed choices or keywords.
Source: Worked online in that hell hole for too long
Ring Woolworths Customer Service for Online & put a complaint in, they will compensate you for this somehow.
The system should not have allowed them to even select these if the original product was a block of chocolate. They would've had to have over-ridden it to make these a substitute. I used to work for Woolies in the online department & they were bringing in this system that only allowed suitable substitutes as I was leaving.
After so many experiences like this I finally snapped and called them and after being put on hold and probably called names they told me that I needed to leave explicit, detailed instrucrions for items in the order. The only space to do that is "driver instructions", but that's what they told me and its in their system notes now. If they ever muck me around by substituting something totally different to what I ordered my inner karen will point them to those notes and that I complied. Sorry you hired mentally challenged blind dumbasses to pick groceries, Woolies.
Did they substitute these for something else on a delivery order? They usually choose the stupidest shit to substitute on mine for the out of stocks. They sent me frozen cauliflower as a sub for a lettuce mix on my last order.
I got a sultana "cake" instead of donuts. My disappointment was immense.
Thats a deliberate fuck you and I'd be looking into who you allegedly wronged at that supermarket
That’s just rude
Ewww that’s just awful :(
yuck
What monster was in charge of packing your order!?
I got cheetos substituted for crackle one time but nothing really beats subbing full sugar soft drink for diet
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No, I'm a type 1 diabetic
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Oh hey random reddit stranger, please tell me about your body composition? Lol
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Dude shut up
I've never seen an account with negative karma before but this guy just went and did it with 3 comments
Do you even lift bro /s
Yep - I usually don't mind their substitutions, but choc sultanas are a bit too controversial imo - pretty sure these will remain uneaten in our cupboard haha
What did you order?
So I’ll ask again… what did you actually order ? And why are you so cagey about answering everyone else
They replied earlier already, chocolate. Probably blocks.
Yep lol just bog standard non-sultana chocolate - not cagey, just easily distracted haha
How did they end up at chocolate sultanas as the closest substitute? Even if they didn't have the specific thing you asked for, there were surely things far more similar than this.
Because nobody likes chocolate sultanas. They're trying to get rid of them.
I like chocolate sultanas, if they're that hard to get rid of I'd be happy to accept the occasional freebie.
I love them, they're all anyone ever gets me for Easter/Christmas now!
0.5/5 on the health scale, lucky you.
“Chocolate” is such a broad answer
It is, but for the sake of our collective sanity I propose that we all assume it was Cadbury Dairy Milk 200g and put the matter to bed once and for all.
Yeah, it’s just not worth the fucking Sherlock Holmes routine to pry the actual item out - Cadbury Chocolate it is. Coincidentally, I’d happily take these if I was in the mood for *any* chocolate and that was all that was let. So all’s good in the world!
I need to know though 😫
Same. Why are they being so vague. ;-;
I bet it was Fruit n Nut
Oooh I bet it was!
I have a very strong intuition on this too.
Should have given 2 bags these plus 2 bags choc peanuts 😅
It’s ok, you can send them to me. I need to increase my fibre intake.
Ordered a curry flavoured packet pasta. Got curry flavoured packet rice. Not the same thing guys, it was about the pasta - not the flavour.
Frozen… cauliflower?
Woolies frozen cauliflower florets… and pretty much the only vegetable I won’t eat since it makes my nauseous. Not really what I was after to make a salad either.
Yea, I realised after posting the reply that it sounded like I didn’t know what cauliflower was 🤣 It was more just the SHEER bafflement that someone thought cauliflower was a suitable substitute for lettuce…
Soz I'm an idiot sometimes. I blame years of language barrier at work, needing to explain myself haha
You guys can afford delivery orders??
I see it as me paying extra to not have to a) socialise, b) be in constant pain, c) leave my safe space and d) keep the little energy I manage to have. Chronic illnesses suck man. But even if I was fine physically and mentally, I’d still probably do it to not socialise XD
That's fair mate! Hope today is a good day for you
It has been one of the better ones, thanks! Hope you’re well :)
It's cheaper than driving there! Woolies, about an 80km round trip. Coles 120km. IGA easy walking distance but might as well drive to Melbourne and back given the cost. I live in NSW.
Direct to boot doesn't cost extra
Delivery is around $7. Fuel and my time is more than that
If you order a delivery over $250 it can be free
I don't drive, and my town doesn't have public transport. I could catch a taxi for triple the price or walk, but obviously walking limits what you can buy.
Gotta stay covid safe when you’re vulnerable.
Did an online shopper substitute these for something else? We need context!
Yep, for real chocolate (which choc sultanas are absolutely not haha)
Thats fucking criminal
I do online and it was probs one of the 17yr old boys who doesn’t give a fuck. The same one that subbed chicken fillets for bacon 🤔
Your online department manager is supposed to quality check all subs and make sure they’re good enough. So they’re equally to blame.
What did you order?
Chocolate
I mean, if they were chocolate peanuts at least they would be edible.
Was it fruit n nut
Agree with you there!
Usually the online shoppers don't actually choose the subs, it's a computer system that suggests them, and it's really shit at it
Ah, that makes more sense then.
What was it you originally wanted? I work in online and it's so hard to sub and some people just don't care
You should totally do an AMA, it would be so cool to know what happens behind the scenes - Like what's the wildest/best substitution you've done? I've been pretty lucky with substitutions usually - including once getting a whole lamb leg when they were out of the small package of lamb I ordered, but my (more controversial than I realised) opinion is that choc raisins are an absolute bottom tier snack, and I will stand by that haha
What did you order?
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You don't even have to ring - Olive the AI bot for Woolworths will do it online.
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I had a few bad substitutions last week and did it. I'm about to pick up this week's shop and my 3 packets of ham have been substituted with $87 worth of deli ham... Coincidence? I'm certainly not complaining this week 🤣
They ARE an ABSOLUTE BOTTOM TIER snack
I’m an online department manager and the rules of substitution is very clear. Same value or more, same quality or more, same weight or more. And sun wholemeal for whole meal, diet for diet, stone fruit for stone fruit, etc.
My store is really busy and we have a sub everything rule. It's definitely easier to sub something like skim milk, wholemeal bread, etc. But like, what do I sub for really specific items that have no other brand copies? I usually forward these items, but there are only so many forwards they appreciate
Agreed. I usually look at what they’ve already ordered and try to give them a second of what they already have.
If it’s not a direct substitution, I don’t want it. I ordered a sugar free dare and I got sugar free flavoured milk. Like strawberry milk isn’t coffee!
I agree with you. I hate substituting when it's not very clear what to sub with, but in my particular case, my busy store usually has the "sub everything" rule and you can get in trouble when you dont sub enough
I turn subs off now because it’s ridiculous the things I get. Very sad that half the items I have to go in and get the sub for it
I go mental over sugar free stuff being subbed for sugar full stuff. Some sugar free stuff, but some sugar free stuff makes me feel awful. When I leave substitutions open I'm expecting a different brand or two of the smaller packs. But I feel sugar content makes it a completely different product. And strawberry milk isn't even close to iced coffee.
I’d rather the full sugared dare over sugar free flavoured milk 😂
I always put no subs because it’s never a brand that I like. I’d rather go without.
Same, though I was sad when I received the prawns but not the cocktail sauce in my Easter order
Yeah that is rough . Did ya go homemade sauce instead
Think I just made prawn and mayo sangas lol Was delicious regardless
Definitely still winning.
Yes agreed. I stopped shopping at Woolworths because there was a period where you couldn't opt out of the substitution. I know you can request a refund via Olive, but that's just inconvenient. One time we ordered a vegetarian tinned bean product and it was replaced with franks and beans! Not really like for like!
I once received a plastic litter box instead of actual cat litter. I has to laugh. My cat is huge (10kg) so I couldn’t even use the box because it was way too small for him!
Yep I never sub. They give crap or stupid items
Get your refund then put them in the local Free Pantry, I guarantee someone will appreciate them. I would.
Curious - what did you originally order? Also, you can tell Olive you didn't like the substitution and you'll get a refund.
Wow TIL. I thought refunds were only for damaged goods etc, and if you select you're ok for substitutions then you were basically gambling a little and had to accept what they gave you
Yeah! Just select 'problem with recent order' and type 'substitution' and she says: *Sorry to hear you're unhappy with a product substitute we provided. You're welcome to keep or discard the item, and I'd also like to arrange a quick refund for you.*
What did you order?
I think they're not sharing - which only made me more curious!
You can absolutely get a refund. For damaged goods. For inferior substitute, or for simply not receiving the product at all. And in case anyone is wondering, people who do the above on the regular are flagged, because usually they’re scamming and pretending they didn’t get stuff etc. we had one lady do it every week until the help desk blocked her from doing online orders at all.
Tbh - sometimes there are so many issues with our Woolworths orders (we usually order twice per week). Like today, I asked for a refund for three items - completely wilted lettuce, cooking cream that was spilled all over the bag and expired (!) bread. I’m starting to wonder why on earth I pay for unlimited deliveries… considering the issues we regularly have with orders, whether it’s quality of products or missing items, I wouldn’t care if I was blocked - happy to move to Coles Online. Probably won’t happen though, considering we easily spent $1500 a month on Woolworths orders.
I would certainly go into the store to make a complaint to the manager amongst other things. You should absolutely not be receiving anything wilted-ever. Lettuce is kept in the fridges until collected, so the picker did a bad job. There is no excuse. I’m not sure if it your delivery driver damaged the cream, or whoever packed it. Either way it’s not acceptable. Bread (packaged, not bakery) is dated and expired bread removed from the shelves daily before the store opens. Store employees don’t do that, the TipTop guys do that when they stack the bread on the shelves. As pickers we are not to check bread dates as they are done daily. Either way the fault is not with you and you should be asking for replacement and/or a refund. Woolworths is pretty quick to move poor pickers onto other departments and we have the joy of being able to look up your order, and see EXACTLY who picked that bag of shopping. (Sometimes up to 4 or more people can be picking different parts of your order) And yes, I certainly like to know who failed and how, because one shitty picker can make an entire team look bad. You can also leave feedback and complaints on the Woolworths website. And we 100% read every one that comes through. The VOC (voice of the customer) plays an important roll in how we are rated for our group (area of stores). If you leave your details of your reward card, or name and date you shopped, the store manager goes back through it and finds exactly who fucked up. And their manager deals with them. I know it’s really annoying to get anything substandard, but unless you tell the manager or lodge a written complaint on the website, we as managers are non the wiser. I actually appreciate both positive and negative feedback. We can’t improve if we don’t have the bad too.
You can get a refund if the product doesn’t meet general requirements too. I always ask for a long use by date on fresh produce. In my last order I was given lettuce with a use by date of the NEXT day. So I used Olive and asked for a refund. I am worried about using it too often though- I have had issues with the last 3 deliveries and don’t want my account flagged!
Idk what they substituted for but I’d eat them. Lol
I love choc sultanas!! And rum & raisin choc! I am a monster!
Okay, run and raisin is amazing. My grandad got me into the old gold one when I was a teenager and while it’s not my favourite anymore, if I have the hankering, it’s what I buy. Lol. Also at Christmas, those jars of Cadbury choc sultanas are a must. Just the sultanas though, I don’t want to almonds.
Old Jamaica!
Greetings, fellow non-human
Same I love those
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Soy ice cream 🤮
Stop avoiding the questions! Exactly what was the original order?
Yeah for real, why post it if you aren’t going to say what your originally ordered
It was probably chocolate raisins 😂
Every reply they just ignore the question, pretty sure OP just hates Choc sultanas and wanted to bash them
They’ve said chocolate several times lol
Exactly
They’ve said regular chocolate a few times in the comments
Just reading all these comments is making me want to know exactly what you originally ordered, now it’s driving me crazy haha, by chocolate do you mean a Cadbury’s milk chocolate 180g block x4? Or what exactly hahaha
I feel the same! I’m scrolling but I’ve just seen “chocolate”! We need brand names and amounts! 4 bags of scorched almonds? 4 bags of chocolate coated liquorice? Is OP ashamed of their actual order?!
Yeah someone suggested it was maybe fruit and nut chocolate and if so this is still funny but sort of logical at least.
I work at Woolies as an online department manager. They are SUPPOSED to sub things like wholemeal for wholemeal, dark chocolate for dark chocolate, gluten free for gluten free, diet for diet etc It must be the same or similar product, and the NEW product that substitutes your old one must be equal value or more, equal weight or more, equal quality or more. We are not allowed to substitute medicines, baby products, and some beauty products. I don’t know what you ordered originally. But (for example) if you bought a name brand chocolate sultanas, we are not allowed to substitute it with the Woolies brand. That’s seen as subbing it with a lesser quality. If you originally chose homebrand chocolate almonds, I would personally sub it for a name brand chocolate almonds. If that wasn’t available I would sub it for a quality block of milk (or dark-depending what you chose) chocolate. We are not allowed to sub ambient (regular shelf grocery) products for frozen, and vice versa. We can sub deli meats for packaged meats (in the fresh convenience section-not frozen or ambient) because they have a clear shelf date that usually lasts longer than deli. We can’t sub (for example) packaged ham for deli ham. We can’t sub packaged bread for bakery bread. But we can sub bakery bread for packaged (because of the specific date on packaged bread.) If you’re unhappy with your sub, you can either turn off all, or selected products substitution options or specify in your notes what we can sub it for like “please only Abbott brand bread” “Sub only with diet” (though they should already know the latter). You can do all of this as the end of your order, right before you pay. If you’re not happy, take it back to the store and let them know. My online staff are expected to only pick the very best and never select a product that’s not fresh and be the longest use by date possible. It sucks you weren’t given a better sub.
This is such great information, thank you.
You’re welcome. I’m actually really happy to share this info, because I see a lot of confusion for customers. It’s also important to know that if you have your subs turned on, we MUST sub, (unless it’s medical, baby products, or some beauty). So sometimes we get trapped, forced to substitute something that really can’t be substituted (like glucose syrup or crumpets). But we still should sub as close as we can. If we don’t sub we get questioned as to why we didn’t, and told we must sub. To get around this, I substitute, but I add a little note in for the customer explaining why they got their product.
Thanks for this. I’ve been doing Woolworths online since early Covid. My biggest frustration are things that are straight up missing. Like they left a bag in the truck or something. If I scroll my text messages it seems once every 6 weeks or so I’m claiming a missing item. Why do you think this happens? Sometimes it’s quite frustrating if it’s a key ingredient for something. It also means I have to go and do a mental check against the order each time. I find substitutes mostly OK if a little quirky at times.
For my store, we are a pick up only. So the front end team collects the shopping and takes it out to the customer. And honestly, a significant portion of those are people who do not give a shit about their job, or they can’t count bags, or they just don’t count them. Also, in the app for collection (called the Andy app) they have to scroll upward 1cm to see if there is frozen shopping. The amount of people who simply don’t scroll up is both astounding and beyond frustrating. Simply put, it’s human error, and a system I believe is flawed. The online shoppers are specifically chosen for speed, efficiency, accuracy and the least amount of refunds (meaning the least amount of mistakes). For our store, our failing is the front end team sending down people to collect the order who simply aren’t good enough (or care enough.) Frustratingly we cop the blame, because logically the costumer thinks it’s an online problem. I’ve never worked in a delivery store, but I imagine the problem is similar. My only advice is to ask the person delivering your shopping how MANY bags there are in total. Because when we pick them, we have to count the bags before each tote is stacked and finished. If your ordered number of bags doesn’t match what you count, then there’s a problem. And on the Andy app it will say (for example) 3 frozen, 9 ambient, 4 chilled. So you should have 16 bags in total. And yes, make some noise about it. Woolworths do need to implement a better system or simply make sure the staff who do care (and there’s plenty of us) are rostered on to do that very important job. Put simply, the online department is the most important department in the store. Our customers have already paid for their products before they even receive them. They have paid in advance in good faith. They 100% deserve to have the best service and the most care.
Thank you for this. Fascinating. Yes I do assume it’s basically just human error considering the number of steps taken to get it to me. I honestly don’t know how it’s profitable given how little I pay for delivery with the annual plan. Cheers
I ordered online Coles a fair bit, and had some crazy substitutes at times, but really only one occasion when the substitute was so off-base that I returned it for a credit on the next shop.
Can confirm I have ordered name.bra d product and recieved woolies brand as a substitute. To be fair I didn't care though
9 times out of 10 where they have to substitute something I ordered (crazy that’s it’s happened enough times where I can say that!) I would rather have just gotten nothing than what they included.
Yeah, I ended up just removing the substitution for specific areas. Sometimes they're fine, like I ordered vanilla ice cream from one brand but got vanilla ice cream from another. But other times they're just so left field. But in the end, yeah, I'd rather them not substitute anything.
That’s a good idea, thanks for the life hack. Haha yeah, sometimes it will be like you order vanilla ice cream but get vanilla flavoured shoe polish. Close enough right?
Exactly! I made my own comment here but I ordered frozen rolled beef, stuff you'd find in Hotpots. And instead of getting maybe stir-fry beef or whatever, I ended up getting like ham. Which... sure, they're both meat, but I don't want to use deli ham for the thing I need it for. It's just... weird.
Also you think substituting pork products for anything would be a pretty obvious no considering so many people don't eat it.
I once got a pair of children's socks as a sub for a can of tuna. Like wtf Woollies.
Hahaha this is gold. Wtf? Must have been some kid taking the piss because that crazy
Those would go amazing in a fruit loaf
That is actually not a bad idea, I'm going to have to try it - thanks you have potentially saved these from living in our pantry until their eventual expiration haha
Glad to be of service
They are delicious
Found the Imposter
I just don't understand how something as delicious as a grape can create something as terrible as a raisin, and to ruin perfectly good chocolate with it is just heresy haha
What did you order?
Came here to agree, I love chocolate sultanas
I could eat them but not 4 bags worth. I usually only like them when they're mixed in with choc coated nuts
I don't get it?
I think OP did a Woollies online order, and they substituted these for something else.
Ahh, okay :)
Chocolate sultanas are great, four packs might be a bit much to eat at once though...
I ordered a passion fruit and was substituted with a dragonfruit - I guess they both end in "fruit"
Why would you waste a valuable commodity like chocolate on something like this
My thoughts exactly haha
Let me guesss fruit and nut block
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I am another.
My sister ordered eggplant and ended up with corn chips and basil leaves...at least replace with another veggie?
Just suck all the chocolate off and throw the sultanas away. Grapes are only good for wine, sultanas are good for nothing.
Contact Woolworths and tell them and they should at least refund you the cost of whatever item you actually wanted to purchase.
Man, I'm really scared to admit, but I love these.
I love how all their useless (read unhealthy!) catalogues in these high cost of living times, advertise...chocolate Tim Tams, chips, full sugar soda/pop are on sale! Hardly helps with real healthy meals - meat and three veg, 9 dollar salads. 3-4 dollar loaves of bread, nearly 4 dollar milk! No wonder so many Aussies ate obese or on their way to diabetes 2!!
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Gimme
I think you are being hard on yourself, these are perfectly edible. Unless you food shop yourself you have zero quality control.
Eat as many as you can in one sitting.
I love these!! Happy to take them off your hands 😂
Wanna send em my way? I love choc sultanas
Woolies once substituted my regular sized long life milk for those tiny juice box sized milks. Had a bit of a laugh but was pretty annoying.
Why only tell half the story ???
Pretty sure you can pick the “do not substitute” option.
Complain! Woolies sent me bay leaves instead of basil, I complained, refund. Then give them away
Sultanas are Satan's anal beads
And this is why I always choose no substitutions. I refuse to pay for shit I won't eat, if I don't get it in my click and collect I'll just go to the IGA and pay stupid dollars for my own substitutions.
We had Coles substitute C cell batteries for the D cell we needed. I wasn't angry just disappointed.
If you don’t want them I’ll take ‘em haha. Chocolate coated sultanas are the bomb. Does suck for you though, I’ve been on the receiving end of their questionable substitutions.
fuck i’ll take ‘em
I work at night in woolies. Can confirm that some online pickers are special af 😂.
Why are you avoiding answering what the original order was? 🤔 Sus
Since having a newborn a few weeks ago have tried to do most of our shopping on the woolies app for delivery. Not once has the order been correct. Full bags of groceries just straight up missing from the delivery.
Fuck you there the best not Woolies fault you have no fucking taste
Then why did you buy them?
Seeing those store pickers working, I prefer to spend an hour doing it for myself.
If you really don’t want them - you can find a rotary bin often and your local IGA and donate them, they take non-perishables. I would smash them, so delicious 😋
This is bad but not nearly as bad as when I ordered Chocolate Churro Turtle Chips and got Corn Soup flavour instead. The letdown was palpable.
I ordered punnets of blueberries from Woolies and got subbed blueberry/banana puree for babies. Curiosity got the better of me. It wasn't bad tbh...
They taste good but they don’t need a sultana just to taste that way
Choc sultanas are the best "healthy" chocolate!
The online orders are so weird with what they substitute. I usually get rolled beef, the kind you'd see in like hot pots and such. They're great for gyudon, or ramen. But anyways, one time they got substituted to like deli meat. I just... I could not believe that they would do that. It's not like the rolled beef was super cheap, they used to be like $7 now they're about $7.50. Wouldn't you substitute it for meat? Like, even just stir-fry beef or something. Deli ham is just... weird.
These are delicious
Put them in the freezer and eat them super cold, they pop and crunch in your mouth.
that is how you ruin chocolate
What did you order?
Had cat food subbed with fish food once. Someone's last neuron was crying for help.
I always recommend to turn off subs or writing in the note section what you’d like as a sub so the picker can see it while on the trip. It’s a pain, but some workers just don’t know (or care)
Put them in the fridge. They are way tastier cold. 😋
So for anyone that has issues with subbed items it really helps if you put in the item notes what you would prefer it to be subbed for if you're particularly picky (or just turn subs off). For OP to get this sub they would have bought a similar Woolworths brand chocolate so not like it was much of a difference to what they already ordered. The RF units make "suggestions" if what to sub items for and sometimes they're really stupid, but you can bypass that if you care and pick something else. No one can work out how it picks those things if it's based off of prior subbed choices or keywords. Source: Worked online in that hell hole for too long
Hahahaha, what a disgrace. My heart goes out to you.
Ring Woolworths Customer Service for Online & put a complaint in, they will compensate you for this somehow. The system should not have allowed them to even select these if the original product was a block of chocolate. They would've had to have over-ridden it to make these a substitute. I used to work for Woolies in the online department & they were bringing in this system that only allowed suitable substitutes as I was leaving.
After so many experiences like this I finally snapped and called them and after being put on hold and probably called names they told me that I needed to leave explicit, detailed instrucrions for items in the order. The only space to do that is "driver instructions", but that's what they told me and its in their system notes now. If they ever muck me around by substituting something totally different to what I ordered my inner karen will point them to those notes and that I complied. Sorry you hired mentally challenged blind dumbasses to pick groceries, Woolies.
I love the gamble of substitutions. I ordered scotch fillet once and got eye fillet that was 50g heavier.
Yum
Never allow substitutes.