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Exclusive: More Coles customers have come forward to complain about a "timezone glitch" which is causing the supermarket chain to unexpectedly take extra money out of their bank accounts.
Coles says it is investigating the problem and taking it "very seriously" while Australia's consumer watchdog, the ACCC, when asked about the complaint confirmed "if an online business becomes aware of a pricing error, it should fix the mistake immediately".
The system glitch occurs when some customers in states outside of the AEST timezone place online orders late at night on Tuesday evening.
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Officially, Coles weekly specials end at 11.59pm AEST on Tuesday – which is currently 9.59pm in Western Australia and 11.29pm in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
However, some customers in non-AEST states are still being offered the specials prices online by Coles late on Tuesday after the cut off, with the lower price also displayed at check out.
Adding to the confusion, information about the different specials cut-off times for various states are only included in one section of its website, and not in Coles catalogues or most other advertising, making it a little-known rule.
Customers are only finding out the special prices were not applied when they check their bank accounts and see Coles debited their account by more than their online order summary indicated.
Gold Coast woman Linda Fenwick said she was furious to discover she was charged double the amount shown on her online receipt by Coles back in February during daylight savings time.
Fenwick placed a $90 online grocery order at 11.19pm Queensland time.
Despite her online order summary showing the total at $90, Coles went ahead and debited her account by $180.
"When I rang and complained I was told it was because the charges were processed in Melbourne in AEST," she said.
"Can you imagine how many people don't really check what's come out of their bank account?"
Fenwick said she complained at the time to both the ACCC and the Department of Fair Trading because she was concerned the flaw in Coles' system was causing many people to be overcharged.
Earlier this week, 9news.com.au reported on the complaints of a Perth shopper, who placed a $450 grocery order with Coles last Tuesday, at 11.30pm, only to see $504.70 had actually been taken out of her account.
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Among the other Coles shoppers who contacted 9news.com.au after the article was published is a WA man who said he had been caught out by the same issue twice this year.
Just last week, the man said he was surprised when an extra $100 was taken from his bank account.
"I suggested (earlier this year) they needed to fix the issue and again just last Friday, when I was suddenly overcharged $100, but they still haven't resolved it," he said.
"The thing is many people wouldn't know that they were actually charged a different amount."
The customers 9news.com.au spoke to said they were offered a "goodwill" voucher by Coles after they complained, however most said they ended up cancelling their full grocery shop and getting a refund in protest.
When 9news.com.au presented Coles with more cases of customers being charged more than their online summary indicated, a spokesperson for the supermarket acknowledged "every customer should be charged the price displayed at checkout".
"At Coles, we take customer concerns very seriously," the spokesperson said.
"We are investigating this issue and, while we do so, we encourage any customer concerned to contact our customer care team for assistance."
The ACCC, which is currently conducting a government-ordered inquiry into supermarket pricing in Australia, said it was unable to comment on how many complaints it had received about the Coles timezone system glitch.
However, an ACCC spokesperson said: "Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses must not mislead or deceive consumers, including in relation to prices advertised or charged."
"If an online business becomes aware of a pricing error, it should fix the mistake immediately, and allow impacted customers to elect to cancel or amend their order and receive a refund."
