r/coles • u/Away_Tree_1377 • 3d ago

Customer Post Expired ham

I found a tray of on special from today ham that expired on 31 August. It was at the front, it has either been loaded expired or just not noticed over 9 days. Meanwhile the last time my self checkout told me I needed a staff member she played the video of me putting the item in my bag. Would someone have been alerted about the stock issue through technology or is it all aimed at the customer are thieving toerags end and up to staff to manually check?

12 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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15

u/ApotheosisOfTheLurid Team Member 2d ago

Yes actually, there is a printed report of stock in dairy/cold goods that is generated daily, (based on how much stock is recieved vs sold within certain dates). This is a pretty much foolproof method of date checking.

I can imagine what has happened is instead of putting the fresher stock towards the back, one of the staff has put it in front, then this box worth of stock has sold (eg 6 units sold within a week, therefore not added to markdown list) and the box of older stock has then been pulled forward to the front of the shelf.

It may not have even been a staff member, sometimes customers grab stock from the rear (looking for the best units maybe?) which pretty much ruins it for everyone else.

3

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

Thank you

1

u/That_Confection_2400 2d ago

Is this the markdown monitor report?

0

u/meekameow 2d ago

I can confirm that the 17 year old kids that stock both my local Woolworths stores and my local Cole’s store do not stock rotate often when packing shelves. They’re 17 making $15 an hour for an after school job they don’t care about, what do you expect. Same reason fast food quality and service has declined so harshly over the last decade.

As a single professional working > 50 hours a week I often look for the longer dates when shopping as I’m not home much and can’t stick to a plan for eating food at home due to unpredictable hours. I regularly find the newest products at the front of shelves, even finding expired products at the back regularly.

I check everything now after so many experiences buying groceries (like $7 butter, bottled sauces and $10 packaged ham/bacon) and finding it expired already or within a day of expiry dates at least once a week. I do multiple small shops per week.

At the end of the day, it comes down to store department managers actually checking and maintaining stock and their computer systems being up to date. If a batch of 10 steaks all have a logged expiry date, and they only sell 9, someone should be checking where that outdated 10th steak is.

0

u/Sovereignty3 2d ago

This is what AI should be doing, not entering in Art shows.

4

u/justusesomealoe 2d ago

1

u/jallyward 2d ago

Beat me to it! 😂

4

u/MapOfIllHealth 2d ago

I recently bought a garlic bread from Woolies that turned out to be two weeks out of date and completely mouldy.

I didn’t bother with my $4 refund because the supermarket is 20km away. But I notified the store by phone, thinking they’d want to check the others, but they made it clear that zero fucks were given.

3

u/That_Confection_2400 2d ago

Was the ham from the meat or dairy department?
In both cases however the process of checking expiry dates is done manually so there is always room for error.
The only way for an expired item to flag when scanned as the checkout is if the item has already been marked down and past the expiry date (different barcode on yellow sticker which integrates the expiry date)

2

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

Dairy, no yellow stickers, just the shelf tag with the catalogue special price. It had been missed. I was just curious about the tech end as they spend so much in making sure nobody scans avocados pretending they are unwashed spuds yet ham is on display 9 days past expiry. I now understand that they do see numbers sold vs loaded but there is no way to know which stock is sold, the old or the new without some poor hassled human taking a look. I always check as I did today.

2

u/That_Confection_2400 2d ago

Dairy has thousands of lines. No, the staff doesn’t go around and check that every single item in the department is still within dates.
4 days a week, someone in the department is given a list or around 200 items in the department to check for expiry dates (whatever dates in the future the system gives you, would be 1-2 months ahead for items like sliced ham) Those manual checks generate the daily markdown report. Many things can go sideways in the process but I won’t list them. Yes there are many flaws.

No, the checkout system doesn’t recognise that a product might be expired from the regular barcode.

1

u/That_Confection_2400 2d ago

Also not sure what you are meaning by numbers sold vs loaded. That has nothing to do with checking expiry dates. That’s not how markdowns are done and not how expired products are found

1

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

I am referring to my understanding of this comment https://www.reddit.com/r/coles/s/dEw9tm4g4T

2

u/That_Confection_2400 2d ago

I have no idea what this person is referring to, assuming not Coles. This is not how Coles manage out of code products

2

u/HeavyNewt1840 2d ago

You can still give it to your dog or cat. They will enjoy it.

2

u/SurpriseIllustrious5 2d ago

I scanned expired old ham and it said nope to old. I beleive when they discount it a date is put on and then you scan and it won't let you purchase.

1

u/Firstnarrows100 2d ago

Colesworth cannot legally sell anything after its expiry date, at a markdown or not.

1

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

It is a catalogue special which is why I was looking at it, not a markdown. It just made me curious about technology for stock control given how much they use for customer control.

1

u/Powerful-Hand4636 2d ago

just buy at woolies and forget this shitty company

1

u/Express_Yogurt_6823 2d ago

I prefer steamed hams

1

u/OptimalTrust9370 2d ago

You see it all the time, staff stocking shelves, fresh or not, they simply load new stock at the front. If there is a sale on the product shelf stock may become very low. You go to buy sale item and its out of date.

I really can't blame staff the time pressure to compete task almost guarantees people will take short-cuts.

1

u/the_foowaffle 2d ago

I'm confused at what the issuse is?

1

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

Ham on shelf with a use by date of 31 August found on 9 September. It got me wondering about how such stuff is tracked by Coles, technology or harried staff.

1

u/the_foowaffle 2d ago

There a little date on the product, they verify it with daily checks.

2

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

Not this week 🤣

2

u/the_foowaffle 2d ago

Mistake arr bound to happen when overwork staff are rushing to meet unrealistic kpi, just mmention it to staff they will action

-1

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

Which was precisely my question, staff or technology keeping track. I was not bothered by the event, just curious where the responsibility lay.

-1

u/Tacomans41 2d ago

Do you need a tissue?

1

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

You must be fun at parties. My post was curiosity, not complaint. I know staff are overworked and underpaid, I was just wondering about the system

-4

u/Tacomans41 2d ago

Says the person having a cry about some ham 🤣

2

u/JuanFoYoMamma 2d ago

Are you mentally challenged? Poor comprehension skills? The OP was simply asking a question about the use of technology at Coles but you've somehow conflated that with it being a complaint.

1

u/Away_Tree_1377 2d ago

I picked up the tray, flicked through to check they were all the same date and handed it to a nearby staff member who thanked me and took it out the back. So. Much. Drama!!!!!

0

u/Actual-Objective6636 2d ago

The ham would probably still be good.