Coles supermarkets cut home deliveries, double price

Suzanne Robson
Moreland Leader
February 15, 2013

MANY Coles supermarkets have cut back the days they home-deliver or cut out deliveries altogether, and in at least one case have doubled the delivery fee.

Brunswick Coles’ decision to cut the number of days a week it delivers from six to three and increase its fee from $3 to $6 has angered pensioner Shane McDermott.

The Brunswick resident said he was furious when Union St Coles supermarket staff told him about the 100 per cent fee hike and that they would not be able to deliver his groceries that day because delivery days had been cut back.

Mr McDermott, who has a stent in his heart and is unable to walk long distances, said he had previously used the Hope St bus to carry home his groceries but had been left without transport when the bus service was scrapped in September last year.

He said the Coles delivery service was valuable for people in the community who did not drive and could not carry heavy groceries.

“It is bad news for me because I can’t afford a taxi to get the stuff home,” Mr McDermott said.

Coles spokesman Jim Cooper said most of its supermarkets had cut the home delivery service altogether, citing declining customer demand for it.

Mr Cooper said Brunswick Coles contracted a driver to deliver groceries but had cut the days it offered the service because it was not as popular as it had been.

He said the price of deliveries had increased to ensure the service remained viable for contractors.

“We understand the concerns of this particular customer, but it is simply a product of declining numbers,” Mr Cooper said.
Online shopping, rather than home delivery organised by individual stores, was growing in popularity.

He said the delivery service conditions and fees varied from store to store and there had not been an across-the-board fee increase.