Coles customer lets rip over anti-theft trolley saga: ‘What?!’

A Coles customer has lashed out over the supermarket’ new anti-theft trolleys after an alarming experience at her local store.

Sharing on social media, the shopper claimed that she was unable to push her full trolley of groceries out of the store due to a security incident with another customer in a different part of the store.

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In the viral video, the shopper – who uses the handle @jessicadorante – explained that she’d already purchased her items at a manned checkout when an alarm sounded and Coles’ new security gates were activated in the self-serve checkout area.

She claimed that as a result of the security scare, her trolley was disabled – stopping her moving her trolley of paid groceries.

Last year, Coles introduced new anti-theft trolleys that feature sensors in its wheels and lock if a customer tries to leave the store without paying.

7NEWS.com.au understands that Coles’ new trolleys do not become be disabled when there is a security breach in another part of the store, and that its smart gate security technology is not linked to its anti-theft trolleys.

It’s believed that a random malfunction may have been the cause of this shopper’s experience.

In her video, the shopper claimed she had already purchased a few items when the incident occurred.

“So I have a story about Coles’ new security measures,” she said.

“I was at Coles the other day, I wasn’t in the self service checkout. So my particular Coles they have glass fencing all along the front gates that have to open to allow you to go into actual Coles.

“And then at the self-service area, they’ve now installed gates that allow you out if they determine that you’ve paid for your food.

“There are also cameras above the self-service checkouts, cameras all through the store.

“On this day, I had just gone in for a couple of things and I went to a human because the self service checkout was packed.

“So I went to a human cashier and went through that way. I just finished paying for my groceries and I went to push my trolley away.

“At the same time that I’m pushing my trolley away from the checkout, the alarms in the self-service area start buzzing and there’s lights flashing and the gates are flashing red – they wouldn’t let anybody out.

“And my trolley made this weird buzz and then stopped working like I couldn’t push it and I didn’t know what the f*** was going on.”

The customer went on to explain that the Coles checkout worker who served her said the trolley had been disabled due to the alarms in the self-checkout area.

“So I’m still trying to push my trolley thinking that the wheel got jammed or something,” she said.

“Because you know, that happens all the time with those trolleys – I’m pushing it, I’m pushing it … f***.

“And I look back and she’s like, ‘Oh, you’ll just have to wait’ and I didn’t think she was talking to me. So I’m still trying to push it.

“She’s like, ‘Yeah, you’ll just have to wait. It’s to prevent theft.”

“I was like, ‘Prevent theft of what I’ve just paid you?’

“And she’s like, “Oh because the self service areas alarms are going off at the moment the trolleys are disabled.”

“What, the trolleys get disabled now?”

In the end, the shopper said she was only able to leave once the self-serve security incident was sorted.

“So I had to stand there and wait for this lady from the self service checkout to come over once whatever was going on in there had finished,” she said.

“She had this machine that she pointed at the wheel of my trolley to enable it again so I could leave the f***ing store.

“So even though I wasn’t in the self-service checkout area, I was still affected by what was f***ing going on in there and couldn’t leave Coles.

“There were no gates preventing me – just a trolley full of food that I just paid for.

“I couldn’t leave until somebody enabled my trolley.”

The customer’s video sparked a huge response online, attracting more than 240,000 views and more than 13,000 reactions.

Many felt the supermarket’s security measures were going too far.

“Surely all these preventative measures are more expensive than if they’d just kept servers!” one said.

Another added: “Amazing they can afford robot trolleys but can’t drop their prices on average food items.”

Coles responds

A Coles spokesperson said its trolley lock technology is used in selected stores.

“While most of our customers do the right thing, unfortunately a small number don’t,” a spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.

“Coles has a range of security measures in place to reduce theft from our stores including CCTV, electronic article surveillance (EAS), and in some stores new smart gate technology that automatically opens as customers make payment for their products.

“Additionally, trolley lock technology has been in place at a number of our stores in recent years and this technology uses sensors to prevent trolleys leaving the store if someone hasn’t first paid at a register.”