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Woolworths worker pays for Melbourne mum’s groceries in kind act

A Woolworths customer has been left “mortified” after a staff member stepped in to help her out during a tough moment.

The Melbourne woman explained she was having technical issues while paying for her groceries during a recent trip to the supermarket.

At the same time, her newborn baby was “kicking off”, prompting a Woolworths worker to step in and pay for the woman’s groceries.

The customer took to Reddit to explain that while she was very “grateful”, she was also “mortified” over the experience – and wanted to see if there was a way she could thank the woman without getting her in trouble.

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“I just got back from Woolworths where I tried to pay with my phone on self-checkout,” she said.

“It wasn’t working so they printed me a barcode and took me to the service desk to pay, but my phone payment still didn’t work.

“After trying a few times and my newborn kicking off, the staff member said, ‘Don’t worry it’s on me.’

“I was really taken back and asked if I could transfer her the money.

“She said no and then said, seriously it’s on me. My baby was screaming the place down by this point. I was so grateful and also mortified.”

The encounter left the woman asking questions about the Woolies staff member was allowed to do this or if it was “dodgy”.

“I want to go back and give her something to say thank you, but don’t want to get her in trouble if she’s done something she’s not supposed to have done,” she said.

“Anyone work at Woolworths and can tell me what the deal is?”

People were quick to tell the woman to leave it and not draw attention to the worker’s actions.

“Maybe accept the kindness shown and pay it forward to someone else in need. In that way, you don’t risk getting the staff member in trouble,” one person said.

Another added: “What’s more likely? They risk being sacked or even arrested for a total stranger, or pays a few bucks to help out someone obviously trying their best but struggling.

“My partner works at a supermarket and has paid for people before. It feels good. Pay it forward.”

A third, who works at a different supermarket, said: “I’ve paid the difference for a few people that have come up short a couple of times and as far as I’m aware that is completely fine, even seen my boss do Item.

“Don’t know why it would be any different at Woolies. Sounds like excellent customer service to me.”

Another added: “I work at Woolworths, the company only cares if the products are paid for. She likely paid out of her own pocket for you, I’ve done it before.”

Read related topics:MelbourneWoolworths

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Business

Woolworths makes change to nationwide opening hours: New times revealed

Woolworths has rolled out major trading hour changes to stores across the country in what it hopes will better align its national operations.

The retail giant announced it would be changing the trading hours of both its nationwide fresh food counters and its overall operating hours so it could “offer a consistent customer experience”.

A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed with news.com.au on Tuesday that all Fresh Service delis would now be trading from 7am to 8pm every day of the week.

The seafood and meat counters would now all be trading from 9.30am to 7pm during the week, and 9am to 7pm on weekends.

“Customers can still purchase similar products, such as chicken breast fillets and salmon, within our packed Fresh Convenience range located in-store,” the spokesperson said.

They said “select stores across the country will open one hour later or close one hour earlier to align with other stores and better match customer shopping patterns”.

“We’ll closely monitor customer and team member feedback over the next few months.”

Changes were introduced in response “to a shift in customer shopping behaviour”, the spokesperson said.

“A handful of stores will operate longer fresh service counter hours as there’s still high customer demand in those stores,” they added.

News.com.au understands the change was trialled in May across a handful of NSW stores before it was rolled out nationwide.

Signage has been erected at the front of all stores and displayed at the Fresh Service counters to inform customers of the new hours.

Meanwhile Australians are experiencing deja vu as shelves across the nation are laid out bare.

Australians are being hit with a national egg shortage, as consumers move towards free-range eggs amid rising production costs, extreme weather events and worker shortages.

Supermarkets across the country are back to implementing purchase limits, with farmers grappling to keep up with demand after they decreased their chicken numbers during lockdown.

But free-range eggs aren’t the only product Australian shoppers are being stripped of, with supermarkets reporting bare shelves for other household items such as chickpeas, lentils, lettuce, tissues and cold and flu tablets.

“We’re experiencing reduced availability across some of our lentil and chickpea products due to supply chain delays,” a Woolworths spokesman said.

The supply chain issues are a combination of the war in Ukraine, flooding and other extreme weather events on Australian shores.

Read related topics:Woolworth’s

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