Coles shopper ‘stunned' after getting $50 item free due to little-known rule: ‘Insane'

Yahoo

15-05-2025

A Perth woman has shared the 'insane' supermarket rule that meant she was able to get a $50 item for free at Coles. The little-known grocery rule proves why it can pay to take notice of prices while you are shopping and scanning your items.
Hana Anderson was shopping at Coles and went to buy a $50 beauty tool, which was on clearance sale for $25. The 24-year-old social media strategist told Yahoo Finance the item ended up scanning at the higher original price at the checkout, so she queried it with a worker.
'She said, 'No worries, let me just go price check'. She called someone to price check, who confirmed that it was $25,' she said.
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'She was like, 'All good. If anything scans for the incorrect price, you get the item for free'.
'So I got this $50 item for free because it scanned at the wrong price.'
Anderson said she was a long-time Coles shopper and was 'stunned' by the rule.
Like many Aussies, she's noticed her grocery bill going up over the last few years and said she was 'stoked' to get the item for free.Coles has a Promise of Price Scanning policy, which entitles customers to a free item if it scans at a higher price than advertised or ticketed on the shelf.
Woolworths also offers a similar policy called its Price Scan Policy, along with Aldi and some IGAs.
'At Coles, we take pricing accuracy seriously, and our 'Promise on Price Scanning' is in place to give our customers complete confidence at the checkout,' a Coles spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
'If a single item scans at a higher price than the advertised or ticketed shelf price for that item, we will give the customer that item free.
'In the case of this customer, we're grateful that she brought this price discrepancy to our attention of our team member in such a courteous manner, who was happy to apply our Promise on Price policy.'
Coles' policy applies to items that scan at a higher price, meaning you don't actually have to have paid for the item first to get it for free.
If multiple items are scanned at the higher price, Coles will give you the first item free and the remaining items will be at the advertised or ticketed shelf price.
The policy excludes items over $50.
Anderson shared a video online about the rule and was flooded with messages from other shoppers.
Some Aussies said they weren't aware of the rule, while others said they had gotten free items in the past.
'This happened to me a few weeks ago. I was buying some vitamins and on the shelf it said $19.95 or something. I called her over and she gave it to me for free.. I was happy to pay the $19,' one wrote.
'Yep, it happened to me with lettuce. I know it was only $3-4 but they gave it to me for free because it scanned at the wrong price,' another said.
'I got a NutriBullet baby blender for free from Cole's because it scanned wrong! Haha wild,' a third added.
Anderson said she was 'super surprised' by the rule and encouraged other Aussies to check prices were correct at the checkout.
'It's such a good hack,' she said.