Can Woolworths Withhold Stock of Banana Prawns on Sale if It Is A Clearance Item?

cobba on 30/03/2019 - 07:20
Last edited 30/03/2019 - 20:34 by 2 other users

So i am in Woolworths yesterday (evening 6:30pm) in the seafood section. They have Banana prawns on clearance however there is none on display (all sold). I call the assistant and tell him i would like some Banana prawns and ih he had any "out back" in the coolroom…. He straight out told me "probably not" and if yes, its too late in the day to get more out…. After a discussion with him and a few minutes passing, i finally persauded him to go look, which on return, he said no, they are all sold.

I ended up buying frozen chinese prawn meat instead

At the checkout, and still thinking what had happened, i call on the manager and explained what had happened. She said what here and she would go have a chat to the assistant. Before she left, for benefit of doubt, i asked that she check the coolroom for available stock (i believe he lied to me)

When she returned, she said that the assistant in the seafood section should have told me that they already met their daily allowance for selling the clearance item….. Why a daily allowance was asked by me, especially if the item is a clearance product??…. The manager went on to say "it gives everyone a chance to buy some at a good price"….

Now this is where i am having trouble understanding…. I thought clearance means lower the price to attract buyers and sell all of the stock as quick as possible…… Not save stock to sell the next day….

Anyway, it continues with a hot discussion with the manager….. Finally, and get this, i ask for a rain check at the same price which i was given…. Like, yes i will be back this morning but, its the same thing….. They could have just given me the prawns there and then….

Finally, when i quizzed the manager about the available stock in the coolroom, she said yes there is, so the guy in the seafood section clearly straight out lied to me….

Pretty bad conduct from woolworths….

So the question is, can they withhold stock from sale if it is a clearance item….

Oh, i have just checked my raincheck before leaving my home to go to woolworths, and the manager forgot to write down the price (i think they were about $11.50 kg) of the prawns….. Looks like i am in for another challenge this morning hahaha…..

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Comments

  • Some Human on 30/03/2019 - 07:26
    +55

    Troll post?

    • AnDyStYLe on 30/03/2019 - 07:33
      +42

      I wish my Friday nights were as eventful as op’s! Sounded like he had an awesome Friday nights outing

      • bloom on 30/03/2019 - 08:03
        +34

        And he's going back this morning, super Saturday!

        • [Deactivated] on 01/04/2019 - 08:32
          +6

          Yet again another self entitled ego, not understanding the difference between a free market, a communist dictatorship and mob mentality.
          The business owns the product, you are on their private property. They say their policy is to sell as such amount of the product. What are you gonna do about it? Bring them to the supreme leader?

          Find something else, somewhere else or run your own business.

          • krunchymoses on 01/04/2019 - 18:06
            +2

            @[Deactivated]: I can't believe you actually managed to turn a post like this into a capitalism v communism thing. Holy shit you must really set the comments section on news articles on fire.

    • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 12:47
      +42

      Trawl post.

  • elgrande on 30/03/2019 - 07:26
    +27

    Whilst it may not be good form, they can withhold any stock that they do not want to sell - they do have ownership of the stock.

    I used to have to clear out the seafood in the cabinet but leave the fresh unopened stock in the cool room out the back (learnt the hard way by clearing out the next days stock).

  • EFC94 on 30/03/2019 - 07:35
    +36

    Maybe the stock that was out the back didn't need to be sold on clearance and still had an extra few days to be sold?

  • bobbified on 30/03/2019 - 08:30
    +102

    After a discussion with him and a few minutes passing, i finally persauded him to go look

    You didn't persuade him to do anything! He just did it hoping you'd leave him alone after that.

    Seriously, if anyone wonders why some retail staff come across as aggro, it's because they frequently come across these entitled and condescending customers like OP.

      • bobbified on 30/03/2019 - 09:16
        +41

        This is the most worthless piece of advice anyone could give..

        I haven't provided any advice.

        You were told that there were no more banana prawns, yet, you couldn't accept that answer and you stood there arguing with the assistant behind the counter. Were you expecting him to pull some prawns out of his butt? You still weren't satisfied with that exchange, automatically assumed that he was lying so you, and felt the need to raise it with a manager - even after you already walked away.

        I dont let myself get bullied, but when I go out, I treat people with the respect and decency they deserve.

          • bobbified on 30/03/2019 - 10:11
            +15

            @cobba:

            which on return, he said no, they are all sold.

            And you still didn't believe him, you felt the need to raise it with a manager.

            There was no argument with the guy, just a discussion to go check

            So, it wasn't an argument, it was a "discussion". Okay…. if that's what you want to call it. I'm sure he would've liked to have walked away from that "discussion" if he didn't think you'd escalate it and give him more shit to deal with later. But wait, you did escalate it anyway with a manager. Very kind of you and I hope you feel proud of yourself.

            • callum9999 on 31/03/2019 - 13:41

              @bobbified: While the OP is incredibly annoying, in their defense, they were totally justified to think it might not be true that there's more in the back given it turned out there actually was more in the back.

              Not that it means they were necessarily lying. It's not like stock is nearly laid out in clearly labelled boxes. It's not always easy to see what there is.

        • kolorijo on 01/04/2019 - 09:04
          +2

          Were you expecting him to pull some prawns out of his butt?

          He literally should do this.

      • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 10:36
        +18

        You sound very entitled and a gunslinger of "rights".

        Yes, yes, the whole world doesn't seem to operate how you imagined it to.

      • NoApostrophePlurals on 31/03/2019 - 15:58
        +3

        His upvotes and your downvotes say otherwise

      • smartazz104 on 01/04/2019 - 17:10

        You are clearly alone in your way of thinking, so yes, double down on your idiocy.

    • paablo84 on 31/03/2019 - 20:50
      +6

      That’s why I walk to the back/out of customer’s sight, stand around for a little while, then come back and say “no, sorry” again. But I will actually get the stock if I know we have it, because we don’t want to be losing potential sales either.

    • kaleidoscope on 31/03/2019 - 21:22

      well put.
      people these days … omg

  • Fergy1987 on 30/03/2019 - 08:38
    +47

    As a former supermarket employee I can tell you when we say we will look out the back….We arent looking…usually we just go out the back, stand there for a bit knowing there is no stock…..and then walk back out and tell you there is nothing there.

    • elgrande on 30/03/2019 - 12:41
      +5

      I agree, its better than saying no.

    • TerryJustTerry on 01/04/2019 - 08:19

      Some people do that, not all *

    • neyo on 01/04/2019 - 17:50

      Standing out back chatting to back dock colleagues or anyone else out back*…. and then walk back out and tell you there is nothing there

    • Interceptor on 30/03/2019 - 09:40
      +32

      Good onya, Karen/Susan or Thelma….

    • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 10:37
      +71

      Who's laughing now ……

      Everyone at the store watching your conduct.

    • Levathian on 30/03/2019 - 13:34
      +18

      lol, I hope you realise the manager, the "assistant" and anyone else you spoke to, will talk to each other behind closed doors, laugh about how petty the customer (you) was, and then they'll probably recognise you the next time you go in and give you bad service (again).

    • Hirolol on 31/03/2019 - 08:18

      Did you enjoy the prawns?

      How did you cook them?
      Did you enjoy them with some nice wine?

      • jackspratt on 31/03/2019 - 16:05
        +7

        Did you enjoy them with some nice wine?

        Doubtful - fresh out of whine.

        • Justtip on 01/04/2019 - 06:12
          +3

          Oh no, pretty sure OP has shown he has plenty of whine

      • Hunter14 on 02/04/2019 - 00:40
        +1

        Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That…that's about it.

    • terrys on 31/03/2019 - 10:16
      +13

      "involved last night are deceitful"
      No, merely that you appear to unaware that:
      A: An assistant cannot just take any stock from the freezer, but has certain bays and areas that stock may be taken from
      B: there are differing areas and temperature zones in many large freezers, with the temperature varying from -28-32 [storage] to -15-18 [stock for display that day]
      C: The batches of prawns come with provenance, so when the inevitable need for recall that can arise with thousands of sales over hundreds of stores occurs, the source, stock and area of sales can be quickly verified and any epidemiological action taken as quickly as is feasible.
      D: If they are in the freezer, they are not on "clearance". Clearance is the already defrosted/warmer than -18C stock that cannot go back in the freezer. I bought some oreodory last night under just such conditions, and didn't need to be told it was for cooking that night, whether or not I intended to on-freeze it.
      E. You have no entitlement whatsoever to insist on making any purchase at any price form any vendor should they not wish to serve you or make such a sale.

    • Deridas on 31/03/2019 - 11:54

      Yeah, you might think you're getting an upgraded product at a lower price after your antics. Then again, you might not, or perhaps you might, but with special ingredients in addition, you wouldn't have a clue. Enjoy your BBQ prawns tonight mate.

    • Imhereforcomments on 31/03/2019 - 19:28
      +2

      You do realise management has exercise the option to use the petty write off account for 'the BS that happened the day before'. Companies already budgeted for customers like you. I am laughing now, hope that helps.

    • kolorijo on 01/04/2019 - 09:09
      +1

      Enjoy your BBQ King Butt Prawns mate!

    • smartazz104 on 01/04/2019 - 17:11
      +2

      Must be nice to live with no self esteem, self-awareness and dignity.

  • SBOB on 30/03/2019 - 09:38
    +20

    It's seafood.
    Its likely that they wanted to clear out the boxes that were either near sell by date or already deforested. They wanted to sell off the stock they wanted to sell (which clearly worked..non left)

    It's not like the banana prawn is now extinct and therefore your 'clearance' analogy isn't valid

    You're the kind of person that retail staff enjoy their interactions with and in no way do things just to be able to get rid of you /s

    • Daabido on 30/03/2019 - 10:02
      +13

      I refuse to buy deforested prawns. Won't somebody think of the underwater forests?

      • fantombloo on 30/03/2019 - 10:53
        +4

        You laugh but prawn trawling destroys the ocean floor in ways that makes the Amazonian deforestation (thanks to people who "need their meat") look like it's barely been touched.

        • whooah1979 on 30/03/2019 - 13:50
          +5

          prawn trawling destroys the ocean floor in ways that makes the Amazonian deforestation

          This is why we should eat more land mammals. Save the seafood for the whales.

      • SBOB on 30/03/2019 - 11:10

        Ha.. thanks, and thankyou auto correct ;)

  • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 10:02
    +7

    The prawns are usually frozen and defrosted at the store just before selling them. You are better off to buy frozen prawns. They only sell the ones they defrost.

  • barbarella on 30/03/2019 - 10:31
    +5

    All smells fishy to me :/

  • BertieBrown on 30/03/2019 - 10:37
    +2

    I mean pretty much, as far as I know. As elgrande has said, it’s pretty shit business practice, but they don’t have to sell an advertised item, or have stock as there is usually a caveat that stock may be limited. It’s annoying, but yeah.

  • bdl on 30/03/2019 - 10:46
    +3

    Maybe Woolies gave the OP the raw prawn

  • altomic on 30/03/2019 - 11:02
    +89

    sounds like you are being denied your right as a customer.

    start with a call to their service line.

    then,hit up their facebook page - you need to alert other customers.

    Next a registered letter to head office seek fair and equiable resolution.

    If that does not provide a positive result then step it up with an online campaign to really expose these fraudsters :
    *petition on change.org
    *facebook campaign
    *instagram
    *twitter #wherearetheprawns

    Hit up the rival store to see if they will price beat and gain positive PR for "doing the right thing" against woolworths obvios bait & switching.

    No result yet? Then time for the supermarket ombudsman.

    Followed by small claims tribunal - for the economic loss.

    Still no resolve?

    Organise a protest outside the store , and every store nationwide. Should be easy to do as your social media campaign would have attravted 100s of thosands of people who sympathise with your plight.

    If wouldnt surprise me if your plight has reached global status and people from every nation join with you to boycott woolworths and its conglomerate stores.

    Soon woolworths notices the sharp decline in income, this is noticed by the media who have been following your plight from day 1 with piqued interest. Woolworths share prices start to weaken and with in days start to plummet as investor (who are sympathtic to you) sell stock.

    People,bouyed on by this downturn in woolworths stock, get increasing angry for woolworths denial of banana prawns….overnight 13 stores across australia are burnt down. Another 78 are cleared out by raging mobs.

    The head of woolworths disappears mysteriously. The guy who denied you the banana prawns releases a youtube song which gets 127,000,000 likes

    Woolworths closes all its supermarkets as people refuse to shop there. 1000s of people lose their jobs. 100s of people cant pay their mortgages. They ask the banks for time to pay but the banks show no mercy and foreclose on those loans. People , heartened by the solidarity of others at banana prawn gate, rally together to now bring down the banks. Not only a physical assault on the headquarters of the banks but the every branch is destoyed. Meantime hacker from around the world infiltrate the banks and destroy all their financial records.

    The world turns to chaos, but people view it as the path to change. Like the pboenix rising from ashes. A new civilisation will emerge where money is no longer used and every one is happy.

    In a hundred years People will celebrate and revere you - a giant prawn will be built - so large it will be visible from space.

    OR

    Maybe as others said, they were clearing shortdated prawns and the ones out the back had a longer ezpiry so they didn't need to be cleared/discounted

    • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 11:05
      +2

      And when they erect the giant prawn, a subculture will take offense heralding an aeon of intergalactic conflict.

      • altomic on 30/03/2019 - 11:07
        +2

        not again!!

        why didn't people learn the first time!!

        • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 11:08
          +2

          Because historians and history. TLDR.

          (Pretty much happening in real time also).

      • Save Medicare on 31/03/2019 - 11:56

        fookin prawns

    • elgrande on 30/03/2019 - 12:45
      +1

      When is the movie release date?

      • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 14:20
        +1

        They're sourcing the prop for the giant prawn now…

        but the store assistant is claiming it's out of stock, so…

      • Justtip on 01/04/2019 - 06:16

        Couldn't find an actor willing to play OP role..

    • Miss B on 31/03/2019 - 15:25

      In solidarity with OP I will never buy prawns again. I hate prawns, but that shouldn't take anything away from the sentiment.

  • Ughhh on 30/03/2019 - 11:13
    +2

    Wow, just wow.

  • 13 on 30/03/2019 - 12:44
    +1

    Yes i was just down there…i also had a lovely time discussing cheese krankys

    • Zenyatta on 31/03/2019 - 17:50

      What's a cheese kranky? I want one.

  • whooah1979 on 30/03/2019 - 13:41

    Why reduce op to basically nothing?

    So i am in Woolworths yesterday (evening 6:30pm) in the seafood section. They have Banana prawns on clearance however there is none on display (all sold). I call the assistant and tell him i would like some Banana prawns and ih he had any "out back" in the coolroom…. He straight out told me "probably not" and if yes, its too late in the day to get more out…. After a discussion with him and a few minutes passing, i finally persauded him to go look, which on return, he said no, they are all sold.

    I ended up buying frozen chinese prawn meat instead

    At the checkout, and still thinking what had happened, i call on the manager and explained what had happened. She said what here and she would go have a chat to the assistant. Before she left, for benefit of doubt, i asked that she check the coolroom for available stock (i believe he lied to me)

    When she returned, she said that the assistant in the seafood section should have told me that they already met their daily allowance for selling the clearance item….. Why a daily allowance was asked by me, especially if the item is a clearance product??…. The manager went on to say "it gives everyone a chance to buy some at a good price"….

    Now this is where i am having trouble understanding…. I thought clearance means lower the price to attract buyers and sell all of the stock as quick as possible…… Not save stock to sell the next day….

    Anyway, it continues with a hot discussion with the manager….. Finally, and get this, i ask for a rain check at the same price which i was given…. Like, yes i will be back this morning but, its the same thing….. They could have just given me the prawns there and then….

    Finally, when i quizzed the manager about the available stock in the coolroom, she said yes there is, so the guy in the seafood section clearly straight out lied to me….

    Pretty bad conduct from woolworths….

    So the question is, can they withhold stock from sale if it is a clearance item….

    Oh, i have just checked my raincheck before leaving my home to go to woolworths, and the manager forgot to write down the price (i think they were about $11.50 kg) of the prawns….. Looks like i am in for another challenge this morning hahaha…..

    • Levathian on 30/03/2019 - 13:52
      +3

      Why are they giving a raincheck for a clearance item? We don't do that.

      • whooah1979 on 30/03/2019 - 13:55

        I don't know what to say other than…..

      • Lichen6420 on 31/03/2019 - 14:51

        Managers prerogative… joys of not being a minion

      • highdealer on 01/04/2019 - 00:43

        Pretty sure they did it to troll the op. They didn't put a price on it so…

    • ihbh on 30/03/2019 - 14:15
      +5

      I've never seen fresh banana prawns for $11.50/kg. hmm… so you want fresh prawns at the clearance price of old prawns, and you think ill of Woolworths when they don't give it to you?

      • whooah1979 on 30/03/2019 - 14:22
        +3

        Banana prawns at this price is leftover stock that nobody wants to buy.

        • ihbh on 30/03/2019 - 15:36

          That's what I meant.

    • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2019 - 16:07
      +7

      Two possibilities:

      1. OP realizes that they've made an error in judgement and behaved like an arse.

      2. OP thinks we are all making an error in judgement and we're all arses.

      I'm an optimist when it comes to the ability for one to self improve.

    • FeedingTheSnail on 31/03/2019 - 22:00

      That clears things up, I was reading this thread yesterday trying to work out what the OP originally wrote by piecing together everybody's responses.

  • AdamFury on 30/03/2019 - 17:06

    You sure you didn't already go in and help yourself to some banana prawns already before this happened?

  • Ughhh on 30/03/2019 - 23:06
    +7

    You would've gotten them for free or better compensation if you started to roll on the floor and cry. You got ripped off, still paid too much. Should go back and demand your rights.

  • Associatedsamboread @ Woolworths on 31/03/2019 - 08:08
    +46
    1. You should not have been given a raincheck on a clearance price
    2. The way seafood at Woolworths works is a two day rule. Once thawed you have two days to sell it. Hence the prawns on clearance would be at the end of that two day rule.
      If the staff member in seafood was to go get new prawns for you they wouldn't be at the clearance price due to this rule

    Ex Woolworths deli/seafood manager

  • SonnyJday on 31/03/2019 - 09:44
    +12

    Happened to me too yesterday. She flat out just said to me there are some out the back but they have a different expire date on it and the whole reason for the clearance is to get rid of the old stock.
    I'm in hospitality so I get it. It's like the "coffee and cake deal"at a cafe.
    Expect to get the old cake.
    Rule #1 in hospitality if its on sale for cheap it's about to expire!
    Unless overstocked. But 95% it's about to expire.

    • Zenyatta on 31/03/2019 - 17:57
      +1

      omg..

      All this time I've been eating stale cake!

      This changes everything..

      • SlickMick on 31/03/2019 - 21:30

        honestly. I thought it was the only way they could justify $6 for a cup of coffee.

        For now on, I get the cake that I want!

    • djones145 on 31/03/2019 - 21:29

      yeah, father in law is a waiter, if u see special dont get it, as its stuff they overstocked and is over due soon!

  • THICKnSLOW on 31/03/2019 - 10:49
    -1

    Free prawns are available from all Colesworth stores!

    Hit up the wastebin aisle at your local store

  • Seraphin7 on 31/03/2019 - 11:17
    +7

    So the question is, can they withhold stock from sale if it is a clearance item….

    Yes. No business is obliged to sell you anything.

  • netjock on 31/03/2019 - 11:41
    +3

    OP doesn't realise contract law which is any items advertised is an "invitation to treat" which is invitation to buy and the seller can refuse because contract is not actually formed until you hand over the money. If you think about you selling your car privately you can advertise it but not obliged to sell at that price, neither can someone hold you to it until there is a contract in writing or record of money changing hands.

  • BrokeB-tch on 31/03/2019 - 12:17
    +3

    Can only imagine the type of soccer mum that would take prawns that far

  • lltravel on 31/03/2019 - 12:21
    +5

    They can do anything they want. They can kick you out of the store if they wanted to

    People are so entitled these days

    Arguing over prawns? I am glad I don't work in hospitality. I wouldn't be able to put up with people like OP

  • FW190 on 31/03/2019 - 12:51
    +4

    in before thread closes - what a nutter!

    • lachhelix on 02/04/2019 - 00:24

      That's what I'm thinking… Do you think they have any idea how ridiculous they sound?!

  • Blugok on 31/03/2019 - 14:08
    +2

    Clearance items = items need to be sold / cleared out, maybe nearing expiry date, not popular item, new product is realeasing soon, etc
    Clearance sale = sells all those clearance items at reduced price to attract potential buyers.

    Obviously, the stock in the fridge is not clearance item. e.g.they could be fresh prawn just came in

  • Tech5 on 31/03/2019 - 14:56
    +4

    That's enough, Karen

  • DiscoJango on 31/03/2019 - 15:57
    +4

    op is a fine individual. putting a rain check on prawns at a supermarket. nirvana has been achieved. well done old sir.

  • smasha01 on 31/03/2019 - 16:18
    +4

    People like this fascinate me. Are you that bored with your life?

  • [Deactivated] on 31/03/2019 - 17:05
    +1

    There's a difference between being frugal and stingy and OP is clearly stingy AF. Cut your losses and move on.

  • LoveMySmile on 31/03/2019 - 18:12
    +4

    Love all the dramas here. Who needs MAFS.

    • LoveMySmile on 31/03/2019 - 18:13

      Though, i stopped watching when inus and sam left!

  • xers on 31/03/2019 - 19:13
    +4

    Having never worked retail before I just assumed that majority of the stories from retail workers about these arsehole entitled customers I keep seeing on Reddit must be made up for karma or something because there's no one sane that I know who would even act close to this.

    That was until I discovered OzBargain's forums section and posts like OP's here.

  • prinsenhof on 31/03/2019 - 21:14

    dunno why the staff didn't just call the police and tell them your trying to steal shit and your acting crazy. You'd just be crapping on about prawns and the police would 100% believe the staff.

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