Woolies accepts return of `bad' produce

SUPERMARKET giant Woolworths has fired another shot in the supermarket competition wars with a campaign to weed out bad apples in store.

From today, consumers can return fresh fruit and vegetables to Woolworths store, without a receipt, and they will be offered a refund or product exchange with no questions asked.

“We are actively encouaraging any customer who is not completely happy with the quality or freshness of their Woolworths fruit and vegetables to return them to us,’’ Greg Foran, director of Woolworths Supermarkets, said.

A company spokesman said the move follows a year of consumer evaluation about the company’s fresh fruit and vegetables as well as a revamp of its distribution and supply chain.

Consumers unhappy with produce from a store are already protected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Act and can demand a replacement or a refund, however, this usually requires some proof of purchase.

Coles said that the Woolworths offer was just playing catchup.

"We would always offer customers a replacement product or, if they prefer, a refund. They would not need a receipt," a Coles spokesman said.

"This is part of our 100 percent satisfied promise and applies to fresh produce just the same as any other Coles brand product," the spokesman said.

"We've been doing it for some time so it's nothing new about what Woolworths have announced. They are simply catching up."

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Woolies refunds fresh food from any store

 MONEY BACK: Woolworths has promised to provide a refund all fresh fruit and vegetables if consumers find a problem, no questions asked, even if the item was purchased from a competitor. Source: The Australian

Woolworths to give refunds for bad produce No receipt needed, no questions asked Policy an 'extension' of fresh food promise

WOOLWORTHS has promised to refund your bad fruit and vegetables with "no questions asked" - even if you didn't buy them there.

From today, consumers can return fresh fruit and vegetables to Woolworths store without a receipt and they will be offered a refund or product exchange with no questions asked.

"We are actively encouraging any customer who is not completely happy with the quality or freshness of their Woolworths fruit and vegetables to return them to us," Greg Foran, director of Woolworths Supermarkets told The Courier Mail.

Customers unhappy with produce from a store are already protected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Act which says they can demand a replacement or a refund, but this usually requires some proof of purchase.

Woolworths spokesman Simon Berger told news.com.au the company wasn’t worried about customers who could exploit the policy by asking for money for bad produce bought elsewhere.

"We trust our customers because at the end of the day we want them to trust us and that means delivering the best fruit and vegetables every time," said Mr Foran.

"What's more important to us is that people have confidence that they get the best and freshest food from Woolworths and if they're not completely happy with that they can return it and we can make it right for them."

It comes amid a supermarket war between Woolworths and Coles, which introduced its aggressive 'Down Down' campaign to slash the price of Coles-branded household staples including milk, eggs and chicken.

Outgoing Woolworths chief Grant Luscombe last month denied a supermarket price war was breaking out, saying rivals were fighting to give the "impression" of price leadership.

But Mr Berger would not be drawn on whether its recent move was in response to the war, which is currently the subject of a Senate inquiry that is due to release its findings in a report in October.

He said the policy was an "extension" of the promise delivered in Woolworths' tag line "the fresh food people", which refers to its aim to deliver produce from farms to stores quickly.

"Customers have always had choices and they always will we're only successful if we deliver what customers what and do it better than others," he said.

"The fresh food guarantee is building on something we’ve been focused on for 20 years…that's what we're sticking our neck out on today."

This comes after Woolworths completed a year of consumer evaluation about the company's fresh fruit and vegetables as well as a revamp of its distribution and supply chain.

"In the last year we've had a customer sensory taste test panel. They want them fresh both at the time they buy them off the shelf and a few days later when they're still in the fruit bowl," said Mr Berger.

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