Australia’s largest supermarket retailer has launched a new promotion dubbed the “Ooshies for adults”, after its previous two campaigns drew customer frustration over unredeemed cookware credits and an early end to its collectables promotion.
The latest offer gives Woolworths Everyday Rewards members one Container Credit for every $20 spent, which can then be used to redeem items from a new 8-piece collection of Fissler stainless steel and glass food storage range.
The promotion has two phases: Customers can earn and redeem credits from September 9 to December 1, followed by a redemption-only period from December 2 to 8.
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In both periods, the terms and conditions state rewards are available “while stocks last”.
That was also a condition of the previous Fissler cookware promotion, which left some customers with credits they were unable to redeem after stock ran out.
This time, however, the terms also warn individual containers of the German cookware brand may sell out across stores at different times.
Woolworths is making the warning particularly clear, urging shoppers to redeem as soon as they reach their target rather than waiting until the end of the promotion.
“We encourage shoppers to redeem early in-store to secure their favourite pieces,” the promotion states.
The advice comes after some shoppers said they accumulated dozens of credits through their grocery spending, only to find the cookware they had been working towards was no longer available when they went to redeem them.
In other words, reaching the required number of credits does not guarantee the container a customer has been collecting them for will still be available.
Customer Awin said he had accumulated 50 credits in the previous Fissler cookware campaign after spending at least $1000, then drove to eight Sydney stores trying to redeem them.
After being told at his regular supermarket there was no stock, he checked the Everyday Rewards app, which still showed some stores with limited availability.
He drove around Sydney to Rockdale, Kogarah, Wolli Creek, Marrickville, Kirrawee, Miranda, Engadine and Menai, but said staff at every store gave him the same answer: no stock.
He said he discovered the new Fissler promotion just a day before it started.
“I just found out about it yesterday when I went to Woolworths, and it felt funny,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
“Another product from Fissler appeared again.
“Quite upset, but we won’t shop that much anymore for any promotion from Woolworths.
“It’s really disappointing and frustrating, as last time we purposely spent more because we wanted to collect those 50 points.”
The credits cannot be carried over to the new promotion and have no cash value or option to be converted into points, with each campaign having its own range, stock allocation and timeframe.
Jo had 58 credits after spending $1160 and said she was “gutted” to learn there were no items available.
“This new promotion is a kick in the guts to be honest as I do a lot of shopping for my small business with Woolworths,” Jo said.
“There is no loyalty to customers, they just take take take!
“Because they are a monopoly alongside Coles and Aldi, there are few options out there.
“I want my credits credited to the container’s promotion. Not holding my breath.”
Another customer, Geoff, had collected 92 credits and said he had deliberately chosen Woolworths over Coles to build up his balance.
“I bypassed other supermarkets like Coles to work up my points and had in mind the expiry date,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
The fact shoppers were changing where they bought their groceries was precisely the result Woolworths was seeking from the promotion.
Its Ooshies campaign sparked a nationwide craze and contributed an estimated 1.5 to two percentage points of sales growth, while Coles reported losing some sales momentum as shoppers switched in the hunt for the 40 Disney figurines.
The promotion was advertised until August 25 but ran out around August 15 after demand far exceeded expectations.
When Geoff went to redeem his FIssler-credits, he found the promotion no longer on display. A team member told him it had ended and that he should have read the fine print.
“It never crossed my mind that hidden in the fine print which I thought was unnecessary to read were the words as long as stock lasts,” he said.
Geoff then asked for a manager, who he said was also disappointed the cookware had run out and confirmed there was no stock left in any stores.
Now 81, Geoff said he was less concerned about his own loss than what could happen to other shoppers.
“I am too old to worry about it, but I feel that a lot of people will left disappointed,” he said.
Consumer complaints platform Ajust says more than 15 people have contacted it about the previous Fissler promotion, with more than 600 credits between them.
At one credit for every $20 spent, that represents at least $12,000 in qualifying spending, before any bonus credits are counted.
Ajust CEO Tom Kaldor said none of those customers had received cookware, a substitute, store credit or a goodwill gesture.
“To be fair to Woolworths, a promotion that runs out is not necessarily wrong or unfair and they have said that demand exceeded expectations,” Kaldor said.
“But this is the second collectables promotion this year to leave people short, and the cookware one is the more insidious of the two.
“With Ooshies you find out at the checkout. With Fissler you shop for months, collect the credits, do the work, and only then go in and ask for the pan.
“By then you have already spent the money. That’s the broader issue here.”
He said “while stocks last” makes sense for a short-term promotion where customers can immediately see whether a reward is available.
“But when people are encouraged to direct their spending to one retailer and accumulate credits over weeks or months, it creates a reasonable expectation that the reward will still be available when they reach the required milestone.”
The same question now hangs over the new container promotion.
Woolworths said the promotion had been planned with high demand in mind.
“We have brought millions of Fissler containers into our stores across the country to give our shoppers the best possible opportunity to collect their preferred pieces.,” a spokesperson told 7News.com.au.
“We know how popular these ranges get, which is why items are available strictly while stocks last, and we’re encouraging members to redeem their credits as soon as they reach their milestones so they don’t miss out.”
Customers can also check availability using the online stock tracker, which is updated every two hours.
But Kaldor said there was still unfinished business from the previous Fissler promotion.
“At the moment, it risks feeling like a game of musical chairs, where customers spend weeks working towards a reward, only to find their chair has disappeared, and then another promotion starts,” he said.
He said Woolworths could make the promotions fairer by providing clearer, timely information about stock levels and stopping credits from accumulating once rewards had run out.
He also called for a fallback for customers who had spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars working towards a reward that was no longer available, such as converting their credits into a shopping voucher or another meaningful benefit.
Kaldor said many consumers did not complain when promotions went wrong because they assumed it was not worth their time or that nothing would change.
“Most consumers aren’t asking for anything extraordinary, they just want the benefits of the promotion they were encouraged to be part of,” he said.
