Aussie shopper slams new Woolworths CEO's response after supermarket ambush: 'Disgusting'

The impassioned shopper who ambushed the new Woolworths CEO during a routine supermarket visit has slammed her response to allegations of price gouging customers. Amanda Bardwell has only been in the job a few weeks and she has already copped the frustration of everyday customers.

A Woolworths spokesperson told Yahoo Finance Bardwell was visiting the Warrawong store on the NSW South Coast to meet staff and see how the supermarket operates in real-time. This was where she came face-to-face with a local, Megan Guy, who asked her how she "sleeps at night".

The spokesperson added that Bardwell calmly responded to the customer's concerns for two minutes before eventually thanking her for her feedback. But the local wasn't impressed with what she heard.

"I thought her response was absolutely disgusting," she explained to 9News. "Amanda Bardwell herself is on a $2.15 million salary. I don't think any ordinary person in Australia can relate to that situation.

"These corporate executives are raking it in while we're being forced to decide whether we can afford to pay our rent this week or whether we can afford to buy cheese."

WATCH THE INTERACTION IN THE VIDEO BELOW

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Woolworths and Coles are facing accusations that they misled the public over 'Prices Dropped' and 'Prices Down' labels following an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation.

"What do you have to say to the fact that your company is profiting off price gouging during the context of the cost-of-living crisis," Guy alleged during her confrontation this week.

Bardwell replied: "Thank you for reaching out to talk to us ... we're doing everything that we can to recognise that customers are doing it tough, to make sure they are able to get great prices at Woolies."

But Guy didn't accept that and dug deeper.

"I really don't believe that... millions of people in Australia right now have skipped meals," she said, claiming supermarket prices are pushing people to the brink.

While Bardwell appeared to try to placate the shopper, Guy asked if Woolworths was willing to give up its recent profit to help those who are struggling because "working-class people aren't buying" the message that Woolies is sending out about looking after shoppers.

A Woolies worker jumped in and said prices had been dropped on dozens of items throughout the year.

When Woolworths announced its profits in August, former CEO Brad Banducci argued eating into the company's profit would result in meagre discounts for shoppers.

"If we’d have started to make zero profit... the difference that we would make in cost reductions in terms of our overall business and pass on to the customer, I think from memory was $5 a week in the supermarket basket," he said.

"I think we just need to be realistic that big numbers can deceive."

Aussies were divided on Bardwell's response to Guy.

"Not the verbatim email IN PERSON? Wow," said one person.

"'Thanks for reaching out to us' omg she should've just said 'I hope this email finds you well'," wrote another.

"Firstly they running a company not a charitable organisation, Secondly if you are poor that's not their fault," added a third.

"It’s their business they can do whatever they want however YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO THERE AND SHOP," a fourth commented.

Legal action against Coles and Woolworths over alleged deceptive price tactics

The consumer watchdog launched separate proceedings against Woolworths and Coles on Monday, alleging they breached Australian consumer law and used deceptive discount tactics that took advantage of Aussie "battlers".

In its allegations, the ACCC claimed the supermarkets inflated the prices of some products by at least 15 per cent while the purchase prices remained steady for at least six months, and in some cases a year.

They were then allegedly shifted to the supermarkets' ongoing discount promotions - "Prices Dropped" for Woolworths and "Down Down" for Coles.

“Following many years of marketing campaigns by Woolworths and Coles, Australian consumers have come to understand that the ‘Prices Dropped’ and ‘Down Down’ promotions relate to a sustained reduction in the regular prices of supermarket products," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

"However, in the case of these products, we allege the new ‘Prices Dropped’ and ‘Down Down’ promotional prices were actually higher than, or the same as, the previous regular price.

“We allege that each of Woolworths and Coles breached the Australian Consumer Law by making misleading claims about discounts, when the discounts were, in fact, illusory.

The watchdog estimates the supermarkets sold "tens of millions of the affected products" and gained "significant revenue" from those sales.

Aldi beats Coles, Woolworths and IGA in supermarket price

Aldi has been crowned the cheapest supermarket chain after mystery shoppers were sent out to see how it compared against the likes of Coles, Woolworths and IGA.

The study was done by consumer group CHOICE, who inspected 104 supermarkets and bought the same 14 products like tea, bread, milk and sugar.

Aldi was the "clear leader on value for money" with a $50.79 basket, Coles narrowly edged out Woolies, with their baskets coming in at $66.22 and $68.37, respectively, while IGA was far behind on $78.95.

CHOICE said that based on prices including specials, and compared to the first wave of research in March, Aldi and Coles' baskets had dropped in price. Meanwhile, Woolworths' basket increased.

"When we compare our 14 items including special prices we see that the overall cost of the basket at Woolworths increased by $3.44 between March and June, and at Coles it dropped by $2.30," the report found.

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