Woolworths shoppers express annoyance over new trolleys

Woolworths has been rolling out the high-density polyethylene carts for the past five years – with some stores across the country only recently obtaining the alternative trolleys.

Among those who have just started using the Woolies cart, some have been left disappointed, with one recently taking to Reddit to discuss their thoughts after the updated shopping carrier arrived at their local store in southeast Queensland.

“The new Woolworths trolley has arrived, it’s light weight and very easy to manoeuvre, [but] downside is it’s much smaller,” the shopper said.

“You can’t load two green bags alongside one another. Also being light weight, the wind just picks them up and throws them across the car park.”

Social media users expressed strong reactions to the trolleys in the post.

“Apparently they’re much more prone to being blown about by the wind,” one person said.

“I was talking to someone who works in a supermarket once, and I mentioned these. He said they had too much trouble with the wind making them too hard to control. You could make the frame, where the wheels attach, heavier to compensate. But the frame on this looks very light,” another said.

One said: “Ours swapped them in last week. As you say, the internal dimensions are stupid. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see a new line of slimmer grocery bags to suit.”

Another weighed in: “They’re too light honestly, I struggle with them just taking off on me with the smallest movement. My local Big W has the blue ones and beyond being cleaner than the old ones there’s nothing great about them.”

Someone else commented that the new trolleys have no under-tray, nor do they have a hook for shoppers to string their reusable bags to them. “The old ones had a metal loop in the middle of the back I could do this with,” the shopper wrote.

But not everyone agreed with the criticisms.

One person said: “I live in Perth where windy is the default, and the shops around me have no issues pushing these around.”

“They have these at my local Woolies. The best part is that they are sized right so that you can park them over the basket area in a self scan checkout – like the bulk of the trolley sits above it and the frame fits below, so it all slots in neatly,” another said.

A spokesperson from Woolies said: “We’re working hard to grow greener for our customers and the environment. Our recycled trolleys have been very popular with customers for their lightweight design, which makes them much easier to manoeuvre.

“They’re currently available in select stores and we plan to continue rolling them out to new stores over the coming years. These trolleys are made from recycled plastic, giving used milk bottles a second life.”

It’s not the first time someone has complained about the trolleys, with Sydney woman Alhana Friend slamming the supermarket in December after discovering she could no longer fit her two children, who are under three, in the same trolley.

“Woolworths has officially made it impossible to shop if you have two kids,” she said.

“Their new trolley only has room for one child.”

Other parents agreed that it make shopping with their children more difficult.

“Anybody who says ‘get used to it’ is clearly not a parent. And, people who say ‘tell the oldest to walk’ has clearly never shopped with two little ones,” one social media user said.

Another said: “They’re also so much smaller too. I no longer fit my fortnight’s worth of shopping in their new trolley.”

“The amount of people here complaining about shopping with kids … Just order for click and collect or get it delivered to your door,” another said.

One said: “I’m so glad they didn’t have these when I had my twins. No way I could have done the shopping.”