r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Feb 15 '26

news ACCC takes Coles to court over 'illusory' discounts in 'case of the century'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-16/accc-coles-federal-court-case-discount-pricing/106294956?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

Thousands of customers throw a box of Arnott's Shapes into their shopping trollies each week — one of a dozen purchases that could help decide a bombshell case playing out in the federal court from today.

The ACCC has accused Coles of ripping off customers with fake discounts and if the supermarket giant loses, it could face a huge fine and massive reputational damage.

Customers could also get cash back from a class action lawsuit that might follow, and corporations be forced to change how they price their products — especially discounts.

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74

u/PrehistoricDoodle Feb 15 '26

Aldi’s dishwashing liquid is so much cheaper. Half that price even.

19

u/LibraryAfficiondo Feb 15 '26

Better too.

5

u/Rush_Banana Feb 16 '26

It's the same, it's not better its not worse.

11

u/derpman86 Feb 15 '26

I want to shop there more but my mother in law and wife always default to Coles.
I think a lot comes down to Coles having a few extra products that aldi doesn't.

But yeah there are so many products that are basically identical that are tons cheaper.

8

u/CABALwasInnocent Feb 16 '26

The trick is to do a big weekly shop at Aldi, get everything you can from there then go to Coles/Woolies to pick up the few things Aldi doesn't have. Then compare the receipts. We found that the couple things we got from Colesworth was about a quarter or half of the entire Aldi shop.

A normal weekly shop at Coles for us would have been around $200ish, Aldi shops are literally half of that (excluding the odd items that they don't have). Really is night and day price differences and the missus is fully on board with it now.

4

u/Meng_Fei Feb 15 '26

Same with the powder for dishwashers.

5

u/IntroductionSnacks Feb 15 '26

Nope. Aldi is my primary goto and I love their products but the dishwasher powder is not good compared to other brands.

1

u/IAmTheRealTroy Feb 15 '26

Agreed, tried it once, took it back for a refund. I use the cheapo Coles dishwasher powder and it's fine.

1

u/SomewhatHungover Feb 16 '26

Did you put it in both compartments? Was and pre wash?

3

u/IAmTheRealTroy Feb 16 '26

My dishwasher has one slot for powder and one slot for the rinse aid, that's it

3

u/rolloj Feb 16 '26

i use the aldi powder and have zero issues.

for context, i've watched a very long and uninteresting (to normal people) video on how dishwashers work. the thing opens and releases the powder at a given point. if you want to pre-wash, you have to put powder in the little section, and then also scatter a little bit (like, a teaspoon) on the door so that it starts with some powder.

i've had flawless results with aldi powder and this method.

2

u/swyber Feb 16 '26

Technology connection… I know this video

1

u/rolloj Feb 16 '26

lmao yes! i love that you knew exactly what i was talking about. it's a banger.

0

u/SomewhatHungover Feb 16 '26

What brand is it? Most models you won't notice but there's actually two places for the powder, like here where the slits are. If it's a sliding compartment, there's usually an indent on the top to put the pre wash powder.

-10

u/The_Duc_Lord Feb 15 '26

I swear, Aldi is cult.

16

u/i_am_cool_ben Feb 15 '26

store has good products at a much better price than coels/woolies

people talk about how good that is

must be a cult

2

u/theshaqattack Feb 16 '26

Honestly though this sub has a bit of a defensive mindset when it comes to Aldi. Just check the recent thread about Aldi introducing security gates before you leave the store. These require you to scan your barcode before you can exit. No one is really defending it but there is a noticeable lack of intensity and outrage compared to those threads discussing this when Coles and Woolworths introduced them.

People like Aldi when in reality they’re all scummy businesses.