GUYS. I NEVER THOUGHT I'D HAVE TO MAKE THIS ARTICLE: TE ANAU WOMAN'S ONE GRAPE ARRIVES IN FRIDGE-SIZED BOX
Dave the Tradie sits down, takes a breath, and owns his truth about a Woolworths click-and-collect gone wrong.
Guys. Guys. I never thought I'd have to make this video. Deep breath. A Te Anau woman has received one grape from a Wellington-dispatched Woolworths click-and-collect order, packed inside a box the size of a bar fridge, and I need to speak on it. To my community, I am so sorry it took me this long to cover this.
Customer Rhonda Meikle, 54, opened the box on her front step Tuesday expecting the rest of her fortnightly shop. She got the grape. Just the grape. Sitting in enough packing paper to insulate a bach. "Thought it was a prank," Meikle said. "Then I thought, no, this is what forty-two dollars of freight looks like."
And look. I've been doing the work. I've been sitting with this. Because as someone with a platform, I can't stay silent while a Southland woman drives back into town carrying a fridge box with one grape rattling around inside it. That's not the person I want to be anymore.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the other 87 items were "substituted, refunded, or currently in Palmerston North" and the grape had been "prioritised for freshness". Asked why the grape needed a box you could ship a toilet in, the spokesperson said the packing algorithm was "learning". Neighbour Bern Fraser said he'd watched the courier struggle up the drive and assumed she'd bought a spa pool. "Turned out to be a grape. I laughed till I coughed."
Long pause. I'm growing. I'm going to do better. Meikle has eaten the grape. She said it was fine. The box is on her kerb with a FREE sign on it. Links below for my new course on accountability.
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Reader Letters
★ Garry (Halswell)
Wouldn't have happened in my day. Standards were different. Mistakes like this were rare, and certainly not as absurd as a single grape in a big box.
Sandra McKenzie
@Garry (Halswell) - But it happened! Mistakes do happen sometimes. It's 2023, not the 70s!
★ JoannePetone
Honestly, it's a bit of a piss-take, isn’t it? Fair enough shipping a grape but maybe not in a fridge box!
★ Trev_Hornby
Rhonda should've gone to Pak'nSave. This sort of shit would never happen there. Woolworths is rooted with those algorithms.
Garry (Southland)
Mate, it’s not about switching supermarkets. It’s about shopping online in the first place! You can’t beat examining groceries yourself.
★ BarryBishopdale
The council’s algorithms would do better!
couchgremlin
Bloody hilarious!
★ Margaret_F
Gerald once ordered garden shearers that arrived in a massive box as well. In our day, packaging was simpler and sensible!
tired_in_teanau
One grape, dispatched with urgency! 😂 Maybe it'll become the next collectible!
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