CLEVELAND resident Lisa Clark has warned consumers to inspect delivered goods closely after she found her Coles grocery delivery covered in weed killer.
The incident occurred when a poison container spilled in a food delivery truck.
Ms Clark said she also was disappointed about Coles management’s slow reaction time, as she waited for the company to send a cleaner to investigate three days after the incident.
“I was having a regular delivery from Coles on Tuesday night and I bought a two litre weed and feed killer and the delivery driver now uses crates,” she said.
“Usually everything was in plastic bags but now that they stopped using them (because of the plastic bag ban) so a bottle of bleach and the weed and feed poison I bought was with the other food in the same crate.”
Ms Clark said she told the driver about the bottle that appeared to be leaking in the truck.
“He reassured me that is was all fine… It wasn’t until he left and I started putting things in the freezer, fridge, pantry and fruit bowls that I realised my black bench top had the poison all over it,” she said.
“It had started drying up and (crystalising).
“An average family doesn’t expect this to happen… If they took some precaution it may have never happened.”
Ms Clark said she called Coles immediately after finding a third of the weed killer missing from the bottle.
”Our concern wasn’t for us but for the other people receiving their orders that night from the truck,” she said.
A Coles spokesperson said they had spoken with the customer and were investigating how it occurred.
“Coles online is a convenient choice for many customers and we were concerned to hear that on this occasion we did not provide our high standards of service and delivery,” they said.
Ms Clark said she and her husband were offered a $15 credit and for her groceries worth about $130 to be redelivered at a later date but were not given any advice on what do to next.
“We didn’t know how to clean it or what to do for dinner that night,” she said.
“We were on the phone to them until 8.30pm or 9pm and didn’t hear back so we called the Poison Hotline and I was very concerned when they were telling me we had to use a highly toxic chemical glasses, gloves, protect our skin when using the kitchen.
“We were really worried.
“We pretty much had to leave our kitchen because we didn’t know how to clean it.”
Ms Clark said she had to pay for a forensic cleaner about $1300 to clean the kitchen on Friday and was advised not to use the fridge as it was irreparable.
Coles did not respond to questions about any changes to its food delivering regime since the plastic bag ban, how the issue would be addressed, whether the company reacted quickly enough and where customers could find information.
It is understood other customers were not affected by the spill.
