Woolworths shopper slams 'shameful' car park act costing Aussies millions

A shopper has unleashed his fury on another for their "inconsiderate" act in a supermarket car park, highlighting how the commonly made decision can stoke frustration among drivers — and cost supermarkets millions.

Over the weekend, a man and his elderly mum returned to the car park at Woodvale Shopping Centre in Perth's north to find a Woolworths shopping trolley between their car and another, clearly abandoned there by its last user. It's a problem that Woolworths told Yahoo News it "invests millions" to deal with, and an issue that irked the driver to no end.

"[The] trolley return or front entrance to the shops was literally five steps away, we had to take the trolley to its rightful place ourselves," the man wrote online. "My elderly disabled mother couldn't get into the car. Whoever you are, you should be ashamed of yourself."

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The driver was not alone in his frustration, with many online confirming the decision to simply abandon a used shopping trolley, rather than take it back to a designated area in the car park, is a "common problem in all shopping areas".

"Countless times it has happened to me. It's just utter laziness and an 'I don't care' attitude'," one Aussie wrote, while another reiterated "lazy, lazy people do this".

Supermarket trolley act comes back to bite shoppers

Not only do abandoned shopping trolleys block access in car parks and pose a risk of damaging cars but they also run the risk of being stolen and ending up in parks and waterways. This issue comes back to bite shoppers as we pay for these replacement costs with our groceries Ian Thomson from cleanup organisation Ocean Crusaders previously told Yahoo News.

Woolies has tried to tackle this issue by introducing an anti-theft locking mechanism to their trolleys which locks shopping trolley wheels once the trolley is outside a set perimeter of the store. Coles has also adopted this approach.

Woolworths spend millions on 'nuisance' car park act

Woolworths confirmed to Yahoo News it spends a lot of money dealing with the issue of abandoned trolleys, often conducting "regular sweeps for abandoned trolleys in the streets surrounding our stores" as well as in the car park.

"We understand abandoned trolleys can be a nuisance and that's why we invest millions in collection services and have additional measures in place which feature a locking mechanism to help mitigate their impact in the community," a spokesperson told Yahoo News.

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