Countdown Avis 

I have been a countdown fan for some 40 years and have seen the changing styles of the various presenters. They all had one thing in common, the important people on the program are the contestants and the guest ( and of course S and R ).The current incumbent’s style is to show how clever he thinks he is. His interviewing style is to talk more than the interviewee. Poor Tim Rice could hardly get a word in. I , and many of my friends, find him overbearing and condescending and I no longer enjoy the program.
A Q but U-less word for Susie. QANAT. My interest in Qanats, 60 odd years ago I came across a 1000+ year old Qanat while driving through the desert in Afghanistan.

Awful, awful site. Used to be great, about two months ago or so, they introduced new sign in type features, never works, takes about five full minutes to react to anything you press - like Sign In - and usually takes me a hair-tearing twenty minutes to even get it to freaking load. No trouble with any other site despite multiple Chrome updates, which usually cause trouble. Get it fixed! It's a freaking mess! Plus it often signs you in without asking for details, while you're in the middle of actually signing in, i.e., it hasn't signed you in, so you press sign in, and while you're on that page, it automatically signs you in (after a HUUUUUUGELY long reaction time) then it claims there's an error, so you get a glimpse of being signed in before it pulls the plug on you. I've had to strip the cookies etc every. single. time. I've. used. this. It gets REALLY DULL. So insanely slow to use. Once it has stopped screwing you around, it works fine, but waiting for that to stop is painful. Why you can't just have a straight forward sign in that remembers you (on Chrome at least) I don't know. You broke it.

I’m disgusted with Countdown Woolworths since they scraped AA Rewards! I bought three bags of groceries from my local store and it came to $274 because I didn’t have a new customer Countdown card and hadn’t downloaded the app before shopping, so was being charged full retail. I told the sales person I didn’t have a new card. To top it off our credit card declined. I had to let my husband know, then left the store empty handed and headed home to discuss with hubby and get to the bottom of things. I haven’t felt SOOO embarrassed for many years!! He was given a card at Countdown Porirua store a number of weeks ago. They told me to shop instore next time and one would be available.Now there’s a wait of up to 12 days to obtain one. Maybe it was just as well the card declined. When I went back I asked them to rescan my groceries as I was sure I was being overcharged. I call this price gauging at its worst as I’m certain some of the prices at checkout were different to the shelf prices!
I felt like I was being the naughty shopper!
Shopping elsewhere (not a supermarket) is something I definitely need to look into. $274 is like our Xmas shop for twice the amount of goods! Ridiculous! No wonder shoppers are getting really grumpy! The checkout assistant manager said it’s happening every day. I could tell she was stressed as there was little staff on the checkouts and I had to pack my own groceries,
Conclusion? I have decided I will not apply for a new customer card! Hubby is welcome to use his card if he wants to shop with you but won’t be going on my own again.

Will never shop with Countdown again after their disgusting, opportunistic price gouging in the wake of the covid pandemic - affecting already struggling families. The resignation of the Aussie CEO was not enough - the predatory behaviour is endemic.

Countdown Spotswood has an ongoing issue with empty shelves. I have tried 4 almost a week to purchase 2litre tubs of Tip Top Ice cream. The whole freezer area is completely empty. Finally, after 3 visits gave up and went to New World.

Great to start with, but with companies like Countdown, it always is then they fail. I don't like going into the store because the staff are rude so I have been getting my groceries delivered with delivery saver. When I first started using Delivery Saver it was if your order was over $50. So, my main shop is around $200, then I do a $ 60-ish one during the week because that is all that's left in my budget. They keep changing the rules again as you go. The delivery saver was renewed each month but the amount you have to spend is now over $80 so I can not use it. My message here is don't really trust them and watch for quiet changes in the rules.

This review is about Countdown Levin store. Absolutely ridiculous that for months and months they have bare shelves for many items on my regular shopping list. Uncle Toby's family bag of oats? 5 Months now, yet across the road at New World, plentiful supplies! They never have what I want to buy whereas New World do every single time. There are never enough checkout staff at Countdown, and the store is messy and just feels dirty. Stock rotation is terrible and you really need to be careful as you will end up purchasing stuff that is mere days from expiration, or exen past expired. Seem to have gone to the dogs and never recovered since Covid. Doing all my shopping at the much better New World now.

Countdown Newmarket was great for online shopping - fast, good parking, although not cheap. In my last online shopping 4 items worth nearly $30 were missing but I was charged for them. The refund process via phone or Chatbot Olive is labour-some. Luckily the staff knew me and gave me the missing items without further hassle but it meant I had to drive there a second time. Will avoid a bigger online shop in the future if it means having to check all items are there.

Probably the worst ever online experience, trying to get one of the new orange Everyday Rewards cards. The system seems to recognise my former customer card registration, has no trouble showing me an electronic card, but, when I try to order a physical card, it completely collapses. The online response simply says my physical card was not ordered. Their online assistent (Mandy) lacks any intelligence, simply reciting process I'd already gone through. The FAQ's clearly hasn't anticipated any such problem, and their 0800 helpline warns of long wait times and doesn't seem to have a triage number that caters for people with problems.

Two stars because I am being kind. Outdated stock, LONG queues with plenty of staff dawdling around talking to each other ignoring frustrating customers, pack your own bags always, and now we have to jump through hoops to apply for the new card when already a rewards customer! Where are all my existing points??? As if I needed another reason NOT to shop at Countdown.

Katikati Countdown has to be one of the worst. Half empty shelves, only 2 checkouts on busy Waitangi afternoon. No customer service re issuing new rewards card, what a fiasco! Although being forced to shop there because it is the only one, why were new cards not issued to those who already held the old cards? When enquiring with staff was given total indifferent brush off. Four Square here we come.

It is not acceptable that Woolworths customers have to APPLY personally for the new orange card when they already had Countdown card. It should be automatically transferred to the new card. New cards should be available at the checkouts. Service should be given to your customers, not customers giving service to you.

I just tried to login to their app, after getting to the password stage it wouldn't actually take me into the website it would freeze. Now it won't even load into the sign in page.

Countdown Kelvin Grove. I don't appreciate your young male staff member at the self-checkout tills telling me how I should've known about your rewards card switchover since "there are posters all over the store" and "it's been advertised on tv" and telling me i should've known for the last 3 months its coming and that i'd lose my existing one card points. Making me feel like i'm stupid or something. A little arrogant young man in need of customer skills I'd say. Why didn't you email your existing one card customers about this card switchover?? Not everyone watches tv and not everyone comes into your shop to read your posters.

Countdown Greymouth has the worst carpark, having to navigate a narrow lane between cars outside The Warehouse is like playing Russian Roulette. There is no bike friendly access off the street. They have no self-checkout, and the current checkouts are poorly designed. Stock is constantly low. Whole cooked chicken always empty, bulk nuts etc almost non-existent.

I have just spent an half hour in your Highland Park store trying to get my new card to work.
Why would you send me a card with my name on if you wouldn't accept it? Your system already held all my details why could you not think of your customer and transfer all the detail's across?
I can't wait for Pak'n'Save being built next door to your store to open I will be one of their first customers. Bryan Butler

The Countdown system to update to the new everyday rewards card doesn't work.
I face endless technical difficulties working with their app. The in store service is great.

Useless refused a new one card in store but my friend got one

I have placed multiple orders over the last few days for a work gift project. on almost every occasion I have been short supplied. Instead of contacting me to tell me there's less, they send the stuff they have which I wouldn't have got if there wasn't enough. Terribly dissappointed, not shopping from here again.

This is the second time in a month I have been charged for one item twice…..I cannot prove I did not get the item but I know I did not …..it is not worth driving back to the store to complain that’s more expense…..in future I will check my receipt before I leave the car park……that’s if I shop there again…..Countdown Rangiora East….today Merch 61100060900284…..16/1/24 13:53 001292……middle of 2023 we were charged for a carton of cigarettes..we don’t smoke….we got that sorted….
Time to check your checkout girls …..both items were under $5 but that is not the point….I’m losing faith in your shop…..