When you shop online with Coles, you can only pay for your order with a credit card, debit card or PayPal. Since 8 July 2020, Coles has applied pre-authorisation on all order payments. This process is aligned with many other Australian online retailers.
A pre-authorisation is a temporary hold of the estimated order value on the available balance on your card or PayPal account.
So once you’ve placed your order, you’ll see a pending transaction on your account. However, the amount won’t be deducted until your order is packed by our team members and the final payment amount is processed.
We tell you immediately on screen if your order can’t be processed because of an issue with your card or PayPal (whichever you’ve chosen). Your order will only be processed when valid details are provided.
If you cancel your order after the cut-off time you may be subject to a $30 cancellation fee (refer to our Customer Agreement).
Do note though, if your pre-authorisation payment isn’t processed you won’t be charged a cancellation fee – the order just won’t go through.
A cancellation can happen from our end if after packing your order, your payment doesn’t go through. Reasons might include:
Insufficient funds when your order total increased because of weighted items (like meat, fruit and vegetables, etc)
A block was placed on a card between the time of ordering and the time of packing
We’ll email you immediately to let you know about this cancellation. The pending funds may take up to 10 days to be released – this timing depends on your card issuer, for example, your bank.
As remote deliveries often need to be booked well in advance, the delay between when your order is placed and the payment is processed may be longer than for local deliveries.
To know when your payment is like to go through, we recommend you subtract one day from the delivery slot you've picked and ensure there are sufficient funds on your card that day.
Unfortunately, if payment isn’t accepted once the order has been picked, it will be automatically cancelled. The pending funds may take up to 10 days to be released, depending on your card issuer.
Pre-authorisation applies to all customer payments made with a credit card, debit card or PayPal. Coles credit accounts for business accounts are managed differently.
Want to know more about online payments? Find answers to questions in these sections: