The Queenslander, who goes by the name Relay, revealed in a recent TikTok video a code the company uses on its in-store sound systems.

When he started working at the hardware chain in 2002, Relay said staff regularly made announcements over the loudspeaker like, “Security in C section.”

While oblivious customers might assume the call was alerting staff to a security situation, possibly a robbery, in the “C section”, Relay revealed that such an area did not actually exist.

“The secret was that there was no ‘C section’, there was also mostly no security,” he said.

“It was only meant to deter shoplifters.”

Eventually, the security announcement was added to the radio’s daily playlist and would air gradually throughout the day.

“We actually had the same announcements every day during the same songs, and you could predict them after hearing them for a while,” Relay said.

The former Bunnings worker, who was employed by the chain from 2002 to 2007, added that the system may not have been used nationally given his experience was limited to the southeast from Queensland.

Bunnings did not deny that an announcement of this type or purpose is being made in stores. However, News.com.au understands that this is not a broad Bunnings process or direction to all stores.

Relay also claimed that during the orientation period, new members were told that the store would be “intentionally” and permanently short-staffed.

He claimed the tactic was a way for the retailer to keep prices low.

Additionally, he said the store’s promise to beat a 10% lower price only applied once to each product.

“The first time the discount was claimed for a product, an alert would come back to head office and they would reduce the price,” he said.

“Even if it took a day to update the actual price, as soon as the computer registered a lower price, it would not honor it.”

Bunnings chief executive Mike Schneider rejected the price guarantee applied only once to each product.

“To clarify, our team honors our ‘hassle-free’ price guarantee on all eligible purchases, not just the first one,” Schneider said.

“Additionally, if we identify that we do not have the lowest price on a particular product, we immediately introduce a temporary price reduction on the affected product.

“Our lowest price policy has always been at the heart of what we do, and temporary price reductions are one of many business processes operating behind the scenes to ensure we continue to uphold this policy for our customers.”

Relay also revealed that staff were hired on the basis of their “people skills” rather than their specialist knowledge.