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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that you do not adhere to the packing protocol in Aldi, you should be banned?

206 replies

BupcakesandHaunting · 25/10/2011 14:27

It's not hard. It's load. Pack into trolley. Pay. Go and pack your shopping up like a snail at your own pace at the packing shelf.

I think that Aldi should employ someone with one of those big hoops on a long pole and when someone looks like they are going to start limp-wristedly packing their bags at the till/mouthbreathing over cashier going too fast, the hoop man gets the faffer around the neck with the hoop and drags them out. They are then banned from Aldi for ever.

Banhammered from Aldi, ha ha ha ha! The shame!

OP posts:
creepypantsandzombierags · 25/10/2011 15:27

I have only ever frequented an Aldi once and found the cashier so incredibly rude I have never been back! I wasn't aware of packing protocol, and there was no visible sign so I committed the crime of trying to pack at the till whilst she flung groceries at me. She eventually glared at me and barked "pack over there" whilst pointing in the general direction of the window. Horror of horrors, I had to ask her to repeat herself because i didn't have a clue what she was on about and was issued with the death stare.

I believe I did a Shock face and a "what? you don't let customers pack their shopping?" "NO!" she barked as a bag of potatoes smacked into my arm.

Rude, rude, rude. Never again.

Peachy · 25/10/2011 15:28

All I can say is avoid Wales now we have to bring our own carriers if this bugs you then LMAO- I think queues stopped moving that day!

crazygracieuk · 25/10/2011 15:28

In Germany people have plastic crates which are stored in their car so the protocol is shop-load shopping into crate-lift crate into car which eliminates the packing somewhere else bit.

Original poster
BupcakesandHaunting · 25/10/2011 15:30

Sorry creepy but Aldi lady was right to treat you with contempt.

Wink Grin

Hook and pole for you, wench.

OP posts:
RaspberryLemonPavlova · 25/10/2011 15:33

Bad customer service can happen at any store, I've had my fair share of bad/good service at all kinds of supermarkets.

SoupDragon · 25/10/2011 15:33

Thank god I shop at Waitrose with a self scanner.
or use Ocado.
[ponce]

notyummy · 25/10/2011 15:34

The thing is, the whole experience won't be for everyone. C'est la vie and all that. It is not as aesthetically pleasing as Waitrose, and there isn't the selection.....so occasionally I go to Waitrose for a full-on poncetastic multi-flavoured houmous shop, plus availing myself of their coffeshop and patisserie. Then I clutch my chest at the price and think of the holidays/mortgage overpayments/DDs uni fund that I could be funnelling the cash into instead, and opt for the better value option next time Grin

Sevenfoldedbloodybodies · 25/10/2011 15:35

so you are supposed to unpack your shopping, have it scanned
then put it back in your trolly and go somewhere else to pack it?????????????

notyummy · 25/10/2011 15:35

Yep. Much quicker at thew checkout that way.

Sevenfoldedbloodybodies · 25/10/2011 15:37

for who?
what a totally stupid idea.
I assume ok if you have 5 things.
and now assume no one does their weekly shop there

Original poster
BupcakesandHaunting · 25/10/2011 15:37

Waitrose shoppers needn't get sniffy, either.

I went into my local one the other week and only wanted to pay for some strawberries and cream. Only two tills open and massive queues so I did what is usual and went to pay at the fag booth (which they encourage you to do if you have five or less items that don't need weighing) The woman did a cat's bum face at me and peered over her spectacles. "I can't serve you, Ay'm sorry" she says. "Oh. Right." I say. Then she brandishes a typed-up sign at me the size of a matchbox that reads "Till closed - processing glass order." She was handing out about twenty champagne flutes to a man that looked like Harry Secombe. Not doing the glasses for the fucking Royal Wedding, which is what you might have though I'd interrupted if you'd overheard.

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 25/10/2011 15:37

In the one I mostly go to you wheel your trolley around the cashier and she drops the things into it herself, a bit like KittyFane's (you have to put eggs on the belt last), then pushes it off in the direction of the shelf when you've paid. Then the next customer pushes her trolley around fast so her stuff doesn't all end up on the floor. Even if you hadn't a clue you would get the hint that you have to bag it somewhere other than the cashier station.

I like the speed and they usually have a (quick) smile to go with it at my two regular Aldis.

I recently got a thing like this and I think it could be used in the trolley, filled at the checkout and taken straight to the car.

Peachy · 25/10/2011 15:39

Loads of people do Seven

Though I don't find it cheaper than tesco myself though possibly as we can't eat so many thing for allergy and intol reasons that it's a bad plan shopping there anyhow

notyummy · 25/10/2011 15:39

Much quicker for the cashiers, therefore less staff needed, therefore less staffing costs to add to price.....and much cheaper shopping for the same quality as elsewhere. It is actually no slower to do a big shop, because the cashiers put through the shopping so quickly, that the packing you do afterwards pretty much adds up to the same time you would spend in Tesco in total.

You obviously haven't been there given your questions, so a bit hard to judge, no Wink?

DrinkYourWeakLemonDrinkNow · 25/10/2011 15:40

Er yes seven that's the idea. And god help you if you ask any questions about it or you get Told Off (well I did the first time I went, and judging by this I'm not the only one) Mind you you don't make the same mistake twice; baptism of fire and all thatWink.

Ormirian · 25/10/2011 15:40

While we are at it please can we use the head loop thing for people who cannot use the self-scanner in supermarkets (not Aldi obviously).

It's quite simple. Yes I know it goes wrong sometimes but if you use it properly it's fairly fool-proof. Scan the item, put it in the bag. Pick up next item, scan it, place it in the bag. Don't dither or tut at the machine. It can't hear and it doesn't care. And no, you can't go through it with a massive trolley full of food because it won't fit on the packing surface on the other side so the machine will beep at you as the weight won't match (to plummy-voice lady who got cross with the attendant and stalked off leaving her shopping with the phrase 'It's not like that in Sainbury's!' - and actually it is like that in Sainsburys)

mousyfledermaus · 25/10/2011 15:41

I have a carrier bag that clips to the sides of the shopping cart. so my shopping just gets dropped in there and of I go.
for the weekly shop we use those foldable plastic crates. so practical!

Sevenfoldedbloodybodies · 25/10/2011 15:42

I haven't (well I nosed in the new one once) and after hearing the stuff on this thread, will never go.
I will stick to my lovely asda, with the nice staff

CuntryManner · 25/10/2011 15:43

Gosh it sounds rather manic...like a supermarket sweep meets the Krypton Factor.

Think I'll stick to home deliveries. Even though in Wales we now have to reuse or PAY for our bags. This sickens me.

tothemoonandback · 25/10/2011 15:44

YABU if there are NO signs up saying what the packing protocol is. YANBU if there are signs. There are NO signs up in my local Aldi so I pack at the till.

SoupDragon · 25/10/2011 15:45

"Waitrose shoppers needn't get sniffy, either."

Ah, but I turn up at my local store, collect my hand held scanner, arrange my bags in the trolley and off I go. Each item scanned and then packed immediately.

going to another supermarket whe I am expected to unload my trolley and repack it anywhere is a needless chore.

notyummy · 25/10/2011 15:46

When I was there the line that we had was that staff were to 'clearly, firmly and politely educate new shoppers on the packing protocols.'

Which does sound a bit scary when you put it like that. I guess some cashiers major on the 'firm' rather than 'polite' bit!

MrBloomsNursery · 25/10/2011 15:46

Once at Lidl, a woman was shouted at and shunned for not know that she had to bring her trolley around the end of the till to load the shopping into it. She asked them for bags, and the man looked at her in a horrible way and said "WE DON'T HAVE BAGS. YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM".....I felt so sorry for her..she was completely and utterly embarrassed.

BoffinMum · 25/10/2011 15:46

TBH I have had my shopping thrown at me in Aldi, but I just asked them nicely to slow down a bit before I ended up too bruised. Wink Otherwise staff are surprisingly nice in there, better than Tesco and Sainsbury certainly.

notyummy · 25/10/2011 15:48

But think of the savings Soup? Grin. (I don't do all my shopping there as am too pressed for time to regularly shop at any supermarket in person. I get home deliveries but still pop into ALDI once a month for a quick whip round of all the things I especially like and can save oodles on. When I was on mat leave and had more time I visited more regularly.)