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AIBU?

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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:
RaspberryLemonPavlova · 25/10/2011 22:46

*though not thought

garlicBreathZombie · 25/10/2011 23:05

You're missing the point, Maisie. Why do you need it all in bags, hmm? Hmm?
Why not a box, crate, giant bag or similar?

I carry mine home on foot so I do have to pack at the shelf. I put it all in a shoulder bag and rucksack, not dozens of plastic bags.

2rebecca · 25/10/2011 23:46

I've been in Aldi infrequently but had no idea they had a packing policy. I hate the fact that they don't have baskets and never have enough stuff for a trolley so usually end up putting stuff I intend to buy into my reusable bag unloading it at the checkout then reloading it. I'm sure that's not part of any policy but it seems sensible.

Original poster
BupcakesandHaunting · 25/10/2011 23:57

Yy to the no baskets thing. Drives me bleedin' crackers that does. I only ever nip in for bits between shops and I have to precariously balance all of my stuff in my arms. One of the men working there was creased up laughing at me the other week as I tried to get to the till balancing bread, eggs, cheese, mince, yoghurts and honey under my chin. Hmm Grin

OP posts:
mothmagnet · 26/10/2011 00:20

I've just completed training at another supermarket and we were instructed on scan rate - the amount of transactions they would like through the till per hour.

I can't remember the exact figures, but my workplace has an average of about twenty to thirty, though their target is higher. Other supermarkets are about the same. Aldi's was much, much higher, something like forty - definitely far more than everyone else. (I wish I'd written the figures down)

Where I am, staff are monitored by their logging in numbers at how many transactions are put through and how long the till is idle. I was surprised at how regimented it all is, the importance they put into the order everything is done in order to keep serving time quick - sounds like bad customer service but works ok.

I'd be patient with a fumbler Smile

FlyingPirates · 26/10/2011 00:21

I love the collapsible crate idea! People wouldnt look at me like I was a nutter?

Fixture · 26/10/2011 00:50

YABU. I've never seen a sign in ALDI explaining what you're supposed to do. Probably because most shops don't require you to be on the lookout for instructions.

Fifis25StottieCakes · 26/10/2011 00:58

I pack at the till. Its just the same as packing it in trolley then packing it again. The key is to put all the heavy stuff on the belt 1st. They have never said anything to me when i pack at till and cant say i have noticed the signs.

sozzledchops · 26/10/2011 01:07

the signs are right on the conveyer belt (in our store anyway) though I did miss it the first time. Thing is, the checkout op lady I encountered, actually started throwing things at me when I tried to pack at the till.

mathanxiety · 26/10/2011 06:04

There's a sign over the packing counter at my closest one that says 'Please do not allow children to play n the packing counter'. That's how you know the counter is a packing counter I suppose.

The cashiers put the items in my trolley themselves straight after checking them out here. You don't handle the groceries at all after they're on the belt. Your next chance is when you get to the packing counter. I still think my car thingy will work -- I figure they will just put my stuff into it for me if I keep it at the left side of the trolley. Smile

But really, why would you insist on packing your stuff at the till and holding up other customers? It's no skin off the cashier's nose but you are holding up others like me who might already be late for the school run. The system has been designed with a purpose in mind and presumably chosen for good reasons from a number of options. What pleasure do you get from throwing a spanner in it?

I love their chocolate, and got some nice Malbec there for a few weeks in the summer. Love the German goodies at Christmas, but alas they do not love me back.

Wordsonapage · 26/10/2011 07:07

in Dubai it's very simple

  1. instruct driver to take you to supermarket . Take maid with you
  2. instruct maid to place items in trolley
  3. maid places items on conveyor belt
  4. pay for purchases
  5. Supermarket has packers which pack for you
  6. trolley man wheels trolley to car and unpacks placing in boot
7 return home, maid unpacks purchases 8 go swimming whilst dinner is cooked and house is cleaned 9 be hated by majority of MN and wider society forever
tadleylass · 26/10/2011 07:21

who rembers when you had a wooden arm thing at the end of the till at the end of your shop was palled across and next shoper had otherside so you could pack at your one pace

Georgimama · 26/10/2011 07:22

words, we have that in this country except you don't need a maid or a driver, or indeed to leave the house yourself. It's called internet shopping and I do it every week.

Wordsonapage · 26/10/2011 07:26

we have Internet shopping here as well...

I prefer to pick my own fruit ( via proxy)

voodoomunkee · 26/10/2011 07:38

Ah I might have to have a trip to Aldi today. I take the dc's for chocolate fixes and now am 38 weeks pg and about to start mat leave I think I may need the same!
I couldn't do a full weeks shop there, I don't like the meat at the one we use but I love all the Italian stuff, bread, chocolate, some of their beauty products and cleaning stuff. I want a dishwasher just so I can revel in the knowledge I get the cheaper and better tablets!

lesley33 · 26/10/2011 07:44

I don't think it is a place to do a full shop there for everything. People who go to my local one seem to fall into 2 camps. Either people like myself stocking up on the good quality products - wine, chocolate, cold meats, dishwasher tablets, etc. Or people buying all of the absolutely cheapest stuff.

As another poster said, I think their stuff is often of a higher quality than other supermarkets equivalent products. For example, there ordinary juice in cartons is all not from concentrate. In other supermarkets, you pay a premium for this.

Hopstheduck · 26/10/2011 07:53

Costco kinda has the same way of doing things, cept not with the weirdy packing shelf. Throw stuff into trolley - then pack into car - simples! It also avoids the problem of forgetting bags that are in the car. Though I usually just grab a box to load everything into once I reach the car.

The lady in front of me last thursday who spent 15 mins arranging boxes (which she kept wandering off to fetch) and packing her goods into her trolley def needed banning! Angry So YANBU! Maybe Aldi needs some checkout assistants similar to those who roam around in costco sometimes, throwing everything into the trolley for you!

LoveBeingAWitch · 26/10/2011 08:00

Ours has some staff who will tell you not to pack your trolley. But it also has those very long belts where about 5 customers can fit their shopping.

I'm not looking forded to the next couple of week cause they'll be getting the Xmas stuff in and they always go too far, you can only get one Reilly round the ends of the asile then.

I used to work in a uk version if aldi and we used to pack into the trolley and customers had to pack later. Used to really annoy me when customers would start picking things up and packing whilst I was loading the trolley, not my fault if the no frills tin smacked your arm !

notyummy · 26/10/2011 08:45

I love the fact that a thread about packing at Aldi can attract nearly 200 posts! Grin Really, it's horses for courses isn't it? If being able to take ages over your packing at a till is important to you, then there are a myriad of supermarkets where you can do this (and in general, pay more for your goods in the process.) If you are up for the speed checkout challenge and can get your head around the fact that it is part of the business model that offers you such cheap rates...then carry on shopping at Aldi. I do feel mildly irritated by some of the posters on this thread getting arsey about being asked to do things in a certain way....there is a reason, and if you don't like it, then that is why we have a free market economy - go elsewhere and pay more! Having worked for Aldi, their training means that even if you are going into a senior managerial position you have to spend time working in their stores, so I spent a considerable amount of time working at the checkout. I did ask people to pack at the shelf if they started to pack at the checkout, but I like to think I did it in a friendly and polite manner. For those who have encountered rude staff - that is obviously wrong, and poor customer service.

BTW - I have no personal axe to grind any more as I no longer work for them!

Bugsy2 · 26/10/2011 09:40

I've been shoppping in Aldi & Lidl for years. I am obviously very stooopid, because I had no idea you weren't supposed to pack your trolley. Having said that, I am a speedy packer. As the item comes through I stick it in my bag in my trolley. I have already put all the heavy stuff at the front of the conveyor belt & the light stuff at the back. I don't talk my DCs through my meal planning in my cut crystal posh tone either! [hwink]
However, no one has ever given me gimlet stares, sucked through their teeth, head looped me [hgrin] & no member of staff has ever suggested I shouldn't do what I'm doing or been in any way rude to me. So, maybe it is possible to pack, without it being a huge ALDI / LIDL faux pas!

mathanxiety · 26/10/2011 15:57

Tadley there was one with a single belt leading to the cashier and double conveyor belts beyond the cashier where I shopped in the US, and a divider so there could be up to four orders on the double ones at a time. At the end of the double belts was the bagging station with plastic bags Shock on little arms. The idea was you rolled your trolley to the end of the double belt, took your stuff off it as it reached you, and packed while the cashier swiped the barcodes on the remainder, then broke off your packing to go back and pay, then returned to the packing. I once got into a line where there was a massive delay caused by a little old lady who didn't understand she should leave the plastic bags hanging on the arms and just open them up to drop her things into. She was taking the bags off and trying to hold them open with one hand and pack with the other.

Fifis25StottieCakes · 26/10/2011 17:56

Everytime i go to our local one there's no one else in the the que and about 3 people doing their shopping.

KatieScarlett2833 · 26/10/2011 18:11

I love Aldi, especially the weeks special offers in the middle of the shop. On Sunday I came out with indoor washing airer, thermal underwear and socks for da menz. Every week is different, keeps it interesting.

As for the checkout, you sweep into trolley, take trolley to car, put shopping in bags for life in boot, take trolley back, simples.

purpleknittingmum · 26/10/2011 18:33

We love Aldi! Only been going for about a year. Sometimes we do a big shop, I use my 'granny trolley' other times we take our bags. The cashiers know us as we are so regular. Today we were just in for about 5/6 bits, OH was loitering about near the packing shelf and the girl asked if I was by myself today, and then when she saw OH we had a tiny chat

LOVE the chocolate/orange truffles! Only had one bad thing from there, chicken pie

SquishyCinnamonSwirls · 26/10/2011 18:47

I must be committing a huge faux pas then as I pack into my big bags. I'm pretty fast though (and dh annoys the bejesus out of me if he tries to "help") and don't have a back log. I get my bags set up ready in my trolley and just put the stuff in the right bag as the cashier puts it through.
Although I did end up holding the woman's hand on my last trip as she put something though, I went to grab it, it hadn't scanned properly so she went to pick it up again only to have hold of my hand and not the item!