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Original poster

To Stop Going To Aldi Because I Can't Keep Up At The Checkout?

137 replies

fakenamefornow · 30/09/2016 16:48

I'm not doing that 'packing shelf' business because that's just loading/unloading the trolley twice. I can't keep up with their Olympic shopping chuck and get my bags packed fast enough though. I should just give up and go back to Tesco shouldn't I?

OP posts:
AtiaoftheJulii · 30/09/2016 20:23

Ours has just got it Grin

MermaidTears · 30/09/2016 20:32

I'm actually shocked that I never realised that bit was a packing shelf.
I must be super unobservant.
I thought it was a few elderly people just rearrange their shopping a bit.
I really am thick haha

cardibach · 30/09/2016 20:34

I don't understand the packing fear. It's easy to keep up with the cashier if you have big bags and do the conveyor sensibly (which I used to do in Tesco too or the bags are all mixed up). How can it take you more time to drop an item in your bag than it takes the cashier to scan it?

kierenthecommunity · 30/09/2016 20:48

I love Aldi and am another super-packer. Ok, the staff at Waitrose are really lovely but when I went in there for steak today and they were seven quid each, and the ones in Aldi over the road were £2.99 I couldn't care less if the checkout assistant flicked Vs at me while I'm there.

Topseyt · 30/09/2016 20:50

I am keen on Aldi prices and many of their goods but I too find the race at the checkout off-putting.

I did take to just chucking it all into the trolley and then packing it into bags in the boot of the car. I have an ongoing and seemingly permanent nonunion fracture to my right arm, so there is no way I could keep up otherwise.

I still use Tesco too because I like scan and pack and also I find their fresh fruit and vegetables less hit or miss.

lapsedorienteerer · 30/09/2016 20:54

The whole idea of Aldi and Lidl is that you chuck the stuff back in the trolley then pack it at the 'packing shelf' (or into to your car boot). Try living in Austria for a bit and you'll never, ever try to to a "UK pack at check out" Grin.

RainbowRabbit33 · 30/09/2016 20:55

I have and love those trolley bags. I use the little one for all the wine heavy stuff and the mesh has never torn.

lapsedorienteerer · 30/09/2016 20:55

...that's why Aldi and Lidl have such a small area after the scanner i.e chuck it straight into the trolley......

Teacherontherun · 30/09/2016 20:56

I unpack on to the brlt with heavy stuff first and pack into my bags at the checkout. I am a right royal pain though. I just tell them that they have to wait. The other thing i do is split shopping in half so its two transactions. Slows it down enough to get first load in

RainyDaisy · 30/09/2016 20:56

What's a packing shelf?

lapsedorienteerer · 30/09/2016 20:57

What's all this talk about self scanning in Lidl....very excited!

Titsalinabumsquash · 30/09/2016 20:57

I chuck it all back in the trolley then push it to the car where my bags for life are all lined up waiting to be filled. I go to LIDL though.

FrogFairy · 30/09/2016 21:19

Thanks for the review of the trolley bags Heman.

topcat2014 · 30/09/2016 21:23

I luffs Aldi, and am there in the queue every sunday for 10:00. I love the speed of the checkout and still find time to chat to the staff.

The slowness of other supermarkets brings me out in hives,

blueturtle6 · 30/09/2016 21:44

I love Lidl (no Aldi nearby) at 8 months pregnant the whole queue let me go ahead of them (London).
My advise is to put thing on the belt in the order they go in bag, makes packing a doddle.
Tesco aren't a patch on Lidl for freshness.

Underbrella · 30/09/2016 21:46

Love it as long as it's not too quiet (or busy!). Doing a big shop with no one in front means everything is scanned & piled up while you're still trying to empty the trolley into the conveyor belt. Which has stopped moving cos the cashier can't scan anymore without the trolley being there to catch it, but you can't empty the trolley without making more room to put stuff.

I've recently started putting newly sitting baby dd in the seat & have had a few Hmm cos I wouldn't let them swing the trolley to the Aldi Standard Packing Position. No. Dd needs to be able to see me, I need to be able to catch her when she wobbles or gets freaked out by random people talking to her / having shopping bombing into the trolley.

specialsubject · 30/09/2016 21:56

Heavy stuff on the belt first . then it doesnt.get damaged in the trolley.

Cant cope without packing after? Other supermarkets are available, please dont keep the rest of us waiting.

Love aldi because the system makes a dull chore quicker. Better food and cheaper too.

ozymandiusking · 30/09/2016 22:04

Having been to Aldi for a long time I popped into Tesco, I found the checkout assistant so slow. I was in a hurry and actually asked her to hurry up, (politely) and told that she liked to "serve" her customers, and not throw it at them. I absolutely loathe Tesco, and hate going there , but there are one or two items I can only obtain from there. I love the packing system at Aldi, size of the store, long may they reign.

Youarenotprepared · 30/09/2016 22:09

I hate it I find it super stressful and very annoying when my shopping is thrown at me at high speed. It always feels like a sentiment that screams "you spent your cash now fuck off quickly before the next sucker comes along" plus our Aldi always smells of piss and I just can't get past that.

MyNescafe · 30/09/2016 22:19

YANBU. I hate the German discounter experience too. Can't get half the things I need, pisses me off no end when things appear one week never to be seen again for months and I don't actually find it that great value either when I end up throwing half of it away as it's gone off
Id rather be politely served at the checkout than practically given a kick up the arse out the door

MrsMook · 30/09/2016 22:24

I can handle the speed of packing with using large bags that fill much of the trolley. One ambient and one cold is enough organisation to help at home.

Like other posters, I don't understand the trolley having a "right way round", particularly when it's the counterintuitive way.

RunningLulu · 01/10/2016 02:58

YANBU. I stopped using Aldi because of that. But I only really buy basics like fresh fruit/veg/fish/milk/eggs on any kind of regular basis and so prices across supermarkets tend to be similar.

Amethyst81 · 01/10/2016 03:34

I prefer the fast, no talking method at aldis. I went to Tesco a few weeks ago and the checkout person kept trying to talk to me! It was most unsettling as aldi staff don't make eye contact. The Tesco lady kept asking questions like do I have plans for the weekend, it was so awkward because you could tell she really didn't give a stuff but they are told to I guess as part of their customer service. No chuck my groceries at me and dont talk to me, I'm way more comfortable with that! (Antisocial)

BastardGoDarkly · 01/10/2016 03:48

Aldi style all the way.

Like pps have said, prepare the bags, put heavy stuff, and raw meat front of belt, so it's in bottom,chuck stuff straight into bags.

They've got targets.

mathanxiety · 01/10/2016 04:06

I love the packing shelf. They let you pick up empty cardboard boxes as you shop in my local Aldis, so I nab a couple when I go past their big box carts or if I see one empty in a stack. Then I box my stuff at the shelf after the cashiers have thrown everything into the trolley (they are very careful with eggs however). The boxes keep stuff from rolling around as I drive home.