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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be mildly miffed by ALDI shopper?

182 replies

charleyfarleysaunt · 10/08/2017 18:35

Yeah, I know I'll get flamed, but I have just got to vent... on the way home tonight I nipped in to ALDI and the woman in front just didn't seem to know how to ALDI (this should be a verb)

She had a full trolley (I had a basket with 4 items in - no, I didn't expect to go in front of her although it might have been nice ) which she proceeds to unload on to the conveyor belt ONE FECKING ITEM AT A TIME. Seriously... one thing at time and then rearranging everything to the extent that by the time she had finished faffing about the poor checkout assistant had already filled that little space at the end of the till

And then... she carefully lined up her bags in her trolley and faffed even more putting everything in to bags ONE ITEM AT A TIME...

Seriously? It's not Waitrose... or ASDA... there is bloody great shelf for packing your stuff away - you bung your stuff on the conveyor belt then bung it back in your trolley and THEN faf about packing on the shelf they so nicely provide for you! It's a speedy shopping place

The entire queue behind you, you drippy mare was getting very annoyed; could you not feels the waves of irritation wafting your way????

Oh, and if they staff are actually marked on speed you have buggered up the poor, patient assistant's stats tonight

(Thank feck one of my 4 items was wine - it goes well with venting)

OP posts:
Genghi · 10/08/2017 19:29

Aldi sounds like a scummy place. I'll still to my existing shop.

x2boys · 10/08/2017 19:30

I love Aldi we can pack at the check out if it's dh and me we have s system wherebyby I hand him the open bags and he swiftly packs them and I pay with the card but go to the shelf if it's just me I love Aldi also because there's no farting about ,about which yoghurts or whatever you want you just get the one in stock we can o a full week shop in 20 minutes.

esiotrot2015 · 10/08/2017 19:33

This is why I'm too scared to go to Aldi

nancy75 · 10/08/2017 19:33

I think I might stick to Waitrose - Aldi till etiquette sounds a bit scary to me Grin

Caterina99 · 10/08/2017 19:34

Our aldi here (US) won't even wait for you to finish loading the belt. They'll just grab an empty trolley kept next to the till for that exact reason and fling your stuff in that. Quite annoying if you have a toddler sat in your own trolley! Then you get barked at to bring the extra trolley back once you're done packing at the shelf.

I do like the challenge though! And the speed which you can get your shopping done. And the prices of course! And they are the total opposite of typical American supermarkets which pack your bags for you and bring them to your car if needed, which definitely confuses new aldi shoppers (and then hopefully they don't come back so it stays quiet)

NicolasFlamel · 10/08/2017 19:36

I cannot Aldi, so I don't Aldi. It would be unfair to inflict my faffing on everyone else. The whole speed thing totally freaks me out and I end up standing there flapping and laughing like Stacey Solomon. No bueno.

Original poster
charleyfarleysaunt · 10/08/2017 19:36

Admittedly I was pretty terrified on my first few ALDI trips as I felt I was too slow, but at least I was giving it a game old go and only had half a basket full (due to being in training Wink )

I'm such an old hand now that a trip to ASDA or Tesco drives me freaking nuts because they seem so very slow... dropped in on my to work last week and came out very twitchy

(Not a criticism of their staff - it is just a different pace, but now I'm a super-speedy shopper it is hard to go back)

OP posts:
tiggytape · 10/08/2017 19:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Salmotrutta · 10/08/2017 19:38

YABU to be only "mildly miffed" OP!

This is MN so you should be enraged/fuming/livid.

I'm surprised you don't know that tbh.

llavie · 10/08/2017 19:40

My Mum totally has the look of lost waitrose-shopper. The first time i took her to Aldi the cashier gave her a wary look and asked if she'd been before.

I was like, don't worry I'VE GOT THIS Grin

drspouse · 10/08/2017 19:40

I only shop at Aldi midweek and middle of the day and I don't do a full shop.
I've never had a queue build up thankfully, I didn't know it was a faux pas.

cate16 · 10/08/2017 19:43

Since they put in the self-service tills in our Lidle the tills have really slowed down (the cashier said they are not so strict on speed now) it's doing my head in big time- I love the whole 'speed' thing.

joannegrady90 · 10/08/2017 19:44

I hate aldi!

I'd rather shop at asda or tesco and pay the extra money.

I always feel rushed and to be honest the quality of the food has reduced!

kierenthecommunity · 10/08/2017 19:45

The other Aldi tip is to place your items on the conveyer in weight order with heaviest at the front. Then just lob the stuff in with heaviest st the bottom and lightest at the top.

I may have once huffed at a woman who bought 12 bottles of prosecco and put them ALL on the conveyer. Rather than placing one, nodding at the trolley and saying 'there's 12.' Shock

Sparklingbrook · 10/08/2017 19:47

Are you allowed to do that though kieren? What if people say '12' and there's an extra one sneaked in?

Original poster
charleyfarleysaunt · 10/08/2017 19:49

Sorry, sorry Salmotrutta you are right... I was absolutely FUMMING!!

Also - the reason she was packing one item at a time was she kept piffling about with her carrier bags in her other hand and then rearranging things on the belt - not in any logical way either... I could have got it if she had put heavy things at the front, which is how I usually see it done in most supermarkets

Yeah, she might have had all the things you mention tiggytape but you weren't there to see her were you? (And congrats on being the first to bring up invisible disabilities) Nobody was nasty to her - everyone was just silently getting more and more fed up with someone who oblivious to her actions and couldn't be arsed to be bothered to put her fecking shopping off the end of the till at a half decent speed. As I said (if you could be arsed to RTFT) I and others were empathetic to the chap who was confused about how to ALDI on a previous occasion

OP posts:
AldiPackingNinja · 10/08/2017 19:49

I have a black belt in Aldi packing.
I do my main shop online at Tesco but also a regular Aldi shop.
Last week I went into an actual Tesco store for the first time in ages. I was busy throwing stuff into the trolley when I realised you go sloooow in Tesco Blush.

cardibach · 10/08/2017 19:49

Inwaited behind one of those non-Aldi shoppers once trying not to tut. Made eye contact with the scary check out person who was clearly fighting the urge to say something. I did mine super-speedy inand o bagels and she said 'and that's how it's done' about me. Proud. Halo

cardibach · 10/08/2017 19:50

Bugger.
I waited
Into bags not inand o bagels
I clearly don't type as well as I Aldi.

supermoon100 · 10/08/2017 19:50

Don't know what 'to aldi' means, but I would say life is too short to get stressed out by supermarket queues

Spudlet · 10/08/2017 19:51

I am a novice ALDI-er, but was firmly by fairly tutored by the checkout lady on my first trip on The Correct Way of ALDI. I wouldn't dare pack into bags at the till, I'm not ready for that yet.

Perhaps there should be some kind of induction before they let you loose?

cardibach · 10/08/2017 19:52

Spudlet we could have an NVQ, surely?

Sarikiz · 10/08/2017 19:54

Normally the cashier on the check out points out quite firmly that you must pack the groceries in the bagging area

kierenthecommunity · 10/08/2017 19:57

Are you allowed to do that though kieren? What if people say '12' and there's an extra one sneaked in?

No ones ever said anything to me. They can stand up and have a quick count. Not that I buy multiple bottles of wine. Oh no.

Bromeliad · 10/08/2017 19:57

No one on here should ever live in any part of Amsterdam where their only shopping option is an Albert Heijn. The Dutch shoppers there only pack their bags after paying, the tills have special dividers to separate the items of the next shopper from the one before. If the previous two shoppers are slow then you just have to wait for them to finish packing before anything of yours can be scanned. It's the most frustrating experience in the world (particularly for my German DH).