To think that people shopping in Aldi shouldn’t insist on packing bags at checkout

[Shell4429]

Just, this. I was shopping tonight and two customers in front of me did this and I was really annoyed. While waiting I thought that Aldi should charge a fee for people who do this. It’s not fair on customers who do it the correct way. A surcharge would work, like it did with carrier bags. If everyone insisted on doing this surely it would drive prices up.

YABU. They have a packing bench at our lidl but hardly anyone uses it, partly as it's not big enough. The cashiers seem to judge the customer and go slower for people who need a bit more time and fast as anything for superpackers like me They have self service now which has reduced queues a little.

As an aside has anyone used the amazing tills at decathalon for lots of purchases? It is amazing- you drop your items into a big box and it automatically scans the barcode. I would love that at my local supermarket.

I can pack just as fast as they scan, it's all down to organising the belt and three big bags in the trolley to throw the food into. We're not all slow pokes.

This. My teenage dd prides herself on her Aldi packing skills - she always beats the cashier and is waiting for the next items . I'm a pretty impressive packer myself - you need enormous bags and to load up the conveyorbelt in a sensible order. I consider it a challenge and do NOT hold up anyone.

I’m a cashier (not at Aldi) and inwardly scowl at pensioners rummaging through their “coin purse” tbh.

Huh? The 'correct way'? I didn't know there was a correct way to pack Aldi shopping (or any shopping!).

I hardly ever go into Aldi but when I do I've packed at the till. It's never occurred to me to go anywhere else and I've never seen anyone else doing anything other than pack at the till either.

Maybe it's regional?

If Aldi are timing the staff on the checkouts, what do they do with the results? Are they getting rid of people who scan too slowly for their liking?

I can pack more quickly than they can scan. Everyone should have to go and live in France, they take no prisoners, it’s fab training!

What about people who aren't in a car and don't have a trolley load of stuff to then take to said vehicle?
Lots of times I have been walking past Aldi with DS in the pram and just loaded there and then because I didn't have a trolley with me.
Have all the other customers been giving me death stares and I haven't noticed
PS YABU re surcharge, I'm sure Aldi have no desire to be the Ryanair of supermarkets.

Damn, you’d hate me!

I always pack my bags at the checkout.

Very rarely you get someone whose life is just too important to wait a couple of minutes, if that, who tuts or eye rolls.

I ensure I go extra slow for those individuals

Oh and at the two near me, you’d have to get the kids off the ‘high up seat’ (aka packing bench) and that would cause a riot 😂

You can’t pack at the till that’s the Aldi rules! I’m shocked that people don’t know that on mumsnet? Maybe it’s people that only go to Waitrose? That’s why Aldi has the special trolley space thing so you can chuck it all in to your waiting trolley, saving time, saving staff, saving money, making it cheaper for us! Then you pack it at the bench or in your car, it’s easy. And I’m sure that they make allowances for people with disabilities who would struggle with this process.
But for those that can, crack on and follow the Aldi rules

Well if you’re an Aldi customer @snappy , you’d be a twat. Anywhere else (bar Lidl) is fine.

I shop at Aldi, amongst other places.
If people want to think of me as a twat so be it.

There are more important things in life to get worked up over!

I love a game of "best the cashier", it's an unsaid thing but you both know you are playing. I think they should give the cashiers whistles just to make it fun.

Our Aldi has recently put in the things they have at the end of each individual checkout (what are they called?) for packing your bags, it's not as comfy and actually slows you down

I always pack at the tills and keep up with the assistant. You put 3 big Aldi bags for life open in the trolley, and put the shopping on the belt in order of weight and robustness ( because that's how you arranged it in the trolley as you put it in). The heavy, uncrushable goes on first. Then straight into the bags.

Love that this is one of the most pointless rants I've seen for a while 😂

FWIW I pack at the till in Aldi. As with pp, I put things on the belt in the order I want them, have my car ready and bags open in the trolly. I don't make anyone wait but I wouldn't feel bad if I did slow things down by a minute or 2 tbh.

I don't think it's entitled to so things differently to you OP as long as it doesn't impact you by more than a minute or two.

Why don't I know this Aldi rule and why does no one else at our Aldi obey it? I thought the trolley space was so people could get past.
I thought the high blue shelves at Lidl were for the leaflets
I'm so confused

I always dare myself to pack super slowly to see what the check out people will do once the space is all piled with scanned stuff, but I've never dared yet.

I pack at the till, that is what suits me and I am the paying customer at that moment in time. I don't want my stuff thrown around and I Dont want to squash it in a random heap. Sorry, not sorry as my DC say.

I love a game of "best the cashier", it's an unsaid thing but you both know you are playing. I think they should give the cashiers whistles just to make it fun.

What a fantastic idea.

I must admit this is now a pet hate of mine but maybe we have just got used to the pack and leave customer service . I find myself getting frustrated at Tescos or Morrisons when the cashier isnt fast enough (not their fault at all ) . Is that a good thing I dont think so, just what I am now used too as the norm .

its confusing if you dont know,can't understand why there is no room on the belt foryou to pack.
you would have hated me last time i went, i packed at the checkout, because i wasnt sure if i needed bags. how do people manage in the circumstances.>?

Chicky it's not always obvious if people have a disability and they might not want to mention it to every cashier - my dp has one and it is often slower if he helps me with packing (mainly because he is more particular than me!), but he certainly can't help when there is a small area for scanned items - especially if they are being flung through. I suspect people sometimes wonder why he isn't helping me with the packing and I had to explain to the cashier on one occasion (in France funnily enough!). People might not be being entitled even if it looks as though they are .

Oh this pisses me right off, but not as much as a checkout operator who doesnt say "Please use the packing shelf".

I was behind a woman who was doing "A place for everything and everything in its place". It is well signed, I believe it say "PACKING SHELF......pack your shopping here, it helps keep our prices low" or something. I just think they want Aldi prices with Tesco service.

You expect them to... Put it on the floor?

I don't see it mentioned, tho may have missed it.

In Lidl and Aldi the checkout staff are monitored for speed. I'd you delay them, you hurt their score and possibly their pay.
The idea is that these stores rely on the fewest possible staff members to keep costs low. To do this the checkout staff have to get customers out the door asap and get back to stock fulfilment or other tasks.
That's why the packing bench is there, quickly pack in to trolley, or quickly put back in trolley and move to packing bench to put in bags. If the cashier has to pause to wait for you to move, you could be costing them wages.