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.

After reading a similar thread to this. I was at my local LIDL and I was in the queue (only 2 items), there was a lady with a big basket behind me full of stuff.

We got chatting whilst the people in front were paying and she said how difficult it was to pack bags in a rush. I said well I've been told that you put all your items back in the basket and pack it on the big counter over by the window. She said what a great idea I'll do that.

We got to the front I paid for my items and then the checkout girl looked at the lady with empty basket and said put that down at the other end. The lady said no I going to put my items back in and then pack them on the packing shelf.

The Shop assistant said I don't know what you are talking about that isn't what the shelf is for!

All the posters who can pack straight into their bags clearly have the expensive rattan bags with the bamboo handles which stack along the trolley in a neat and orderly rectangular fashion awaiting the fling of sausages and have them lined up ready to go like a new middle class It's a knockout

Whereas with the clientele in my local aldi it's straight into the trolley in a race against the shoppers at till 4 to reach the packing boxes on the other side first

onefootinthegrave that profit came after massive losses in the years prior to that. Of course the businesses set out to make a profit. They aren't charities. But they will only do well if expertly managed because the margins really aren't huge and the costs are high. Anyway, we're talking about Aldi and their profits aren't as big because they keep prices low and they keep prices low by keeping costs such as staff as low as possible by employing as few as possible and having a system where repacking shelves and replacing stock is more time efficient.

Aldi sold their own version of trolley bags a while back, we bought them and pack straight into them at the till. If it wasn't allowed, they wouldn't have sold them. You can pack into them just as fast as it takes to throw everything straight into the trolley.

I'd suggest if people want to pack in a leisurely fashion they go to one of the many other supermarkets that allow you to do that

Which don't stock the same items. This time of year I go to Lidl to buy German Christmas products, chocolate and coffee. Alternatives are available at some of the other supermarkets but they are not as good.

Lidl and Aldi could have some self service tills for baskets with fewer than 10 items in.

All the posters who can pack straight into their bags clearly have the expensive rattan bags with the bamboo handles which stack along the trolley in a neat and orderly rectangular fashion
Nope. A mix of big bags and normal bags.

Sat Lidls around here all have self serve tills now - new this year so if you haven't been yet this year your local one might too!

Seems like Lidl are going with what customers are used to more than Aldi then?

It depends if you're geared up for it or not. At our Aldi, they speed scan, so if I have big bags set up in the trolley and I've organised my shopping o the belt I can go as fast as them, straight into my bags. I'f I've forgotten bags and end up with faffy plastic ones, the shopping goes in the trolley and in the bags later. I'f I have DD or DH with me it always goes straight in the bags as we work as a team.

My pet shopping hate is when the till person packs for you at the rate of approximately one item every 5 minutes, I get control anxiety and want to grab the bags off them and do it myself.

Same at Lidl. It can be very frustrating when someone is faffing about going 'ooh, now which bag shall I put this in', and despite the checkout person's speed they have to stop as the space is full while the person fannies about. I have it down to a fine art now, items on belt in order of packing, bags open and ready in trolley! I have asked staff why they don't tell people generally to just chuck everything in the trolley and then go to the 'packing area' shelf, as people used to, but they say they are told not to do so.

One of the checkout operators at Lidl recently said they'd been given a target (or suchlike) which I think was 27 items per minute ...

I remember in Iceland (I go there on my lunch break everyday) I had one item, a Mum was in front of me with her child in the trolley, she kept giving the child items of shopping to play with, and very clearly saw that he kept ripping them apart.

Personally, if I had a huge amount of shopping, I would let the person behind with their one item and card ready to pay in hand go first, but I respect it's her choice and a first come first served basis.

BUT - EVERY SINGLE ITEM that she allowed her child to tear up, she demanded the staff member to replace, so you had a member of staff having to run around and replace all these items that she was responsible for damaging.

Anyway... I spent my whole lunch break waiting, and she gave no fecks.

It’s the customers who are still packing when all the shopping has been scanned, and everyone has to wait until they have paid.

Which will be the case fir most people with health problem, disabilties, struggling young dcs etc...
Or of course, you can expect them to put everything in the trolley, then on the bench, then back in the trolley. Thereby making it 200% harder for them instead.
All that for a few more mins...

Or you could argue that Aldi is just a shop fir them and they just shouldn’t go because that’s how it’s expected to work. Regardless if their disability/struggles. After all they are likely to have more money than a non disabled/I’ll person to be able to shop at normal supermarkets...
Or maybe not.

poster MyBrexitIsIll

Exactly this. The extra work of the packing shelf can be so much harder than most people realise. There are many small reasons why people with disabling conditions can become socially isolated, and this is one of them. It’s hard enough to venture out some days, without the (often vocal) disapproval of the kind of people who think a few extra seconds at the till is some kind of crime.
It’s not on a par with the kind of asshole who pushes me aside on the rare days I need sticks, but it’s part of the same problem.
Nice to see there are people on here with a little more understanding, thank you!

basically double packing

No it isn't. Clearly you've misunderstood.

Nah, I avoid the packing shelf at all costs! I have my bags ready and open in my trolley and toss everything in at lightening speed, don’t hold anyone up and then walk out packed. Easy!

Same as BleakBetty.
Organise my trolley, place onto belt. Bags are ready and open.
I’m always packed by the time cashier is finished.

If you don’t have the patience to wait then I think you are the problem.

It depends on my mood. If I'm on my own then I'll put bags in the trolley and as long as I keep up with the checkout operator it's fine. I don't faff about though and if I'm not fast enough I just put it all in the trolley and sort it at the bench or car

@onefootinthegrave weirdly Aldi and Lidl pay the living wage and have some of the best employment terms in retail... increasing staff WOULD impact their prices or their work conditions. I don't see customers packing their shopping differently as a massive price to pay for that and I say that as a disabled person.

Why the hell would you throw it in your trolley then take it all out again to pack? I have 3 sturdy bags in trolley , all heavy stuff on the belt first, eggs etc last. Throw all heavy stuff into the bottom of said 3 bags then lighter stuff on top. I’ve finished packing when the last item is scanned.

Until someone working at Aldi or Lidl tells me I'm doing it wrong, which they haven't in two years of doing the same I shall continue to pack my bags at the checkout.

As I'm shopping for six people, and have a full, large trolley which I chuck carefully decant the shopping which is hurled at me by the assistant, it is going to mean you have to wait some time if you are behind me, both to fill the entire belt with groceries and then to put it into the trolley at the other end. If you can't wait the nanosecond I may have saved you by not putting it straight into the trolley bags then I suggest you shop elsewhere.

Plus the fact when it is busy in December, if I'm going to be filling, emptying and filling the trolley then packing it all on the packing shelf, I'm going to be in the shop longer than if I'd just put it straight into the trolley, which means the next person is less likely to be able to get a parking space or may have to wait longer to park.

People like you who were undoubtedly tutting and huffing the entire time the person was bagging, just make me go twice as slow, I see it as a challenge for how many times you can roll your eyes and look at your watch.

I'm with you shearwater. I pack quickly at the till, straight into my 3 massive Ikea bags. I'm not particularly concerned about what goes where but do try to not squash the bread. No way would I put food into trolley, onto conveyor belt, back into trolley, into shopping bags, bags into trolley, then bags in car - when they could go straight into the bags I have ready

None of the Aldi's I have been to, which is about 3, have had trolleys or they have had but I haven't needed one or it's so bloody crowded so a trolley would have been a PITA! I do find it stressful packing in the bags but we're usually 2 of us so my husband who used to work in a checkout as a student do the packing (he sees it as a competition, pack fast and pack well)

God the pressure, sounds like a horrible experience! I get stressed enough in Sainsbury's when there's a queue.