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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU - Lidl etiquette

102 replies

keepondreaming · 31/05/2019 17:54

I did my shopping in Lidl this afternoon. I loaded my goods on the belt, the assistant checked them through and I then loaded them straight back in my trolley. I paid then went to the ledge at the side and packed my shopping into bags.

I always thought the etiquette was that in the cheaper supermarkets, you got through the checkout as quick as possible. Quicker checkout = more people = lower prices.

Was IBU to get cheesed off at the people in front of me who carefully packed each and every item into their bags as they went through and then spent ages sorting their stuff before finding their purse to pay?

What do other people do?

OP posts:

Topseyt · 31/05/2019 18:27

I couldn't get worked up about this.

I'm not usually buying massed when I go into Aldi or Lidl, so can usually just put it in a bag as it is shot through the till at lightning speed.

I don't like to use Aldi for a main shop because a) I can't get everything we need, and b) I don't like having my shopping flung at me through the till, which can be rather an Olympic event.

Lidl is much further away, so not usually convenient, but I imagine it being similar, though maybe a bit toned down.

SmarmyMrMime · 31/05/2019 18:28

I use two big IKEA bags. One for cold, one for ambient. Items sorted on the conveyor at the start so they should come through in a sensible order. I can then pack efficiently and quickly.

Lidl tends to be a bit more patient than Aldi.

Fundays12 · 31/05/2019 18:28

I normally pack at the tills in Lilds boy pack quicker than the cashier can scan. I have been stuck behind someone who took ages which was really annoying as it held everyone up. I don’t think the cashier should have allowed that.

Theimpossiblegirl · 31/05/2019 18:29

My local store has a pole thing to redirect the next person's shopping if you're still packing when they're finished putting it through and you've paid.

Crazybunnylady123 · 31/05/2019 18:30

Lol ... I guess I missed the memo. But we just put tins at the front and frozen together. Chuck the food into the bags open in the trolley.. zapp the card and away. Never there long and we pack as fast as cashier puts the food down.

fairweathercyclist · 31/05/2019 18:32

What I do object to is when they start scanning the next person's shopping surf it's literally in front of me before I have put my bank card back in my purse after paying

To be fair that happens at Tescos and Sainsburys too. When I am the next person in line (whose items they've started to scan) I say "could you wait until that lady/gentleman has finished please". Don't care what their policy is.

Don't have an Aldi near me (hopefully a wrong that will be righted soon as they've applied to open one) but occasionally go to Lidl with a big bag so I can throw the stuff into it (I don't do a main shop, I stockpile their coffee). I don't use a trolley.

DameDoom · 31/05/2019 18:35

DH does trolley bags and is the empresario of speed shopping. If it's just me, I have to pack at the shelf.
You can tell a rookie Lidlite a mile off. They soon learn at ours - much tutting and rolling of eyes. Quite genteel but disapproving. Waitrose is empty and it's red trew-central round in our Lidl - apart from us lowering the tone.

rwalker · 31/05/2019 18:36

pisses me right off and when people routing for purse .As if it was a fucking surprise they were going to pay.

Rafflesway · 31/05/2019 18:37

Lidl tills irritate me. Far too tolerant of slow packers. Getting a bit like the Co-op in ours. 🙄

Give me Aldi any day of the week.

ballsdeep · 31/05/2019 18:39

I shop in aldi and I just open the bags in the trolley and pop things in as they are coming off the till. Its just as quick as putting them in the trolley

WindsweptEgret · 31/05/2019 18:42

I pack at the packing shelf if I have a trolley, at the till if I'm using a basket.

HolesinTheSoles · 31/05/2019 18:42

I first went to cheap supermarkets in Germany and quickly realised you only had time to tip all the scanned shopping back into the trolley as fast as you could before scurrying off into a quiet corner to pack it. In the UK I think it's less frantic: some people pack at the till if they can do it quickly.

ThanksItHasPockets · 31/05/2019 18:51

Our local Aldi has noticed on the trolley handles explaining the system, and the checkout staff will ask you to position your trolley quite specifically, end-on to the checkout.

ScreamingValenta · 31/05/2019 18:51

I have my bags open and pack as the things come through the till. I try to put them in a sensible order on the conveyer so that it's easy to pack similar things in the same bags, without having to faff about. Always have my purse to hand as well except for the time I once left it at home

palahvah · 31/05/2019 18:52

It's tough if you've used a basket rather than a trolley as you don't really have any option but to pack at the till. You do have to be speedy though. 15 years ago it was zero tolerance.

CheesecakeAddict · 31/05/2019 18:53

Maybe they didn't know. I went to aldi for the first time today and didn't realise there was an etiquette and I had already left my basket at the front of the till, didn't realise till I was at the front and stuff was already come out. I did then take the rest of my shopping to the packing bit but i think the people behind me were a bit pissed off that they had to wait a few extra seconds than necessary for me to move it all across 😳

prettybird · 31/05/2019 18:54

I have big bags which I have open in the trolley ready to pack. I arrange the stuff on the conveyor belt to ensure that I can pack as quickly as it is scanned (often faster ) - often literally throwing it in to my bags. The only potential delay is at the start while I get the large 2l bottles of Irn Bru, the 4 pint milk cartons and the bottle of Cava into the bags as they are the heavy items that need to be at the bottom of the bags - but I always catch up and never slow the check out operator down. I'm as quick as I would be if I were putting the items into the trolley.

The only "problem" I sometimes have is if it's quiet and I haven't had time to load the conveyor belt (and get my bags into the base of the trolley) before it's my turn. But it means that I often let someone who only has a couple of items to go ahead of me.

It also has the effect that it means I get really irritated at Sainsbury's and Tesco where they scan things at a "dead slow & stop" speed

Original poster

keepondreaming · 31/05/2019 18:54

Mixture of responses but it seems most are speedy at packing. Looks like trolley bags could be the best way forward

I agree with PPs that the checkout staff should sometimes have a firm but gentle word with the slowcoaches.

Great idea about payment card on a lanyard, it's not as if it's a surprise that you need to pay!

Now if I could just get someone to follow me home and out out it all away neatly!

OP posts:

MilkTrayLimeBarrel · 31/05/2019 18:57

Oh for the days when supermarkets had a designated 'packer' at every till - relaxed shopping. Safeway in particular were good at this. I just go for the self scan option now at Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and M&S - much less hassle!

NotMeNoNo · 31/05/2019 18:59

I pack at the shelf. DH has long arms and is some kind of speed king and packs straight into bags at high speed. I guess the cashier would say something if someone was causing a hold up.

I love it that MN has "etiquette" for everything in life no matter how downmarket. Car boot etiquette, camping, Aldi...

lotusbell · 31/05/2019 19:01

As an aside how annoying are those people in other supermarkets who stand and watch the checkout assistant scan everything and only at the end, pay and start packing? Or don't have their purse ready to pay?! So frustrating!

LarryGreysonsDoor · 31/05/2019 19:03

Well yes. But how much would it cost to bring back the packer? This is why supermarket food, especially Aldi and Lidl is so much cheaper.

cuppycakey · 31/05/2019 19:03

I agree with PPs that the checkout staff should sometimes have a firm but gentle word with the slowcoaches.

Could that not be rather rude/discriminatory if someone has a disability or reason why they are a bit slower? Arthritis for example... Why do you need everything done really quickly?

My Aldi doesn't have this packing area thing some people have mentioned, and they don't throw the stuff at you any faster than at Tesco/Sainsburys.

I don't think Lidl has a packing area but will double check as go there less often. Again, nobody is throwing stuff at high speed, it's just a regular supermarket experience with lower prices

Or am I just really really lucky?

Jins · 31/05/2019 19:05

There’s a huge sign in our local ALDI telling you to pack at the shelf. It’s a corporate sign so I’d guess they are in other stores.

Lidl is more relaxed but tends to have more basket shoppers

Lolwhat · 31/05/2019 19:06

Our local Lidl doesn’t have the bench so you have to pack at the checkout but they do have 2 lanes on each checkout so they can start the next customer

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