To get the aldi rage...

[chillypop]

... when people pack at the till?

Aldi is predicated on low costs, meaning a smaller number of staff, meaning fewer checkouts open, meaning the etiquette is for customers to haul ass through the checkout. There's a packing area to accommodate this!

Today I found myself and many others waiting whilst an individual decided to meticulously pack a shop which was presumably to feed the population of a small country. Even the member of staff at the checkout seemed a touch bewildered.

Yes, a first world problem. Am I just being impatient?

I always pack at the till. Am not packing everything into a trolley to then have to repack it. But then I rarely shop at Aldi.

Agreed - which is why I made this point in a later post. But in todays scenario this was not the case.

Glad to read that your mum goes at her own pace. I'm appalled that anyone would tut her though.

I find it really concerning generally the way elderly people are treated in our society. Many aren't online so can't shop that way either. We really need to find more ways to accommodate elderly people's needs. If Aldi are reading this thread, I hope they think about this.

If I chuck it into opened IKEa bags or chuck it directly into the trolley IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE!

Absolute joke to put a family's worth into a trolley, take it all out and then pack it again!😁

( And there's NO Signs to say that's what you have to do )

I think some people love a rule. Like my mum.

some old duffer reported her to the manager because she was scanning faster than he could pack

Charming. Let's hope you never become an old duffer eh?

I NEVER understand this.

It takes far longer to indervidually move armfulls of unpacked item (dropping them taking longer) to a bench than it does to throw it all in a bag - it doesnt save anyone time because either way the cashier cant move onto the next customer until the exact same space is cleared.

Yes if someone wants to reaarange their bags they can move to a bench area but the ACTUAL packing happens at the till.

I agree with both of you, getting 'the rage', because someone is packing slowly, then getting their purse/card out is just awful, people that intolerant should be the ones who stay at home and order online and leave the rest of us to shop in a polite, sociable, tolerant manner.

I like this suggestion re. a quick pamper. Will take this on board!

You know for an absolote fact that the stranger your ranting about doesnt have a HIDDEN disability?

what do you think 'hidden' means?

I find it helpful, when getting irritated by other people at the till, to think of my dad who has health issues, a recently disabled wife meaning he has had to start doing things like food shopping at 78. And I think how I would feel if other people started tutting at him.
i also think "will the earth stop turning if I'm stuck here for two minutes ? No" and silence my inner impatient person.
maybe you should try it more, it's more relaxing.

I read Aldi packing threads only for the hyperbole. It's like MN bingo. We've got lobbing, hurling, chucking, throwing, firing, flinging aggressively throwing and juggling.

I call full house!

Exactly this, I never hold anyone up as I can keep up with the operator as I am essentially putting the items in the bag in the trolley. Wouldn’t do it if I was making other wait.

I have the bags that clip over the sides of the trolley so they are all laid out open and ready for shopping. Four bags - one for fruit and veg, one for cleaning products and tins, one for frozen and one for everything else. I have never packed at the packing bench and nobody has ever said anything to me.

No, it's full house now you've said MN bingo.

I always pack at the till, I load the belt with goods in order of how I want to pack them then it is easy to fill up your bags as they are scanned

@gamerchick are you in too much of a rush to read properly? I said I pack my bags which are in the trolley..or as many others have said, just as quick to do that as chuck it in the trolley anyway and it would take me no less time to get my card out of my purse as the phone. Ten seconds is 'faffy' really? And no, I'm not talking about my own personal bubble, I'm saying that life involves interaction alongside other people's choices, and getting your knickers in a twist about it only fuels this sense of screwed up rage against the world that results in the frequent unpleasant exchanges we see on here.

Excellent post

There is a fecking huge sign above the packing shelf in my local Aldi.

@DaphneDeloresMoorhead thank you 😁

This 👆👆👆.
It drives me berserk when people aren’t ready to pay when they’ve been waiting in a queue for at least a few minutes. Especially the men who have to pat down every pocket they have to find where the bloody card is. Then pat down again to find glasses. In our Lidl, people are politely reminded to pack at the bench if there is a queue and they have a lot.

The USP of Lidl and Aldi is the minimum amount of staff on a shift to keep costs down and support cheaper prices. This inevitably means staff need to get customers through the til asap so that people don’t get pissed off and stop going. Hence no packing at the til unless you are really quick and putting into bags as quick as you could put back into trolley. Its unfortunate for those who are elderly / impaired but without such a system, these types of supermarket will have to raise prices.

on a side note - I notice that when I’m in Asda/Tesco/sainsbo, if someone has a trolley full to the brim, I almost admire them for some strange reason - but a full trolley in Lidl for some equally strange treason gives me rage! I know IABU.

I always pack at the till, just like I do at Tesco - I didn't realise it wasn't "the thing to do" at discount supermarkets. Everybody at our one packs at the till too.

And what on earth does "haul ass" mean?

This is so depressing, people are so intolerant of one another. Some people might need a bit of extra time to open their purse and pay, or to sort their shopping. I’m quite impatient by nature, but I do try my best to be considerate of the needs of others.

FWIW, I haven’t used a conveyor belt checkout in years. I use the handheld scanners. I pootle (or race) about at exactly the speed I feel like. I pack the bags as I shop like an uptight arsehole (one bag for veg, one for fridge stuff, one for cupboard, etc) and then I don’t have to queue, I just pay and leave. Surely Aldi should adopt that system as the most efficient?

Because it’s cheaper if you don’t. Everyone packing away from the till means less time at the till and lower staff costs and less queuing. Packing at the till by some customers for their own convenience raises costs and queues for everyone else, but you still get the cheap shop - it means you are having your cake and eating it theirs too! People rightly feel taken advantage of if they are sticking to the rules for the prices and you aren’t. I suppose they feel if you want ‘normal’ supermarket packing, you should pay ‘normal’ supermarket prices for it.

I have those old people shopping bags that line the trolley, which is my hack.

What does it say? Does it say that you are supposed to put your stuff in the trolley and repack it in the packing area? If I saw a sign for a packing area I would have a clue what that is for.

I shop at Lidl if I am going to Aldi or Lidl but I would stop if they were hassling me about packing at the till. I’m the customer. If you cannot provide the most basic of services then I’m off.

I shop at Aldi, I also pack at the the till with things put on the till in a sensible order to aid packing direct into bags at the other end. Occasionally the checkout assistant overtakes me (usually towards the end of the trolley load) so that is when I start firing stuff into random bags or piling it up on top to sort at the packing bench afterwards.

Our Aldi is only a year old and they have the divided section at the rear of the tills that allows the next customer to come through while the first is still packing. Perhaps as they update stores this will become the norm?