Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aldi bag search

184 replies

tiger2691 · 04/03/2023 07:35

Motorcycle panniers, on the baggage hook on the trolley, not in the trolley, reasonable or unreasonable? I told the checkout operator that it was unacceptable, and he said it was company policy. Strangely enough my fairly big shoulder bag, which I was wearing, was ignored. I felt a bit sorry for the bloke tbh, I don't think he really wanted to do it.

I shop there weekly, it's not like I'm new. Anyway, I consented, but I wont necessarily do so if it happens too often. Profiling perhaps, because I bought a bottle of rum, ha!

OP posts:
SpottyLip · 04/03/2023 09:35

I don't think they're unreasonable. If there's nothing to hide why would you object?

SnottyLottie · 04/03/2023 09:35

Shops must hate me. I take three big bags with me and walk into town and visit three/four supermarkets (to make sure I shop the best deals). Obviously I put that supermarket’s stuff in my basket but the previous supermarkets’ produce gets flung together in random bags to ensure it’s easy to carry. If I got stopped and asked to search my bags they’ll have a hard time proving what came from what store as I’m always misplacing receipts.

I’ve only ever been challenged once when I was at the Sainsburys checkout and I had thrown some of my M&S buys into the pram trolley for extra storage. The cashier asked (rather snottily imo) if I planned on paying for them and I explained that they were actually from the M&S next door and she could check the packaging as proof if she wanted. She did and she was satisfied.

Crumpetdisappointment · 04/03/2023 09:35

i saw a shop lifter, instead of putting the sausages in the basket, he put them in his bag
he didnt even bother with a basket!

YellowDaffodillie · 04/03/2023 09:36

WTF? That’s ridiculous.
I’d definitely refuse to allow a bag search if they stopped me. Surely they need to have some genuine belief that you have stolen something before asking to search your bag, otherwise they can FO.

I wonder where you shop for this to be a thing? London, or another big city?

It’s not something I’ve ever seen where I live and we don’t have security staff patrolling the supermarkets either.

Crumpetdisappointment · 04/03/2023 09:37

i have also done a trail of shops,
i have never snootily been asked,
or asked at all.
they trust me, quite rightly

Duddlepucks · 04/03/2023 09:37

My local Aldi has started doing the same. They want to look in your empty shopping bags before they start scanning!
I personally find it rude that they ask!

SolitudeNotLoneliness · 04/03/2023 09:39

Skyeheather · 04/03/2023 08:42

I was in ASDA last week and the women on the self service till asked to search my pram basket as she believed I had items in there which I had not scanned - I told her to crack on and have a look if she wanted, I knew I had nothing in there except my changing bag and some random toddler stuff. Then I enjoyed smirking at her when she found nothing.

You are allowed to refuse but if you do that you'd look like you have something to hide so they'd probably call the police..... I did think about refusing and telling her to call the police if she believed me to be stealing something but decided better of it - it would have been a waste of everyone's time.

Glad you enjoyed your smirking there.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 04/03/2023 09:39

I imagine shoplifting has got quite a bit easier since the introduction of charges for carrier bags and the normalisation of people bringing their own bags or other receptacles. It will have been the pannier bags, and it would likely have been the same if you had had a pram with a large basket (my sister had hers checked recently).

LakieLady · 04/03/2023 09:40

hothands · 04/03/2023 09:15

The two I remember were if somebody bought a pair of shoes for example, you were meant to take the shoes out of the box, check inside the box and check inside the shoes

I bought a hot water bottle yesterday. The cashier actually unscrewed the top and looked inside it 🤣

Luckily, I'd put the garden furniture I was stealing in my coat pocket.

😂

I wonder how staff feel about this? Friend's husband is an Aldi manager and he said that the staff have a target for how quickly they scan items. They might not like having to do all this extra checking.

I rarely go in Aldis, because it's always heaving and the queues are always really long. Checking empty bags will make them even longer.

Having my bags checked wouldn't bother me though.

Username1234321 · 04/03/2023 09:43

I had my empty bag for life in the trolley and they asked to look in it before scanning items to check they were empty. I was confused as never happened before but was told it was a new policy

Deathraystare · 04/03/2023 09:43

I walked out the door of Sainsburys (after paying for my shopping of course!) the alarm went off but I reckon someone else set it off. Security asked to see inside my bag. I said "fill your boots" , opened my bag, showed them my receipt and was sent on my merry way.

maranella · 04/03/2023 09:45

Times are tough, I'm sure there are plenty of shoppers going into supermarkets with backpacks, paniers, shopping bags, buggies and 'accidentally' dropping items into their large bags rather than the trolley. I never mind having my shopping rescanned and if I went shopping with large bags that I could be using for shoplifting I would expect them to be searched tbh. I'm completely honest, but most people aren't.

ThinWomansBrain · 04/03/2023 09:46

Your backpack is on your back
the OP made no mention of a backpack, but a large shoulder bag - very easy for things to fall or be sneaked into.
I did my fairly regular morning aldi croissant run recently, never use a basket as they only have giant ones. In addition to the croissant I got some fruit and a couple of other things. Got to the checkout, juggling about seven items, was surprised I didn't have the satsumas I thought I'd picked up.

When I got home that evening & cleared out my tote style handbag, discovered the net of satsumas lurking at the bottom 😮.

MotherOfHouseplants · 04/03/2023 09:47

Interesting to hear the chippiness in several of the bag search anecdotes on the thread (smirking?!).

I think most people probably accept that bag searches occasionally need to happen, but only ever to other people because it should be perfectly clear to anyone looking at us that we are honest people who would NEVER.

justasking111 · 04/03/2023 09:49

North West Wales, Gwynedd and Anglesey read that shoplifting had increased substantially. A lot of poverty and unemployment here. We're not just talking about cities but rural areas

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 04/03/2023 09:49

I'm completely honest, but most people aren't.

Do you truly believe that? That’s very sad. I strongly disagree. Many people are dishonest but most people are not.

SoShallINever · 04/03/2023 09:49

Pannier bags cost hundreds, of course you would take them into the shop with you.

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 04/03/2023 09:51

What does it matter if they ask to search your bags if you haven't stolen anything? They can ask to search you and if you refuse, they can refuse to serve you. Then you'd have to go elsewhere to shop. Some people just look to get offended at anything. And smirking at cashiers just doing their job, how immature.

justasking111 · 04/03/2023 09:53

www.moneymagpie.com/save-money/what-are-social-supermarkets-and-how-can-you-find-them

A social supermarket is opening in our area.

RichardHeed · 04/03/2023 09:54

tiger2691 · 04/03/2023 08:30

It might be company policy but company policy is not law. Shops are entitled to ask to search customers bags if they have good reason, but this should be performed discreetly out of public view and the customer has the right to refuse.

Show quote history

Who says they should be performed out of public view? Imagine the faff each time a cashier had to close down the till, escort them customer to a special room etc. Then you’ll have women refusing to go into a room unescorted by a man, rightly so. Madness.

You of course have the right to refuse but they’ll just tell you to leave, and won’t serve you. Keep it up and you’ll end up barred as you’ll not be worth the hassle. Just leave your little bags on your bike in future.

Yants · 04/03/2023 09:54

justasking111 · 04/03/2023 09:34

Seen three shoplifters. One an elderly man wearing a big overcoat who lifted some cakes. Second a young lad with a rucksack again lifting cakes. Third an elderly lady with a wheelie trolley filling it with Brita type water filters at £20 a pop.

I'd presume shoplifting has risen considerably recently

It's interesting you mention the elderly there, I noticed recently when looking in the vitamins section that all the vitamins, minerals and supplements that were more generally aimed at the elderly market all had individual security tags on, whilst other more expensive stuff didn't 😮

sweeneytoddsrazor · 04/03/2023 09:54

I work in a supermarket and yes we do sometimes ask Often people put bags of shopping from other stores in their trolley with whatever is being purchased from our store so we ask if they need scanning when they are at checkout.

As for checking the shoes, we have had plenty of incidents where goods have been hidden inside other things, one memorable one was someone buying a coat but filled the pockets with make up.

If someone is caught stealing a large amount then we usually share their image with our other reasonably local branches and have had plenty of incidents where people have purchased things like bins which they have paid for, but filled them with stuff they haven't paid for, then returned the bin to a different branch along with the receipt for a refund

Giggorata · 04/03/2023 09:55

I have mixed feelings about this.
Shoplifting must have increased greatly, as the cost of living has risen and people are struggling, so I get that.
But I would feel stigmatised by the request to look in my bags, especially if I was on foot, with bags and my huge snazzy trolley.
But I don't feel (too) annoyed when I'm going into a museum and they ask to look in my handbag, which is actually a lot more of an intimate thing than shopping bags or panniers.
I guess I will just have to adjust.
(DH does most of the shopping, anyway.)

Butchyrestingface · 04/03/2023 09:56

It might be company policy but company policy is not law ... and the customer has the right to refuse

They also have the right not to serve you.

Ruth98 · 04/03/2023 09:56

tiger2691 · 04/03/2023 07:35

Motorcycle panniers, on the baggage hook on the trolley, not in the trolley, reasonable or unreasonable? I told the checkout operator that it was unacceptable, and he said it was company policy. Strangely enough my fairly big shoulder bag, which I was wearing, was ignored. I felt a bit sorry for the bloke tbh, I don't think he really wanted to do it.

I shop there weekly, it's not like I'm new. Anyway, I consented, but I wont necessarily do so if it happens too often. Profiling perhaps, because I bought a bottle of rum, ha!

My local Aldi does a bag search on every customer. I don't like it and neither do the staff but it's their policy to make you squash your bags for life flat and lift them out of the trolley to ensure you're not concealing anything. Its part of keeping the prices low by ensuring you're not subsidising others theft I guess.