... to complain about a member of staff at our local Aldi?

[InSearchOfMartin]

In Aldi two weeks ago I took five bottles of perfume to the checkout along with my shopping. I wasn't buying the perfume but I noticed they'd ben opened and squirted and one bottle was damaged. They were unsellable, total cost not a great amount about £35-£40. The woman on the checkout said they couldn't provide testers, so I said that it was a shame as they were losing stock. She said I could talk to the manager, who came out and I asked her about testers. She said Aldi didn't provide testers so I said, as the manager, couldn't you make that decision as you are losing sales. She said no, and I said well, then, it's a shame you are losing stock. I asked what would happen to them and she said they would be sent back. End of conversation, neither party was rude to the other.

I posted on the local Facebook forum about it, with the focus being not on the store, but the standard of customers who were entitled to open and spray themselves with perfume as follows.

What is wrong with people? I've been in Aldi today and found five boxes of perfume opened and squirted, two with damaged lids. Not testers. These are now unsaleable, and at about £7 for goodness sake just buy it and give it away if you don't like it. Really bad behaviour.

A few comments followed all agreeing with me, one person saying they had actually seen testers in a different Aldi in our city. Then today, this rant appeared from one of the Aldi members of staff!

I love how u have failed to mention the attitude & horrible, uncalled for comments to 2 members of staff on this post. U conducted ourself in the most awful & embarrassing way. U should be embarrassed, we all know u just wanted the perfume reduced, staff & customers that overheard, we all know what u were after. ok, just mind ur manners next time. It costs nothing to be nice.

So I want to complain about this. A member of their team is accusing me of wanting freebies, being rude, being embarrassing, awful and so on in embarrassing English, too. I was not rude at all. Nobody was rude. I was cross at the customers being so bloody entitled and thought I was doing the store a favour!

Conversely, this Aldi member of staff should be mortified at her level of English, customer service and ranting on a local Facebook forum. She's made herself look thick, and she's lying. Also, if someone at a doctor's surgery, library, local council etc wrote like this on a forum they'd be in trouble at work for it.

So would you complain, leave it or what?

Nothing good ever comes from posting on local FB pages. Ever.

Do you know for certain it's a member of staff that's posted it? Because it mentions other customers were around and it's not beyond the realm of possibility it's one of those customers.

Someone I work with was the victim of a Facebook witch hunt - several other customers jumped in and defended him and revealed the actual story. Not one member of our staff commented, or the company page.

Lol! I imagine there was a que of very pissed of customers behind you at the checkout while all this was unfolding

Odd to collect them all up and take them to the till. Suggests you were the one who opened them and yes, asking what would happen to them does imply you wanted them for free.

Even stranger to make a Facebook post about it. I’m not surprised someone who was there at the time commented.

No, it didn't result in any online abuse of the staff. It resulted in posts agreeing with me that customers are just entitled and inappropriate. Nobody abused the staff members in any of the replies. I didn't abuse them in the store, either. The comments were about customers.

'should be mortified at her level of English'
'chavvy behaviour'

Yes, after reading that I went back and read the post from the member of staff and I'd say they were bang on the money.

So you've made it possible for randoms online to identify both you and the staff member by searching the text.

Wiser to delete everything here and on Facebook, I think.

No, there wasn't. It was all self checkout.

Perhaps you thought they'd give you the opened bottles instead of withdrawing them? Perhaps your conversation with them could have suggested this? Perhaps they didn't see the conversation in the same light as you?

I don't think you've done anything wrong, but I am surprised that you felt so strongly about it. First of all you took the bottles off the shelf to show members of staff and discuss the company's policy. Then you go home and post on Facebook about it.
If I'd seen open bottles of perfume I wouldn't have given it a second thought .
I think member if staff was absolutely ridiculous to respond tonyour post like that. You werent even criticising Aldi! But I don't understand why you keep mentioning her poor English. Not everyone is well educated.

Point it out to the floor staff, not the till operators.
Don't take products from the floor, just highlight it to someone nearby, let them deal with it.
Taking them to the till makes it look like you wanted to buy them at a knock off price.

I didn't want them. I was only there to buy cleaning items. It was not about that.

To be fair you sideling up with open bottles asking them what they are going to do with them does look like you were angling for a freebie or reduced perfume. At my local aldi they sell things like this in the reduced section.

And you would be wrong.

Nope.

Yep.

How do you know the reply was from a member of staff and not a customer that was there?

Hahaha this is batshit

Because her profile states she works there.

It's lovely how much you care about the profit and loss of Aldi 😂

I vote YABU because you started a local facebook post with "what is wrong with people ". A tiresome phrase, repeated endlessly on facebook posts everywhere.

Would everyone think this was OK if it happened in Boots or House of Fraser?

No, we'd all be signing petitions and protesting in the streets 🤣

This is weird behaviour. You’ve spoken to a member of staff, a manager, made a Facebook post and a thread on here. I mean this genuinely are you OK because that is unhinged over some cheap perfume.

I wouldn't give a shit really OP. It's not my problem. I don't get paid to police Aldi, Boots or any big companies stock. If it's an issue for the store, they will do something about it. If not, no skin off your nose.