... 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?

@September1013 Aldi managers aren't paid a pittance. They earn more than some teachers and deputy heads.

Why was this something that bothered you so much OP? I tend to agree with the employee that you seemed to have brought it to their attention (quite forcefully) so you could get the products for a reduced price. Nothing wrong with that btw. If you don’t ask you don’t get.

I’m wondering what your manner was like in store. Some people don’t realise they’re being abrasive when they talk to people and you clearly annoyed her and possibly her manager. I get it, I work in retail too and we honestly don’t time for stuff like this. So maybe you were fine but wasting their time when they had a lot of stuff to get through.

I’m flummoxed btw, why you made a fb post about this? That said, my manager would be fuming if any of his colleagues commented on a post like this at all, let alone to bollock a customer. She shouldn’t have done that imo. I wouldn’t make a complaint about her though. I’d be too embarrassed.

@ThighsYouCantControl I. Did. Not. Want. A. Discount. I didn't want any perfume in the first place, at all, full price, half price or free.

I did not annoy "her" as I didn't see or speak to her. It was a different woman, and then the manager. I've never met or seen this person or heard of her until she wrote the post on Facebook.

The post from the employee is what "bothered" me (as you put it) and why I made this post yesterday. Not the interaction in the shop. I'd completely forgotten about it until she pipes up two weeks after.

Again, you have two options. Just delete your post on FB - or don't - and move on.

Or, write the complaint, have someone at head office open it, roll their eyes, give literally not a single fuck about it, and then use a template letter to write a standard apology to be sent to you.

Those are your choices. What more do you want?

They. Might. Have. Thought. You. Wanted. A. Discount. On. The. Items. They. Are. Not. Mind. Readers.

Like I said, I would never get into this online with a customer, it’s very dicey and not worth the aggro from pissing off my manager. But the more you post the more I can see why people might have found you annoying tbh.

Neither am I (a mind reader). I didn't even consider it. Perhaps they should have said that.

@InSearchOfMartin the thing is people have been opening boxes and fiddling with products since - well - probably the market stalls in biblical times.
Some people just do it. They don't care.
For retail staff it's a pain in the arse. Retail staff KNOW that people do it - in fact not just retail staff. Everyone knows that some people are just selfish folks who don't care what they do.
Writing a post on Facebook about it really is just bizarre. What would it achieve? Telling some people that some other people are selfish to open a perfume and not buy it.
It's not exactly going to stop those that do it.
If you haven't already just delete your Facebook post.
It's a completely pointless post.

People like you can cost staff their jobs, working in retail is hard enough without stupidity like this.
Stop posting trivial things on facebook and mind your own business
It's a non issue really

I think it is a little embarrassing for you to have concerned yourself so much with the branch’s potential loss of stock, so much so that you ended up speaking to a manager about it. It just doesn’t have anything to do with you as a customer.

My thoughts exactly when I read the OP. I can't imagine getting so riled up and over involved in a situation that has no impact on me whatsoever!

The employee I spoke to involved the manager, not me. Nobody was riled up.

I can quite believe OP wasn't angling for a discount tbh, and just wanted to have something to complain about, unfortunately if this person is a member of staff, they've handed it to them on a silver platter, and is likely just one of those people who seem to think that as a customer, or potential customer, or just being there, they're owed an explanation about something and what they think should happen and how they think things should be is how they should be done, and because they've got a captive audience in the staff, use the opportunity to seek a bit of validation and attention, and feel important.

And that's exactly how OP has come across with the perfume saga, self important and pompous and that's just on here, so I'm willing to believe that they were also the same way during the interaction.

Service jobs are hard enough without people seeking ego boosts and validation and there's something quite satisfying about someone like that being told so. And it's quite telling that they're totally unable to grasp that they caused the whole situation and realise their behaviour is what's caused the whole issue.

Fb post.

But I really think you should let this go. You're not going to achieve anything and I really don't see the point. Yes you're annoyed, things in life annoy us, we move on. Why expend any more energy on it? (I'm also going to take my own advice and not spend any more time on this thread as I don't think you're willing to see any other viewpoint despite posting on here!)

Haha, if you'd posted this on our local FB page you'd have had your arse handed to you...and rightly so. Can't believe you did this and posted about it

Oh OP,

I did find this thread 'mildly interesting' until I started cringing for you, to see you've woken up this morning and are still at it!!!

Do you think you need some counselling to get over it??

WAY too invested in Aldi's stock policy OP 😆most people are just finding it extremely bemusing that you would pick up these bottles of perfume , take them to a manager and then post on FB. Do you do this with every item you see that has damaged packaging?

Not really, but I do appreciate your concern, and I really hope you haven't wasted so much time cringing that you haven't been able to get on with your day.

No I don't.

I didn't take them to the manager, as I have said several times to people who haven't read it properly (because they are too busy "cringing" on my behalf, perhaps).

You could say the same about every post on this thread responding to the subject (and lets face it - most of social media). What one person thinks is helpful, another person will find annoying and a third will find pointless.

If I skim through the top 100 active threads on MN or equivalent on other platforms I can't say I see the point in most of them but other people plainly do.

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.

Eau D'Ear
(how sad, never mind)

You don't need to be embarrassed or cringe dear, most of us posters are doing that for you! 🤣
Had I come across opened/broken bottles of perfume and I think some people would agree, my immediate thought would have been, ooh lovely, I can try these and see if I'd like to buy one, based on their scent.
I certainly wouldn't have marched off to the checkout, with my arms full, telling the already, no doubt, frazzled staff that they were open/broken and then demanding testers, when I didn't even go in there to buy perfume anyway! I could have understood it if it was the "cleaning products" you say you'd gone in for!
All you've done is show yourself up as a snobbish, interfering busybody, who doesn't have a clue about the workings of retail!
You want an eye opener? Get yourself to Marks and Spencer, you'd be horrified about what goes on there! 🤣

Update on this. I did contact Aldi and they took it seriously. I had several email and phone conversations (instigated by them). They were concerned about a "team member" talking inappropriately and making accusations about customers on social media and making Aldi as a brand look rubbish and would be having a meeting and arranging training.

Feel free to have a go at me as ever, though. I'm sure nobody would want to buy this stuff. I wouldn't. Would you?

Wow! Having a meeting AND arranging training! You sure have shown her.

It's a shame you didn't get a video call from head office so that you could witness the eye rolling first hand from the poor individual who was stuck dealing with your complaint. I'm sure you believe they truly care about this; but I know that they truly don't - they just wanted you to shut up, and throwing some time and attention your way has hopefully done the trick, maybe now you will leave them alone.

I just find it odd that a customer would concern themselves so much with a supermarket's loss of stock/profit.

Ah I remember working in customer service and giving the old "meeting and training" speech to placate whiny customers with nothing better to do as well.

Made them feel important and smug, and the meeting and training was usually just laughing at how ridiculous the customer was being.

That's not what they said when I popped into the shop 😂 Glad to keep them busy!!!