Would you object if Aldi staff checked your personal bag?

[vruskin]

Are you aware that ALDI has a policy of treating cuztomers like thieves.
I was at ALDI Caterham yesterday.
The cashier checked my empty plastic bag inside even though it was very obvious that there was nothing in it.
I then complained to a manager who didn’t even apologise and said that it is their policy to treat every customer like they were thieves.
Would you object to it? I felt disrespected and humiliated. How would you feel?

How are retail staff supposed to know who the “real” shoplifters are though?

Concealment is one of the most common shoplifting tactics, so with theft on the rise it’s not surprising supermarkets are doing more checks. It’s not about being “accused” personally, it’s just part of tighter loss prevention.

And for those saying they’d make a scene or stop shopping somewhere over it, it’s not worth giving it so much headspace. The staff member will have long since moved on from a routine bag check.

No it wouldn't bother me, I'm more annoyed by the shoplifters that make it necessary and the attention seeking, eternal victims that create a big fuss about it happening to them and whining about being humiliated and picked on, so they can have a bit of attention.

Unfortunately we live in a society where shoplifting is absolutely rife.
I wouldn't care. I'm doing nothing wrong, shops should get tough on shoplifting.

Which is why I always get a receipt if I know I will be shopping elsewhere.

@vruskin if you don't like it then shop online. We have a shoplifting epidemic, and if Aldi and other stores are trying to address this by bag searching then so be it.

Life must be pretty exhausting for you to be so easily shocked and insulted.

Just chill.

They can check any bag of mine, any time, no problem.

That would be nice but certain members of society deny us all that right. The thing that has been done wrong is that people shoplift, we are people (a person) so we may have shoplifted, rather than your way which is at an individual level - so your way would mean I would have to shoplift and be caught and then someone could search me. That probably won't work as people don't wear a tag saying I have a criminal conviction for x. By the same token, we shouldn't then be searched at an airport unless we have history ?

I welcome it.
Sick of the thought of having to pay a higher cost so some parasite gets free goods.
Shoplifting is an increasing epidemic that cannot be managed just by security guards and staff are not supposed to question shoplifters.
Its no big deal to show bags, prefer the lower cost than subsidising parasites.

The stakes are higher at an airport.

Shoplifting doesn’t threaten people’s health and safety. Wrong though it is.

Well my point is that if the shop knows who the shoplifters are they still can’t do anything (so I’m told) so why ruin everyday shopping experiences for the rest of us?

I don't know if they are higher. They're different and the outcome is more individually devastating, but the absolute risk is lower (far fewer people are a risk to a plane than are shoplifting) and the impact of shoplifting is more widespread, being felt by everyone.

It doesn't "ruin" my shopping trips, or that of most people.
I would rather a bag search than higher prices. Shoplifting isn't a victimless crime. It affects us all.

Shop online if you are so bothered. I'm sure the bag searchers would rather you did.

It's a trip to a supermarket, what is there to ruin? And why would a policy of checking bags ruin anything? Does checking your bags at the theatre ruin the show? No one's assuming anyone's guilty, they're just checking, in both situations.

It's because they can't "do" anything they have this policy. If they report a thief making off with stolen goods, likely nothing will happen, but they can prevent the goods leaving the store.

Do you live in the real world?
I have taken hundreds of police 999 calls whereby shop staff / security approach shoplifters and are stabbed with used needles, threatened with knives, spat at whilst the shoplifter announces they are HIV positive, punched in the face.
If that isn't threatening people's health and safety, I don't know what is.

I've only had that once, probably because we're located a bit out of town and sell quite niche items, so less easy to fence than booze etc. We've luckily never had groups of people try to shoplift. The worst one I've had is a big man blatantly put a couple of items in his bag in front of me and my colleague. We asked politely asked him to put the items back or pay for them.

When he refused, we blocked him from leaving. I kept positioning myself in front of him and used his body weight against him each time he tried to push past me. I asked him if he felt good about stealing from a woman and that seemed to shock him into loosening his grip, so I managed to get the items back. He did come back a few months later, but caught sight of my DH and ran off, clearly didn't fancy his chances against a man his own size!

I would say the chances of someone like that going to the Police and trying to get me in trouble is pretty slim. Of course I would never assault someone, but I'll happily block them and take my property back if I ask them and they refuse. Fortunately, nine times out of ten when I've caught someone stealing and asked them to put the item back, they have done.

Maybe that’s why Aldi is cheap - they aren’t needing to cover the cost of tens of thousands of stolen goods

Wouldn't bother me in th slightest as I know I dont steal

Are you ok???

Having watched someone fill their bag with steaks and walk out, I don’t object at all! It’s an empty shopping bag, not my handbag! I doubt they want to either!

I once briefly worked in a shop where at the end of your shift you drew a token out a bag and depending on the colour you either got your pockets, bag, body or even your car in the car park searched in case you’d nicked something.

Even worse, you sometimes were waiting 20 mins for a manager to bother coming along with the bag to release you, so had to wait there unpaid (minimum wage job) until they proved your innocence.

I had this happen last week and I thought the checkout lady first said have you got bags so I said yes, then she said it again and I thought I heard have you got enough bags (as these are the 2 phrases I always hear in shops!)
so there I am madly saying yes and pointing to my bags until I realised what she was saying!! 😆

I think you’re brave since you never know what he would be capable of. But at least he won’t try it again. What a coward he is.

If people are going to turn violent after stealing something, checking their carrier bags isn’t going to change that kind of behaviour.

And that’s the point I’ve been trying to make. The people you’re describing are hardened criminals.

Nope no issue at all especially knowing the amount of thefts they are dealing with.
Juat in the past 3 months I have been in and seen 1 guy wearing a modified Jacket, stuffing things into the pockets then working them round to the back of the jacket to conceal them and of course if asked to empty his pockets they would be empty. Staff were on him though and security did stop him but still let him walk out with what was already stuffed into the back of the jacket. Another a few days before easter had concealed 10 legs of Lamb, he was stopped and had to hand them all back over.

I usually have my bags all folded up and unfold once I have loaded all shopping onto the belt, however a couple of times I have had them open in the trolley and stuff has gone into the bag instead of the trolley part and I havent realised until I am putting shopping into the bag after its been scanned so I can see why they ask to check them.

Blimey is this all you’ve got to worry about in life. I can’t think of anything less likely to get me riled up. I’d bet that those were not the words from the managers mouth either. Really don’t see the harm at all in this unless you have something to hide. If it were your handbag then yes that’s a different matter entirely but an empty shopping bag, wow!