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Aldi's checkout trolley rule sparks major debate
Aldi fans have been left gobsmacked at a surprise rule from the supermarket that asks customers not to pack any bags at the cash register to keep lines moving.
Anyone who has visited the budget supermarket knows full well the cold-sweats that break out as a conveyor belt full of groceries is rushed through the checkout and pelted into your arms at great speed, often leaving you struggling to contain the nutritional load, let alone fish out your wallet to pay for the damn thing.
Many simply let the groceries fall where they may into a trolley, but what many didn’t realise is that this is now a requirement of shoppers, who have been asked to move their packing, or attempts at packing, from the checkout to the benches.
A sign spotted by a shopper was shared on Facebook today on the heels of an irate customer being reprimanded by staff for not bringing a trolley into the checkout with her, despite only picking up ten or so items.
“For the safety of our customers and staff, use the packing bench provided,” the sign above the cashier’s chair in a local Aldi read.
Simply put, shoppers are now expected to catch their flying groceries in some sort of receptacle and arrange it as they will to the side, away from the cashier and customers in a bid to keep coronavirus infections at bay and the high-speed checkout flowing.
Ten items spark debate over trolley rule
The revelation comes after one customer sparked serious debate when she shared an irate Facebook post detailing a checkout experience that left her fuming.
“Feeling really really annoyed,” she kicked off the fiery post. “Just went into Aldi’s to grab a few items for dinner... a total of 10 items.”
“When the cashier starts scanning them through and I place them into a bag, he said to me: ‘Next time you come into the store bring a trolly to load your groceries into’.”
“I said ok, but then as I was preparing to pay I said, ‘sorry, why do I need to bring a trolley?’”
“He said, ‘to load your groceries into, to make it faster for the other customers.’”
The woman went on to reveal she was ‘so irritated’ by the statement, given she had just 10 items, and the store famously does not provide smaller baskets.
She suggested that before customers are made to carry trolley’s the store should consider opening more registers, creating an express lane, and providing self-serve checkouts.
“Whatever happened to good old fashioned service?” she wondered at the post’s conclusion.
The post stirred up serious debate among fans of the supermarket, some agreeing that customers should be able to pack their groceries as they liked, others arguing slow packers held up the queue and prolonged the times spent within 1.5 metres of a cashier.
‘Some people are so selfish’: Some support no packing rule
“Use a trolley, don’t pack your bags at the registers at this time, it's not safe for staff and customers,” one person in support of the staff wrote.
“My god there’s some selfish people in the world,” another agreed.
“I don’t find this rude at all I think it’s annoying as hell when people are trying to juggle packing their groceries at the counter, there’s literally a packing bench at every Aldi for this very purpose,” one woman wrote. “If you don’t like it go to Coles or Woolworth’s.”
‘Just as bad’ using a trolley
Others argued, however, that they thought being made to use trolleys was just as unhygienic as hanging around the cash register for an extra minute or so.
“I don't want to handle trolleys that don"t get wiped down,” one woman wrote.
“I never use a trolley since COVID, no one has ever said anything to me,” another wrote.
Others pointed out that a small number of items could easily be packed into a bag without slowing down the process.
“Stuff that,” one woman wrote. “I never have a trolley. The rare time I do, I still pack into bags in the trolley, but the last time I did that I got a hard time so I haven’t bought that much again.”
“I feel like it would take the same time to load into a bag and into a trolley?” another wrote.
Others pointed out that not everyone has the option of carting around a trolley.
“Too bad if you’re not physically capable of pushing a trolley hey!” another pointed out. “Sheesh, that’s rude and over the top.”
Overall, it seems most could agree the checkout is a stressful place in the bargain store and requires experience and expertise to navigate.
“The way Aldi runs the checkouts I feel I need to go into Olympic Training just to keep up!” one woman wrote.
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