Aldi shopper left baffled after cashier refuses to sell her one item

When you choose an item in the supermarket, you don't expect it to be taken away from you at the till.

That is exactly what happened to one Aldi customer this week.

A Canberra woman chose a pavlova base at her local store, but when it couldn't be scanned at the till, she was told she could not purchase it.

Unsure as to why, as the product was still in date, she took to an Aldi Mum's Facebook group to get to the bottom of the story.

"Is there anyone who actually works at Aldi (who) can tell me why a staff member refused to sell me a pavlova base today?" she wrote.

"It wouldn't scan and he went out the back and came back n [sic] said 'no, sorry I can't sell this to you'.

"When I questioned, the only response I got was, 'it's Christmas stock'?

"WTH, poor form, are they going to throw it out? The use-by-date was 30/01/2022."

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Posters defend checkout staff

The post generated a lot of feedback and many logical explanations as to why she'd been unable to purchase the product.

"They were meant to have been removed from sale last Friday," one person explained.

"So the system has been updated that (when) any of the items from the Christmas range meant to have been taken away, gets scanned, it's a locked item, and therefore cannot be sold."

"It was a Christmas special that has now finished, the register will no longer allow it to scan and all remaining pavlova will be donated to charity," another in-the-know user replied.

"It will not be thrown out, it will be donated to charity," a third person said.

"He did not intentionally 'refuse' to sell it to you.

"If it doesn't scan because it's been removed from sale, he can't possibly put the sale through."

Charity pavs welcomed

This user explained the items were usually removed from shelves, but with COVID reducing staffing levels, they may be a bit behind.

"Chances are, with the amount of pressure on staff atm, this was simply not actioned in time before someone has put the product in their trolley."

The original poster was happy to learn the reason and realised the products were not going into the trash.

"Thanks for responses," she said.

"Glad to hear Aldi doesn't throw out; that was really my question, as that would be such a waste."

What Aldi said

Yahoo Lifestyle reached out to Aldi Australia to learn the truth from the horse's mouth.

"Our seasonal Christmas range is available for a limited time only," a spokesperson said.

"Once these products come to the end of their intended sale dates, they are removed from our register system and can no longer be purchased by customers.

"Any small amount of remaining stock is removed from shelves and donated to a local food rescue partner where appropriate.

"In this instance, the product must have been missed in the removal process and unfortunately could not be processed for sale."

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