Aldi removing item from shelves after mum calls out 'big stuff up'

Aldi has removed a Special Buy from shelves and offered a full refund for those who return it, after a mum was left so outraged that she called it out online.

The woman took to a Facebook group to vent her fury after buying the Learning Desk Mat Special Buy from the retailer, only for her four-year-old to discover there was a mistake on it.

The image shows the five times table column with a glaring mistake on it, which has left people up in arms.

Instead of the timetable going all the way down to 12 x 5 = 60, it instead features a typo, reading 12 x 12 = 60.

“Check your placemats guys. My number obsessed 4 year old (with autism) is upset that the times tables contain a big stuff up... I'll be returning it tomorrow, so disappointed,” the mum wrote online.

Many people responded to her post, saying it took them ages to figure out what the mistake was on the place mat.

“Is it terrible it took me ages to see the problem lol. I think I need glasses,” one person wrote.

“Oh my goodness it took me so long to realise the problem,” another said.

One person agreed, writing: “It took me way longer than it should have to figure out what was wrong with this.”

Others tried to offer up some solutions so the mum wouldn’t have to return to the shop, like using white out to correct it.

However, people pointed out that may not be a simple solution.

“Little things like this aren't easily fixed. My non verbal asd son is obsessed with numbers too. A cover up would set him off,” one person wrote.

“Unfortunately when you have a kid with autism covering up an imperfection to fix it isn't a solution. They KNOW it's there and it'll trigger them everytime they see it cause it's just plain WRONG. (And they'll let you know it) and that there should be a 5 there since all the others are 5s. Trust me the amount of arguments I've had with my brother just -.- goodluck with the return. Good on everyone else who worked around it though,” another said.

In a statement released to Yahoo Lifestyle, an Aldi spokesperson said: “There are at least 144 reasons why this printing error on the Learning Desk Mat Special Buy is awkward.

“We agree, that 12 x 12 does actually equal 144. We take every effort in ensuring our products are of the highest quality and apologise to kids learning their times tables (and their parents) for this oversight.

“We are in the process of removing this product from our stores and encourage any customers who have purchased this product to return it to their local store for a full refund.

“We always encourage customers to contact ALDI directly through the Customer Service Team so we can promptly and thoroughly conduct an investigation into any issues.”

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