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'I won’t ever go back': Shoppers slam Aldi policy after sale chaos

Chaos pictured at Aldi after Caviar creme sells out in minutes
Footage and photos from Instagram user Mrs Nichols shows queues as the doors opened, and a scrum of shoppers fighting for cream. Photo: Instagram/diary_of_a_military_family_au

Aldi shoppers are unleashing their fury online after one of the retailer’s most chaotic sales yet - the restock of the Caviar face cream.

The beauty cult buy retails for $19 and sold out in some stores in just three minutes, before appearing on eBay for up to $90 a pop.

After footage and reports of absolute mayhem in the Special Buys aisle began circulating, customers are questioning why Aldi did not implement a per-customer limit.

“My son got crushed today by the nutters who separated him and me to get their creams. Crazy!” one woman complained.

“There were no limits at those stores. C’mon Aldi review your policy about limits for customers and be consistent with it. Not happy,” another said.

Tammy, who runs popular fan page Aldi Lovers Australia, says she is growing concerned.

“The main theme I’ve seen with the Caviar creams this time is how aggressive people were with getting their hands on them and how dangerous it’s getting,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Video from one store saw customers lining up before opening, and crouching under the roller door to run towards the aisle. Another showed a woman grabbing boxes of the creams while others scrambled beside her.

Snapped up, and resold on eBay

Picture of eBay listing of Aldi Caviar cream for four times the original price
New listings online are reselling the cream for up to $90, more than four times the asking price. Photo: Supplied
Aldi's Lacura Caviar Cream Special Buy
Aldi's famous Caviar Cream went back on sale on Wednesday 18 September, but stock was quickly swept up. Special Buys. Photo: Aldi

“I won’t ever go back as I was pushed, shoved and had to lean over women who had taken 20 creams,” one woman reported.

“Time for Aldi to bring civilisation to what has become a disgraceful scrum of vicious assaults,” one customer wrote.

“Aldi should be ashamed of themselves to allow this behaviour with a product!” another agreed.

Adding insult to injury, some of the products are now appearing on eBay at more than four times the original price after shoppers cleared the shelves.

One eBay listing of the Day Cream is priced at $89, while other new listings have the complete set of Day, Night and Serum going for a cool $120.

Aldi won’t budge on per-customer policy

Aldi store pictured
Aldi says it won't review its Special Buys policy. Photo: Getty Images

Despite this, Aldi told Yahoo Lifestyle they would not be reviewing their policy.

“We are not in the practice of restricting the volume of items sold to our customers and our focus will remain on correctly balancing customer demand with stock availability,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

They added in a response to an irate shopper on Facebook, that individual stores could impose a per-customer limit but were not in any way obliged to.

Tammy doesn’t think this isn’t enough.

“I applaud the stores that stepped in and set purchase limits but it needs to be pushed down and made standard across stores,” she said.

Screenshot of woman grabbing a whole box of Aldi's Caviar Cream Special Buy
One video shows a woman grabbing an entire box of the creams. Photo: Instagram/ diary_of_a_military_family_au

Aldi has not provided further comment, meanwhile shoppers’ discontent is growing online as more stories surface, and more creams appear online.

The discount shopping giant has won legions of fans with the $19 Caviar Illumination Day Cream and Night Cream, widely considered a high-quality dupe of La Prairie’s $700 luxury beauty cream, but it looks like those fans are quickly changing their tune.

“I think you need to re-think your policy,” one wrote.

“Absolutely disgraceful,” another agreed.

“What a cop out Aldi,” said another.

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