Reasons I Dislike ALDI, They pissed me off today

I don't buy much from there outside of when they have special items e.g. Snow gear or some obscure gardening stuff.

  1. Parking usually a nightmare (No quick in and out especially with stand alone stores as they just do the bare minimum to fulfil council requirements)
  2. Everyone seems to have over 10 items (feels like a million)
  3. The checkout dudes seem to work really slow (or maybe just appears that way as they are seated and don't show sign of urgency)
  4. No free plastic bags
  5. Charge extra for VISA/Mastercard (come on guys I am sure you can afford the < 1% fee and I am sure there is plenty of profits to be sent overseas)
  6. No self checkout (I like them as I don't regard checkout persons as service and would rather have these staff members on the floor helping me find items)

The reason for my rant today is I couldn't get out of the Balwyn North store (one of the new stores) as you can only exit through the checkouts and the 2 checkouts aisles were so narrow that if someone had a trolley in the checkout you can't go by the side of it. I hope they haven't made it like a jail as they are too cheap to employ security guards (didn't notice any there)

Also the profits get sent overseas anyway being foreign owned unlike Woolies/Coles

Related Stores

ALDI
ALDI

Comments

  • Agree with most of your points. Plus i find Coles and Woolworths cheaper with all the deals we have on this site.

    • +251

      I shop regularly at aldi and woolies, and sometimes coles. I can assure you, there is absolutely no way Coles and Woolies are cheaper than Aldi. For regular every day prices of essential groceries (not the occasional sale of one thing here or there), Aldi are on average much cheaper.

      Most Aldi haters out there have not figured out how to use aldi, when to shop, and what to buy to save regularly.

      -I never have had a parking problem when i shop.
      -If customers are quick at putting things in the trolley, like I am, the checkout is much faster than coles or woolies. Again comes down to when you go and judging fellow shoppers before picking a lane.
      - If speed is your concern, as a regular shopper, I can do my whole shop at aldi in a few minutes, Woolies always takes way longer to get around.
      - I am happy they keep costs down so I don't have to pay a markup to cover your credit card fee when I'm not I'using it. Its a real cost to them.
      - Welcome to 2017, plastic bags are really bad for the environment.
      - the checkout width is designed to minimise theft etc, again keeping costs down.
      - I agree on the Australian profits, I wish an Australian company would learn from aldi…. but on the same token self checkouts are putting Australians out of work at the gain of wealthy shareholders that could be from any country.

        • +72

          Still bad for the environment

        • +14

          One reuse isn't much better than just binning them straight away.

        • +28

          @Jalif:

          One reuse isn't much better than just binning them straight away.

          And what is the problem with either?

          Reusing them as bin liners saves the cost, production and disposal of a purpose made bin liner. And the quantity of plastic of the bag itself is far less than just one of the many food packages I place within it and dispose of.

        • +9

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          You can recycle most plastics so no need to throw them in the bin. Those that can't go in your normal recycling bin, eg. soft plastics, can be taken to a REDcycle drop-off point (at least in bigger cities, many at Coles).

        • -2

          @dazweeja:

          Does that include grubby meat packaging trays and roast chicken bags?

          What about styrofoam, shrink wrap and foil bags?

          What about meat waste like fats and bones?

          I think that even if I went to great efforts to recycle everything possible, the plastic shopping bags​ that I use to line my bins only add a trivial quantity to the garbage inside which ends up in landfill.

        • +1

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          I don't eat meat or buy things in styrofoam packaging but I'd say the answer in most of those cases is no. Shrink wrap is a yes through REDcycle though. We have a household of three and it takes us at least a month to fill our garbage bin. Apart from dropping our plastics off at Coles, I don't think we're making a special effort though. I guess eating meat has quite an effect on waste production which is something I haven't thought too much about.

        • +15

          @Scrooge McDuck: If you can't understand why the production of billions of plastic bags is a bad thing on yourself I'm not sure you could possibly understand any explanation, but I'll give it a go…

          1) If you need a significant number of them, you aren't recycling properly.
          2) They don't biodegrade properly - even the biodegradable ones take a long time.
          3) Huge quantities aren't disposed of properly - they spoil the look of the environment, they kill animals, they clog up the oceans (and if you eat fish you're no doubt eating small quantities of plastic they've ingested).

          There are obviously many more "less significant" reasons, but if that won't convince you then nothing will!

        • +3

          @Jalif: 50% better!
          like saying 50% off isnt much better.

        • -1

          @dazweeja:

          I don't eat meat or buy things in styrofoam packaging but I'd say the answer in most of those cases is no.

          Most Australians do eat meat.

          I guess eating meat has quite an effect on waste production which is something I haven't thought too much about.

          I appreciate your honesty. 👍

        • -3

          @sleepy120:

          50% better!
          like saying 50% off isnt much better.

          SJW logic: Virtue signalling is much more important than making sense and/or having a significant positive impact on the cause.

        • +5

          @dazweeja: REDcycle isn't an answer though, saw them on War On Waste and they are just making more plastic furniture crap.

        • -6

          Save the lefties some heartache by burning your garbage once a week. Saves on plastic bags (urg!) and landfill (blurg!) by atomising all of your hate-filled and bigoted waste.

        • +5

          @Jalif:
          The one reuse as a small bin liner saves buying the small bin liner - half the trash, so it's 100% better, or 50% as wasteful, depending how you want to look at it.

        • +2

          @Scrooge McDuck: I see you're being true to form….

          1) Yes, a big number does mean it's a big problem.

          2) I said you don't recycle properly, I did not restrict it to plastic bags. If you need a significant number for bin bags then you're either extremely atypical in your buying habits or you're throwing away items that could be recycled.

          3) The quantity of plastic bags is not trivial, and the argument of "there's no point fixing any problem when there are bigger problems elsewhere" is not valid.

          4) It's not remotely convenient? Quite the opposite in fact… It would be far more convenient for my argument if those other examples I didn't list were more convincing.

          Mod: Comment edited to remove personal attacks.

        • +1

          @Scrooge McDuck:
          Because even the biodegradable plastic bags dont have a chance to biodegrade and end up in landfill anyways. The actually degradable stuff is already broken before you use it.

        • +3

          @ATangk:

          Because even the biodegradable plastic bags dont have a chance to biodegrade and end up in landfill anyways. The actually degradable stuff is already broken before you use it.

          So are plastic shopping bags a significant problem in landfill? My household waste would easily be less than 1 % plastic shopping bags by mass and I don't see that being any different for other households.

        • @Scrooge McDuck:
          Ok they get into the ocean and kill fishies, who mistake them for jellyfish.

        • +4

          @ATangk:

          Ok they get into the ocean and kill fishies, who mistake them for jellyfish.

          Only if they're littered and washed into the sea (or of course directly in or near the sea). But that's an issue of littering rather than the usage of plastic bags in general.

          Are you suggesting that plastic bags in landfill somehow "get into the ocean"? 😕

        • -3

          @Scrooge McDuck:
          The original argument is that plastic bags are bad for the environment. And so disregarding the landfill going into ocean matter, which does happen because of illegal dumping and weather patterns, its still an issue. That said, every (profanity) thing in this world is bad for the environment in some manner or form.

          You could even raise the point that not using a shopping bag can raise the risk of injury from carrying heavy items unwieldedly, which otherwise would not have happened if one was used.

        • -3

          @dazweeja: PLastic bags CANNOT be recycled.

        • +1

          @thescarecrow84: Plastic bags can definitely be recycled.

        • +2

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          We use them as bin bags, but we generally end up with far more bags than we actually re-use for that purpose. I would assume we're not alone in that regard, so even if everyone had to buy dedicated bin bags, it would probably be a lot less plastic overall.

        • @WatchNerd: Not in council bins anyway

        • @thescarecrow84:

          You could have googled REDcycle but plastic bags and other soft plastics are used to make "a huge range of recycled-plastic products, from fitness circuits to sturdy outdoor furniture, to bollards, signage and more."

        • @FINCL: If I remember correctly, you need to use a ( reusable ) bag about 500 times, before it's better then the thin plastic bag from Woolies. ALDI still has plastic bag you can purchase, and they are made of thicker material, which I think is even worse then W and C thin bags.
          Better solutions would be paper bags, or Boxes as Bunnings has them. You can recycle paper and cardboard. Also the Paper Bags you can fold and reuse about 5 times if they don't get wet.
          In regards to Recycling Australia has still a very long road ahead.
          Just check out the Alu Cans, and the PET bottles. Where do they end up? And all the Morning Take Away Coffee cups.

        • -1

          @WatchNerd: Watch the Chasers the war on waste.. outcome.. they can be lots are not.. Biobags Not biodegradable..

        • @woodwa: I did watch it, can you point to a time in the show where they said lots of bags are not recyclable?

          I never mentioned anything about bags being biodegradable by the way.

        • +3

          @freakatronic:

          Save the lefties some heartache by burning your garbage once a week. Saves on plastic bags (urg!) and landfill (blurg!) by atomising all of your hate-filled and bigoted waste.

          I did my part to support global warming this winter, did you?

           

          🚨🚨🚨 For the benefit of the OzBargain idiocracy, the above quoted comment and reply are jokes. 🚨🚨🚨

        • -1

          @Scrooge McDuck: jokes are funny but

        • +2

          @Beach Bum:

          jokes are funny but [sic]

          Humour is subjective.

          This may suit your aptitude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_4jrMwvZ2A

        • @callum9999:

          One of the documentaries pointed out that 'biodegradeable' plastic bags are not actually degrading in the way you might think. They are designed to break 'apart' so that their contents can actually become accessible but the bag itself doesn't degrade into anything for hundreds or possibly several thousand years.

        • +3

          @FINCL:
          If we don't recycle them as bin liners, then we have to buy new bin liners.
          What effect/cost do they, as an alternative, have on the environment?

        • -2

          Using them as bin liners is not the mark of a decent human being; they don't decompose nearly as fast as actually bin liners.

        • @cameldownunder: Aldi encourages the use of boxes and I can honestly say in the 10 plus years I have shopped there I have not once purchased a plastic bag

        • @smartazz104:

          Using them as bin liners is not the mark of a decent human being;

          I was referring to disposing of them responsibly, rather than littering them.

        • @WatchNerd: They can be recycled, but they aren't, Watch ABC war on waste and see what really happens to the bags you drop off in the recycle bin. They put a gps tracker in the plastic bag and traced where it went.

        • +4

          @FINCL:

          For everyone that's negged @Scrooge for re-using the plastic bags as bin liners, what do you use in your bins if you don't use plastic bags?

          I'll happily admit that I re-use the plastic shopping bags in my bins too. Effectively, it's recycling the bag.

        • @Scrooge McDuck:

          Fair point.

          But the recycling will be done by people who are "educated".
          How about the majority of those who is ignorant and just blissfully chucked them out in the street.

        • @WatchNerd: but most plastic bags are not recycled though and acordingly makes little difference to the environmental problem they cause not biodegrading in waterways etc

        • -1

          @Scrooge McDuck: f.f.s. yes… landfill ends up in the ocean. the plastic bags look like jellyfish to marine life. they eat it they die.

      • +7

        I am happy they keep costs down so I don't have to pay a markup to cover your credit card fee when I'm not I'using it. Its a real cost to them.

        So are their bank fees; security fees; and staff time sunk taking cash, giving change, counting tills and managing floats.

        I'd be surprised if after all the costs were considered, cash transactions turned out to be cheaper than card.

        • +7

          It seems, from all of your comments above, that you just like to argue for the sake of arguing.

        • +4

          Scrooge McDuck in a nutshell

        • +3

          @FINCL:

          It seems, from all of your comments above, that you just like to argue for the sake of arguing.

          I don't shy away from confrontation. As a scientist I seek the truth. So I don't have much respect for an assertion without any explanation:

          @FINCL:

          Still bad for the environment

        • -2

          A scientist? Pfft, I dont have much respect for an assertion without an explanation.

        • +2

          @FINCL:

          What have I asserted that you would like me to explain?

        • +1

          @Scrooge McDuck: You claim to be a scientist yet advocate the use of plastic shopping bags as bin liners. Your speciality must be in a very specific field.

        • +3

          @smartazz104:

          You claim to be a scientist yet advocate the use of plastic shopping bags as bin liners.

          What issue do you think there is with the use of plastic shopping bags as bin liners?

          And what alternatives do you propose?

          Your speciality must be in a very specific field.

          Indeed! There were two undergrad science streams at uni: Waste Disposal Science and the obscure Non Waste Disposal Science. Of course having very specific interests, I chose the latter.

          😕

        • +1

          @Scrooge McDuck: Plastic bags don't decompose for a very long time; they'll be sitting in landfill for a long time.

        • +3

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          I really don't know why you're getting negged for re-using the plastic bags as bin liners.

          I do the same thing.

          I haven't seen anything else better to use, especially when it comes to wet rubbish, like kitchen waste.

        • +3

          @smartazz104:

          Plastic bags don't decompose for a very long time; they'll be sitting in landfill for a long time.

          So will most of the other waste in landfill, that's the point of landfill!

          You didn't answer my second question:

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          And what alternatives do you propose?

        • I never pay a credit card fee and i never pay cash either…what?… what could I possibly be doing!?!? Ummm, an eftpos transaction keycard for my savings account perhaps!?

          What a revelation

      • +5

        Yeah Aldi is not much but cheaper in most cases when you compare homebrand vs homebrand but when Coles or Woolies have 50% off specials on big brands those prices aren't far off Aldi's homebrand prices but you get a premium brand

        • Aldi homebrand is usually better than Colesworths homebrand tho, not a premium brand but not rubbish. Kind of more comparable to woolies select

      • Agree with all these points, never had any problems at my local Aldi (which is a standalone store)

      • +4

        The environmental economy of re-usable cotton shopping bags is a load of shit. 130+ uses until they have a beneficial environmental impact over the simple plastic single use HDPE bag.

        https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm…

        The main problem with plastic bags is poor disposal, don't want the fishies to eat them then don't be a twat and put the fricken things in the bin !

        • +1

          plus the fact that nearly every product you buy at a supermarket is covered in plastic wrap - it does seem kinda pointless

        • +2

          You are being very selective picking out cotton bags. Most people don't use cotton bags.

          Other reusable bags ranked much better. E.g. It found for non woven pp bags (coles/woolies green bags) it takes 26 uses to break even with HDPE bags that are reused 100% of the time as bin liners (just 11 uses if the bags were immediately binned) . Most people shop weekly so would be close to breaking even in 6 months. I've been reusing the same bags for 8+ years now (a few have needed repairs)…

          They've also assumed 5.88 items in the HDPE bag vs 7.3 in a green style reusable bag (~25% more bags required for HDPE). My personal experience is that a checkout operator will use far more plastic bags than that compared to reusable.

      • In the ACT, it is legislated that no free lightweight shopping bags be available at all supermarkets.

      • Spot on Mr Smith, you can also use your debit card and not be charged the surcharge.

      • +1

        he actually said cheaper with the deals.
        pretty sure a good brand at coles/woolies at 50% off is still cheaper than aldi.

      • +7

        absolutely no way Coles and Woolies are cheaper than Aldi

        Are you comparing against the same brands? What about when Coles/Woolworths is half price? What about using discounted wish and eBay vouchers?

        • +2

          Coles and Woolworths also mark near expiry items down to 75/80/90 % off! I haven't seen the same at Aldi.

        • +3

          @Scrooge McDuck: Yep because they would rather chuck it out that sell it cheaply or donate to charity. Though it does mean apparently they are the best for dumpster diving.

        • +1

          @Savas:

          Pretty sure they give it all to charity. I see the charity van there a few times a week in the morning.

      • +4

        Sorry, but I went into Aldi yesterday… and ALL the fruit & veg was either the same price, or more expensive than Coles or WW, except for two things which I forget at the moment. Apples, oranges, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, and tomatoes were all cheaper at Coles. Capsicum was cheaper at WW. Bananas were the same at all three as are many other things. Whole chickens are the same unless WW has a sale, when they become cheaper. Chicken breast and thigh is always dearer at Aldi now. Aldi meat used to be cheaper, but that's not true anymore. The cheapest version of tissues, frozen pies/potato chips/peas/beans/carrots are virtually the same price at all 3. Toilet paper = one Aldi point on the board that I can think of. Canned salmon, tuna, sardines are the same.

        It never used to be this way, so I don't know what's happened. But Aldi better find a way to get those prices down a fraction below Colesworths or they may as well ditch all the food and concentrate on assisting people to compete their landfill collection from the middle aisles.

        • +2

          What you're observing is the response of the big two to being constantly undercut by Aldi. If you think they'd be as cheap as they are today without Aldi's presence, you're not thinking hard enough.

          As for everything else (dry goods,frozen goods, dairy, eggs, bread, cleaning products etc), Aldi is always significantly cheaper than Colesworths, except when the product line in question is 50% off. I enjoy loading up on the specials at the big supermarkets when available, but I can shop at Aldi anytime without worrying about spending too much.

        • @JohnHowardsEyebrows: It's not that I'm 'not thinking hard enough'… Aldi has been cheaper for years but I've noticed that has changed. I don't purchase milk I buy powder - that is the same price - but I'm pretty sure when I have glanced at milk, it's been the same price as WW/Coles. Eggs are definitely the same price as WW just a week ago. Bread I make my own, but that's one where Aldi still wins. Dish detergent, same price. Not sure about other cleaning products as I don't use any - just dish detergent, metho, vinegar, and bicarb. But the vast majority of products I've bought at Aldi for years because they were cheaper, are now the same price.

          Anything brand name at Aldi is usually dearer - like biscuits, chocolate bars. Things from the freezer section like $5 microwave dinners are the same price at Coles/WW. Except a couple of nights ago WW was actually cheaper on those due to a sale. A 2kg slab of lasagne & garlic bread was same price at all 3.

        • @GregMonarch: I've found the private label stuff at the old duopoly to be hit and miss, and always at least 10/20c more expensive than Aldi. Aldi's quality is usually higher compared to generic. I don't really buy branded stuff there, as that's not what they do.

          But of course, if everybody abandoned Aldi, the big two would be back to gouging us like they did for the decades before Aldi's entrance. I just don't see why people don't see the benefit Aldi's presence does us.

        • +1

          @JohnHowardsEyebrows: That's generally true about taste. I've found their canned pears aren't great though - too unripe/hard.

        • @GregMonarch: Yep, and I don't buy their fresh pasta - the private labels the other two are general better.

      • +2

        I gotta say Scrooge McDuck is fighting a losing battle but I do agree with him wholeheartedly.

        The CC fee cannot be justified considering the business benefits from having less costs associated with cash handling (ie: time saving in counting tills), risk of theft/mug, and the fact cashless payments are faster to process.

        The plastic bags can be used as bin liners. There was an outrage once when Target did this banning things as many of the customers, elderies in particular are being forced to bring goods unergonomically plus these days plastic bags are biodegradable. But most of all, plastic bags can be used to limit spillages or consolidate waste if used properly. Surely that is an environmental plus. Shopping centres even councils use them in every of their common bins.

        The rest of the arguments made by OP I can understand. I hardly shop there but it's more to do with preferences as I like the space offered by the major supermarkets. That's why I even like Costco…. very bigggg and spacioussss.

        • plus these days plastic bags are biodegradable

          Some are. I don't think the supermarket ones are though?

      • But aldi tastes like aldi.

    • +3

      I'm gonna tack on the first post,
      I shop at ALDI every couple days because I am unorganised and buy food on the day, so I've seen it all; here are all the reasons why its 'slow in the checkout'

      95% the Customers fault.
      - People have no idea how to use an EFTPOS machine.
      - "Any cashout?", "no", "press ok", "NO NO CASHOUT", "Press ok" - Repeat
      - People can't keep track of finances, having to transfer money from accounts to pay. "Oh, I thought I had enough in there"
      - People looking for 5c to not get change.
      - People not having enough money on their card, requiring the staff member to take things off and trying again, until their card approves
      - People complaining about the 0.5% surcharge on $20, so resetting the reader to use a different account. 10c on $20 is the fee, 50c in $100.
      - People leaving their wallet in cars/etc.
      - People packing their bags at the register, trying to 'beat' the cashier because they are more important than everyone else.

      5% ALDIS fault
      - Having refunds through the registers.
      - Not being able to find someone to ask for a price, so they ask at the register.

      • +1

        People packing their bags at the register, trying to 'beat' the cashier because they are more important than everyone else.

        What does this mean?

        Every Aldi I've been to, I had to pack my own stuff, the cashier doesn't do it. They just pile it up in the worst possible order for packing and then look at you in a disapproving way…

        • When someone is buying $300 worth of food, they try and pack it into bags, instead of putting it all in the trolley and packing on the bench they have.

        • Think they pointed that out because in ALDI, there are packing tables which are usually directly opposite the cashiers, i.e. you dump your stuff back in the trolley after it's been put through by the cashier, then you pay and go to a table to pack. Or at least, that's how it is in the branches I've been to.

  • +99

    Don't shop there if you don't like them. Simples.

    • +13

      Can you use smaller words to explain that?

      It seems like a quite difficult thing to do.

      • +56

        No like Aldi, no go Aldi.

      • +9

        others > Aldi ? !Aldi : Aldi;

        • +5

          Syntax ERROR!

        • +4

          I C what you did there.

        • +1

          @Scrooge McDuck:
          Try it in your browser console! (F12)

          var Aldi = 1; var others = 2; others > Aldi ? !Aldi : Aldi;

          …just don't set Aldi to 0… or greater than others :P

        • max(other,Aldi)
          
  • +40

    Yeah it's like a treasure hunt without any aisles but I still prefer Aldi being there to provide competition otherwise Colesworth wouldn't even use lube.

    • I had to chuckle with the OP peddling the foreign owned trope as a parting shot. I am all for supporting local but not blindly so, and the Colesworth duopoly is not exactly the epitomy of the aussie battler.

      'Straya: If I'm going to be exploited, I want to be exploited by locals!

      • given woolworths/coles are publicly companies I doubt they're entirely local either.

      • +1

        I believe Aldi has more Australian made products anyway. They seem easy to find there anyway.

        • +1

          Choice proved that wrong, Pretty sure it was Coles with most Aussie products then Woolies then Aldi :)

  • +4

    Where is the supermarket with free plastic bags?

    Also do you have any idea who owns Coles and Woolworths?

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