Pressure in Lidil/Aldi

its always been this way in aldi anyway

o1s1n

o1s1n wrote: »

I've heard the guys who work the tills are timed as to how long each transaction takes - therefore you see insane speeds.

It resulted in a carton of smashed eggs all over the floor the last time we were in Aldi.

It was the same when I worked in superquinn 15 years ago!
theyd put a print out up at the end of each month so everyone could see how **** your were.
Then they'll call you aside to tell you your till was short

smash

Tzardine wrote: »

I can't stand aldi / lidl but my other half insists on buying her fruit and veg and some other bits there.

This really gets to me. Their fruit and veg have no expiry dates and they last feck all time when you get them home. It's also more expensive than Tesco where for example, you can get a bag of apples, bag of oranges and a bag of bananas for €3 all in.

Red Nissan

stevieob wrote: »

but

I was with you until this.

Seve OB

Red Nissan wrote: »

I was with you until this.

why?

pajor

o1s1n wrote: »

I've heard the guys who work the tills are timed as to how long each transaction takes - therefore you see insane speeds.

It resulted in a carton of smashed eggs all over the floor the last time we were in Aldi.

Heard the same before from a guy who went for a group job interview for one of Lidl's graduate schemes.

TheSheriff

Boom_Bap wrote: »

While the stuff is being fired at you, .

This is it exactly! The goods your buying are literally piled up in front of you at a ridiculous rate a la Dales Supermaket Sweep

Galwayguy35

DVDM93 wrote: »

Do you shop at the Aldi on the Headford Rd Galway guy? There's always person there of a Romanian ethnicity asking for the €1 beside the trolley bay.

"Fcuk no motherfcuker, I've earned this €1. I've wheeled this bendy trolley around a shop for half an hour, it half full with groceries. I've also managed to get it up and down a little hill AND load it fast at the till. This €1 is mine".

Yeah I do see them there all right, they aint gettin my euro though!

Boom_Bap

TheSheriff wrote: »

This is it exactly! The goods your buying are literally piled up in front of you at a ridiculous rate a la Dales Supermaket Sweep

But surely you can hand-to-hand to a trolley as quick as the checkout person can hand-to-hand from belt, over scanner to pickup area.
If you are ready, it can run smoothly.

As a few people have said, the times are monitored, so it's in the checkout persons interest to keep scanning. They do also slow down if you are struggling.

CarrickMcJoe

Myself and the wife were in Aldi earlier and out of the blue she says, "You're one lazy b4stard"!!!!!!!

Well, I nearly fell out of the trolley......

minotour

stevieob wrote: »

why?

Puzzled me too, think it might be a stab at your starting a post with "but", dunno?? There's another one, lets see if that draws him out again.

topper75

Some lad on Dragon's Den a while bag had an idea for these large shopping bags that had rails running through the top edges of the bags. The rails had a lip that would sit over the top of the trolley and keep the bags open. Each trolley would hold two such bags. They would allow you to fire in the shopping even faster than the cashiers could scan it and then you could just transfer in one lift to your boot/kitchen floor. The dragons didn't care for it though as an idea to back - too much setup and 'remembering the damn thing' hassle. They were probably right.

kippy

This is why I shop online with home delivery any more.
Less interaction with the commoners.

Seve OB

topper75 wrote: »

Some lad on Dragon's Den a while bag had an idea for these large shopping bags that had rails running through the top edges of the bags. The rails had a lip that would sit over the top of the trolley and keep the bags open. Each trolley would hold two such bags. They would allow you to fire in the shopping even faster than the cashiers could scan it and then you could just transfer in one lift to your boot/kitchen floor. The dragons didn't care for it though as an idea to back - too much setup and 'remembering the damn thing' hassle. They were probably right.

linked above

holystungun9

The last time was there, I realised the guy behind me was a sh1t packer. :pac:

minotour

topper75 wrote: »

Some lad on Dragon's Den a while bag had an idea for these large shopping bags that had rails running through the top edges of the bags. The rails had a lip that would sit over the top of the trolley and keep the bags open. Each trolley would hold two such bags. They would allow you to fire in the shopping even faster than the cashiers could scan it and then you could just transfer in one lift to your boot/kitchen floor. The dragons didn't care for it though as an idea to back - too much setup and 'remembering the damn thing' hassle. They were probably right.

Thats not actually bad. The main fault with pre-opening the bags is catching the lip as you pack, one slip and you lose precious seconds recovering. Maybe the setup was an issue but in terms of remembering them, we all remember to bring bags, that's set in stone these days.

i cant imagine those lads have ever experienced an aldi till rush thus they failed to see the true value.

rubadub

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

They time how long it takes the cashier to complete transactions and it affects their pay with small bonuses for faster transactions.

I wish they could somehow do the same for customers. Like link it to a loyalty card, which I know lidl/aldi do not currently have.

But you would finish shopping and it would register you are a fast customer, and know you are not wilfully delaying all the others in the queue like several posters here say they purposely do. So they could open a special express line with fast cashiers and no slow people should be in front of you. You would scan your card to be eligible to join the line or something.

barry181091

I just steal one of the massive clear bags that the loo roll is stored in there, and throw all of my shopping in there! Bitch when it breaks though!

minotour

rubadub wrote: »

I wish they could somehow do the same for customers. Like link it to a loyalty card, which I know lidl/aldi do not currently have.

But you would finish shopping and it would register you are a fast customer, and know you are not wilfully delaying all the others in the queue like several posters here say they purposely do. So they could open a special express line with fast cashiers and no slow people should be in front of you. You would scan your card to be eligible to join the line or something.

and gradually they become the behemoths they dethroned.......

DVDM93

Look where I just was now I don't mean to blow my own trumpet here but eh, I packed my bags in 17.3 seconds and not once did I feel under any bit of pressure. Not bad ass enough for you no? I kept my €1.

*girls, feel free to PM me x

edit: the girl serving me was giving me an odd look and only then I realised how bizarre it must have looked. Me standing there taking a picture of the shelves, I had to pretend it was broke and scratched the screen of the phone as if to wipe dirt or a glare off it. Don't ask

travis1976

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

They time how long it takes the cashier to complete transactions and it affects their pay with small bonuses for faster transactions.

(Applied and got a job in Aldi once, never ended up working there but that was on the forms they gave me).

This is true, it results in a nice bonus at year end, if you're quick. My stepson works in an aldi and was quite surprised at Christmas.

crisco10

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Another thing that has been a success for me in the past.

After putting all your shopping on the belt, open up your bags in the trolley so they cover the base. Make sure they are open wide.

While the stuff is being fired at you, put it straight into the bags.

As an ex-professional bag packer (worked in superquinn back in the day); I relish the weekly challenge of not only keeping up with the till operator but also keeping everything nicely separated to make unpacking at home easier.

My key steps:

1. Group things on the belt; My categories are usually fruit'n'veg, bread, dry goods, fridge, raw.
2. Try and put heavier items toward front in each category
3. Layout bags in trolley, open and ready to go. I usually go for 1 bag per category. But mix the dry goods and bread. Too much dry goods is too heavy in a bag, so I put it at the bottom, with some bread on top. Fruit and Veg gets its on very large bag, as it's light but voluminous.
4. Pack straight into bags and off you go!

Then when you get home, each bag empties straight into its own cupboard. Easy!

Made my day when the checkout lady complimented my packing skills a few weeks ago! The Gf was stitches laughing at my level of chuffedness!

This is all very sad, isn't it?!

minotour

DVDM93 wrote: »

Look where I just was now I don't mean to blow my own trumpet here but eh, I packed my bags in 17.3 seconds and not once did I feel under any bit of pressure. Not bad ass enough for you no? I kept my €1.

*girls, feel free to PM me x

edit: the girl serving me was giving me an odd look and only then I realised how bizarre it must have looked. Me standing there taking a picture of the shelves, I had to pretend it was broke and scratched the screen of the phone as if to wipe dirt or a glare off it. Don't ask

There's no booze in that trolley, FAIL!

Nekarsulm

The biggest aggravation is the amazing number of people who are surprised by being asked to pay for their shopping!
They stand stock still for a second or two, then put down their shopping bag, and search for the purse. Then, carefully keeping the purse close to their body (like you would a Straight Royal Flush) they extract a number of notes, one at a time. When the transaction is complete, the entire money,purse,bag routine is repeated in reverse order.:rolleyes:

kieran.

The key to efficent packing is all in how you lay out the items on the belt. You need to have the stackable items up first item such as milk, OJ, boxes etc generally packing these to the base of the bag will usually ensure that the bag opens sufficently to avoid the dreaded lips kiss. Next up is the 'throwable items next such most fruit + veg and bagged items , having these second allows you to make up time for kissed lips on bags and general slip ups in the stackable stage and finally the delicate items last; such as eggs, small berrysand bread etc that you can carefully top off your bags with, as you wait for payment to be taken off your card.

DVDM93

minotour wrote: »

There's no booze in that trolley, FAIL!

That's not my trolley, I only had a few bits to get. That said, I had no booze

RoboRat

You need one of these

jamesbere

Hooked wrote: »

This!

I'm a freak at the till in Aldi. Like, full blown, high speed, almost out of screen-space TETRIS freak.

Love the Aldi model... No chat, no dicking about... Shop. Queue. Pay. Gone!

Those last four words should be on your headstone

DVDM93

minotour wrote: »

There's no booze in that trolley, FAIL!

I'm sure ya'd get a buzz off drinking the washing detergent too :P

doolox

What the Victorians would have called performing with dispatch.....

I cannot stand timewasters in queues at banks, supermarkets etc who ask a 1000 questions and delay everyone behind them with screw ups like no barcode, torn packaging, "last minute" buys etc....or wrong or no documentation etc.

I realised that there must be some electronic monitoring of performance because of the speed at which the scanners work, glad it is a bonus scheme rather than a penalty/ lose your job scheme.

Tzardine

Aldi had a deal a few weeks back. 8 legs of venison for €29.99.

When I got to the till I told the cashier , that's two deer.

Jesus Wept

Worse than hitler

Dial Hard

doolox wrote: »

I realised that there must be some electronic monitoring of performance because of the speed at which the scanners work, glad it is a bonus scheme rather than a penalty/ lose your job scheme.

1,500 items an hour is the scan target in Aldi, and if you consistently miss it, you will be issued a warning.

I genuinely don't know why some people on this thread are so affronted at the thought of having to pack their bags at the shelf. It's a system, and a very efficient one, nothing more. They're not deliberately trying to insult you.

Ruu

It's like Supermarket Sweep at Aldi sometimes minus Dale Winton.

Seve OB

Dial Hard wrote: »

1,500 items an hour is the scan target in Aldi, and if you consistently miss it, you will be issued a warning.

I genuinely don't know why some people on this thread are so affronted at the thought of having to pack their bags at the shelf. It's a system, and a very efficient one, nothing more. They're not deliberately trying to insult you.

so is having a bit of room behind the till for the checkout girl/boy to put your groceries while you bag them.

it takes me longer in lidl/adlie because of the lack of room

Dial Hard

stevieob wrote: »

so is having a bit of room behind the till for the checkout girl/boy to put your groceries while you bag them.

Which slows down the whole process. The entire point of the system is that you get the hell out of the way and they can be serving the next customer in the time that you would otherwise spend standing there packing your bags.

byronbay2

rubadub wrote: »

I wish they could somehow do the same for customers. Like link it to a loyalty card, which I know lidl/aldi do not currently have.

But you would finish shopping and it would register you are a fast customer, and know you are not wilfully delaying all the others in the queue like several posters here say they purposely do. So they could open a special express line with fast cashiers and no slow people should be in front of you. You would scan your card to be eligible to join the line or something.

Ah yes, but imagine if you weren't offered the card (maybe you're not as fast as you think you are) - queuing in an ordinary line like a schnook (with the lumpen and slack-jawed proletariat) while The Chosen are on life's fast lane!

Seve OB

Dial Hard wrote: »

Which slows down the whole process. The entire point of the system is that you get the hell out of the way and they can be serving the next customer in the time that you would otherwise spend standing there packing your bags.

read my whole comment.. it does not slow down the whole process... I am quicker in Dunnes etc.


Anyway, I generally go to Superquinn and use their scan it and bag it machines.... soooo much more handy

Chucken

stevieob wrote: »

so is having a bit of room behind the till for the checkout girl/boy to put your groceries while you bag them.

it takes me longer in lidl/adlie because of the lack of room

How many more times...you are not meant to pack your groceries at the till.

Red Nissan

I shop in Dunnes, I like them.
I shop in TESCO, I like them.
I shop in SuperValu, I like them.
I shop in ALDI, I like them.
I shop in LIDL, I like them.
I Shop Local, I like them.

foggy_lad

TheSheriff wrote: »

This is it exactly! The goods your buying are literally piled up in front of you at a ridiculous rate a la Dales Supermaket Sweep

Shopping in Aldi/Lidl is not for everybody.

minotour wrote: »

Thats not actually bad. The main fault with pre-opening the bags is catching the lip as you pack, one slip and you lose precious seconds recovering. Maybe the setup was an issue but in terms of remembering them, we all remember to bring bags, that's set in stone these days.

i cant imagine those lads have ever experienced an aldi till rush thus they failed to see the true value.

My sister goes in and fills a trolley so much that the staff seem to watch her and open a till just for her when she gets near the end of her shopping! A few times staff have offered to help her with her shopping or the Manager has offered to pack her shopping for her because she had her youngest with her but she is so used to it and has a great system, all light breads and other bulky but light items are put through first and they are put in 2 large bags at the till then thrown over to the window, then all the heavy stuff apart from fragile stuff is chucked in the trolley then eggs etc.

They usually spend €200+ a week in Aldi which absolutely packs out one trolley and they don't dawdle at the till so the staff always look after them:D

Donkey Oaty

Does anyone on here work at Lidl? If so, would be interested in your thoughts on the accuracy of this hostile blog, containing various accounts by employees - the final article is by an Irish worker.

Edit: as is the first.

Dyr

I pack at the till, I've developed a packing method that turns the tables and ensures that I'm ahead of the tiller and thus puts them under pressure, the panic on svetlana's face does be a sight

uck51js9zml2yt

I put food by category on the belt to facilitate packing at the far end. Was out in aldi today and the only one flustered was the deputy manager on the till

Seve OB

Chucken wrote: »

How many more times...you are not meant to pack your groceries at the till.

Already told yis, I only found out this ludicrous policy last week. Been shopping there years, though never a big shop, but sometimes big enough.

I've never heard of this system, never seen any signs, never been told about it, never been reprimanded for packing my bags at the till.... So I will continue to do it as we have always done in Ireland in a civilised manner.


Queing up in these places is always much much longer than any other shop, so I don't get where this whole speed craps is coming from cause it's slow..... Generally f all checkout operators. So they keep me waiting in the queue, I'll take my time and pack my bags in an orderly fassion rather than spending even more time flinging them at speed into the trolley togo over to a shelf to take them all back out again to pack them in bags..... No thanks

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Simonigs1.0

I never shop in Lidl or Aldi so I wouldn't know..

jamesbere

Ruu wrote: »

It's like Supermarket Sweep at Aldi sometimes minus Dale Winton.

Hey the next time your at a checkout and you hear the beep, think of all the fun you could be having on supermarket sweep

Tail Docker

I bring four teenagers and a large bed sheet with me - as the stuff comes off the belt, I hurl it into the sheet while the teenagers hold a corner each. When done we tie up the four corners and drag it out to the car. I also bring a catapult to fire the money at the cashier, saving precious milliseconds. We have it down to a fine art.

Red Nissan

stevieob wrote: »

Already told yis, I only found out this ludicrous policy last week.

Well now you've been fully informed so your next post will be to tell us how you felt all eyes on you as you take your time the next time. Ha ha!! :pac:

However, I also dismiss the repacking stage, and pack into the boot, and there are a few variations mentioned already.

I had adopted this policy after they brought in the plastic bag charging policy. Previously security would not let people out of stores unless the shopping was packed. I bet you never knew that either!