Pressure in Lidil/Aldi

fleet_admiral

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Trick to Lidl is to pop down early in the morning (pre 9 AM) before the moms start shopping. No buggies, prams or toddlers. Just a quick cruise around the store and one or two others (at most) in front of you. All in a hurry to get somewhere, all paying cash and packing as they go.

I didnt know they had shops in America

FloatingVoter

fleet_admiral wrote: »

I didnt know they had shops in America

This is true. In parts of the remote Amazon you may have to catch your own food.

muddypaws

Macavity. wrote: »

They don't have an exit for people who have no items. Which means if I'm just going in for a look or something, I have to awkwardly walk through the small area where people are purchasing goods. This causes a minor amount of social discomfort for me, making my life very slightly more difficult.

You can always do the going out through the in door dance. You loiter by the entrance, waiting for someone to come in, then you get through the first set of doors, where you again wait for someone to come in through the outer doors, make a quick bolt for it and you're free.

mikeyjames9

I just ask them to slow down

N365

This drives me mental,especially when there is no queue. What is the hurry for anyway? I don't hear anyone moaning when people pack their bags in tesco or Supervalu etc Why is there such a rush in aldi?

Galwayguy35

monkeysnapper wrote: »

Aldi workers get a sheet of paper at the end of their shift telling them how many items they scanned per hour ( average) each store has its own target but it's mainly around 1000 .

It also tells them how many voids ( mistakes / customer put backs ) .

How much money your till is up or down .

Refunds.

Usually every 6 months you have a review to discuss how your last 6 months has gone, you get your average till scans per hour , and over the last 6 months how much your till is up or down to the cent .

When working on the shop floor in mornings you also get a time limit per pallet you work , so example... Food cans and general cereal / you get 20 mins per pallet/. Fruit and veg ... 10 mins per pallet .

I worked in aldi for a few years and I found place to be ok . You always get a few narky customers but generally people know the score . If I got a narky person I'd just slow down, or if I got a older person .

I found place like any other place I've ever worked , if you keep your head down and just get on with your job nobody is going to break your balls over till speeds or pallet times .

A fella that worked with me got a job as the manager in one of the shops, good starting salary he was on as well.

He told me that it's only management that have full time jobs, ordinary floor workers are never made full time.

suicide_circus

N365 wrote: »

This drives me mental,especially when there is no queue. What is the hurry for anyway? I don't hear anyone moaning when people pack their bags in tesco or Supervalu etc Why is there such a rush in aldi?

The check out staff in aldi and lidl are being timed. If they dont process your items quickly enough they will be pulled up on it.

YFlyer

monkeysnapper wrote: »

if you keep your head down and just get on with your job nobody is going to break your balls over till speeds or pallet times .

That's what I dislike about the Aldi in Limerick that I shop in. The guys would nearly knock you down with those large trolleys when moving along the aisle. They never seem to look or care that there are customers standing looking at items on the shelves.

Tzardine

The lack of shopping baskets in lidl / aldi is a serious pain in the hole.

I have to either take one of their trolleys which is so big it had its own fecking orbit or I have to put shopping into my bags before I pay which usually ends up in a game of spot the store detective.

jmrc

Lidl is great, never bring the shopping bag....always pick up a cardboard box, put my messages in it and when it comes to the race at the till I can out pack the B*tch every time...... and when I get home the young lad (2.1/2")has a half hour of fun making the box into a car...

Value all round.

Red Nissan

Lads, next time in Lidl or Aldi mention this thread and get a free Banana.

kylith

Can't chuck everything back into the trolley if you're using a basket though. Trying to get my backpack packed before the cashier can't balance any more on that little shelf is a fun game of speed Jenga.

rubadub

shruikan2553 wrote: »

Why wont they add a checkout for 10 items or less.

I remember the checkouts in tesco had 10 items or less, but they were allowed process more, I wish it just refused to process it to force people to obey the rules. The info desk in mine used to have a 3 item policy and I saw them enforce it, like saying it could not scan in more and people had to leave stuff behind.

TheSheriff wrote: »

I just find it all very off putting, grocery shopping shouldnt be a stressful experience.

I should be able to stroll around, pick up what I need and then pack my bag at the till.

I find the lidl model far less stressful. I become stressed & enraged in the local supervalu where the auld one is talking to the other auld ones for minutes. There is another older till operator who is great, she has seen me waiting on the chatters and calls me over to her till, I think she is annoyed with the chatty one too and does it to embarrass her. It is quicker for me to regather all my items and walk around to her, even though my operator is totally finished checking stuff through and I am just waiting on the purse rooter who is chatting to her, purposely delaying themselves.

kylith wrote: »

Can't chuck everything back into the trolley if you're using a basket though. Trying to get my backpack packed

Bring the basket with you, do not leave it at the top of the conveyor. I get as much as I can into the backpack and if there are leftovers it goes in the basket I am still carrying. Or as I said before if its say 10 cans of beer I leave them in the basket, they scan 1 and pop it back in the basket and hand it over.

hiFidelity

Gone Drinking wrote: »

Why don't they play some kind of music? It can't be THAT much cheaper to have the place so silent.

Its usually just a wash of foreign accents and men saying "jayus, for 15 quid, who doesn't need an angle grinder and a wet suit?"

In regards to the bag packing, I always go with my missus, so we usually get it all bagged and paid nice and quick.

It's because it is a no-frills supermarket. If a commercial premises has music playing in the background then it has to pay annual fees to the Irish Music Rights Organisation, IMRO for short. This fee can amount to €2,000+ I think.

SuperValu have their own specially recorded 'music' to avoid having to pay this IMRO charge. If you consciously listen to the SuperValu music you may hear how atrociously bad it is. You will never hear this music outside of SuperValu.

muddypaws

Tzardine wrote: »

The lack of shopping baskets in lidl / aldi is a serious pain in the hole.

I have to either take one of their trolleys which is so big it had its own fecking orbit or I have to put shopping into my bags before I pay which usually ends up in a game of spot the store detective.

I've lived in other European countries, and have never seen anybody put their shopping into their bag before the till anywhere other than in Ireland. First time I saw someone do it, I did think they were shoplifting. I've done it a couple of times myself now, but feel really uncomfortable doing it, and make a huge show of emptying the bag at the till, to prove it is empty and I'm not smuggling anything out.

Boom_Bap

muddypaws wrote: »

I've lived in other European countries, and have never seen anybody put their shopping into their bag before the till anywhere other than in Ireland. First time I saw someone do it, I did think they were shoplifting. I've done it a couple of times myself now, but feel really uncomfortable doing it, and make a huge show of emptying the bag at the till, to prove it is empty and I'm not smuggling anything out.

I've seen it quite a bit in Germany.

Alun

Tzardine wrote: »

The lack of shopping baskets in lidl / aldi is a serious pain in the hole.

Bot my local Lidl and Aldi have baskets, as well as 3 different sizes of trollies including a small shallow one that is ideal for the smaller shop. Perhaps a visit to Specsavers might be in order?

OldMrBrennan83

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6781

Why don't Aldi sell saffron threads?

Cantona's Collars

Anytime I shop in Tesco or Dunnes I find myself at the till thinking,"will you hurry the feck up".I'm used to having my stuff scanned at light speed.

Another thing that drives me nuts at the till are those women who wait until all their stuff is scanned and then realise that they have to pay as if it was some new concept then spend ages rooting around in their handbags for purses or cash.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Galwayguy35

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

So you ended up spending more money on fuel and the shop itself was more expensive.

Each to their own but I couldn't give a toss about having a nice experience when I get cheaper shopping and don't have to put up with a bunch of cackling hens bladdering at the till holding me up.

porsche boy

if you think packing you stuff is pressure you would want to look into the pressure on the staff. Stuff I've heard is incredible. There is a reason few Irish work there.

FloatingVoter

They always have baskets (and cardboard boxes) in the Lidl on Cork street. Shoplifters are also catered for as security only watches the door.

OldMrBrennan83

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franer1970

Most annoying thing about Aldi / Lidl is that they evidently think anyone leaving without buying anything is stealing - the entrances are one way and closed checkout lanes are barred shut. You have to force your way through an open checkout, trying to avoid looking like a queue jumper / shoplifter.
Always happens when I go in there to buy one heavily promoted special offer item which they don't even have.

Barely There

I like the way the slow packers are annoyed by the Lidl/Aldi model.
Frankly, I'm more than happy for them to feck off to their local Tescos where they can happily stare into space or engage in a stupid conversation with the checkout person about the latest goings-ons in Eastenders. They obviously don't have very much going on in their lives and value these moments.

I have more important things to be doing on my weekend off and I don't consider the weekly shop to be anything other than a necessary inconvenience that I wish to get through in as fast a manner as humanly possible.

That's why I say 'Horse those groceries through Svetlana, I'm game for a bit of speed packing'

sbsquarepants

I generally couldn't care less who I inconvenience - i'll take my god damned time thank you very much. That being said I'm not allowed do the shopping for that very reason!

copey

Happend to me today

Wulfie

son.of.jimi wrote: »

Yeah I don't think you should pack at the till. they have the shelf behind the tills for packing. No rush then

I can pack faster than any aldi employee can scan my stuff. Most of the time anyway.

neilthefunkeone

porsche boy wrote: »

if you think packing you stuff is pressure you would want to look into the pressure on the staff. Stuff I've heard is incredible. There is a reason few Irish work there.

Bull****.. I worked in Aldi for 2 years(multiple stores) and had no issue, even though i hate working weekends! All staff and managers were sound. You had your jobs for the day and nothing was over strenuous.

They do seem to attract more foreign people but that's probably the Irish 'im too good for this job' attitude!

Worst part about the job was Irish customers coming up to your till and saying how glad they were to hear a local accent.. Always felt like punching them!

Oh yeah and pack at the bench!:)

Galwayguy35

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

Bull****.. I worked in Aldi for 2 years(multiple stores) and had no issue, even though i hate working weekends! All staff and managers were sound. You had your jobs for the day and nothing was over strenuous.

They do seem to attract more foreign people but that's probably the Irish 'im too good for this job' attitude!

Worst part about the job was Irish customers coming up to your till and saying how glad they were to hear a local accent.. Always felt like punching them!

Oh yeah and pack at the bench!:)

Do ye get time and a half for the weekends?

Barely There

I not only pack quick - I pack logical.

I favour the 4 bag method -3 in the trolley - 1 in the bagging area.

Bag 1 - Fruit and Veg
Bag 2 - Cold Stuff
Bag 3 - Cleaning/Bathroom
Bag 4 - Other Stuff.

That's another reason I hate Tesco/Supervalu, there's always some little scrote collecting for something wanting to pack your bags in the most illogical way possible - feckin' hate that!

McGrath5

I love the fast, efficient service at Aldi/Lidl. I am never waiting more than a few minutes even with long queues.

I had to drop into a Supervalu over the weekend, and gpt caught behind some middle aged bint yapping away to the checkout woman about Fair City or Emmerdale, I was queuing for 10 minutes easily.

Red Nissan

Barely There wrote: »

I not only pack quick - I pack logical.

You have to of course too. I hate bag packers myself.

In Dunnes on day I insisted on a new Chicken after a mature female bag packer stuffed a leaky bottle of domestos in the same bag as my raw chicken.

The worst part was she did not understand what she had done wrong!

After that incident that Dunnes never allowed all checkouts to be bag packer assisted and a few were always kept for self packers.

I should write a book.

sonofenoch

People using their credit card to pay for the smallest of items not just n a supermarket but anywhere......enter your pin and wait wait and ......wait... now remove your card........cash is King, piss off out of my queue

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Eurovisionmad

TheSheriff wrote: »

Just back from Lidil there for the ould weekly shop

Does anyone else feel immense pressure at the till to try and get everything packed and pay the guy/gal?

Its as if they shoot a gun to initiate a start as soon as they scan the first item and its you against them.

Can you pack fast enough to prevent the build up of items on their miniature metal shelf?

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

In fairness they're also supposed to get a certain amount of items trough the till in an hour, so you insisting on slowing them down with packing and penny counting is in fact you being a bit of a d*ck. As everyone says, the big shelf is where you can pack at your leisure.

Tzardine

sonofenoch wrote: »

People using their credit card to pay for the smallest of items not just n a supermarket but anywhere......enter your pin and wait wait and ......wait... now remove your card........cash is King, piss off out of my queue

I promise you that I can pay for a mars bar quicker with my card than a lot of people with their change purse.

DVDM93

Barely There wrote: »

I not only pack quick - I pack logical.

I favour the 4 bag method -3 in the trolley - 1 in the bagging area.

Bag 1 - Fruit and Veg
Bag 2 - Cold Stuff
Bag 3 - Cleaning/Bathroom
Bag 4 - Other Stuff.

That's another reason I hate Tesco/Supervalu, there's always some little scrote collecting for something wanting to pack your bags in the most illogical way possible - feckin' hate that!

I let them pack my bags, then I walk off smiling without giving them as much as a red cent

Idbatterim

as a recent aldi convert, I go into tesco, see the price comparisons and I actually prefer aldi on several fronts other than price. I love the no messing about fast in fast out, particularly when I see just how much I am saving v tesco!

Tzardine

DVDM93 wrote: »

I let them pack my bags, then I walk off smiling without giving them as much as a red cent

Even though they can't pack a bag to save their life I always give these guys a couple of Euro.

They are usually a local group and the money really helps them out. Much more so than a major charity shaking a bucket.

Eurovisionmad

smash wrote: »

Lidil and Aldi are complete kips. I don't care what anyone says, the quality of the stock isn't good and they're generally not cheaper than the likes of Tesco or Supervalu. Plus they're customer service is bloody awful.

Most Tescos are bleak places, they've gotten very sloppy, especially with shelf presentation, it's hard for them to claim they're more upmarket when they're just so messy.

EDIT: Just to add that I work in a large retail chain, and if our store was ever found anywhere close to the state that most Tesco's are in, management heads would roll at the very least. In fairness at least Lidl or Aldi stores, maybe due to their smallish size are always kept tidy and the shelves are almost always well stacked.

Dial Hard

sonofenoch wrote: »

People using their credit card to pay for the smallest of items not just n a supermarket but anywhere......enter your pin and wait wait and ......wait... now remove your card........cash is King, piss off out of my queue

Contactless FTW.

neilthefunkeone

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Do ye get time and a half for the weekends?

Yeah extra for Sunday/BH.. cant remember what the rate was.

Eurovisionmad

Dial Hard wrote: »

Contactless FTW.

As someone in retail don't even get me started with that. . . ."What's daaa????" and that accusing look they give you when you do it without asking that you've basically stolen all their money! In short the general populace are idiots.

muddypaws

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

As someone in retail don't even get me started with that. . . ."What's daaa????" and that accusing look they give you when you do it without asking that you've basically stolen all their money! In short the general populace are idiots.

I was a bit surprised at the low maximum amount you can spend, until a shop worker explained how dangerous it would be if it was higher,very easy for someone to steal a card and wipe out a bank account - a real Doh moment.

Seve OB

sonofenoch wrote: »

People using their credit card to pay for the smallest of items not just n a supermarket but anywhere......enter your pin and wait wait and ......wait... now remove your card........cash is King, piss off out of my queue

try shopping in France

they still pay for their groceries over there by Cheque... I kid you not. I go every year, and every trip to the supermarket there is always someone in front of my with the cheque book!

Galway K9

Princess Peach wrote: »

You're not supposed to pack at the till, that's what the shelved area behind the till is for.

Can someone clarify then

The process of lidl/adli shopping:
1) Pack groceries in Trolley
2) Unpack groceries at till
3) Pack groceries at the till again into trolley after checkout
4) move 2 meteres, and unpack groceries at shelf
5) Pack groceries into bags and into trolley
6) At car, unpack groceries into car.

All done while the cashier has a gun to your head,and a boardsie is shouting down to you while you are counting change out.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

As someone in retail don't even get me started with that. . . ."What's daaa????" and that accusing look they give you when you do it without asking that you've basically stolen all their money! In short the general populace are idiots.

The one universal truth that working in retail will teach you.