Aldi- Store promises everything and delivers nothing

PIEDPIPER1966

I joined this site yesterday after a completely frustrating experience with Aldi,Blackrock,Cork, My father is currently undergoing chemo treatment and as a result I am staying with him and he needed to get his weekly shopping and of course to feed me!. Anyway on the 03/01/2019 at 3pm I entered their store only to see empty shelves and no meats,veg, or fruit. The place looked like it was closing down and I even asked one of the staff what was happening and she politely told me that there was unprecedented demand for food. I told her I am not being funny but that is a normal daily occurrence and that they should have anticipated the extra demand. As you can appreciate time was not kind to me at this stage as I was just after bringing my dad for treatment and I had to prepare his dinner. I went to Dunnes Stores in Douglas who had everything and although more expensive in my case was worth it.

I have noticed Aldi's customer treatment is appalling because when I rang to complain I felt I was hindering the staff persons day and he had as much interest in details as I have in their mission statement.

So my advice is shop elsewhere because their advertising is false and they simply don't have everything like their advertisement states .This is not an isolated case and furthermore I am fed up of the manner in how they treat their customers. There is better value elsewhere and better produce.

I have taken pictures to show their empty shelves and offered to show the Customer Care Team but he advised me he was aware of it and that they had many stores in Ireland in same situation.

Sebastian Dangerfield

My local Supervalu is a huge store which is always well stocked. I went in for some groceries on the same day and the veg, bread and other aisles were completely bare too.

Deliveries are impacted by public holidays, and Irish people shop for bank holidays like there is an impending armageddon. Dont take it so personally.

nibtrix

PIEDPIPER1966 wrote: »

... I even asked one of the staff what was happening and she politely told me that there was unprecedented demand for food....

...I have noticed Aldi's customer treatment is appalling because when I rang to complain I felt I was hindering the staff persons day and he had as much interest in details as I have in their mission statement....

... furthermore I am fed up of the manner in how they treat their customers...

So the person in the store was polite to you and explained that more people had come to the store and purchased food than they expected. How is that bad customer service?

The agent on the phone didn't seem interested in your complaint? Probably because it's ridiculous, what did you expect them to do about it? Promise to always have their shelves fully stocked just for you, even if it means them having to throw out a huge amount of wasted food just to keep the stock high?

PIEDPIPER1966 wrote: »

So my advice is shop elsewhere because their advertising is false and they simply don't have everything like their advertisement states .

I don't think they ever advertise to have full stock 100% of the time. False advertising is a legal term, you can't just use it when you want to have a moan about something that slightly inconveniences you.

PIEDPIPER1966 wrote: »

This is not an isolated case...

Really, this has happened to you before? Why didn't you set up an account and complain about it that time? Why didn't you stop going to Aldi the first time this happened?

PIEDPIPER1966 wrote: »

There is better value elsewhere and better produce.

Well you know the solution to that - go elsewhere!



Aldi are running a business, not a public service. They have to try to balance their purchases of stock to keep wastage rates low, otherwise they'll end up going out of business. What are you expecting from your complaint, that Aldi will apologise profusely for putting you out and give you something free to make up for the inconvenience of them being popular?

I'm sorry for your family's troubles with your father's ill health, but using him as a sob story in this complaint is a bit selfish, in my opinion.

ArthurG

We're barely over Christmas / New Year madness. I was in SuperValue yesterday and they are trying to flog off the remnants of their Christmas stock. Supply chains wil be back to norm over the next few days. Calm down and if things are still as bad as you make out next week, let us know.

ted1

Aldi were closed on the 1st. And mightn’t have got a delivery since, most they’re food us fresh and they don’t have much storage space in their shops

I really find it weird that you are so wound up about it. First world problems.

Littlehorny

Its always the way, people watch a documentary about the wasted food that supermarkets throw out (literally tons of it) because of overstocking and give out stink.
Yet give out yards because when they go in the shop it is under stocked!

Faith

Mod note: This is an issue with a business and is not directly related to food, so I have moved it to Consumer Issues. That charter now applies.

ben.schlomo

Load of nonsense.

road_high

There’s always stock supply issues after Christmas in supermarkets. Takes a week or so for everything to get back to normal

noble00

Aldi keep very little in stock so less waste which I think is a great idea, it’s the same every year in Aldi .I don’t see the big deal if you were able to go to Dunnes . Hope your father gets better soon

Jellybaby1

My local Aldi here in Dublin never has empty shelves when I go in. I think the OP was just unlucky on the day they went in to find empty shelves. I don't think it is the right thing to do to advise the population to avoid all the Aldi shops. I suggest you go back to the same shop a few times and see how it is, if its always that way then complain to their head office.

Xterminator

HI Op

you come across very entitled.

she politely told me that there was unprecedented demand for food. I told her I am not being funny but that is a normal daily occurrence and that they should have anticipated the extra demand.

so she politely advised you they were busier than usual, and you called her a liar by saying unprecedented demand is a daily occurance. How nice of you to know their business better than they do.

what % of above normal demand should they cater for? 10% 20%? Obviously any perishable goods will go to waste yes? tripling the amount of food the store throws our sounds like a good idea? And of course that will have to be added to the prices of goods, which i assume you are happy to pay, so that once in a blue moon the shelves are not empty in some sections? See the stupidity of your position?

Listen your probably going through a sh|tty time st the moment. But for all you know the employee could have a sick kid at home, or be dealing with issues in personal life etc. So making other people miserable isn't really a good coping mechanism.

You overreacted. drop down to the store with a box of chocs and hand them to the staff member. Keep you head up. and look after the important things like your father, and don't let the small things stress you out.

jack presley

The Aldi in Mulhuddart was fairly bare last night too. They were out of a load of the usual stuff on my list.

Only probably the second time I’ve seen it like this since I started shopping there a few years back and as said above, probably down to new year supply chains. Not worth getting knickers in a twist over as it’s so rare that it happens.

Here we go

It’s one of there business practices to keep prices down.
It’s called just in Time ordering they don’t keep stock and instead only order in new stuff as they run out

demanufactured

OP, sorry to hear about your dad, I hope he's ok.

Regarding your "isssue" with Aldi, these things happen.

dudara

Aldi shelves are often emptier in the evening, especially for fresh items. This is because they get daily deliveries. Plus we’re only into the first few normal days since Christmas and everyone is out doing their normal shops. It’s going to take a while to settle down.

While I’m sad to hear of your dad’s illness, I don’t know how that is relevant to your story.

secondrowgal

Wait until Brexit, then we'll all be experiencing this more regularly

OP, sorry about your Dad. You sound stressed (understandable!) and of course this makes even small things appear huuugggeee.. Just breathe, and try to step back from it all for your own health.

norabattie

Same in Aldi in Mallow yesterday. No veg, fruit . Very little left. Asked a staff member if there was potatoes out the back and she said no unfortunately as they were awaiting a delivery this morning and because of the Christmas the schedule was out. Can't be helped. It's not going to stop me from shopping in Aldi anyway that's for sure. Not their fault.

Hope your dad gets better x

eagle eye

nibtrix wrote:

I don't think they ever advertise to have full stock 100% of the time. False advertising is a legal term, you can't just use it when you want to have a moan about something that slightly inconveniences you.

I don't know any shop that advertises full stock anytime.
Aldi regularly run out of things, even frozen foods.

nibtrix wrote:

Really, this has happened to you before? Why didn't you set up an account and complain about it that time? Why didn't you stop going to Aldi the first time this happened?

If a person goes complainting the first time something happens then he is a bit rash.
The way you are acting here you could be the first person to call him on it.
This isn't the first time he has encountered this situation and he felt that customer service was lacking so decided to vent his frustration. I think everybody is entitled to do that.
This man explains his current domestic situation and in circumstances like that it's easy to get frustrated.
It's amazing how you make it sound like he is irrational and the shop are perfectly fine.
Are you a thanks whore? Is that your game?
Have a bit of common decency and compassion for your fellow man when he is going through a rough time.

nibtrix

eagle eye wrote: »

This isn't the first time he has encountered this situation and he felt that customer service was lacking so decided to vent his frustration. I think everybody is entitled to do that.

How do you know this isn't the first time? I was calling out that if it had happened before then surely the OP would have taken the same drastic measure of publicly complaining and advising people to stop using Aldi.

eagle eye wrote: »

...he felt that customer service was lacking so decided to vent his frustration. I think everybody is entitled to do that.

Of course anyone is entitled to vent frustration when they receive poor customer service. I would question how a polite answer regarding an unforeseen lack of stock is "poor customer service", or how a commercial business trying to run their business without a lot of wasted stock is "poor customer service".

eagle eye wrote: »

This man explains his current domestic situation and in circumstances like that it's easy to get frustrated.
It's amazing how you make it sound like he is irrational and the shop are perfectly fine.
.......
Have a bit of common decency and compassion for your fellow man when he is going through a rough time.

I understand it's easy to get frustrated at minor issues when you have other stresses. However I DO think he was irrational and I DO think the shop are perfectly fine.
I don't understand why he felt the need to tell us about his father's illness, it's not the shop's fault and why should it be used to tell people not to shop at Aldi. They're not obliged to always have full stocked shelves, it's not a public service.

I get frustrated at people who think it's ok to badmouth a store and the workers inside because of something so inconsequential, that is out of their control (the workers, anyway).

eagle eye wrote: »

Are you a thanks whore? Is that your game?.

Get a life.

fordyjames

I remember I was dying for a crunchie and went to the local petrol station to get one. Too my shock horror they were out of Crunchies and demanded to know from the person on minimum wage behind the counter why they didn't have any Crunchies. He said they were waiting on delivery and I rolled my eyes at him, gave him a bit of grief.

How dare they not be stocked up for my Crunchie bar habit. I then got in the car and travelled two minutes and got my beloved Crunchie.

coylemj

Here we go wrote: »

It’s one of there business practices to keep prices down.
It’s called just in Time ordering they don’t keep stock and instead only order in new stuff as they run out

+1 it's good business practice and it discourages last minute shopping before they close where people expect fresh food to be discounted. A relative of mine works in an Aldi in the midlands, she told us about a customer who came in every day for a week before Christmas asking when would they would be discounting the turkeys!

eagle eye

nibtrix wrote:

How do you know this isn't the first time? I was calling out that if it had happened before then surely the OP would have taken the same drastic measure of publicly complaining and advising people to stop using Aldi.

He says in his post that it's not the first time.

nibtrix wrote:

Of course anyone is entitled to vent frustration when they receive poor customer service. I would question how a polite answer regarding an unforeseen lack of stock is "poor customer service", or how a commercial business trying to run their business without a lot of wasted stock is "poor customer service".

He was complaining about the fact that they didn't want the information he wished to provide. That is bad customer service. You listen to the complaint fully before you start talking back.

nibtrix wrote:

I understand it's easy to get frustrated at minor issues when you have other stresses. However I DO think he was irrational and I DO think the shop are perfectly fine. I don't understand why he felt the need to tell us about his father's illness, it's not the shop's fault and why should it be used to tell people not to shop at Aldi. They're not obliged to always have full stocked shelves, it's not a public service.

Your lack of understanding is incredible. The man who is going through a tough time and he mentions it in his post. Obviously it's at the forefront of his mind and he is relating it with everything else that is going on in his life right now.
We should be taking that into account and not attacking him cheaply like me you did.
Also it's not irrational for a person to get upset when they are in a rush and a big store like Aldi hasn't got what you want in the middle of the day.

nibtrix wrote:

I get frustrated at people who think it's ok to badmouth a store and the workers inside because of something so inconsequential, that is out of their control (the workers, anyway).

Well I shop there regularly and they even run out of frozen foods quite regularly. I've asked him if they had any more in the back on occasion and you get a straight no answer sometimes and it does kinda feel like you are being blown off.
Amazing how it's alright for you to get frustrated at other people but not for them to get frustrated with a business.

nibtrix wrote:

Get a life.

Childish much?

killanena

I work in retail and its people like OP that make this industry have a name for being difficult. Having a customer expect us to have everything on hand at any given moment. Especially following all the recent public holidays.

We also deserve a break, so do our suppliers, and their suppliers etc.

nibtrix

eagle eye wrote: »

I've asked him if they had any more in the back on occasion and you get a straight no answer sometimes and it does kinda feel like you are being blown off.

As has been stated elsewhere in this thread, Aldi receive daily deliveries and don't hold a lot of stock "in the back". I don't understand how being told they don't have extra stock is blowing you off.

Aldi and Lidl and companies like them have a business model that keeps their costs very low by utilising Just-in-Time methods of inventory management. Those low costs are passed on to the customer (which is why they are so popular!) but the downside is that they won't always be fully stocked at every moment, of every day. If you want to benefit from the low costs then you pay for that with your time - either by shopping at a time of the day/week when they are fully stocked or by occasionally having to go elsewhere when they don't have what you want.

If you want a shop that's always fully stocked then pick a company that values 100% stocking over cost cutting - and pay the price.

eagle eye wrote: »

Amazing how it's alright for you to get frustrated at other people but not for them to get frustrated with a business.

That's pretty much the point I was making, that if it's ok for the OP to be frustrated at something which the majority of people don't see as an issue, then it's ok for me to show my frustration with them too.

eagle eye wrote: »

Childish much?

You started it
Seriously though, I'm happy to discuss this or debate it or whatever you want, but calling someone a "thanks whore" doesn't really have a place in a reasonable discussion.

dudara

nibtrix and eagle eye - knock it off!

dudara

Gooser14

They are just preparing you for a crash out Brexit!

December2012

Hi OP,

I wonder if your anger is more to do with the way you feel about your Dad being ill, and going for chemo, and all that entails. I know when my Dad was very sick I was more angry at things that wouldn't have affected me as much the rest of the year. I think thats very understandable.

You must be very worried about your father, and I imagine that you feel very out of control about things right now, so you would appreciate it if the rest of your life could go easier, and the things that you can control went well.

I wonder, taking all of that into account, if you are directing some of that worry and stress at Aldi, and their staff, or venting here.

Again I think if you are, that is understandable. However, I would say this to you; you have a long road ahead with your Dad. You have a long road ahead for yourself. You will do yourself no favours by getting angry at the wrong person for the wrong thing.

Aldi is like a big local shop, and they don't keep big warehouses. You went in on an afternoon just after a public holiday. Lots of people get to take New Years Day off. Indeed for retail staff and those that supply retail, that and Christmas Day may be the only days they have off over a very busy period. So again, I can see why their stock levels were low or gone in some cases.

I feel that, on reflection, you may consider that you have over reacted.

I wish you, and your father well, and I hope that his treatment succeeds. Take care of yourself in the meantime

coylemj

December2012 wrote: »

Aldi is like a big local shop, and they don't keep big warehouses.

Aldi have big warehouses 'regional distribution centres' in Naas and Mitchelstown. Click the links for a satellite view.

Cazale

coylemj wrote:

Aldi have big warehouses 'regional distribution centres' in

I imagine they mean they don't have a big warehouse in the back of their shops holding stock.

PreCocious

That's my usual Aldi. I've seen it on occasion with bare shelves for the fresh items - the last time was due to the severe storms which affected everyone.

Staffing wise it's always a friendly and helpful store and better than Tesco Mahon Point in terms of stock control.