Bags checked at Aldi

They vary a lot. Our local Aldi never searches anyone and they are always polite and give you a smile but the one I went to half an hour’s drive away did - quite rudely,too. I’ll never go to that particular branch again. I don’t mind just showing the inside of my bag to any of them but if they are rude about it - forget it. I tell people,too.

It seems that other supermarkets are doing a similar thing to stop shop lifting.
Morrisons has followed a controverisal move made by Sainsbury's and have introduced security gates which require you to scan a receipt in order to leave the store.

The barriers are located by the supermarket's self-service checkouts and if customers want to leave without buying anything they need to ask a member of staff.

Scanning your receipt seems fair enough if it cuts down shoplifting, but there is no reason for rudeness in searching a customer’s bag. After all, while shoplifting is a pest and raises prices for all of us, most people don’t actually do it.

sharon103

It seems that other supermarkets are doing a similar thing to stop shop lifting.
Morrisons has followed a controverisal move made by Sainsbury's and have introduced security gates which require you to scan a receipt in order to leave the store.

The barriers are located by the supermarket's self-service checkouts and if customers want to leave without buying anything they need to ask a member of staff.

I was in Morrisons this morning and the till lady was telling me what an increase they had noticed in thefts there too. I think it’s nationwide,

K mart here ask to scan your receipt but they are very polite about it . Many people just leave,though, and I don’t think they are allowed to demand it.

I did self scan at M&S yesterday. They did a scan test of 5 products. Felt like a criminal! I spent £80. Sign of the times!

Wheniwasyourage

Scanning your receipt seems fair enough if it cuts down shoplifting, but there is no reason for rudeness in searching a customer’s bag. After all, while shoplifting is a pest and raises prices for all of us, most people don’t actually do it.

This….

Our local Aldi have been doing this for a few weeks now they are very pleasant ,they do prefer you to pack away from tills so they can keep up a good pace instead of people having to wait.

Why wouldn’t you just plonk everything back in your trolley and pack at your leisure in the area provided then you don’t have to get stressed putting everything in the right bag etc at the rushed till
As for the check, as long as they are doing it to everyone and not just you, then it’s not a problem just a new initiative and if it stops the prices going up because of theft then I m all for it

I thought the bag packing procedure at Aldi was that you picked your goods from the collecting area, where the cashier slides them at such speed, putting them quickly back into your trolly, not carefully into bags.
Then after paying, you push your trolly, bags still empty, to that long shelf opposite and take your time over packing your shopping. That's what happens at our store. No panic, no wait, no fuss.
Bags could be checked for contraband at this stage (so far we've not gone on to this step, but I can see it may become necessary). Sad.

Waitrose have done spot checks on the bags of 'smart' shoppers for a long time. My daughter had it three times in short time. The third time she did say it was a bit much. She received an apology. It's time consuming to empty out a large grocery shop. She's not been stopped since for a spot check.

You are supposed to load the goods into the trolly and pack them in the packing area, I guess they think that if you are not doing that then you may be shoplifting.

We just have our bags open in the trolley at Aldi and put goods straight into them.

We load shopping on belt in groups for each bag (cold, veggies, bread, biscuits etc and then cleaning products) really easy.

I had this happen in Aldi once years ago. It didn't bother me. Our Aldi has a long, wide shelf and a big sign 'Please pack your shopping here'. It annoys me when people ignore it and pack their bags at the checkout thus holding up the queue. It's selfish.

When DD2 worked in M&S, she was instructed to look at the raw meat, inside the tin foil trays in the cardboard sleeves, as people were putting the more expensive beef roasts in the slightly less expensive chicken breast sleeve. There’s always been shoplifting and I read once that a big proportion of that was by staff, but again M&S did random locker searches.
It must be getting a real problem now with Smart Shop and the like.
I’d have no problem being challenged, as long as it’s in a polite, low key way.

I pack in Aldi at the till with freezer style bags sat open in a row I can do this just as quickly as putting the stuff back in the trolley. I also have my card ready to pay so no faffing about looking for my purse.

I was checked at the Aldi self service till because I had scanned baked beans. "High Risk Item" was flashing on the screen.
Apparently they are one of the things that are most often stolen.

In France it is the norm. Whenever we go to the supermarket over there we hold our bags out for inspection. It is very cursory, with soft bags, you can see from outside whether there is anything in it.

But in these straightened times, the temptation to try to get away with stuff1 is enhanced and this is why self-scanning checkouts are always staffed and seasoned shoplifters have a whole catalogue of methods for taking food or passing off expensive food as cheaper.

Why should anyone be embarrassed by checks like this. People are always misinterpreting other people's actions, usually for the worse, so you may have done all sorts of innocent things over the years where someone has been looking at you assumed you were doing something wrong, this is just another such occasion, only this time you think people think you are dishonest, they probably do not.

BlueBelle - because this means you have to handle it all a 3rd time.

Kate1949

I had this happen in Aldi once years ago. It didn't bother me. Our Aldi has a long, wide shelf and a big sign 'Please pack your shopping here'. It annoys me when people ignore it and pack their bags at the checkout thus holding up the queue. It's selfish.

Not selfish at all, still putting exactly the same amount of items into exactly the same trolley at exactly the same speed.

Card ready in my pocket to pay.

Yes but not everyone is like you GG.

I felt sorry for the staff in my small village Co-op the other day. They had seen a woman pocket some gin on CCTV. On being challenged at the till (she had made some small purchases), she denied it and was allowed to leave the shop. Her accomplice was in a car at the roadside with the engine running and made a fast getaway. I can see this policy is to protect staff, but shoplifting is one of the reasons prices are high. I would never feel upset if my shopping or bags were checked, I have a clear conscience.

I agree with Ex Dancer , so much easier to have shopping put straight back into the trolley, then wheel it to the long counter opposite the tills , then pack at leisure. Sometimes in Morrison's when I do a big shop I can almost feel a panic coming over me as the cashier whizzes through my shopping and I am struggling to pack my bags! Hate it - shopping more and more at Aldi now .

Georgesgran

When DD2 worked in M&S, she was instructed to look at the raw meat, inside the tin foil trays in the cardboard sleeves, as people were putting the more expensive beef roasts in the slightly less expensive chicken breast sleeve. There’s always been shoplifting and I read once that a big proportion of that was by staff, but again M&S did random locker searches.
It must be getting a real problem now with Smart Shop and the like.
I’d have no problem being challenged, as long as it’s in a polite, low key way.

Gosh, how do people even think of these things? It would never have occurred to me to even try that. Mind you, I did read just recently that some people are scanning expensive fruits or veg - such as avocado - through as something cheaper like potatoes instead. The way some people's minds must work...
I remember once buying a bra from Tesco, going through the normal checkout and getting home to find it still had the security tag on it. I immediately jumped in the car and went back and explained to them at the security desk, showed them my receipt and they were very apologetic - but couldn't understand how it hadn't set off the alarm when I exited the store. I felt like a shoplifter - even though it wasn't even my mistake.