Aldi Employees Name 11 Of Their Biggest Customer Pet Peeves

Shopping at Aldi is a different experience from shopping at other large grocery chains. The store offers streamlined inventory, a fast checkout system, and a whole organization that is focused on efficiency to keep things affordable. However, this efficiency is only kept in tact when the staff and customers are working together to uphold the systems Aldi has in place.

Whether the culprit is a first-time shopper or an experienced person who should know the lay of the land, Aldi employees encounter several small annoyances throughout their days that they've recounted online. Pet peeves from putting items back in random spots, to being downright rude to staff, can really put a damper on the speed that makes the store function properly. If you're wondering how you can make your shopping experience better for both yourself and everyone else involved, here are the most talked-about complaints that Aldi employees have for their customers.

One of the most frustrating things that Aldi customers do is continue shopping past the designated closing time. Aldi stores notoriously have shorter hours than some larger grocery chains, but this is not an invitation to disregard the store hours and stay as long as you please. Aldi employees report that shoppers regularly stay past the time the store is supposed to be completely shut down, or they wait until the very last minute to check out, resulting in a delay in closing procedures. While it may not seem like a big deal to you to "just grab one more thing," there is a long list of tasks that need to be completed in order for the store to be properly closed, all of which are held up by customers who won't leave the store in time.

Employees need to do more than just lock the doors; they need to clean, restock, cash out the cash register, and more. When you don't respect the hours of operation at Aldi, you are also disrespecting the workers who made your shopping experience possible. This is an unwritten rule across all stores, not just Aldi: Give yourself enough time to shop so that you aren't the reason an employee is unexpectedly staying late at work.

Curbside pickup became popular at Aldi and other major retailers in 2020 with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's stuck around for the sake of convenience and faster shopping. However, Aldi employees say that curbside convenience goes both ways. There are designated parking spots for curbside pickup customers, so that they can park close to the store and so that employees don't have to wander the parking lot looking for the correct car. Staff reports that shoppers sometimes park in any spot they please, away from the curbside spots and far away from the store, resulting in the staff having to lug groceries across the lot. This takes more time than necessary and puts more strain on the employees.

Along with pickup customers parking in the wrong spaces, there are also reports of regular in-store shoppers parking in curbside pickup spots because they're closer to the store. Sometimes, employees have to ask shoppers to park in the correct spaces, which is an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved. This becomes a challenge, especially during peak hours when there are multiple pickup orders and no one is parked correctly. If customers simply park in their designated spots, it could save everyone time and keep the process efficient.

Anyone who shops at Aldi is familiar with the shopping cart system: Bring a quarter to deposit into the cart, and you'll get it back when you've returned the cart. Still, not everyone plans ahead. One of the more awkward and frustrating situations for Aldi employees is when someone interrupts an active checkout transaction to ask the cashier for a quarter to get a cart.

Most employees are happy to give you the quarter, but interrupting their work results in slower checkout times and interrupts their flow. Aldi cashiers are timed, and they have to scan a certain number of items per minute, or else they could be penalized. Even the smallest interaction can throw off the whole system, and what seems like a harmless question to you may result in a headache for the employee. It's best to find a worker who is not occupied with another customer and ask them for a quarter if you truly can't get by without a cart. Or, keep a quarter in your car or in one of Aldi's quarter carriers to make sure you're always prepared.

Checking expiration dates on your items, especially items like dairy and eggs, is completely reasonable, but some Aldi shoppers take it to an extreme. On forums like Reddit, Aldi employees discuss what they call "date shoppers," or shoppers who will dig through rows of merchandise or layers of produce to find what they deem is the freshest and what will last the longest. When produce can be hit or miss, it makes sense to look for something that looks good, but these customers rearrange shelves and leave the store a mess without putting things back to the way they found them. This naturally creates an excess of work for the staff, as they have to put everything back to the way it should be.

Beyond the employees' frustration, it can also be disruptive to shoppers. "Date shoppers" often stand at a section for a prolonged period of time, sifting through every single item until they've found what they want. Taking a quick glance around for the best-looking fruit is one thing; completely dismantling the display is another. Respecting the space saves time for the staff and prevents adding to their already-heavy workload.

One of the most-mentioned complaints of Aldi employees on Reddit and other forums is when customers take items off the shelf, then decide they don't want them and leave them in random places throughout the store. Customers don't only do this with packaged items, but also with frozen and refrigerated foods. This means that not only does the staff have to retrieve and re-shelve the item, but also that the item may be spoiled and have to be thrown away.

When employees have to re-shelve items that they shelve properly in the first place, it creates extra work that takes away from other tasks. Aldi stores are staffed very lightly; it's one of the ways the store is able to cut costs. So, when one staff member is taken away from their normal responsibilities, it can upset the workflow of the whole store. The simplest thing to do is to put the item back where it belongs if you decide you won't be purchasing it.

The checkout process at Aldi moves quickly, which means that any small way to make it go smoothly makes a big difference. One small thing you can do to help speed things along is to use the dividers when checking out behind another customer. When shoppers forget to do this, it can create confusion, as the cashier may not know where one customer's items stop and another's begin.

This sometimes creates only a minor scuffle, wherein the cashier will ask a customer if they've reached the end of their items. However, this situation can get awkward when customers snap at the cashier, pointing out that the cashier is ringing up the items incorrectly. The cashier is only doing their job, assuming that the items are all on one order since there is no divider. Using the provided dividers can prevent mucking up the checkout line and also prevent cashiers from getting scolded. Placing the divider takes only a second, but it can make things run much better when cashing out.

Efficiency is the name of the game at Aldi. Aldi cashiers are timed when checking customers out, so anything that slows down the checkout process can result in the cashier being penalized. Employees get frustrated when customers do any number of things that may hold up their line, such as not having their money ready at the register, or when they decide that they need something last-minute and abandon all of their items on the belt to run and grab something from the other end of the store. Things like this prevent cashiers from helping other customers, so the whole process is slowed down exponentially.

A delay at checkout can cause a ripple effect throughout the whole store because Aldi staff numbers are so low. Each staff member has multiple responsibilities, so when they're held up at checkout, it can cause delays in other areas like stocking or cleaning. Aldi employees often complain online that they simply want customers to be ready to pay and be on their way to the bagging counter once they have their items rung up.

Like anyone who works in any retail setting, Aldi employees deal with their fair share of prickly customers. Impatience, rudeness, or passive aggressive behavior from customers is one of the most commonly cited complaints on Reddit from Aldi employees. While shopping can sometimes be stressful, taking that stress out on the staff doesn't solve the problem for anyone.

Most of the time, employees are doing their best while managing multiple tasks at once. They're serving everyone in the store, not just you, so showing frustration or anger likely will not get the task accomplished any quicker. Employees are often shocked at how comfortable shoppers are with being outright rude to the staff they are demanding help from. A bit of patience and understanding can go a long way for people who are just trying to get through their shift and do their work as best as they can. This stretches beyond Aldi into any customer-facing job, but grocery store workers report noticing rough behavior on a near-daily basis.

One request that Aldi employees hear often is to "check in the back" for an item that a customer can't find on the shelves. While this may be a common task in other stores, it doesn't really apply at Aldi. This grocery chain has a saying among the staff, "If it's not on the floor, it's not in the store." Aldi generally keeps very little backstock, so there is not an abundance of products in the store room. The streamlined inventory process means that most of the items for sale are right there on the floor. This is one of the ways Aldi keeps prices low without expensive membership costs.

When customers ask for this, they usually don't know that Aldi has very little stock. When it becomes awkward is when a customer insists on the employee going in the back to check for an item, even after that employee has insisted they do not carry it. They may still feel pressured to check, which wastes everyone's time. Some employees say that they go to the back just to make the customer feel better, even though they know the item isn't there. Making the customer feel heard sometimes unfortunately wins out over listening to the expertise of the employee.

The checkout system at Aldi can be confusing for first-timers, but once you've done it once or twice, it's pretty straightforward. Cashiers will scan your items, then place them into a cart so that you can go to the bagging counter and bag them yourself. This is one of the most well-known ways that Aldi cuts costs and saves time. However, one of the things that really grinds Aldi employees' gears is when shoppers try to game the system and bag their items right at the checkout counter.

While it might feel efficient to multitask, bagging things while your shoppers are putting them in your cart can get confusing and can result in items being mishandled or damaged. Again, Aldi cashiers are timed on their transactions, so they're primarily focused on scanning items and getting them in your cart as quickly as possible. If they're trying to work around you bagging, it can slow them down and disrupt their efficient system. Some folks may not like the bagging experience, but it's the Aldi way. It's best to follow the system that the store has in place.

The cart and checkout system is unique at Aldi, where you'll often see cashiers manned with a cart of their own to place items that they've scanned for one reason or another. They might place overflow items in the cart, or if you have shopped without a cart, they'll use it to keep everything in one place. A common complaint stems from customers taking it upon themselves to steal this cart from the checkout lane they're in. Maybe you thought you didn't need a cart but now want one, or you don't want to transfer your items into bags. However, the cashier has this cart for a reason, and you should leave it next to them and retrieve a cart from elsewhere.

Some people are unfamiliar with how Aldi works, and so this may be an honest mistake. However, once corrected, Aldi employees ask that their cart needs be respected. Customers not having to unload and reload the same cart keeps things moving, and if the cashier has to take a quarter from the cash register and run to grab another cart, it can really slow things down.

I am a regular Aldi shopper, and notice quite a few of these staff pet peeves each time I'm in the store. I knew what some of the pet peeves would be before I even looked at online forums, such as customers re-shelving items. I can't remember the last time I was in a grocery store of any kind where I didn't see items thrown haphazardly on random shelves for the employees to deal with.

Reddit was really helpful with this piece. There are several subreddits made specifically for Aldi employees to vent and air their grievances, and many complained that they were only posting because some of these pet peeves happen constantly. Some parts of shopping at Aldi can be confusing the first couple of times, so there may always be some confusion, but things like being rude to employees should really become a thing of the past.