11 Pet Peeves Aldi Employees Have About Customers

Aldi employees have a tough job. Cashiers have strict targets for scanning speed and anyone loading trucks and stocking the shelves can be called on to lift up to 50 pounds. But, sometimes the shoppers are the hardest thing to deal with, and there are all kinds of pet peeves Aldi employees have about customers. Could it be that you've been shopping at Aldi all wrong? Or maybe you never do any of these annoying customer behaviors.

It's easy to be in your own world when you're doing your grocery shopping and not think too much about how your actions impact employees or other customers. But how customers behave can make a huge difference to an Aldi worker's day, especially when they're dealing with hundreds over the course of a shift.

We're looking closer at some of the pet peeves Aldi employees have about customers. We researched opinions and anecdotes from Aldi workers from forums like Reddit and Facebook. Once you know the kinds of things that really grind their gears, you can be considerate and try to avoid them.

Customers who stay long past Aldi's closing time are among the biggest annoyances staff members have. This can really mess up the tight closing schedule they have and throw things off, but it's generally against company policy to lock the doors before closing time or to ask shoppers to hurry up if they've outstayed their welcome.

It's not such a problem if you legitimately only have a few items to grab. "I have no problem with people who need a few things at the end of the day and run in and out," says one Aldi employee on Reddit. "It's those customers that pull up 10 minutes before close and then are still in the store 20 minutes later that annoy me/my coworkers."

The trouble is the tight turnaround time Aldi employees have to close up the store. Usually, the store closes at 8 p.m. and workers are expected to leave at 9 to 9:30 p.m. If they're not out of the door by this time, the manager can get in trouble from their boss. But, team members at Aldi are stretched (one of the reasons groceries there are so cheap is reduced staffing costs) and have a lot of tasks to do before closing: cleaning floors, straightening out stock, replacing items that people have left around the store, cashing out tills. When you stay late in the store, it means employees may need to stay late, too. And some of them may be opening up again at 5:30 a.m. the next morning.

One major frustration for Aldi employees is when people dig through stock in order to find packages with later expiration dates. We understand the impulse to want to buy something that will last, but because of the way stock is displayed in Aldi (still in cardboard cartons and often double-stacked) things can get messy quickly.

It's even more baffling and annoying when customers appear to do this with non-perishable items, like freezer bags or cleaning products. There's no conceivable reason why anyone would need to get an item that doesn't spoil from right at the back of the box. Inevitably, shoppers leave these displays in a mess and that makes more work for employees, who already have a lot on their plates.

If you must look for something with a long expiration date, at least be considerate while doing so. When you move other packages to get to the one you want, replace them in the same spot you got them from and leave the area tidy so you're not making extra work for the people working there. And think about whether you really need a long expiration date or if you'll be using it up quickly.

All Aldi employees are responsible for cleaning and cashiers are expected to keep their register clean. So, if you come into an Aldi store with kids who make a mess and you don't clean it up yourself, you're making more work for the folks on duty. We get that parenting is a hard job and respect all the effort that goes into raising kids, but part of that is cleaning up after them.

It's not uncommon for kids to be given snacks in-store and leave a trail of crumbs in their wake. But some Aldi employees have seen more surprising things, like kids grabbing shaving foam and covering items in the store with it, and the parents either not noticing or not telling anyone about it.

We've already discussed how Aldi employees have targets for speed when they're on cashier duty. So, if they have to stop to clean up a mess someone's child has made, their score will go down and they could get in trouble from their boss. And, if the mess is left somewhere other than at the checkout, this still gives team members an extra task when they're already stretched thin and have tons of work to do.

When shopping with kids, be considerate. If they can't be trusted not to drop snacks, don't let them eat in the store. And don't be surprised if a member of staff hands you a broom to clean up after them.

Another pet peeve of Aldi employees is when customers complain about the way they put groceries into the cart. There's a system at this grocery chain. Workers usually start scanning while shoppers are still unloading, tossing the groceries right into another spare cart. And, they're on a timer, so they have to do it quickly. They're not going to bag your shopping or treat every item with care, so you can either take it or leave it.

Aldi employees hate when customers hold them up at the checkout, and for good reason. If their numbers go down, they could get a talking to from their manager and if it happens regularly enough, they could even get fired. So, when people complain about every part of the process and don't like the way they're doing it, this is a major problem.

The thing is, it's all part of how Aldi gets its prices so low. By making sure checkouts are as speedy and efficient as possible, each store employs far fewer staff than an average supermarket, which is one of several ways overheads are lowered. And lower overhead for the store means lower prices for the customer. It's frustrating for team members when shoppers want the low prices but don't appreciate that things are different from pricier supermarkets in order to keep costs down.

You're looking for a particular product but it's out of stock. It might seem reasonable to ask a member of staff if they have any in the back. But, this is a pet peeve of many Aldi employees, because the likelihood is that there isn't any more product in the back, so it's a question that wastes time and can cause customers to get frustrated if they don't like the answer.

"Aldi has a principle of keeping very little back stock, so if it's not on the shelf we don't have it," explains an Aldi employee on Reddit. It's not exactly a rude question, but there isn't really a "back" in Aldi stores. Occasionally, some extra chilled items or something that's been over-ordered might be kept in storage, but generally all the store's stock is kept on its shelves.

This is a way of keeping costs down, as it improves efficiency if all the stock is unloaded straight on the shelves, rather than being unloaded to the back room and then moved through to the store. It also means that Aldi locations don't need to be as large as those with huge storage areas, which reduces real estate costs. If something you want isn't there, you'll just have to try again next time.

One Aldi secret you might not know is that you can order groceries online for pickup. This is a time saver for the customer, but it can be frustrating for the employees, especially when the person who ordered the groceries isn't being considerate. Shoppers parking their car far away when getting a grocery pickup is a serious frustration.

Aldi employees are expected to essentially become InstaCart workers, too. Picking people's online grocery orders and taking them to the car. This can be annoying in itself when they already have 100 other things to get done. So, when they also have to go on a mission to a far off spot where someone has parked their car, it can be one thing too many.

This isn't an excuse for Aldi employees to be outwardly rude if a customer parks further away than they need to when they've got a pickup order, but workers might roll their eyes and wonder why. Take the closest parking spot you can find and save team members some time. They'll thank you for it.

Putting items back in the wrong place is an annoying customer habit that Aldi employees dislike. Best case scenario, it creates more work for staff who are already run off their feet. But, often it creates food waste because of people putting items back in the wrong section.

Aldi employees have seen meat placed on ambient shelves, meaning it has to be tossed in the trash due to being held at the wrong temperature. Others report seeing cookies deposited in a fridge with raw meat, which had to be tossed due to the risk of cross-contamination. It's the kind of behavior that's totally inexplicable.

People also put items back anywhere and everywhere. The aisle of shame is particularly liable to get in a mess like this. It's not as bad in terms of waste, but it does waste the time of people who work there. So, next time there's an item you don't want, do the right thing and put it back where you found it.

Naturally, one of the biggest issues Aldi employees have with customers is when they're rude. We've heard about workers getting yelled at because something isn't working, being rude about the fact cashiers don't bag groceries at the grocery chain, and generally being unkind and impatient.

For Aldi workers, this can really make or break a day. They have lots to do compared to employees at other supermarkets. They're expected to multitask throughout the day, unloading deliveries, stocking shelves, working the register, cleaning the store, and whatever else is needed of them. And dealing with an unpleasant customer on top of all that is just too much.

That's not to say it's okay for customers to ever be rude to retail staff, but in the context of Aldi, these workers are already busy and overstretched, so it can be even harder to have to deal with obnoxious shoppers on top of that. It's not hard for customers to put themselves in the shoes of the employee and show some respect, even if they're frustrated or have a complaint. It's okay to complain when there's a genuine need or to ask for assistance if you can't find something or you're confused, but being rude or short with a team member is never acceptable.

If you've ever shopped at Aldi, you'll know the score when you get to the register. The cashier scans your items and drops them straight into your cart. When they've finished ringing up your groceries and you've paid for them, you can head over to the bagging counter, where you can bag the groceries yourself. But one highly frustrating customer habit is when they insist on bagging while the cashier is scanning.

It's one thing if someone doesn't know the rules, but Aldi employees sometimes find that even when they ask a customer not to bag until after they've checked out, they'll keep on doing it. This is frustrating for the staff member, not to mention downright rude. Team members have their own techniques when this happens. Some keep on ringing up items, throwing them into the cart around the person who's insisting on bagging, others totally stop scanning until the customer stops bagging. But, a simple request should be enough.

This system is to improve efficiency and pass the savings on to the customer. So, if someone's shopping at Aldi because of the low prices but they don't like the bagging system, they're being hypocritical. Efficiency is also the reason why Aldi employees sit behind the register. While at many other grocery chains, cashiers are expected to stand, they sit at Aldi because it lets them scan items faster, bringing the cost of groceries down.

Another Aldi quirk is that you don't usually get to keep your original shopping cart when you get to the register in order to speed things along. But, some people get annoyed at this, which is frustrating for the staff members who are just trying to do their job and not get in trouble from their bosses.

While this isn't the case in every Aldi store, in many branches the cashier has a spare cart next to them at the register that they load the customer's groceries into. This lets them start ringing items up even before the shopper has finished loading their groceries onto the conveyor belt. Ultimately, this speeds things up, which is another factor in lowering prices.

But, some customers get annoyed and want to keep their original cart for seemingly no reason. "It's completely understandable if they have a kid or two in there, or cases of water or something else that just doesn't make sense to move," says an Aldi employee on Reddit. "But a lot of people will get angry with me for putting their items into a new cart, even if all they have in their own cart is a bag of bags." Some people say that they've put their "lucky quarter" in the cart so they need to get the same one back. Whatever the reason, it's annoying for Aldi employees and makes more work for them.

Abandoning your shopping cart in the parking lot is annoying at any grocery store. But, it's a particular pet peeve for Aldi employees. This is because they have a system in place to stop people from doing it, so collecting carts isn't factored in as a task employees have to do. When they need to collect carts from the parking lot, it's extra work and makes them even more stretched and busy.

Aldi has a system whereby you put a quarter into the cart to release it, and when you return the cart to its proper place at the front of the store, you get the quarter back. This acts as an incentive for people to return their carts rather than leaving them lying around the lot. It means they're less likely to damage carts or get in the way, plus it cuts down costs because Aldi doesn't have to employ extra people to collect carts.

At other stores, there are people whose job it is to collect shopping carts from around the parking lot, so you don't have to take them as far. But, at Aldi, there isn't anyone specifically assigned to that role, so you're making extra work for employees. Do the decent thing and return your cart where it's meant to go. It means you won't be out 25 cents, either.