Thoughts on Lidl?

couriervanman

maman wrote: »

It must definitely depend on where you are in the country or perhaps the quality of management in the store.

Locally our Aldi is always opening and closing check outs to respond to the number of customers. Conversely both local Lidl branches are dreadful in that respect. Whenever possible they let long queues develop at the self service tills before reluctantly opening a single staffed check out.

Well the 2 local Lidl up here had loads of problems with the self service tills always breaking down plus having too have 1 staff member permanently helping.Both stores left it the decision to remove them down to the store managers

Doc_N

maman wrote: »

It must definitely depend on where you are in the country or perhaps the quality of management in the store.

Locally our Aldi is always opening and closing check outs to respond to the number of customers. Conversely both local Lidl branches are dreadful in that respect. Whenever possible they let long queues develop at the self service tills before reluctantly opening a single staffed check out.

couriervanman wrote: »

Well the 2 local Lidl up here had loads of problems with the self service tills always breaking down plus having too have 1 staff member permanently helping.Both stores left it the decision to remove them down to the store managers

Exactly the same here with Lidl - useless, dysfunctional self-service tills constantly pulling staff away from the one checkout that stays open for customers with large trolleys of food.

Result - customer frustration for the people on the self-serve checkouts because they're slow and frequently need staff intervention, and further customer frustration because the people queuing with large trolleys are held up every time this happens.

Staff won't open further checkouts, despite the queues - presumably because they want to force people to use self-serve.

At Aldi - no self-serve, but staff always open another checkout as soon as a two or three people are waiting. And the staff are much happier, much more conversational, and much nicer to customers.

Why would anyone choose Lidl in this situation? It's a smallish Aldi, and it's very busy. It's a large Lidl, and it's far less busy. I know why!

Lidl have a serious management/training issue here, but they seem unaware.

VfM4meplse

The interesting thing is, planning approval has been given for another 2 Lidls locally - that will make a total of four in Southend (ok one will be sited slap bang in the middle of a housing estate on our equivalent of Land's End).

I would much prefer another Aldi locally. Instead, the original is relocating to allow for expansion....you've guessed it, in the middle of a new housing estate. Happy staff are a very underrated asset to a business.

couriervanman

Doc_N wrote: »

Exactly the same here with Lidl - useless, dysfunctional self-service tills constantly pulling staff away from the one checkout that stays open for customers with large trolleys of food.

Result - customer frustration for the people on the self-serve checkouts because they're slow and frequently need staff intervention, and further customer frustration because the people queuing with large trolleys are held up every time this happens.

Staff won't open further checkouts, despite the queues - presumably because they want to force people to use self-serve.

At Aldi - no self-serve, but staff always open another checkout as soon as a two or three people are waiting. And the staff are much happier, much more conversational, and much nicer to customers.

Why would anyone choose Lidl in this situation? It's a smallish Aldi, and it's very busy. It's a large Lidl, and it's far less busy. I know why!

Lidl have a serious management/training issue here, but they seem unaware.

"Why would anyone choose Lidl in this situation? It's a smallish Aldi, and it's very busy. It's a large Lidl, and it's far less busy. I know why!

Lidl have a serious management/training issue here, but they seem unaware."

As has been said by others and myself it really does depend on where you live......Aldi near me are rubbish....where as Lidl are fantastic
I've no doubt someone living 20 miles away from me will have the opposite opinion its the same with all supermarkets.Tesco near us...fantastic...next nearest ones is the pits of the earth its the same with the nearest 2 Morrison's

One thing the new Lidl stores have over Aldi is the till packing area splits into two meaning customers get served quicker

Wheres_My_Cashback

I don't have any issue with the products they sell and the quality of those products, but do have an issue with the extremely poor store management.

My local store is dirty, bakery area clearly never cleaned, boxes regularly stroon over floors blocking aisles along with wooden pallets in the middle of the day. Shelves/freezers not regularly replenished, weekly magazines often not displayed, staff miserable and then's there's the clearly annoying habit of constantly opening/closing manned tills. Very often when at the back of the queue you have to shout to the only till operative and suggest they might want to open another till otherwise it will never happen and you'll just listen to the queue muttering/moaning. They used to have markers to state that if the queue got beyond that marker a till should automatically be opened, but those were removed long ago. No self serv tills in my store so you HAVE to PUSH the staff to get their act together.
Weekend offers used (non-refrigerated) to be displayed in one area of the store, now it changes weekly so you never know where they are.

I have written to LIDL c/s enclosing photos of their poorly managed store. They weren't courteous enough to even respond so I posted it on Google for all to see, but they just don't seem to care.

eamon

Lidl (& Aldi) score well with most shoppers due to price, quality and limited range (though this appears to put some people off). This has been their business model for decades. Of course it helps that both are privately owned.

VfM4meplse

eamon wrote: »

Lidl (& Aldi) score well with most shoppers due to price, quality and limited range (though this appears to put some people off). This has been their business model for decades. Of course it helps that both are privately owned.

It doesn't explain why some stores are well-run and others a complete tip.

[Deleted User]

VfM4meplse wrote: »

It doesn't explain why some stores are well-run and others a complete tip.

I think it depends on the time of day.
They will man the tills when necessary and tidy up in quieter times. Id rather pay less for my shopping and have a bit of mess.

amberhen49

Are the Lidl self service tils really that bad? It's something I'd like to see in my local store as it can be a bit of a wait when you just have a few items and you're stuck behind someone with a trolley full of stuff.

I know they get people served quickly but I'd always pick a self service til in that situation.

Cornucopia

amberhen49 wrote: »

Are the Lidl self service tils really that bad? It's something I'd like to see in my local store as it can be a bit of a wait when you just have a few items and you're stuck behind someone with a trolley full of stuff.

I know they get people served quickly but I'd always pick a self service til in that situation.

I don't suppose they are any worse than any other supermarket. They are dependent on the skill of the customer, the availability of staff to deal with issues and the strictness of enforcement of "one basket" or "ten items", or whatever the limitation is.

I find the payment screens a little bit counter-intuitive.