Good and Bad Buys at Lidl and Aldi stores (***Please don't expire***)

Rosa_Damascena

Aldi mostly clear of Easter eggs yesterday (but had plenty of the real thing on the shelves). Found this reduced form £6.99 to £3.39 - so still £1.27 per 100g:



Was very tempted by the coffee one but I don't actually enjoy dark chocolate (55%+) very much.

Brie

Rosa_Damascena said:

Aldi mostly clear of Easter eggs yesterday (but had plenty of the real thing on the shelves). Found this reduced form £6.99 to £3.39 - so still £1.27 per 100g:

Was very tempted by the coffee one but I don't actually enjoy dark chocolate (55%+) very much.

Glad I didn't see it as I would have bought it and then got cranky when the OH ate most of it despite saying he didn't want an egg at all or any other chocolate.  Personally I love milk chocolate but know I shouldn't eat it and like dark chocolate which I'm happy to have in very small portions.  Love coffee/chocolate too.  But as I say - if I'd bought that I'd nibble a bit and put it aside for the next day and likely discover some "mouse" had cleared the lot!

DigForVictory

Thought I should report back on the Aldi “Ridge Valley Limonata Italian style soda” - it’s delicious & I can’t tell it from San Pellegrino’s version (but my wallet certainly can). 13% lemon juice from concentrate - strongly tasty!

Brie

shocked to find such a crowd in Lidl today.  And only 2 people on the tills.  These were adjacent to each other so there was 1 very long queue 2/3 the way to the back of the store which split when people got to the actual tills.  Think I was number 15 in the queue when I joined it and then it got much longer. Lots of grumbling from people with 1 or 2 items having to wait behind people with overflowing trolleys.  And lots of grumbling when a woman at the front slowly unloading her trolley kept offering new people to queue the chance to go in front of her as they only had 1/2 items.  And lots of people abandoning their shopping when they realised how long it would take before they could pay.  I can only assume that too many people had either called in sick, were on holiday because of the schools being out or were at lunch at that point.  Noticed there was about 3 large pallets waiting to be unloaded in the aisles which is not normal - usually someone is busy getting stuff on the shelves! 

Sea_Shell

Aldi ☹️

I used to always buy their Lacura Q10 hand cream.   Didn't really like the other two "flavours".   Oatmeal and Intensive.

It appears they've stopped doing the Q10 one, instead they have a Shea Butter one.  Sounded ok.


Yuck!!!   It's far too thick to easily squeeze out the tube, and it smells like Hairspray.

Horrible, catch in the back of your throat, hairspray.  🤮

I've had to go and wash it off, it's so overpowering.

That's going back...if I can find my receipt. 😉

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

shocked to find such a crowd in Lidl today.  And only 2 people on the tills.  These were adjacent to each other so there was 1 very long queue 2/3 the way to the back of the store which split when people got to the actual tills.  Think I was number 15 in the queue when I joined it and then it got much longer. Lots of grumbling from people with 1 or 2 items having to wait behind people with overflowing trolleys.  And lots of grumbling when a woman at the front slowly unloading her trolley kept offering new people to queue the chance to go in front of her as they only had 1/2 items.  And lots of people abandoning their shopping when they realised how long it would take before they could pay.  I can only assume that too many people had either called in sick, were on holiday because of the schools being out or were at lunch at that point.  Noticed there was about 3 large pallets waiting to be unloaded in the aisles which is not normal - usually someone is busy getting stuff on the shelves! 

I have been there before - a poorly run Lidl only seems to have 2 staff on the tills which leaves one for the shop floor. And yes, I have abandoned my cardboard box in frustration as I'm not prepared to be late back to work.

Doc_N

Rosa_Damascena said:

Brie said:

shocked to find such a crowd in Lidl today.  And only 2 people on the tills.  These were adjacent to each other so there was 1 very long queue 2/3 the way to the back of the store which split when people got to the actual tills.  Think I was number 15 in the queue when I joined it and then it got much longer. Lots of grumbling from people with 1 or 2 items having to wait behind people with overflowing trolleys.  And lots of grumbling when a woman at the front slowly unloading her trolley kept offering new people to queue the chance to go in front of her as they only had 1/2 items.  And lots of people abandoning their shopping when they realised how long it would take before they could pay.  I can only assume that too many people had either called in sick, were on holiday because of the schools being out or were at lunch at that point.  Noticed there was about 3 large pallets waiting to be unloaded in the aisles which is not normal - usually someone is busy getting stuff on the shelves! 

I have been there before - a poorly run Lidl only seems to have 2 staff on the tills which leaves one for the shop floor. And yes, I have abandoned my cardboard box in frustration as I'm not prepared to be late back to work.

Same here. Aldi manning the tills effectively and efficiently.  Short waiting times. Lidl, 3 minutes away,  just a couple of tills staffed most of the time, and automated tills that don't work properly. 

Result? Rarely shopped at the Lidl. Similar prices, similar quality,  but entirely different attitude to customer service. 

datz

Doc_N said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Brie said:

shocked to find such a crowd in Lidl today.  And only 2 people on the tills.  These were adjacent to each other so there was 1 very long queue 2/3 the way to the back of the store which split when people got to the actual tills.  Think I was number 15 in the queue when I joined it and then it got much longer. Lots of grumbling from people with 1 or 2 items having to wait behind people with overflowing trolleys.  And lots of grumbling when a woman at the front slowly unloading her trolley kept offering new people to queue the chance to go in front of her as they only had 1/2 items.  And lots of people abandoning their shopping when they realised how long it would take before they could pay.  I can only assume that too many people had either called in sick, were on holiday because of the schools being out or were at lunch at that point.  Noticed there was about 3 large pallets waiting to be unloaded in the aisles which is not normal - usually someone is busy getting stuff on the shelves! 

I have been there before - a poorly run Lidl only seems to have 2 staff on the tills which leaves one for the shop floor. And yes, I have abandoned my cardboard box in frustration as I'm not prepared to be late back to work.

Same here. Aldi manning the tills effectively and efficiently.  Short waiting times. Lidl, 3 minutes away,  just a couple of tills staffed most of the time, and automated tills that don't work properly. 

Result? Rarely shopped at the Lidl. Similar prices, similar quality,  but entirely different attitude to customer service. 

I think it depends on the shop.

My local Lidl used to be pretty similar until last year, when it underwent a complete refit. They also expanded into the neighbouring unit at the same time, so it is now much larger with wider aisles and stocked very well. They added in about a dozen self-service tills, manned by a single staff member (they let me use those with the smaller trolley too, which I find easiest). And I've seen up to 4 normal checkouts open during busy periods (with little to no queueing at them).

My closest Aldi, on the other hand, is small, crammed, tired and dirty, where stock gets depleted very quickly - and always seems to have queues.

maman

I agree @datz that it does depend on the Lidl branch. I'm not sure whether it's the management or availability of staff. Our city centre branch is awful for customer service. The staffed tills are rarely open, massive queues at self service and staff around the store are like hen's teeth. The larger, newer branch in a suburb near me is excellent.

However, I prefer Aldi for my main shop, and despite some staffing problems post Brexit they seem to be back to normal with the help of some self service tills including large ones big enough for a whole shop. 

Cornucopia

My local Aldi was always okay for queues - even during lockdown, it was fine.   All unlike the local Lidl which seems comparatively badly run.

The Aldi had a set of self-service tills installed last week in place of two little-used manual tills.   It's already improving through-put to the extent that there are no queues unless you are fussy and want to pay cash on a self-service till.