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

robrymond

Love the fake Fanta Fruit Twist and Lemon that Aldi have for 59p currently in Special Buys, it actually tastes very similar.

I'm getting frustrated with my local Aldi lately because whenever you go in at 8pm of so you end up in queues down the aisles to grab a couple of bits. It's taking ages to get through so I'm half tempted to use Morrisons instead for little buys now. The checkout staff are also quite slow in general compared to the store I used to use in Stoke and weekends can be quite hectic with queues. Will Aldi ever use the second till section that was installed in the new builds, I know Covid prevented it originally but they need to start getting through the queues better before people give up.

The fridge doors also create their own issues, you can never park your trolley without being in someone's way.

Oh and the electric charge points which were free now cost money.

Brie

robrymond said:

Oh and the electric charge points which were free now cost money.

I want to be sympathetic about this but am struggling.  I get that it's a pain if you know it's been free and you park up and suddenly there's a charge.  On the other hand I think it's a bit like having reward cards in shops - you have to have one as everyone else does and if you don't you are actually subsidising others shopping as they are getting something for free that you aren't.  I hope that makes sense.  I do really appreciate those who have been able to switch to EVs and am a bit jealous that this is still a completely unaffordable thing for me as I know how important saving the environment is.  Maybe that's what I need to concentrate on when I see the shops that still have charging for free.

2childmum2

 I also prefer Aldi over Lidl - we have two new stores (one of each) on either side of quite a busy road.  I had intended to mainly use Lidl as they sell fresh lactose free milk (Aldi's, though in the fridge cabinet, is long life and not very nice) and I also wanted to buy the fruit and veg boxes.  But I much prefer Aldi.  I can't put my finger on why really.  And now the Lidl milk has gone up from 80p to £1.15 (10p short of Tesco) and DH's coffee has shot up in price too, as has the ham, and the fruit and veg boxes contain very little (unlike the ones in the old Lidl store) I tend to stick to Aldi and top up in Tesco.  Lidl also seem to have more empty shelves (no soya milk for a few weeks now).  We do like the wholemeal seeded bread from Lidl, but that is about the only draw now.

Brie

Not overly surprised that M&S was completely out of lettuce and ready cooked half chickens (esp as it's part of their 3 for £8 deals) so trundled on to Lidl.  I was intending to go there anyways but other than the fresh bit there were just so many empty shelves today.  Quite literally 3 whole aisles with almost nothing.  Maybe 100 items in total when there probably would have been thousands?  But they did have avocados and jars of artichoke hearts so I'm sure I'll survive.

YoungBlueEyes

I’m a Lidl shopper, but I also like Aldi. I agree about the whole meal seeded loaves, Aldi don’t do anything similar enough. Their bread is nice but the slices are too thick. I really like the pizza slices and almond croissants from the in store bakery, easy to grab as a quick lunch and eat in the car when I’ve finished the shopping. 

If Aldi sorted out their bread, and started a bakery, I might never go in Lidl again ha haa! 

Oh wait no. Lidl feta and kefir are much nicer. But apart from that…. 

PLRFD

Oh no I can’t charge my 45 grand electric car for free at the discount supermarket anymore oh the humanity this country is done i tells yer.

Doc_N

PLRFD said:

Oh no I can’t charge my 45 grand electric car for free at the discount supermarket anymore oh the humanity this country is done i tells yer.

It will be ‘done’ if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels, and if cheap charging facilities encourage more people to buy electric cars so much the better. 

Cornucopia

I think I must be missing out on the full "Aldi experience" - my store doesn't have click & collect and it doesn't have EV charging, either.   I *think* they were going to expand the car park, so those things might get added then, I guess.

rhcp

Lots of orange sticker items in Lidl today.  I got 1.4kg of pork chops for £4.19.  Maybe it was because I went in a bit earlier than normal, will have to go in earlier more often!

Rosa_Damascena

robrymond said:

Love the fake Fanta Fruit Twist and Lemon that Aldi have for 59p currently in Special Buys, it actually tastes very similar.

I'm getting frustrated with my local Aldi lately because whenever you go in at 8pm of so you end up in queues down the aisles to grab a couple of bits. It's taking ages to get through so I'm half tempted to use Morrisons instead for little buys now. The checkout staff are also quite slow in general compared to the store I used to use in Stoke and weekends can be quite hectic with queues. Will Aldi ever use the second till section that was installed in the new builds, I know Covid prevented it originally but they need to start getting through the queues better before people give up.

The fridge doors also create their own issues, you can never park your trolley without being in someone's way.

Oh and the electric charge points which were free now cost money.

I made a point of parking by the EV in Aldi this evening so I could inspect it without looking suspicious. I didn't see a direct means of payment (all the instructions were visual rather than written) but I did see a QR code.  Guess that would be used to gather payment? 

I didn't need anything urgently but since I was driving I stocked up on bulky and heavy items inc shower gel, hand wash and toilet roll.