Outrageous $178 act leaves ALDI shoppers up in arms: 'Shame on this guy’
- Replies 20
Self-serve checkouts are becoming increasingly common across Aussie supermarkets.
But as the technology becomes more accessible, so do the opportunities for unscrupulous customers seeking a free shop.
Such was the case with a shopper recently, sparking fury among other ALDI customers who thought this customer's 'shameful' actions had gone too far.
One shopper revealed on social media the astonishing act she witnessed at her local supermarket.
She said that after the customer had finished shopping for $178 worth of groceries at the self-serve checkout, he walked away without paying for them.
She explained that the ALDI manager on duty wasn't even aware of what had happened.
'We went to our local ALDI yesterday when we went to self-service checkout, we noticed the amount of $178 was still on machine', she wrote in her post.
'When I approached the manager, she said it had been paid for, but in fact, the gentleman was packing his unpaid shopping in his car.'
‘And people wonder why the price of food is going up to many people stealing.’
She spotted the same customer in the car park.
She said, ‘We heard him packing it in his car as he was on the phone.’
She added that he was ‘bragging’ about what he did and ‘loudly’ said ‘how easy it was to do this’.
‘Whoever he was talking [to] about it just said how easy it is to steal your fortnight shopping from ALDI,’ she said.
‘And whoever he was talking to [said] keep your voice down. Then he whispers call you back soon.’
‘I wanted to go and say something, but my hubby said don’t worry,’ she added.
Other users criticised the customer’s actions and didn’t hold back in expressing their displeasure.
'No excuse for stealing at all. Everyone is feeling the cost of supermarket prices. Shame on this guy!' one wrote.
'You are lovely. Gentleman is not the word I would have used to describe him,’ another added.
For the past two years, ALDI has rolled out self-serve checkouts and introduced security cameras in almost all of its stores across the country. However, it does not have the AI theft prevention technology or security gates that Woolworths and Coles have.
Other self-serve checkouts in their local stores didn’t have staff monitoring the registers, according to some ALDI shoppers.
‘Our [local store] has [self-serve checkout] too, but no one to help when it won’t work properly, which happens a lot,’ one wrote.
‘It’s manned by the checkout person, so if they’re busy, you just need to wait if something goes wrong,’ another said.
In response, ALDI said that self-serve checkout areas are usually also manned by staff to help customers with any problems.
‘The rollout of self-serve checkouts will require store employees to support and monitor customers use of self-checkouts and assist with any issues,’ ALDI said in its press release.
It added that they do have measures in place to combat illegal activity.
‘We have CCTV in place across all our stores as a security measure to ensure the safety of our customers and employees and also to monitor for theft,’ they said.
‘Any illegal activity, including theft, is acted on.’
In a previous story, a Marks and Spencer boss raised concerns that self-serve checkouts encourage a surge in ‘middle class’ shoplifting. He even suggested that self-serve checkouts contribute to the ‘global problem’ of shoplifting. Read more about the story here.
Members, what do you think of self-serve checkouts? Is it effective in keeping short queues upon checkout? Let us know in the comments below!
But as the technology becomes more accessible, so do the opportunities for unscrupulous customers seeking a free shop.
Such was the case with a shopper recently, sparking fury among other ALDI customers who thought this customer's 'shameful' actions had gone too far.
One shopper revealed on social media the astonishing act she witnessed at her local supermarket.
She said that after the customer had finished shopping for $178 worth of groceries at the self-serve checkout, he walked away without paying for them.
A shopper shared the act of another shopper on social media. Credit: Reddit
She explained that the ALDI manager on duty wasn't even aware of what had happened.
'We went to our local ALDI yesterday when we went to self-service checkout, we noticed the amount of $178 was still on machine', she wrote in her post.
'When I approached the manager, she said it had been paid for, but in fact, the gentleman was packing his unpaid shopping in his car.'
‘And people wonder why the price of food is going up to many people stealing.’
She spotted the same customer in the car park.
She said, ‘We heard him packing it in his car as he was on the phone.’
She added that he was ‘bragging’ about what he did and ‘loudly’ said ‘how easy it was to do this’.
‘Whoever he was talking [to] about it just said how easy it is to steal your fortnight shopping from ALDI,’ she said.
‘And whoever he was talking to [said] keep your voice down. Then he whispers call you back soon.’
‘I wanted to go and say something, but my hubby said don’t worry,’ she added.
Other users criticised the customer’s actions and didn’t hold back in expressing their displeasure.
'No excuse for stealing at all. Everyone is feeling the cost of supermarket prices. Shame on this guy!' one wrote.
'You are lovely. Gentleman is not the word I would have used to describe him,’ another added.
For the past two years, ALDI has rolled out self-serve checkouts and introduced security cameras in almost all of its stores across the country. However, it does not have the AI theft prevention technology or security gates that Woolworths and Coles have.
The shopper told how the man ‘bragged’ about this act. Credit: Facebook
Other self-serve checkouts in their local stores didn’t have staff monitoring the registers, according to some ALDI shoppers.
‘Our [local store] has [self-serve checkout] too, but no one to help when it won’t work properly, which happens a lot,’ one wrote.
‘It’s manned by the checkout person, so if they’re busy, you just need to wait if something goes wrong,’ another said.
In response, ALDI said that self-serve checkout areas are usually also manned by staff to help customers with any problems.
‘The rollout of self-serve checkouts will require store employees to support and monitor customers use of self-checkouts and assist with any issues,’ ALDI said in its press release.
It added that they do have measures in place to combat illegal activity.
‘We have CCTV in place across all our stores as a security measure to ensure the safety of our customers and employees and also to monitor for theft,’ they said.
‘Any illegal activity, including theft, is acted on.’
In a previous story, a Marks and Spencer boss raised concerns that self-serve checkouts encourage a surge in ‘middle class’ shoplifting. He even suggested that self-serve checkouts contribute to the ‘global problem’ of shoplifting. Read more about the story here.
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