I spend lots of money at Aldi, so I think this qualifies me to ask the question (or make the criticism), do Aldi staff lack training? Or are there other factors at play? (eg Do they employ a certain type of person or is there a culture of not being motivated with regards to customer service?)
I had to return a whipper snipper as it stopped working completely. I was reasonably happy with the unit when it did work, but the manufacturer said they do not do repairs, and the only option is to return the unit to Aldi for a refund.
I line up at a checkout (with shopping trolley containing all the components & attachments), and when I get there, the checkout lady looks at the docket for about 2 minutes, before talking into her headpiece to call her supervisor, as she said she cannot process a refund greater than $100 on her own. (The total was $149). The lady has been working there for about 3 years, but I can work with that.
So she asked me to move out of the way, and then I wait 5 minutes for the supervisor to arrive. She has to call him a second time to get him to actually arrive.
When he arrives, I give him the purchase receipt. He looks at it and asks when I purchased it. As odd as this sounded, I went along with this, took the receipt back from him, and read the purchase date from the receipt to him. (out of interest, the date was 12/1/2023, and beneath this the warranty was shown as being 5 years). I read the date to him wondering why he could not read this himself???
He then leaves for the office with my receipt and closes the door - I wait for 5 minutes. He comes out and says on this occasion they will do a refund. This is puzzling to me, as he says this like he is doing me a favor. What other option was there?
The supervisor walks off. I then have to wait to get to a cashier again, seems I lost my place in the queue.
The checkout lady is unable to process the refund, so she has to ask another checkout lady who also does not know, so they have to call the supervisor back.
It was eventually sorted out, but what a terrible experience.
I am tempted to make a complaint, but I don't think this would achieve anything.
I have to say, it is unlikely this would happen at Coles or Woolworths or Bunnings. This seems to be unique to Aldi.
Sure they don't always drop the ball, and there are staff members that would have some working knowledge, but this is not the first time I have experienced issues with refunds.
Regularly I have been told that a product did not come in or has sold out, and I then find it out there is stock in store or that there is stock in their store room. I am not sure if this is a result of their skill set or care factor.
You have 1 bad experience with Aldi and you question their entire training policy?
You had a faulty product and managed to get a full refund after having to wait 30 minutes. I'd consider that a win over having to have the item repaired.