Aldi (Aldi)

Member Name: Mrs-LT

Product:	Aldi
Date:	04/02/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some tasty products at good prices

Disadvantages: Not that cheap, no wide choice of brands, badly laid out

I am intrigued about how anyone could do their whole weekly shop at Aldi. What about the choice of brands that you get at Asda or Tesco? Cheap or not, really it is like M&S - they don't offer all the brands so I would never be a regular customer. I would rather do all of my shopping in one place - and Aldi just cannot fill my needs shopping-wise.

This is not just snobbiness, some of their stuff is very tasty and I do go there every so often for bits and bobs, as I do M&S Food Hall. But I want to choose which brands of everything I fancy, and Aldi just can't offer a wide range of choice.

I also hate paying for plastic carrier bags. Now it is not too bad now because other shops do it too and we are gradually getting used to taking reusable bags with us, but a few years back this was unheard of and invariably if I went to Aldi I would forget to take bags and end up forking out extra fot them. This was greed on their part, not the environmental issue it is now.

The shop is also poorly laid out in my opinion, as in the middle they have their weekly specials (non-food items which range from biking gear to tools to kids' toys to DVD players - anything really) which are in big wire basket-type things and give the alluring impression of a very chaotic jumble sale.

The main bugbear I have is that I do not think it is cheap at all. Yes perhaps compared to the name brands but not compared to Asda's own brands. I believe a price comparison not so long ago also supported this idea. I think a far better money saving idea is to just go down a brand (i.e. from Heinz to Asda or Asda to Asda Smartprice) if you are feeling the pinch. At least that gives you the option to still buy the few branded bits you can't do without, whether that is HP Sauce or Tetley's teabags. Because don't forget the petrol costs mount up if you go to Aldi on one side of town but then have to top-up with bits you can't get there from say Tesco on the other side of town.

What I have found is that I have never had a problem getting parked at Aldi no matter when I go, which is always a bonus and something that can't be said for the main supermarkets in our area. I hate having to put £1 in the trolley though as I tend to only carry notes or my debit card and have been caught with no pound coin and trying to carry my shopping round in my hands on a few occasions. The £1 trolleys just seem old-fashioned and unnecessary - another thing that puts me off Aldi.

Then there is the fact that the tills are never staffed properly so out of 3 tills in the middle of the day, only 1 is operated and there is a ginormous queue. Then after waiting ages they finally open another one...why not just staff the checkouts properly all the time?

The fresh fruit and veg at Aldi does tend to be good quality but it is no cheaper than Asda, and often I find it more expensive.

They do do some lovely products though such as the not-from-concentrate juices they do that cost just 89p for 750ml or the lovely Holly Lane lemon cake for just £1.

There are definately bargains to be found but don't take it for granted that the prices you are paying are bargainous just because it is Aldi.

Summary: Not as cheap as chips the way people imagine it is!