Americans in trouble with Aldi stores? WTF?

Discussion in 'Food and Wine' started by pitbull, Feb 28, 2020.

  1. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2020
    Messages:
    21,120
    Likes Received:
    20,246
    Trophy Points:
    113
    That's no fun. Are there any cashiers at your local stores you don't like? If so, pay for everything in coins when you encounter them. ;-0
     
  2. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2020
    Messages:
    21,120
    Likes Received:
    20,246
    Trophy Points:
    113
    They also do not have a customer accessible phone number. There are no customer service counters or extra frills (ie order pick-up, money orders, etc.). All of it helps to pass the savings onto customers.

    They opened up a new one in a nearby town and it's beautiful. It's huge too! I love their produce section (even fresher than other big box grocers) and the staff is always pleasant and helpful. I always go when I have to go to an appointment over there.
     
    CenterField likes this.
  3. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Is chow chow food for a Chinese dog breed?
     
    Farnsworth likes this.
  4. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Over here banks will count your coins for free. You throw them in the machine and get a ticket to take to the counter.
    Supermarkets have similar machines but they charge 7% which goes to charity. 9% sounds exploitative unless the proceeds go to charity.
     
  5. Farnsworth

    Farnsworth Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2010
    Messages:
    1,392
    Likes Received:
    467
    Trophy Points:
    83
    It's a southern pickled relish, made hot, spicy, or mild, depending on the recipe. I would ask a store employee in a strange store I had never been to before if they carried it and many times they would indeed direct me to the Chinese and Asian food section, though, lol. It's not Asian, but southern American; I doubt any northern or western stores carry it, though I did find some in a 'soul food market' in Oakland when I lived in the Bay area. Most young people even in the South have never heard of it, but a lot of young black people still have grandmothers who make their own and can it.
     
  6. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    It hasn't crossed the pond.
    I've not heard of it before.
    I'm just glad to hear it's not a Korean dish.
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2020
    Farnsworth likes this.
  7. Farnsworth

    Farnsworth Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2010
    Messages:
    1,392
    Likes Received:
    467
    Trophy Points:
    83
    lol no, it's not like that 'Kimchi' or whatever it is the Koreans make that smells like raw sewage.

    The two store brands here are Mrs. Renfro's and Dixieland, the former is only made in Ft. Worth, Tx. according to the label. They also make a variety of salsas that are good to excellent. We mostly eat it with red or pinto beans and rice or on our eggs at breakfast. It's mainly a 'poor folk's relish', so it wouldn't be known outside the South, kind of like grits or turnip greens. My grandmother used to make and can it several cases at a time.
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2020
  8. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    What's in it?
    Ps, my Korean comment was a reference to them eating dogs. The chow was bred for that purpose in China.
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2020
    Farnsworth likes this.
  9. James Knapp

    James Knapp Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2018
    Messages:
    888
    Likes Received:
    699
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Gender:
    Male
    The trolley deposit is to stop kids from mindlessly stealing them and pushing their friends miles down the road in it. We had a spate of them ending in the river.
     
  10. ArmySoldier

    ArmySoldier Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2014
    Messages:
    32,222
    Likes Received:
    12,253
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Aldi stores on the east coast have a huge rat/rodent problem. I was reading that they don't have the manpower to keep their exterior and dumpster areas cleared as other grocery stores can.
     
  11. Farnsworth

    Farnsworth Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2010
    Messages:
    1,392
    Likes Received:
    467
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Yes, but now those rats are resistant to all the standard poisons and traps. NYC people walk in the middle of the streets at night instead of on the sidewalks, swarms of giant rats or so bad in some parts of Manhattan there.
     
  12. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2020
    Messages:
    21,120
    Likes Received:
    20,246
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Double-check on this. I worked as a temp in a bank while in college. We were instructed to tell customers that coin counting was free for people with an account at the bank. However, we were lying to them. They deducted 10% off the total amount (the customer couldn't see the machine) and told the customer the net number.
     
  13. Farnsworth

    Farnsworth Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2010
    Messages:
    1,392
    Likes Received:
    467
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Cucumbers, red and green peppers, celery, onions, sweet pickles, green tomatoes, and some spices and other greens I can't remember, all chopped and put in a pressure cooker with vinegar and spices, then from there into canning jars. My grandmother liked hers hot, so she used more peppers than others did. It was mainly a way to preserve garden vegetables so as to not throw them away after a few weeks, whatever was left over, a practice from the 'old days' when most people even in cities grew gardens. Her truck garden covered 4 acres, which is a lot of stuff she grew and she always had to give away quite a bit even after flooding the family cabinets with stuff. Pickled okra was another 'favorite' of hers, as were jellies, fruit preservatives, berries, etc. Between the gardens, orchards, cattle, and chickens and Grampa's full time job I don't know when they ever slept.

    I would think most of Europe had something traditionally similar, particularly the southern parts of Great Britain.
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2020
  14. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Are you in the US or here in the UK?
     
  15. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2020
    Messages:
    21,120
    Likes Received:
    20,246
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I'm in the US (bank I worked at was in Chicago, IL).
     
  16. Farnsworth

    Farnsworth Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2010
    Messages:
    1,392
    Likes Received:
    467
    Trophy Points:
    83
    My local bank, a Wells Fargo branch, has been claiming their counting machine is broken for the last 15 years.
     
  17. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Who'd have thought that a bank would screw you over like that?
    It's enough to make you think that they care more for profit than they do for their customers.
    Scumbags.
     
    Farnsworth likes this.
  18. Curious Always

    Curious Always Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2016
    Messages:
    16,924
    Likes Received:
    13,462
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Female
    LOL. They were trying to keep it a secret?
     
  19. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2020
    Messages:
    21,120
    Likes Received:
    20,246
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I understand that banks are businesses. It just bothered me because some had huge water bottles and pillowcases full of coins. Would you want to have $100+ taken from your stash? I could see charging non-account holders, but we had to lie to account holders and take the fee without their knowledge or consent.
     
  20. Chrizton

    Chrizton Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2020
    Messages:
    7,707
    Likes Received:
    3,784
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I have people offer me their cart pretty regularly and don't want the quarter I pony up. They just don't to walk it back. Our Aldi parking lot is a pain in the ass to navigate because it is overflow parking for other nearby businesses and a cut through route for people trying to take the back way out of the area. It is one of the reasons I seldom go there any more. Lidl is comparable, has a huge parking lot, no through traffic and no quarter shopping carts.
     
  21. Farnsworth

    Farnsworth Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2010
    Messages:
    1,392
    Likes Received:
    467
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Around here Aldi's seem to open stores as near a Walmart as they can, so a lot of people will get their name brand stuff at Wally world and then hit the Aldi's for their cheaper fresh fruits and veggies and canned goods. I've found their 'off brands' comparable in quality to the name brands at significantly cheaper prices than Wally world's, but the expiration dates are quite a bit sooner in most cases, which is not a problem for the fresh stuff since we eat that almost right away regardless. They do need to carry a lot more of the 'less or no sugar added sugar' and 'less or no sodium' stuff, though, as do all of the food stores for that matter. Both are killers, outside of a little sodium being good.
     
  22. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    It was sarcasm.
    Obviously banks are rotters.
    Flat out lying and stealing 10% of your change is simple theft so I hope you don't bank with that company anymore.
     
  23. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    One of our British banks actually has the slogan "the caring bank" what the adverts don't say is that they care about themselves not you. Not that any other bank is any better.
    Banks are like politicians, you have to have them but they're all ********s.
     
  24. Richard The Last

    Richard The Last Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2017
    Messages:
    3,980
    Likes Received:
    1,376
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    What's a quarter?
     
    modernpaladin likes this.
  25. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2017
    Messages:
    10,672
    Likes Received:
    8,941
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    7 grams.
     

Share This Page