The budget supermarket has said that in areas where shoplifting is a “local issue”, it has started checking customers’ bags to make sure they haven’t stolen anything. Following this news, some Britons have taken to social media to slam the retailer, claiming they are made to feel like criminals.
A shopper took to Facebook to share that the procedure was happening in her local Aldi store.
She told fellow Facebook users that handbags and shopping bags were being looked in.
However, Aldi has confirmed that only bags used to carry groceries are being checked, not handbags.
A spokesperson for the supermarket said that the bag checks are “not a national policy”, but “where necessary, checks are sometimes introduced at individual stores as a short-term measure in response to a local issue”.
They added that the checks are “conducted with the customers’ permission and should only cover the bags they’re using to pack their shopping, not handbags or other personal bags”.
One customer wrote on Facebook about their experience of the new initiative, claiming a cashier would not serve her until her bag was checked.
They claimed: “I got asked in my local Aldi this morning as I was going through the till, if she (the cashier) could look in my bag.
“I asked why and was told they’re checking everyone’s bags at the till because they have a shoplifting problem. I refused and was told she couldn’t serve me then.
One customer wrote on Twitter that they had seen someone being refused at the till because they didn’t let the cashier check their bag. User @brettadam_23 said: “In Aldi today and a woman refused to allow them to check her bag.
“Started ranting about them not having the authority to look in her bag. Was told it’s a condition of entry and was refused service. She left without the lollies she wanted.”
User @XchloeGjonesX seemed disgusted with the procedure. She wrote: “Do not shop in Aldi! The staff make you feel like shop lifters and say there’s a new policy where they have to check bags when you’ve shopped in another shop! @AldiUK this is disgusting and not right.”
Another shopper commented on Facebook: “Wouldn’t let them go through my bags. Nothing to hide but not being treated like I have.”
However, some customers seemed not to mind the new change. One Facebook user said: “Crack on I say. Got nothing to hide so why not? If it helps keep prices down go for it.”
Another shopper added: “As a deterrent to shoplifters, I think it’s fine. I do not want to subsidise other people’s shopping.”
In other countries, it seems this policy had already been implemented last year. A spokesperson for Aldi Australia tweeted in January: “Aldi’s bag checks are a national store policy and are intended to deter theft.
“Our staff are directed to check handbags, backpacks, containers, parcels and prams. A sign explaining the policy may be found at the front of every Aldi store.”
Express.co.uk has contacted Aldi for comment.
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