Well done Aldi. Purchased an amplifier from Aldi. It failed quite soon after being used for the first time. Unfortunately I had misplaced the receipt. No problems for Aldi. Full refund at the store directly back to my credit card, no questions asked.
If only more stores could be this customer friendly. Well done again Aldi.
Iâve had a 'Cut-off machine" fail & it was replaced quite quicklyâŠ
I bought a lawnmower from Aldi. The automatic drive mechanism failed when the mower was about two years old. I got a full refund in cash. All I had to show was the credit card statement with the amount I had paid. As my statements are on line, I could easily search for all invoices with Aldi over $200 and I found it soon enough. I was very happy.
Well done Aldi!
Whilst not a fan of any major supermarket chain due to the fact of how suppliers are treated, I must admit that Aldi do better than the others. They do back up their products sold 100% without question in most cases, and I have heard anecdotally that they also treat their suppliers quite fairly regarding price paid. With the continuing growth of Aldi and Amazon just about to hit our shores, the Duopoly have a lot to worry about.
I had an Aldi kettle. It was several years old when it began to fail to turn off I took it back because I considered it a safety matter and wanted to call it to their attention. Refunded without question.
I have had very good experiences with Aldi warranty service.
On two occasions I have called their nominated service agent about items which failed. In each case a full replacement was sent to me, at no cost, and without the need to provide proof of purchase or return the faulty one.
Fantastic!
Talking about aldi there toothbrushes are very good value for money i have had some of there toothbrushes last for a long time some have lasted well over a month. I keep using them until they seem like they are worn out and they are not expensive very cheap,unlike if you to go the chemist some of the named bands are expensive and they donât last any more than any other. Well done aldi for that and for most of there products i generally have no problem shopping at aldi.
I had a similar experience with a steam mop. It failed to work properly, I took it back and was immediately given a refund. They are fantastic to deal with.
A small kitchen whizz failed a year after purchase from Aldi. On phone distributor advised me to just cut off plug from cord and email pix of severed plug & machine with warranty. Refund was credited to my account same week. Had many other examples of their great service. Aldi far surpass others with value and hassle free refunds.
We bought two $30 watches from Big W but both straps failed within a fortnight. Hadnât got receipt but our bank statement proved purchase from them. Same watches were still being advertised âexclusive to Big Wâ but was refused full refund. Their policy was 50% if no receipt. After demanding to see manager - who was also terse and rude - he finally agreed straps were both faulty and gave full refund just âto keep refunds queue movingâ. They didnât withdraw those watches from sale even though probably all were faulty. Refused to ever shop at Big W since.
We used to purchase special buys from Aldi but gave up as we have taken back a lot of what we boughtâŠsuch as pegs that come apart or eject their spring when being used, unknown seeds in wrong packaging (bought some basil herb seed but could not identify the seeds in the package on opening as they werenât the seeds in questionâŠlooked a bit like beet seeds instead), solar charger that didnât work, LED lights that failed within a few months, LEDs with screw fittings rather than bayonet fittings (incorrectly labelled), gardening tools not made with hardened/carbon steel and changed shape/bent after use etc. While they were also obliging and always refunded the amount, the additional petrol and time didnât make the purchases worthwhile. It also created additional waste which is something that I donât support. We not look for quality and functionality rather than being cheap.
I also read something interesting that many of the special buys come from ALDIâs buying agents that go to business/commercial auctions or have relationships with liquidatorsâŠthey buy up remaining items which couldnât be soldâŠand then sell them in store. They also factor a larger than normal percentage of returns when making bulk purchases with their buyer agents/suppliersâŠthis is something they have learnt from their business model over time.
We also stopped buying any of their cheap clothes as many are made in Bangladesh and they donât look after the factory workers.
I have ethics and standards and canât support businesses which donât publish information (are very secretive) about their operations (note: publicly listed companies are forced to by the Commonwealth Corporations Act) and donât treat their workers well. Even if it is indirectly. Aldi is known to chase the lowest price anywhere in the world for their supply chain. This creates a environment not conducive to breaking the poverty cycle.
In a by-note, we had a can opener purchase at Woollies which had a lifetime guarantee. When purchasing the can opener, I kept the labeling and receiptâŠafter about 9 years (after good use and was a great opener) it failed and I decided to test out the lifetime guarantee at Woollies. I returned it to Woollies and they refunded the money no questions askedâŠwhich really surprise me as may other stores would say that the can opener was at the end of its design life (and it was obvious the can opener has a good working life). The modest amount of money we received was given to one of the charities we support.
Just shows that it does pay to keep receipts and labeling.
You make some good points in your post and seem to have had a shocking run of luck with the products you purchased from Aldi, although on some of your complaints it seems you didnât check the items before purchase (something I always do at Aldi as items are often opened by customers to have a look at the product). Iâve seen people open 4 or 5 boxes and then just throw stuff back in any box lol, so yes I always check before heading to the checkout. As for things like gardening tools and the like, seriously if you expect to get top quality hardened/carbon steel for the couple of dollars you pay at Aldi then no offense but I think you are asking a bit much lol.
I was very interested in your comment about them treating factory workers in Bangladesh poorly so Iâll definitely be checking into that, and will not be shopping at Aldi anymore if they are one of the companies running sweatshops there. I was also interested to read your comment on disliking Aldi chasing the lowest price anywhere in the world for their supply chain, so I assume you refuse to shop at any store owned by Wesfarmers or Woolworths then as well. Ask any farmer in Australia how the duopoly treat them fairly with regards prices paid for primary products (and please donât say itâs not Coles or Woolies but the processors that rip off the farmers lol). Actually forget that last statement as I forgot youâre a long time Woolies shopper. I find both Coles and Woolies not very open about their operations and am perplexed about what information you want Aldi to publish that Coles and Woolies do? Perhaps you can enlighten me?
Woolworths, Westfarmers (Coles) and Metcash have company reporting requirements as they are publically listed companies and have a requirement to also ensure ongoing reporting of any events (financial, environmental, social) which may impact on the performance of the company.
These organisations are also required to report environmental breaches as well as any other factors which may impact on their share price or company valuation. These are all part of their ongoing company disclosure requirements.
Such reports is available on the company websites and throigh ASX releases online. It is worth taking time to see the information available, but not on Aldi asâŠ
Aldi, being a privately owned, wholly foreign owned company has no such reporting requirements and the only real way to know if for Aldi to release the information publically. As such it does not.
There have been many reports on the corporate structure of Aldi to minimise its corporate and tax obligations in Australia. Here is one in the SMH. There are many more from other reputable sources such as Bloomberg if you google them. They do similar in other countries.
Also, donât make assumptions of others in relation to where and how they shop. Yes, we do shop at Woollies for basic staples but not for our main fruit, vege or meat shop. The reason why we shop at Woollies is it is within a short walk of where we live and would rather shop at Woollies than burn fuel and spend time going to the next alternative supermarket (which is about 5km away).
Aldi has also been subject to investigations by ACCC due to its supplier contracts. Here is an ABC report and there is also more information on the web. Unfortunately the Australian media has a fixation with Coles and Woollies bashing, it is a local journos sport.
Aldi uses this to their advantage as it is able to slip under the radar with some of its practicesâŠlike underpaying Bangladesh factory workers or farmers which supply its supermarkets. There are other examples if one looks on the web.
Aldi, just like Woollies, Coles etc also requires suppliers to sign agreements which suppliers canât make public due to commercial in confidence. I would like to see requirement for all standard/base supply contracts (which are tge T&Cs attached to a supply agreement but doesnât disclose costs) to be made public to ensure there are no unreasonable or unethical T&Cs. 7ntil this is done, all supermarket contracts should be seen in the same light.
The problem with the Australian supermarket industry (Woollies, Coles, IGA, etc and including Aldi) is the consuner more overly makes decisions based on price rather than quality, country of origin, health implications of food consumed or product ethics.
Until this changes, all supermarkets, including Aldi, will be pushing suppliers for the lowest price they can.
As Choice did find a year or so ago, there is higher Australian products in Coles and Woollies than Aldi. This does ahow that there is a greater opportunity to support Australian farmers and food manufacturing than shopping at Aldi.
Aldiâs use of the Australian flag on imported products blended in Australia (and labelled âMade in Australiaâ) also gets up my goat (I have also seen the other supermarkets are also creeping the Australian flag on similiar products to âcompeteâ). It gives consumers a false inpression that it is Australian product when it isnât. Aldi also promotes Australian product content, but this relates to fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and milk products which canât be imported. The other supermarkets canât import such products either so their Australian farner support is a marketing gimic/spin.
I strongly support proper labelling of food origin which will come in in the coming years as it hopefully will remove this narketing loop hole creeping in across the whole of the industry.
It is Also worth reading Dick Smithâs thoughts on the changes to tge supermarket industry in Australia, and who he believes is responsible.
The other consideration is if you have an industry or retail superannuation fund, then it is highly likely that one owns part of the publically listed supermarkets in Australia.
One needs to consider what is better to support in a industry which is not perfect, one that most have some ownership of, that are predominantly Australian and business models and nature are high employers of Australians and pays its taxes in Australia, or foreign owned ones which show little respect for such things.
Letting you know choice about the worst customer service from aldi which i have ever had before. When proceeding trough the checkout the operator wasnât very friendly at all. Then when i went to pay i gave the cash to hand whilst they fumbled with the change i was given the change only to fid out after walking away i had been short changed. I went back to say hey you short changed me they had no idea what they were doing. But it was more how he was very rude and i got no apology for making a mistake. i messaged aldi telling them how dissatisfied i was havenât heard back. I tell you aldi has to lift there standards very poor the worst ive ever seen how that operator was.as you mentioned i think before choice aldi has to improve standards much more. another store i go to is quite good but i tell you its pretty bad when you get that bad service. alot of places now a days dont really care as it is just about business to them. maybe choice you need to visit there stores and investigate them more.or that goes for most retailers as a lot dont care.
Disclaimer: I am not a regular Aldi shopper.
I have found that (trying to) communicating with Aldi is somewhat less satisfying than watching a brick wall disintegrate, but when I walk into the store and ask for a manager they have always responded professionally and well.
As you want to lodge a complaint, talk to the store manager and see how s/he responds. It seems to be Aldiâs model where the managers are actually responsible for their stores, rather than just stocking administrators. I could be corrected on that, but.
Pity my experience has been very poor.
I rang the service centre when the lock on mechanism part of the cordless air pump failed to hold the hose in place. I had the receipt and paperwork and was told they no longer had that part available as it was sold out.
But I said I was claiming it as a warranty issue. The response was that its wear and tear. I responded that its clearly as case of poor design or built in obsolescence due to the fact that he has sold out that part. I said that I would ensure that I contacted Fair trading and put it on social media and he hung up on me!
Welcome to the Community @customer
You donât put a time frame on your post but if it is recent, eg the warranty remains in effect, you might take it to an Aldi store and ask for a refund.
You have rights under the Australian Consumer Law. If in the warranty period it should be replaced if it cannot be fixed, and if parts are not available take the position it should either be refunded or replaced with a current new model as similar as possible.
I have never had a problem getting a refund at an Aldi, but I have never tried to get service from one of their âAldi specialâ products providers (specials, Bauhn, Medion, etc).
One time I had a serious âAldi special lemonâ was a rice cooker that could not cook rice but was good at exploding whatever was in the pot. It was refunded no questions asked.
I also should mention your rights under the Australian Consumer Law matter. If you can establish it is a poor design and not of merchantable quality or other of your ACL rights as a consumer, you could ask for a refund even after their warranty has expired.
