I’ve noticed that ALDI receipts do not include the amount of cash change a customer should receive. While I can still manage to work it out fairly quickly, I have noticed many elderly people seem to struggle with the arithmetic.
Every other store I shop at, or have shopped at, has always included this information and I therefore assumed it was required by law. If not Federal law at least a State law. Perhaps I have been mistaken.
Further, ALDI doesn’t even show it on their display terminals. I guess it keeps their staff mentally agile, though I have had to correct them a couple of times.
Does anyone happen to know if this information is required to be on receipts in Queensland?
Hi @Huntermanjim, can you post a copy of a Aldi receipt where cash was used and change was given.
I find this surprising as when in Brisbane I recall giving a console operator more change after the initial notes were given (so the change given was to the nearest dollar rather than a fist of shrapnel) and the operator looked at me blankly. I had to tell them what the new change amount was. If they can’t handle this, they won’t be able to handle more complex calculations.
Cash terminals that show the amount presented and the change due was a direct response to the many [mostly minimum wage] workers who could not handle basic maths and making change, and to a lesser extent those (more common in the US where all money is green and the same size) who hand over a $10 note and claim they presented a $20 note.
Cashiers were thus usually trained to always put the money tendered on the register, not in the register, until after change has been made and presented so if the customer claims an error, the evidence is clear.
Showing the change to be given seems to numb/dumb the mind by taking one more skill off the table, yet that skill was demonstrably wanting in fast food and other establishments, and led to the ‘standard for all’.
Does the register display show the amount tendered and difference? I have not paid with cash at an Aldi since … I can’t remember.
Not all of us are good at mental arithmetic. Knowing the electronic register worked out the change would be one form of reassurance. Although the time to dispute the change is when it is placed in your hand or you pick it up from the counter?
What’s legally required?
One example, (The guide to ACL I have as a PDF says the same.)
I guess, “It’s Aldi. It’s Different?”, covers it all.
Cheers.
PS. I read through the posts on Whirlpool. The comments about how hard the work is at ALDI made me laugh. If people think that type of work is hard they should try working in a plasterboard warehouse. Loading sheets of board onto the truck was not so bad but unloading them at a building site on a windy day was the tricky part. They act like a sail, and with just the two of you taking the sheets from the truck to the building, it was no picnic.
All modern cash registers show the cash change on receipts (and on the customer visual display screen, if there is one) … except Aldi. When I first noticed this at Aldi I was quite surprised. Recent generations are taught to rely on calculators, so the skill of arithmetic is lacking, but if you’re a cashier at Aldi, you have to learn it. Registers showing change lead to service accuracy and a better likelihood of balancing at the end of the business day. Why Aldi’s cash registers don’t have the change calculator is weird, and as a cash paying customer, I’m not happy about it.
I worked as a sale assistant at Movie World, where we had to put the money tendered on the ledge above the cash tray, then say the amount back to the customer as we typed the amount into the key pad, and also had to state the amount of change we were giving to the customer. Then the money was placed in the tray.
Aldi don’t even tell you what your change is as they hand you a hand full of notes and coins, which would help you do a quick check.
Movie World appears to have worked to best standards. I suspect the next step (excepting the cashless society, discussed in another topic) will be to install a cash machine at every checkout (assuming there will still be checkouts for the cashless technological holdouts) whereby you or an attendant feeds your money and it makes your change like a change machine should.
Is the ACCC likely to consider the issue and recommend changing the ACL to have the cash amounts displayed? One view is it has a remit from the Govt to cut red tape and make it more efficient for business to deliver to the customer.
Is there anything to stop a customer defying the system?
Possible by placing your change directly on the conveyor, accepting the receipt and then counting backwards loudly as you pick up each coin or note to balance. Once satisfied there should be room to move on for the next customer.
Assumes the guilt felt when holding up Aldi’s system and the next customer is not too overwhelming. It’s a difficult choice. There is no legal obligation to express clear the checkout. Whether Aldi welcome you back might be up for discussion. It’s their store.
For those of us who show some physical signs of ageing, moving more slowly at all stages of the checkout would seem - normal. Perhaps Aldi is not the place for older Aussies to shop, despite the reported savings. It might also be Aldi’s preference.
Should Choice rate supermarkets not only on product quality and basket pricing, but also how well they assist older customers, those with disabilities, children in tow etc?
P.S.
Possibly via a franchise that adds a percentage on top? Aldi ATM! Or nothing the current self serve cash accepting checkout can’t handle.
It is a bit of a conundrum that there is no obligation for a business to accept Australian currency, and since the recall of the venerable <$0.05 coinage and rounding, there are still shops and their staff that do not do it right, and ‘nobody’ cares.
We routinely buy something for say $1.96. If by card it should be $1.96; by cash $1.95 and that usually happens. Yet if it is $1.98 and should be $1.98 by card they still put through $2.00 on the card transaction.
Calling them out? A waste of bandwidth in my experience.
I asked about this at Aldi years ago.
As Aldi are all about efficiency and cost saving, apparently studies have shown their way minimises loss through incorrect change being given …eg operators entering $50 as the amount tendered, when only a $5 note was handed over. It appears there are cumulatively less $$$ mistakes when the change is mentally calculated.
In which store can they calculate better? At Woolworth i got several times the wrong price added, not as advertised, didn’t get the money back! who is the best Shop??
Saying it loud & clear to customer the amount received / of change is a good practice. It’s a service to the customer, also keeps cashier alert, reduces the chance of errors.
One thing at ALDI checkout can annoy you.
After the cashier push through all items & you’re organizing them into your bag, heavy & solid items on the bottom, fragile items on the top, they click the button to open the till. The total amount disappears from the screen. With the COVID protective screen in place & your hearing loss, you can’t hear much of what they say. And you’re racing to pack your bag, so you don’t / can’t remember that amount at the 1st sight.
Well, what I can think of is that be an early / late shopper. That way shopping in ALDI can be less stressful / enjoyable while keeping your budget.
I remember the days when people in shops actually bothered to give a receipt and read back the change. Another gripe i have is why so many places dont give receipts say for example buying fuel or groceries. Maybe people dont want a receipt. I find it annoying in some places having to ask instead of giving me the receipt.
They save some money albeit small savings when not issuing a receipt, but over a year it would amount to larger savings for them. It also reduces the amount of waste going to the environment. Most shops ask if you want a receipt, but as you note some don’t and it requires the purchaser to request one. I have a habit of requesting one if they don’t offer first, I don’t see it as an annoyance but rather as a Environmental benefit that they don’t automatically produce one. I guess my outlook on it changes how I perceive the issue.
Indeed and there was no criticism of your point, as I can use my CC statements in most cases I have a little less need. But I do often request them when it is an important purchase even if I have my own usable records.
A few companies offer a benefit for rewards members, the ‘most common’ being Woolies. Every time you buy with your rewards card swiped it keeps a digital receipt that is easily retrieved. A few other merchants do likewise.
Bunnings gives the options of paper, SMS linked to a digital receipt if you enter the mobile number, or both.
To keep the ‘register’ honest I keep track of my grocery shops with a calculator and if it is off by more than can be expected by manual weight differences I have a look prior to leaving the store. I have gotten a goodly number of free products from Woolies, far fewer from Coles. Always offered a receipt at both.
So im sure it is common not handing receipts out due to business costs. As you say can use bank statements it shows purchase. Other retailers for example provide an invoice for example if purchased online. As phil t mentioned. Generally it isn’t an issue. I tended to think consumers are to busy not wanting receipts especially if only buying a few items. I guess we all have to move with the times. Im more than happy to use cashless systems just ot happy about overly using tap and go for safety reasons if loosing a card. Everyone is different.
I’m into the habit of asking when they don’t ask, but for a can or bottle of drink, an ice cream or some similar small purchase I don’t ask if they don’t offer.
