That is not a terribly satisfactory way to deal with faulty products under the ACL. I would have expected that the stores would have been able to process a reasonable warranty claim, no matter when the product was purchased. Having a store refuse to deal with a claim and for a number to be called is a bit like sending a customer to the manufacturer saying that the it isn’t the retailer’s problem. I wonder if Aldi uses this approach to discourage (reduce number of) warranty claims.
It is also interesting that the Aldi Website says as it appears they don’t want to deal with warranty claims and are trying to push customers to the manufacturer where possible…
“At ALDI, we never want a faulty product, but unfortunately this happens from time to time. Many of our Special Buys come with a manufacturer’s warranty that can last for one or more years. ALDI recommends that If you experience a fault or defect with a product that has a manufacturer’s warranty, you can contact the manufacturer’s helpline for assistance. The number is stated on the packaging and paperwork included with your product and on the product itself. You are also entitled to return to your local ALDI store with the faulty product and acceptable proof of purchase for an alternative remedy.”
The website however does say …one can return the an 'ALDI store with the faulty product and acceptable proof of purchase for an alternative remedy.”
I have returned items to ALDI long after 1 month and have received full refunds on the spot, and as I noted in the post to Buzz3 above everyone can have differing experiences with all suppliers of goods.
I hope you get a successful resolution to the problem. Putting your demand more formally ie citing ACL and requesting the outcome desired and getting the refund from the store or giving a time frame for the expected response is a step you should take eg if you want repair or replacement instead.
As @phb notes ALDI should refund or resolve the issue at a store if that is your desired outcome.
Crickey! We’ve been using this product for a couple of years. I’m going to check out my grinder and see if it has done the same. Interestingly, Coles sell a very similar product but the lid is harder to get off, which is why we’ve been purchasing the Aldi one. Now I’m wondering if the Coles grinder does the same…??
Just buy a quality salt and pepper grinder with a ceramic mill. These last a very long time and are perfectly safe. It is wasteful to buy a pre-packed rubbish grinder which gets thrown away after it is empty and obviously is not refillable due to the cheap grinding component. It is far cheaper to buy pepper and salt for grinders in bulk as well.
From our experience and as I noted above in a couple of posts yes they do. The products at the cheaper and sometimes not so cheap end of the market have similar plastic/acrylic components that wear in the same way. It is a cost saving feature for the producer of the products. I think they most likely don’t intend for them to be refilled most times but we as consumers try to save some money by buying one and then buying the cheaper bulk packets of consumables to refill them with.
Some grinders have press fitted lids that are hard to remove so you would assume the intent was not to be refilled, but I do know some people do refill them after prying the lids off. Others have easy to screw off lids but have the shrink wrap that goes past the bulk of the lid so maybe the intent is to stop refilling (easily bypassed by removing the shrink wrap), and finally you have some that are just easy to screw off lids. All the ones I have seen say nothing about refilling either to say yes or no to that. I guess a situation of it’s up to the purchaser to take the risk from the manufacturer’s point of view.
We buy a new salt grinder every time. Aldi do occasionally sell the salt by itself but its sold in huge bags which would take us forever to get through, therefore we purchase a new grinder each time.
I have heard of people getting repairs or replacement for larger items such as the big screen TVs they sometimes sell, or the washing machines. The repair I think was arranged through the contact number on the warranty stickers they often provide but I will have to ask if that was the case and see if I get an answer.
That’s great! Did you return it to the shop or via their returns number? I’ve tried three ways and can’t even get a response. The stores just refer me to a telephone number.
We use a pair of Russel Hobbs Salt & Pepper Mills which are battery operated and simply need the user to press the button on the top whilst leaving the other hand completely free to do other tasks.
We refill them with Saxa Natural Rock Salt and Saxa Whole Black Peppercorns.
Yes, we do need to replace the batteries when necessary, but it is small price to pay for the fantastic convenience.
A fabulous idea that is sadly only halfway there for real convenience. Now if the power grinders were mounted on a drone and web enabled you could have a salt and pepper bombing run done over your plate without leaving your PC or device. Think of the time that could be saved!
Inspiring @syncretic.
What a great marketing ploy for cafes and restaurants!
Tap your phone on the drone, create a link, down load some absolutely perfect meal shots to the phone. One more click and you can post your near instant meal review to the owners web site and your Trip Advisor review of choice. The drone might even capture a few shots of fork with food approaching your gleaming white smile, followed by a face shot full of delight, closed full mouth optional?
P.S. do we wait for the drone to carry the fork, or does that need a different kind of bot?
To stay on topic, how long before I can buy a drone salt shaker at Aldi?
I have always wondered the benefit of a battery/power operated salt or pepper grinder for an able bodied person. Manual ones are reliable and easy to use…and to me a battery powered one is an unnecessary use of electricity, cost to the consumer (more expensive to buy and ongoing battery replacement costs/recharging) and produces waste (used batteries).
I can see if one had a disability which prevented manual grinding, but, can’t see why it would otherwise be needed.
In the topic I posed the question of whether CHOICE might undertake some investigation of these plastic grinders to determine if the grinders are a problem due to the use of the plastic in the grinding mechanism. The results of any testing may highlight problems with particular designs or the entire idea of using plastic in such an environment as the grinding parts.
