ALDI — Attraction in New York

If I could leave a negative rating, I absolutely would. Unfortunately, a 1-star review will have to suffice.

I frequent this Aldi every other week for my groceries, and I have never left as infuriated as I did today. The manager on duty, Cashima, demonstrated an appalling lack of professionalism and customer service.

The issue began with a simple request: I needed a price for a cupcake pillow. Instead of assisting, Cashima went out of her way to make the process unnecessarily difficult. She outright refused to help, stating that she was on break and that no one was available to price the item—then proceeded to walk off without any attempt to resolve the matter.

Given that there were multiple associates at the registers, I raised my voice to ask if anyone else could assist. Instead of addressing the request professionally, Cashima chose to escalate the situation, yelling back that she would “officially” not help me. Shockingly, she then made inappropriate remarks about my daughter, insinuating that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” after I questioned why she was even bringing my child into the conversation.

Despite the blatant disrespect, we patiently waited 15–20 minutes for her break to end, as my daughter was eager to purchase the pillow. When Cashima returned, I politely asked once again if she could assist in pricing it. Her response? A flat-out refusal—stating she would not help because I had previously raised my voice to request assistance. This level of unprofessionalism is simply unacceptable.

After aimlessly wandering around the store, she finally assigned an arbitrary price of $20 to the item, providing no proof or verification. She then dismissively handed me the pillow and said, “It’s the last one—do you want it or not?”

How someone with this attitude and disregard for customer service holds a managerial position is beyond comprehension. Aldi, I strongly urge you to address this unacceptable behavior. No paying customer should be subjected to this level of disrespect...

Let me preface by saying that I enjoy shopping here, however there are some important things to note.

You will not find good service here. However, for me that is not a problem. There are plenty of other grocers that can offer you better customer service, but that comes with higher prices.

Lines can at times be very long. It seems that too often there are simply not enough cashiers available to sufficiently handle the number of customers. However, with an increased number of cashiers would come an increase in prices on the products you're purchasing. I understand this trade-off and, being a broke college student, having access to cheaper groceries is more important than spending 10 minutes or so waiting in line.

Security guard is annoying. After you've checked out, you must then present your receipt to the security guard before you exit. This is annoying, especially when there are many customers and the security guard doesn't seem to care enough to move at anything faster than a snail's pace. If I were to change one aspect of the store, this would be it. It really is quite a nuisance, however in an effort to combat store loss I suppose it's effective and keeps the prices low by not forcing the grocer to make up lost revenue from stolen goods through increased prices.

So, why have I rated this place 4 stars when I've only said negative things about it? Well, they've got great prices and a great selection of goods, and that's all I needed. I'll take off one star for the negative aspects, but really it affects my satisfaction very little as opposed to checking out at another store and breaking into a cold sweat as the total jumps higher and higher.

All-in-all, I find myself shopping here quite a bit. Is it a perfect experience? No, and you shouldn't expect it to be. If you're shopping here, you're most likely a price-sensitive consumer which means you value lower prices...

Aldi's offers decent alternatives to name brand food/household items. The produce is mediocre, but varied. If you go, it's best to arrive when the store opens before other customers come in and start throwing things around. The main draw for me is the aisle containing non-food items that are rotated out on a weekly basis and usually organized around a particular theme (tech; cookware; pet supplies; holiday items; etc.). Those items are usually of very good quality and competitively priced.

The Aldi's store on 225th doesn't have a ton of staff so lines are often long, and if you have a question about something -- you have to actively look for someone to help you.

Long before NY decided to adopt a ban on plastic bags, Aldi's expected it's customers to bring their own bags with them. Three-sided boxes, and paper bags are available for those who forget to do so.

I have been to several Aldi's stores in several states. They all look and function the same way -- so at least there is continuity for those who like what they have to offer.

Apart from the infuriating tendency of ALL Aldi cashier's to literally throw your items into a cart regardless of their fragility or weight (*), the shopping experience is fair.

*I repremanded a cashier after she nearly broke several glass jars by flinging them into the shopping cart before piling cans on top of a bunch of bananas. Her reply? "We're trained to do it this way! If it breaks, return it!"...