ALDI — Local services in Garner

This review is in reference to an incident on June 16, 2018 around 3:45pm during which a staff member (with blonde hair by the name of Kendra) treated myself and my significant other VERY poorly. This woman’s “customer service” towards us was very poor shown by how she quite literally threw our items around like garbage as she was checking us out. I'd be remiss if I didn't say this was RACIALLY motivated. At the time, my significant other and I were directly behind a middle aged lady (who happened to be Caucasian) when this happened.

Right before this happened, only one lane was open and it significantly backed up. The staff member, Kendra, very politely asked this lady in front of us if she could help her check out quicker at another lane. The lady proceed to go to that lane to check out. In efforts to get out quicker, my significant other and I followed behind the lady to the staff member's lane so that we could be served quicker as well.

Kendra, the (racist manager) who checked the lady out was extremely polite and handled the lady's items with care and made extreme efforts to make sure the lady's needs were met. After the lady was fully checked out she bid the lady good bye, then turned to us with a nasty look on her face, as if she did NOT want to be bothered.

So when we got to the front, this staff member yanked our box of items to her (to the point that some of the items fell down). She did not greet us. As she checked us out she put the box in the cart, and began to THROW our items in the box. I asked her politely 1 time to NOT throw my items. She ignored me and began to talk on her pager, as if I never engaged her.

To avoid making a scene, I simply said "You can have these things. No thank you", and told my significant other to "Let's go", and we left.

I then proceed to call a corporate number but kept getting redirected to an automated line. I then decided to double back to the Garner Aldi, to go talk to a higher up in the store.

When I walked in, luckily another manager was on the floor (she told me her name was Tammie). She listened to my complaints. I reiterated that I have been a long time shopper of Aldi, and have never experienced this type of treatment. I never mentioned anything about race (although anyone with sense can read between the lines). She then went on to say "I hope this has not made you want to do business with us anymore. She asked if we wanted her to check out our items; and she reiterated that Aldi is a "diverse environment" and that she apologized for how we were treated. We thanked her but declined her offer.

The point of this review is to bring awareness that this is probably NOT the first time this staff member, Kendra, has done something like this. Before I even described who the person was who poorly treated us, Tammie stated she knew EXACTLY who I was talking about.

I've been shopping at Aldi for years, but have only been to the Garner, NC location 1 time. There is no doubt in my mind that the way were treated was racially motivated as we were not disrespectful to this lady, but in return we were treated like we trash. I will be sending this to their corporate entity as they need to be aware of what's going on in their Garner, NC store (Address: 750 Timber Dr, Garner, NC 27529). I don't know if doing so will change anything significant (probably not); but at least Kendra (the blonde lady who I believe is a manager) will be called out for how she mistreats customers who don't...

Visit this specific Aldi at your own risk. I tried to order curbside pickup this morning and got confirmation my order would be ready from 2-3pm. I immediately got an email and a text stating the order was delayed (why it didn't delay it when it was processing is beyond me) and they would let me know when it was ready.

Fast forward to 2:30pm, I still hadn't gotten any confirmation texts of picking up my order nor any messages about when I could pick it up. This wasn't a leisurely grocery plan, it was groceries I needed to cook dinner for my family this evening. Regardless, after never hearing anything back, I logged onto Aldi's website and selected the "Help" option under my pending transaction. Lo and behold, Aldi doesn't actually have a chat support, it's by a third-party (Instacart). I spoke with the Instacart rep for about 30 minutes regarding our order and was assured, SEVERAL times that there was NO delay and we could pick it up promptly. The chat agent advised me to call my local Aldi before driving there to ensure they had no delays or cancelations of my order, but SURPRISE! The phone number to Aldi links to an automated system stating their stores no longer have individual contact numbers (due to 'cutting costs') and the system hangs up on you automatically.

I drove to my local store and parked in the curbside pickup area, where, to no one's surprise, you can only check in once you have a confirmation link sent via text/email... Which I obviously never got! I ended up canceling the order and going in to do my own shopping.

If all that wasn't enough reason to shop here at your own risk, there's more. Half of the things online didn't match the things in store. The prices were different, or they wouldn't have the options available. Furthermore, the things online that were 'unavailable', were actually in stock when I went in to pick up my order.

Last piece of advice and reasoning to not shop at this Aldi: There's a surplus of lazy, inconsiderate, indolent individuals that will park in the curbside pickup OR fire lane (???????) to avoid walking an extra 25 feet. Abusing the curbside pickup spots due to your laziness reduces the spaces for those it's designated for and makes you look like ignorant. But blocking a fire lane to a store is illegal and makes it dangerous for all shoppers inside in case of an emergency.

Long story short: Do yourself a favor and shop across the street at Lowes. Less hectic, more respectful individuals, and...

I am satisfied at the store, the speed of the cashiers, the prices on the products, and the selection.

My only peeves is the ripeness of the Watermelons.

Which there's no way to tell if you got yourself a good batch or a bad batch until you open them up and then realize that all six or either unripe or the beginning to rot. I buy in bulk minimum of 6 to 12 each visit. And this year has just been awful. Whoever they are buying watermelons from this year is pretty bad. I look for a deep red Rich color with texture and sweetness and you can smell the sugar just as you cut them open. These smell like onions. They're on the verge of rotting I just opened them last night and this morning and I've been doing this all summer this way. Unfortunately aldi is not the place to shop for watermelon this year.

I shop at Harris Teeter for watermelons because their price is just 2.99 which is very comparable and the texture and taste is...