ALDI — Local services in Porterville

I'm going to be honest. I had heard stories from other people who have shopped here. I did not shop. I went in to look around to see what kind of store it was. I've seen their ads. I had been told the cashiers sit as they work, you had to bag your own groceries and employees were rude.

When I got to the store the first thing I saw was you had to pay for your cart. So if you didn't know ahead of time you may not have change to pay for your cart. (Which honestly I hadn't seen since the 90's which it was mostly places like Sacramento and other bigger cities) I was very surprised. When I entered it really wasn't what I was expecting. From the outside and looking through the ads I thought it would be like a regular looking store inside (meaning aisles stocked with food on shelves-like Save Mart or other stores)(not that there's anything wrong) it reminds me of a warehouse type store with boxes opened and sat out instead of the regular type stocking-again nothing wrong with that. I saw mainly off brands not very many name brand items. (Again nothing wrong with that). I just want people to understand what they will see and not think like me it's like stores here we are use to. I wouldn't consider myself to have a lot of money. For me the prices seemed all over especially for generic items. I had someone with me that experienced the same thing I was. We've never been there. She felt the prices weren't as discounted as they could be for generic brands (her opinion) We did walk the whole store. The cashiers do sit on chairs which is different from what most of us are use to. (Not that it's a bad thing-just different). I think what really bothered me was one of the people that had told me they'd never shop there again because of the way they were treated and when they asked for help they got none.(their experience) (I didn't go through the checkout-I was just looking for what it was like in there) As I was leaving I saw a shelf type thing that went across the front of the store after checkout. What I realized was that was where the customers took their carts to bag their own items. I didn't see any bags that said ALDI(I don't know if they have them)back to what bothered me is seeing people struggle trying to bag their items with bags of their own. Especially an elderly man. From what it looked like was the cashier rang up your items and then they were put back in the cart and the customer dealt with putting them in the bags away from the checkstand. I know we have Food 4 Less that we bag our groceries but we bag at the register. So that was odd to me. Again I didn't go through the checkout. I just observed what other people were doing. Personally it didn't feel welcoming nor customer friendly. That was how we both felt walking through the store watching people and looking at the store in general. I'm sure others may feel different. Again this is my opinion on what I observed and just the atmosphere seemed like customers aren't as important as they could be. Especially when the first thing you see is you have to pay to use a cart. (You may get your money back, that's how it use to be in the 90's) As you walk through the store you see chains hanging off the carts. Which was different. Of course we see bars on the carts at some stores. (I'm sure I've jumped around a bit.) I like being able to go in a store and feel like if I need help with something I would get help. Watching the older people trying to bag as I was walking out and even another customer doing the same thing. I felt as if they weren't important. I had no contact with any staff members. Just one person stocking cold items and 2 cashiers sitting at the register. Customers didn't even look happy. It made me sad honestly. But everyone has their experience and opinion. This was my experience just walking through observing. I worked in retail most of my life and customer service is important. It just seemed cold. But because of all the generic brands I'm sure there are people who shop there out of necessity. You may feel different. Go see...

Aldi has been my wife and I's favorite place to shop since this location opened. We shop here religiously. Most of the prices can't be beat. I always check for marked down items, recently they had bread that was still good and marked down 50%! That's a steal!! My wife's favorite part is the Aldi finds section, she always checks for good deals on random items that appear in that section. She bought a bird feeder that looks like a little porch swing, and every morning since she will sit out on the veranda sipping her coffee watching the little birds eat.

Recently she was shopping, I believe it was on July 1st, and she had a bit of an unforgettable bad experience at the cash register that left her in tears when she told me. Apparently there was a new young blonde girl training, and she was attempting to count my wife's cucumber so that she could charge the appropriate amount. My wife said that out of nowhere some other employee approached her trying to tell the young lady about something, while she was in the middle of counting the cucumbers. Wife said the young blonde lady was nodding alone as if she was listening to the other employee but the one who approached her seemed to get frustrated because apparently she didn't think the young lady was paying enough attention to her. So she said something along the lines of "You're not even listening" and she threw her hands up and stormed off. My wife said the young lady at the cash register looked shocked and sad as the other employee stormed off.

My wife continued speaking with the blonde one and apparently the other employees name was Val(?) and that she was the assistant manager. She told my wife that ever since she met that girl (Val) she had been rude, never smiles, didn't greet the new employees, always had "resting b" face under the guise of "being focused". And apparently that morning before her shift the young blonde girl had found out her father was dying, not sure from what. So she hadn't been her normal bubbly self, and that apparently other employees thought she was being rude. And management didn't even bother to ask her why her demeanor had suddenly changed from quite friendly and bubbly to "attitude". This is not how good management conducts themselves.

My wife said that the young blonde one was very friendly, and it would be hard to shake something like that off before walking into work. I agree, when my father passed away I couldn't even make it to work, let alone be at work and try to be as friendly as that young lady was to my wife. The behavior of this Val character was unacceptable, and to do that in the presence of customers is extremely unprofessional. To put a new employee in that position where she now has to sit with that energy while she checks out the rest of the line is uncalled for.

Like I said my wife and I have shopped here a long time, I'm more than sure I know which person she is talking about because every time I see that particular employee she looks mean, angry and down right unapproachable. Perhaps she needs to undergo more training. Or maybe a good talking to is in order. Either way, something needs to happen. I've never seen my wife so upset over an employee. She was just heat broken for that girl, she said her face dropped from a smile to just completely shocked and sad. Wife said it was obvious that the girl was trying her best despite her current situation.

I hope that blonde girl is okay. I think my wife said her name was Harmony, but I'm not sure on that. My wife gave her our business card and left the store. I would hire that young lady in a heartbeat. I can't imagine working for people who don't care about you. I have a grandson who was about to submit his application here, now knowing how they treat their employees I'll be advising him against that. And any other young people I know who were interested in employment at...

Yesterday a friend told me that the first (possibly last) time she went to our new Porterville, CA Aldi, she had an unpleasant experience. Seems that since she was only there for a few small items she didn't get a cart. When she got to the register the cashier looked at her like she was some sort of idiot and rudely asked, "Where's your cart?". My friend replied that she didn't need one. So the cashier rolled her eyes & went to get a cart & brought it back to the register. She impatiently explained that their registers won't work unless there's a cart present. When I heard this story I didn't believe that such a silly requirement was in place, so I called Aldi's customer service line & explained what I'd been told. The person that I spoke to was both surprised and quick to say that Aldi has never had any such procedure & promised to contact the local district manager ASAP to clear up this issue. Fast forward to today, 12/21/2018. I went into our Porterville Aldi to see for myself. I only needed a bag of chicken, so I grabbed one & went to check out. Ahead of me were two guys who also didn't have a cart. As I watched, the cashier asked them where their cart was & once he understood that they didn't have one, he walked over, grabbed a cart & brought it back to his register, explaining that a cart was required for checkout. Once that was done, he made as if to take the cart back & I stopped him, advising him him that I also didn't have a cart. So once it was my turn I asked him if a cart was really required for all purchases & told him that his corporate office clearly contradicted what he was saying. He stoically replied that yes, it IS required and that ALL Aldi stores have the same system in place; actually have ALWAYS had this system. I told him that he'd better just keep that cart nearby because the couple behind me ALSO had no cart. To me, such a policy is not only stupid & inefficient but also unnecessary, as Porterville recently enacted a new law that makes it an arrest-worthy violation of the law to "borrow" a shopping cart. That's why you see virtually zero homeless folks rolling around shopping carts in Porterville nowadays. Are you paying...