Why Reddit Is Losing It Over An Aldi Checkout Experience

When you shop at Aldi, there are a few tricks you need to know. For example, watch out for where prices are located. Oftentimes, the price for an item isn't below it on the shelf, but rather lurking above it. You'll also need to know how to check out since Aldi cashiers are wizards behind the register who will move like lightning as they are ringing up your items. In fact, they can sometimes move too quickly for some shoppers, so if you feel the cashier is going too fast for you, The Mirror offers a tactic to slow them down.

As one shopper discovered, sometimes the cashier can even do things that don't make sense. For instance, most people are acclimated to a particular protocol when they reach the checkout. During the usual transaction, one shopper has their items scanned, bagged, and then pays for their order. The checker would then begin scanning the items of the next person in line. But it seems some industrious checkers at Aldi have learned to streamline this process, and it has many people questioning all they know about grocery shopping.

In the Aldi subreddit, a person related a story in which "The cashier scanned my two items, then the person in front of me put their card in to pay....so I thought that meant they paid for my stuff." Apparently, as one person was paying, the cashier was scanning the next person's purchases. This led to confusion over who was paying for which items.

The board was split as to how common this is. "I've been shopping at Aldi for over 30 years and I've never seen or heard of them scanning the next customer's items before the first person has paid." said one who was immediately countered by another poster who said this technique "is normal at the Aldi I normally visit." In all likelihood, both could be correct since a spokesperson for Aldi is quoted in The Sun as saying, "Our employees are trained to operate the checkout at the right pace for each individual person they serve." Therefore, the cashier might be quicker with one customer, while they're slower and more attentive with another.

One Redditor suggested that shoppers pay while their items are still being scanned so that as soon as the cashier totals the sale, the whole transaction is "done in a flash." Although we aren't quite sure how that would work either.