ALDI USA; ALDI Foods Discounted price only on the shelves; not at the cash register Nationwide

You're making a bigger deal out of this than you need to be.

Assuming Aldi made an error when the items were rung up, and you can't reach them by phone, why don't you get off your buty, go in the building and ask them about that eye-popping $3.20 difference? I'm sure they'll look into it.

There are a couple of issues that need to be addressed here.

#1. If the price was wrong, the STORE will refund the product charges. There needs to be a follow-up made, not just drod the ball.

#2. Yes, ALDI's does have a CONTACT US problem that is NOT clear on the website, but the information is available. You just have to hunt for it. That is my complaint, which I have submitted to ALDI's, that a consumer should not have to do so.

The contact link information and phone number is available at http://www.aldi.us/us/html/service/11453_ENU_HTML.htm?WT.z_src=main

Note: If you have questions in general, email them using the ALDI's feedback form that is provided by a third party at http://www.everesthosted.com/aldifeedback/Concern.asp [This should not be the case.]

Some of the Management Representatives are...

Marcy Hafner, Customer Support Representative

Jason Hart, Co-President of Aldi North America

Mr. Terry E. Pfortmiller, CFO

Charles Youngstrom, Sr. Co-President

Theo Albrecht, Chairman Executive Officer

Vern Frazier, Chairman/CEO [Retired]

Mr. Scott Patton, Vice President

Joan Kavanaugh, Vice President of Corporate Purchasing

Justin Lehrke, Director of Corporate Purchasing

Chris Bell, Purchasing

ALDI Inc., ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG.

1200 N Kirk Road, Batavia, IL 60510-1477

Web site: www.aldi.us

Phone: (630) 879-8100 ; Fax: (630) 879-8114

The following is based on Australian stores and may not apply to USA stores, though should be similar

The price cards at Aldi stores in Australia are above the product. Many customers will come into a store and argue the price because they have simply read the price on the closest sign and not read any details. Often this is for the product below the one you have chosen to purchase.

You list in your report several details of the product, including content size, but did you read those off the packet or off the price sign?

If you saw the price, you would know that when the total price came to more than double for each item. If you bought a few items, it is completely understandable to miss it. The whole idea of Aldi is maximum speed and efficiency, minimum cost. Placing items into a trolley as fast as they are scanned is a reasonable excuse for not watching each item on the display as they come through.

You infer that the cashier rung the product up at the wrong price; This is impossible because there is only one barcode on the product which is matched against a four digit code used to order the product. If there is a price discrepancy it is at a signage level and not a Point Of Sale (POS) level.

Items that are constantly available at a store are not put on special. Produce prices may change, but an item that is always sold will not fluctuate. It may be permanently reduced or raised due to inflation etc, but WILL NOT CHANGE REGULARLY.

If there is a discrepency in the display card or a computer issue with the barcode, let the store know asap. It cannot be rectified otherwise.

There is one number for Head Office in Australia for each state Aldi is in. Stores do not have individual numbers because every store is the same. If there is a change made to one store, the same change is made to every store. If a change is needed at one store, that storewould then need to contact the head office for permission and correct procedures to change it anyway. This way, you are put into direct contact with the exact people who can not only fix the price card at your problem store, but check with every other store to ensure that the same problem is not occcurring elsewhere.

This ultimately saves you time and energy, while allowing the staff at the store to put out more products and ensure you have everything else you need until they have the information and ability to fix the problem. Minimum staff means that on a busy day, only 4 staff may be at the store. 3 of them may be operating registers, whilst the last one is topping up milk, bread and other products, covering lunch breaks and maintaining store cleanliness. When are they going to find time to answer phone calls from someone wanting to know if they sell cat repellant or BBQ covers?

You may suggest they hire more staff.....which drives up costs and puts us back in the same position of the store not being able to fix the problem anyway. Why not cut out the middle man and speak directly to Head Office?

If you kept your receipt, you could have bought back the product and explained the problem to them, in which case they would have happily refunded you the cost if the price was wrong, or explained why you thought the price was 69c.

Be patient and give them a chance. Don't give up so easily. If you truly believed in good customer service you would realise that a person is always better than a phone call or email.

I do agree that the Head Office number should be listed in the phone book, I do not know why you could not find it. The website should also have listed it, the Australian Aldi has both.

Good luck and I hope you take the time to understand the concept of Aldi a little bit better.

I found this report to be interesting because I work in a grocery store in Minnesota. My job is maintaining the database.

What quite possibly happened here, depending on the store's pricing database, is that the sign was printed and posted before the database manager actually sent the price to the till. It's a common mistake on the part of a database manager and easily fixed. The other possibility is that they were on a timed special and when the time ran out the sign hadn't been pulled yet.

Timed specials are when a date is set in the computer for the special to end. At the close of business on that day, the computer automatically puts the item back to it's normal price. The only problem with this is when someone forgets to pull the sign down because the sale is over.

Had you noticed the discrepancy in the store and said something, the cashier would have had an employee verify the sign. When stores do this, they are ensuring that you in fact got the same product (brand, size and type) as advertised on the sign.

At our store, if the sign matches the item being disputed, we give the customer the price on the sign and apologize. The matter is then referred to me and I either fix the sign or update the database depending on the situation. Most stores do the same thing.

The best way to prevent this problem is to watch as the items are being scanned. Most stores have a screen for you to see the prices as they ring up. If you see something wrong, ask the cashier to verify the price.

As far as this situation goes, it seems odd to me that a grocery store would not be listed in the phone book unless it opened after your last phone book was printed. At our store, our address and phone number is on the receipt. Your best course of action would be to stop by the store again with your receipt.

Many retail data systems keep a history on the pricing of items. If their system does this, they should be able to see what the price should have been at the date and time you were in the store and refund the difference to you. At my store if someone comes in with a receipt and says they were mis-charged, I look the item up and if there is any credibility to their story, I see that they are refunded.