Bring the taquitos chips back I loved them so much they were my childhood now bring them back right now PLSASEESSSSSSE

ALDI
On the 24th March 2023, I went to the vet to collect some medication for my cat and decided to pop into the Aldi en route home to purchase some batteries for the cat flap. I had been to this Aldi a few times before, but Aldi is not my supermarket. I generally will go there for batteries, black bags and cat bed products.

I entered Aldi at about 7.15pm. Picked up a basket. Browsed the aisles. Picked up some items. Wet wipes, freshener, chocolates, batteries. Then went to the
Till to pay. I stood in line purchased these goods then went to the packing section to put them into my shopping bag.
As I started to walk towards the exit, a white woman in her late twenties, mousey coloured pony tail, approached me and asked to search my bag. Next to her was an Asian security guard.

I handed my handbag to the guard without complaint. After all, there was nothing in there apart from my personal belongings, I turned to the deputy manageress and asked if there was a problem.
She responded that the problem was that I was a "thief and shoplifter and had already been banned by this store and [I] was aware of this".

I told her that I have never been banned from any store, was not a shoplifter, and that she had the wrong person. Her face contorted with contempt as she told me that I was the right person, and in, fact, I was even wearing the same green coat. I again told her she was mistaken and asked for an apology. She stated that she "would not be apologising to me". I started to cry. She smirked and then said I was "making her uncomfortable and [she] wanted me to leave her store".

I left and the security guard who had checked my bag followed me - to apologise.

He stated that he "knew that I was not a shoplifter as [I] did not fit their profile" and he knew that I had stolen nothing from the store but that this deputy manageress had decided to target me from the moment that I entered the store. He re-stated that I did not fit their shoplifter shop profile. My phone was in my hand and I could not believe the frankness of what he was saying to me and began to record him - for fifteen minutes. I know as many minoritised people do that if we encounter racism we are told it is not happening, or that we are lying. We are in an invidious position of it being our word against the other party and we are rarely believed. I recorded what he said also knowing (as I have studied Law at university) that there is a body of caselaw where such recordings have been allowed.
He stated during this recorded conversation that:
-The deputy manageress has decided to target me the moment I walked through the door and picked up a basket even though he told her that he believed her to be wrongly targeting me.
-That he had tried on several occasions to dissuade the deputy manageress from targeting me but she was set on a course of action.
-That even as I was at the till waiting to pay, she still accused me of shoplifting.
- That even after she saw me paying she still wanted my bags turned out PUBLICLY.
- That the reason she did all of this was his quote - the fact that "definitely 80% because you are Black".
He stated that there was no circumstance in which she would not regard me as a shoplifter even if she saw the photo of the actual shoplifter (if indeed there was a shoplifter) and that even if the photo looked different, she would still consider me to be a thief.
- He stated that the staff at this Aldi store discriminated against the Asian employees and that it was bad, but there was nothing they could do, so they had to tolerate it.

When I returned home that evening - I was in deep distress. This had never happened to me before. I have never been stopped in any store, nor been accused of shoplifting.

I phoned Aldi on Saturday 25th March and got through to a South African call centre and they promised to ring back but did not do so.
I eventually found a number for Aldi headquarters and the Area Manager for Aldi rang me. He suggested antiracism training and an apology from the woman. I told him the apology ship had now sailed and that research shows that anti racism training is ineffective.

There may very well have been a Black female shoplifter wearing a green coat. I do not know. I am not a shoplifter. Maybe there was NEVER a Black, female shoplifter with short hair and a green coat in that store.
Due to this, I have now sought legal advice because as I explained to the Head Office only then will this deputy manageress recognise that I am not a shoplifter.
So this (and other) Aldi stores have treated Black shoppers badly and looking on social media other minoritised people are having similar experiences with this supermarket. I have spoken with SIA security guards at two others stores I was told by one head of security that:
-This search should never have been done in public but in a private room and the aim was therefore to humiliate me which she accomplished.
- That racism was a key factor given I was being followed through this store (unbeknownst to me) and they saw I had not shoplifted. Moreover, if I was truly banned they would have stopped me from entering the store completely the moment I picked up a basket.
- That they should have checked the image of the banned shoplifter (if there was one) before approaching me (banned shoplifters are made to hold a piece of paper apparently with their name on and the fact they're banned and a shoplifter - the Head of security at another store told me this - no such photo exists for me as I have never been banned from any store as I am not a shoplifter. I pay for my goods.).
-The Head of security (who is white) also told me that the majority of shoplifters are not Black and looking at online police crime stats for various regions of the UK, this is in fact the case.

I understand ths is happening in many of their stores. I have asked Aldi to produce a single piece of CCTV evidence ever showing me shoplifting in their store - they will have none. I have submitted a formal complaint but explained to the Head Office that the only way they will fully understand how wrong they got it is if I take them and the manageress to court, and if this stops them from mindlessly targeting other innocent shoppers then this will be an added bonus. I will never go to any Aldi store ever again.

I love the quality for the price at Aldi, which is why I continue to shop at the East Providence, RI store despite checkout snafus. For one thing, there is no express checkout, so usually there are a couple exasperated people in line with an armload of a few things behind someone with a cartload. For second, there is no bagging area attached to the register so the checkout people put your stuff into a spare cart. You then have to either pick it up by hand, or swap carts. I like to bring my own small folding cart and transfer my stuff into it. Usually the employees are good about moving the cart over so I can load my stuff while they ring the next customer. Sometimes, it doesn't go smoothly and I get a blank stare. Thats what happened on a recent visit. I asked the hippie-looking checkout kid (a young Jerry Garcia) to move the cart over so I could load my stuff (I saw that the next lady in line had her own cart). He blanky replied, 'I can't do that'. So I started loading my stuff right there, and predictably, the next lady in line started complaining that I was in her way. The checkout kid finally swapped the carts. It was awkward. Its ironic that Aldi sells the same mini carts I use, pictured full of groceries, yet doesn't seem to easily accomodate them in the checkout line.

Update: I went shopping on Halloween Saturday, and like most Saturdays before, there was a single, long checkout line snaking all the way down one of the shopping aisles, preventing customers still shopping from reaching any of the merchandise there. The harried checkout guy (same guy as before) yelled 'Neext!' to each customer in succesion while three female employees congregated at a closed register chatting and laughing, ignoring the waiting throng. As I checked out, he barely spoke a word to me, his attitude seemed to reflect the general chaos of the checkout area, and it's not even the holidays yet. I know ALDI tries to reinvent the wheel in alot of their store features, and it works, keeping prices low. But, I don't think the checkout process is a good place to do that, meaning they really need a '20 items or less' lane to keep things orderly. There's a reason why other groceriy stores have used it for years, it works by giving customers a choice in how long they choose to wait.

Just fantasticthe whole experience of shopping on line or in their stores. WOULD RECCOMEND TO ANYONE a very addictive retailer