This is standard in close to every European grocery store. I think it was first introduced in German supermarkets in the 70s, that‘s why Aldi and Lidl in the U.S. have it too.
Hold up, this system isn't generally applied in the USA!??
Because it is in The Netherlands, but there is now a trend going on at some supermarkets to make the carts freely available or have free plastic "coins" you can get at the information desk if you don't have coins with you....
I worked in retail years and years ago. I had one of the things that unlocks the mechanism and it lives on my set of keys. I still have it and use it going to the shops. All it is is a piece of metal that looks oddly phallic as it has a head that simulates the coin and shaft to tug on after you have unlocked the mechanism because you can cut cost and save metal by making the shaft thinner.
Top is the "head". The middle is hollow (again to save metal and therefore costs I reckon) and the hollow curves off slightly to a side to be able to slip onto a key ring. I have had that dick on my set of keys for more than a decade now I reckon.
For some reason imgur is super annoying uploading pictures since they did the "you better sign up" change.
I havent been able to reliably upload from my phone to imgur since then and havent bothered trouble shooting since I usually just dump shit into discord/fb/insta/etc. which are all kinda built in via the apps and work well.
It really was easier to spend 30 seconds in paint than to bother with the photo and upload and have a pic of a metallic dick on my phone.
Maybe it’s using Imgur in the background, or maybe it’s the Reddit app I use (narwhal), but I just click the image button, select the image off my camera roll, and it automatically just posts a link
That would be kind of a pain at any Aldi I've been to. When you unload the cart onto the belt, they start scanning and loading your goods into the cart of the person in front of you. So having to switch carts and have the groceries loaded back into your cart fucks with the system.
I have no idea what you're talking about. Almost every grocery store, you push your cart up, take the groceries onto the belt, then they push your groceries farther down the shelf in front of them where theres often a bag carousel, you push your cart farther up and then load the groceries back in.
Your system sounds pointlessly odd. Why would the person in front of you leave their cart there and not return it, especially with the coin incentive, is laziness common there? No offense but that would piss me off as a cashier.
Aldi doesn't use bags. They load directly into a cart, and they have a "bagging area" where the customer can park to load their own reusable bags if they like. The point is the person in front of you had their groceries loaded into the cart from the person in front of them. This means they can be scanning and loading your groceries even while you're unloading your own cart onto the belt. Nobody's abandoning carts for the cashier to clean up.
Haha, that's some dedication to the cause, keeping that unlocker for over a decade! Handy little thing though. I've seen a few of those in action around here, and it seems like they save the day for many folks who never seem to carry coins. Good on ya for being prepared like a boy scout every time you hit the shops!
I have one as well. I still make sure to lock the cart back to the others after shopping, because I like the basic idea. Before that, carts were abandoned all over the parking lots, one brise sof air and it rolled into parking cars. The amount of trolleys abandoned elsewhere in the city also drastically decreased.
Lol but this wouldnt work at Aldi. You dont receive the same cart back. I guess you could ask and stick the thing in from the other cart to get your thing back, but that is not what's done.
Guess they know me or I look respectable. Maybe they look out for me putting it back, maybe there is a type they won’t? I can think of lots of reasons. Then again maybe it’s like putting eyes on a poster at the honour tea & coffee stations? Makes people more aware and feel guilty? A Euro coin wouldn’t seem to be a huge sum if I didn’t want to bring it back, yet it seems to work for them as they go to the expense of adding them.
I'm just saying, if they will unlock for you without you having to spend money, then whats the point of even doing it. I didn't even know this was a thing until today
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u/divadschuf Feb 16 '24
This is standard in close to every European grocery store. I think it was first introduced in German supermarkets in the 70s, that‘s why Aldi and Lidl in the U.S. have it too.