Angry shoppers threaten to boycott Aldi after sale chaos
Angry Aldi shoppers are threatening to boycott the German supermarket chain after many missed out on the latest Special Buy item, despite lining up for hours in the chaos of the sale.
According to its website, Special Buys “can include anything from electronics, like LCD TVs and DVD players, to clothing and furniture”, and they are released twice a week.
A very limited number of items are stocked in each store, which means shoppers have to queue outside the shops before opening hours on the day the item is release. However, that’s no guarantee you’ll get your hands on the coveted items.
Last Saturday, there were chaotic scenes at Aldi stores across the country where shoppers lined up to snap up heavily discounted Dyson vacuum cleaners.
However, when customers arrived to find the sale items nearly sold out, several customers reportedly grabbed items out of fellow shoppers’ hands.
Melbourne woman Mary McKenzie lined up outside the Frankston store, in Melbourne's south-east, on Saturday to be one of the first in line to buy the Dyson vacuum cleaner.
She said she there were about 40 customers lined up outside the store before the doors opened.
“As it got closer to 8.30am you could feel a change, there was a determined look in their eyes and even adopted a different stance,” she told 3AW.
“People became feral.”
Frustrated customers took to social media to vent after the store's special buys sold out in minutes, with many threatening to never come back in the future.
Some shoppers have warned that Aldi’s Special Buys could lead to violence, while others have suggested ways the supermarket giant can manage the chaos, such as introducing a limit of one item per customer.
It’s not the first time Aldi Special Buys has caused chaos. In September, their home décor range sold out in 20 seconds and earlier in the month two families were filmed brawling over outdoor furniture during another sale.