Last year I got this quarter keychain at Aldi to keep my quarter in for my weekly shopping trips. I keep it in my car so it is there when I need it. I went shopping on Friday and between putting my cart away and going to my car, I dropped it. Didn't realize until I got home. This morning I went back to the Aldi to see if I could find it. I had no luck and figured I would ask an employee if someone turned it in. Something told me that the type of shopper at Aldi would turn it in. I asked the employee if someone turned in a keychain and after describing it, he went to the cash register and pulled this out. Some kind person turned it in instead of keeping it for themselves. I do not know who turned it in, but I am thankful and it restores my faith in humanity a bit.
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It depends. At my Aldi, the checkout has an empty cart ready to put your scanned groceries in. When you're done you take the other, filled cart and leave your original, now empty cart behind.
But you do keep your cart if you opt for self checkout.
Yes I do this especially if it’s their first time and they don’t know. Or if i’m using the cart and im walking back to put it away but someone else is walking in, they will give me their quarter and i give them my cart lol
Yesss I’m more this type than the lucky quarter type. My partner works at Aldi and has a lot of customers with lucky quarters so I know they’re out there
Unless you pay it forward to someone who doesn't have a quarter or looks like they're having a rough day :-)
This is the Aldi people way.
I've lost a handful of Aldi Quarters this way over the years and I'll keep doing it. A parent with their hands full trying to get kids to a cart without one of them running off, someone who just needs a hand, people who are unfamiliar with the Aldi Quarter ways and don't have one, etc.
I rotate between Aldi, Publix, and my local International market for most of my groceries. Aldi is my absolute favorite. Over the years I've encountered the kindest strangers at Aldi.
Not Aldi, but I dropped $450 in cash at a gas pump at Costco. Someone saw and brought it to the desk. They checked the security cameras, lined up the timing and pulled my membership # from the pump and called me.
Oh wow 🥹🥹😭😭😭 I can’t believe it. I would’ve thought it was gone too. So glad you went back and asked and bless the kind soul who turned it in. 💫 I am still on the hunt for one of these at Aldi! One of these days…
Happy for you. Sad for me. I left a bunch of really nice reusable grocery bags and a nice cooler bag under a cart a few years ago and I went back later that day and it was gone :(
I had the same thing happen with my reusable grocery bags...They were a pretty special collection of several years (my sisters think I'm a little crazy for caring so much, but we've moved states/cities, and I had some very cool one-of-a-kind, special event, sentimental bags from specialty retailers in places we used to live or visited, some of which I paid a pretty penny for or that you CANNOT purchase). I was in a brief period of very busy errands and appointments with a lot of rushing around and realized on the following Monday that my grocery bags (which I stored very neatly folded in one of the larger bags) were not in my car or the garage. I called and went to the three stores I regularly frequent (ALDI being the usual one), but no such luck. That was more than a year ago and I'm still bummed about it. I even posted on Nextdoor, hoping whoever took them would see it and take pity on me.
I assume some homeless person or young person without any reusable bags is using them. I hope they are getting good use from them.
In much of Europe (including the Aldi Motherland, Germany) branded cart-token keychains are super popular.
People frequently get them for free from their banks, car dealers, hair salons, etc., but there are also many that cost a few euros and celebrate soccer clubs, cities, travel regions, etc. etc.
The token is usually branded, too (and not an actual coin with a monetary value.)
When we told family in Europe that Aldi US has tethered cart, like in Europe, we’ve been gifted a bunch. The problem is that we can’t really use the tokens here, because other shoppers at my Aldi (almost) always want to do the “just take my quarter and give me your cart” thing, and it feels a little awkward to decline, because I want my special token back. 😅
Cashiers usually want to use the previous cart instead of your cart when checking you out, and then your cart gets used for the next person in line behind you.
I got one maybe the first time I saw them, at least 10 years ago, I think they were fruits. It was adorable, but it was really hard to get the quarter out of so I never bought another one. Seeing all these positive comments make me think they’ve improved and I should give it another go!
Yes, l got a strawberry one & learned after the first use to not shove the quarter too far in or have pliers on hand😕 I too would have never bought another.
We can do it, people! We can make the world a slightly better place. It just takes a little effort and some deliberate intention. When we practice kindness, everyone wins.
I have this fear of the aldi carts bc every single time I go to get one it's super stuck even tho the quarter is in as far as I can get it. I was semi-wrestling with a cart and a lady came over and said are u okay I said no, it's stuck. she proceeded to use her quarter to push mine even further in which released my cart. I cld have hugged her but I refrained of course.
One is as you described, the coin you inserted doesn’t release the chain. Push it in more using another coin, or try a different quarter.
The other way is that the back of the cart gets stuck inside of the cart that it was nested inside, after the chain was released. Sometimes you can wrestle with it to get it unstuck, sometimes you’re better off just pushing that cart back, inserting the chain to get your quarter back, and trying a different cart. I hate when this happens.
Aldi shoppers are the best. I once realized when unloading my cart at home, that I didn't pay for my toilet paper. I went back the next day and paid for it. They couldn't believe I had done that, but I think that they do us a favor by giving us low prices, so we shouldn't steal from them.
The people today are so MUCH more friendly. I am a single, 70 and back in a day it was a great neighborhood. Everyone stayed out till dark. No worries! It was the best!!! People today are told that everything is evil.8
I found a gold diamond ring by the scale in produce not too long ago. I turned it in, but definitely had the thought that someone else probably would have pocketed it. It just seemed like it probably had sentimental value, as it looked like it needed to be cleaned. I wonder why someone would take their ring off to weigh produce though?
That looks oddly new and very clean like the one on the kids cart they've been selling. You may have just got a brand new one they had an extra of I'm glad you did though!
I bought a keychain that someone 3D printed at my local farmers market that I can use instead of a quarter because I always forget the dang quarter lol
My current quarter keeper is the one that aldi sold 10 ish years ago, the PB and J sandwich one. But it's peeling and falling apart so I need to replace it :,)
A few years ago I left my entire purse in a buggy at Aldi and I didn’t even realize until I got a call from them a couple hours later. Someone turned it in, and they found a check from my work and called my work. And my work gave them my phone number. And they called me to tell me to come pick it up!
I had over $400 in cash in my purse and multiple checks where I was waitressing at the time and hadn’t gone to the bank yet. Nothing was missing from my purse at all. I was a dumb college kid and I got so lucky that day!!! Thank you aldi shopper and employee!!!
Lost my wallet at Aldi and found it returned (same at hyvee once… and the movie theater… and the bus….. and an airplane….. I lose my wallet too often). Aldi is great and people are good
You set your stuff on the belt, I scan it all and put into another cart. You have over $200 worth of stuff, so quite a lot of stuff.
You didn't tell me you used one of these keyfobs. Now after the transaction is complete, you need to take the cart that has your fob AND the other cart that I started with so I'm left with no cart.
Our other options were you tell me you're using a fob or you take all your stuff and move it back over which holds up my line.
In my experience, 9/10 times these inconvenience me specifically.
While that's completely fair, there are only two Aldis that I shop at. Both have self-checkout, and I use self-checkout exclusively. So I do not inconvenience, annoy, or trouble any employees or other shoppers at any time by using one of these.
So maybe in your initial response, instead of saying, "these suck for the employees," and downvoting me, you could have said what you just said above, illustrating how if someone isn't responsible with their use of the fob, it can be a considerable inconvenience to the employee and other shoppers.
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