Aldi review: Not giving back change to customers

I have been shopping at Aldi in Salem, New Hampshire for years now, and until recently I have been extremely happy with them.

Due to the coin shortage, they have put up signs asking customers to provide exact change or use alternate payment. I always purchase with cash and do not use a debit card, and make every effort to provide either exact change when possible, or as close to the amount in order to reduce the amount of change they need to give back.

However this weekend, I was not given back any change because I was told they had no change. It was a small amount, only 22 cents, but this is the first time this has happened, and I was a bit put off about it but said nothing.

Later that day I e-mailed Aldi to let them know that this is an issue, because I'm sure many people pay in cash for whatever reason, and may actually be owed considerably more than 22 cents, and that in essence, Aldi was taking money from its customers, which is stealing. I also told them that they are the only store I've been to that has had this issue, including the local Dollar Tree I had been to that day. Not only that, but they sit literally next door to a bank.

I got an auto-response today from Aldi which said the following:

"Thank you for contacting us. As a result of the national coin shortage, we're asking customers at select ALDI stores to use correct change or another form of payment. We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Kind regards,
ALDI Customer Service"

This is not acceptable. Many people cannot use alternate forms of payment, and if they are not providing at least an alternative way to credit back their customers, they are punishing customers for not having change during the coin shortage they are telling us about, and in fact taking money from customers that is rightfully theirs.

I don't normally make a fuss about things, but using the coin shortage as an excuse isn't acceptable, when they can find other ways of compensating customers, such as crediting the money back on the next purchase by providing the receipt, or even adjusting their prices up or down to round to whole numbers until the shortage is over.

I am very disappointed with Aldi's response and unwillingness to make sure that customers are paid back what they are owed when they have no option but to pay cash for their purchases. People who shop at Aldi are trying to save money because they need their money to stretch as far as possible, and this is only making matters worse.

If other stores are refusing to pay back customers who cannot provide exact change, they will be taking money from their customers. There needs to be some way to recompense customers if they are not able to pay them back in cash.