Today, April 9, 2024, just past 11:00am I returned rotten foul smelling Lamb breast. The "use by or freeze by" date was 04/18/2024. This was the second time in one week that dinner was ruined and I had to take time out of my busy life to return rotting, decaying meat to this disgusting, sloppy store. And we had to order take-out at the last minute at our expense. Seminole Aldi manager Jamie (he only gave his first name), refused to honor the "Twice as Nice" warranty because I had not saved my receipt, despite the fact that I was returning the decaying lamb breast plate, along with the Aldi packaging labels that I had fished from the garbage and snipped out from the smelly disgusting cryovac bag. Earlier in the same week I had returned a corned beef brisket which was leaking nasty foul smelling juices and stunk up my fridge. The young woman who took my return, and honored the store policy that time said that I'd made the right choice by bringing it back. The smell from that was nothing compared to the putrescent stench I returned to which permeated my entire home after placing the lamb in the oven at 325F for a couple of hours with a seasoning rub per a five-star recipe on AllRecipes. Lamb can have a bit of a gamey smell out of the package, but after cooking two hours, this smelled utterly horrific and nauseating. My wife and I have been loyal Aldi shoppers since they first opened a store in Brandon Florida a block from our house. It has been over 10 years since we moved to Seminole FL, and we continued patronizing Aldi at the Seminole store on 7777 Seminole Blvd. Apart from some moldy brocolli back in Brandon, I have never had cause to attempt to get Aldi to fulfill their "Twice as Nice" return policy. This was the second time in a week at this Seminole store. From their website, I have copied their stated (published) policy:
ALDI Twice as Nice Guarantee Return Policy
We believe we have the best quality products around. We've designed and tested our brands to meet or exceed the national brands in taste and quality. We're so confident in our products that every item in our stores is backed by our unbeatable Twice as Nice Guarantee.*
If for any reason you are not 100% satisfied with the quality of any product, we will gladly replace the product AND refund your money. To receive the Twice as Nice Guarantee, the product packaging and any unused product must be returned to your local ALDI store manager.**
*Please note that a receipt is required to receive a refund in the original form of payment. Customers who do not provide a receipt will receive an ALDI Merchandise Credit gift card equal to the current retail price of the returned item.
**The Twice As Nice Guarantee does not apply to non-food ALDI Finds items, alcohol, national brands and non-quality related issues.
While the policy states that a receipt is required to get a refund in the original form of payment (I did not, but instead received a "Merchandise Credit" card, which was fine), there is NO MENTION that they will not honor the policy of also replacing the product without a receipt, however this is what I was told was policy by Jamie, their manager. Jamie had already admitted that they had had a huge problem with the corned beef that I had returned a few days earlier, and had to throw out a lot of it due to package leaking, and clean out the whole cooler. However, despite pretending to empathize with me, and going on about how Aldi cared, and how hard it was to ensure all products met safety standards, he refused to allow me to take another package of the lamb at no charge to try, despite the above stated policy. He told me he would be putting his job at risk by doing so because this was (unpublished) corporate policy, and that others might hear about it and want the same treatment. I was astounded and rather nauseated (again) by Jamie's utter lack of intelligence. Quite frankly, they can keep their rotten meat, as that is the last time I'll be going there. I have no intention of patronizing a business which does not honor their written return policy and a manager who shows such utter contempt and smarmy fakeness to their loyal customers. And allows rotten meat to be put out for sale twice in one week. By the way, you can't even call corporate, the one number that I could find (for journalists supposedly) had a recording that stated they don't answer phone calls in order to keep their prices low. Sure seems like a rather obtuse and unaccountable way to run a business. Anybody want a free $10 Merchandise Credit card for these lowlifes? Jamie made it crystal clear that they do not want our business. Aldi, I think your Seminole store badly needs a new manager, and if these are truly your unpublished policies, you need new corporate management. read more