Aldi: Cash or Laser

emanresu

Why do Aldi cashiers ask "Cash or Laser?" when they start scanning the customers' shopping at the till?
Do they need to know this in advance?

calex71

maybe something to do with the point of sale software installed at the till. May prompt for cash or laser before the stuff is scanned? Who knows

aidan_walsh

It gives the customer time to get it ready so that once all items are scanned they can simply take it and move on to the next customer.

Cabaal

Never been asked this in any stores I've ever shopped in

looksee

They do not want credit cards.

jhegarty

To make sure they don't say Visa/Mastercard after things a checked out.

Oryx

Dont know why their tills request this at the start, but its worth knowing they dont do cash AND laser. You cant say, pay them a 50 you have on you and the balance on laser (which Ive done in other places).

Id agree its probably to do with speeding up the transaction, so you dont have Mr or Ms Shopper suddenly going 'oh' and holding up the queue while hunting for their cash after the cashier has finished scanning their stuff.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

They have never asked me and I've paid by both methods over many years now.

Maybe a cashier knows the type of customer who waits to hear the charge and then spends 5 minutes rooting about in a bag or wallet for the Laser card or cash; so they give a gentle reminder.

Why not ask the next time you are in Aldi? Simple solution to a simple query!

bongi69

Simple.
They don't take Visa/M.Card, so this is to clarify the issue before the transaction is started.

TheDriver

nothing worse than queueing up behind someone who waits til everything is put away and then starts to take out their cards....

emanresu

Cabaal wrote: »

Never been asked this in any stores I've ever shopped in

I am always asked and I hear them asking other customers, in any Aldi store that I go to.

looksee wrote: »

They do not want credit cards.

jhegarty wrote: »

To make sure they don't say Visa/Mastercard after things a checked out.

It is asked as a question, not given as a statement.
They expect an answer to the question "Cash or Laser?".

aidan_walsh wrote: »

It gives the customer time to get it ready so that once all items are scanned they can simply take it and move on to the next customer.

Oryx wrote: »

...Id agree its probably to do with speeding up the transaction, so you dont have Mr or Ms Shopper suddenly going 'oh' and holding up the queue while hunting for their cash after the cashier has finished scanning their stuff.

Customers know that they will have to pay for their shopping, they don't need to be reminded.
They can have their purse or wallet ready, but they can't have the payment ready until they know the total amount. And they
are not standing there twiddling their thumbs wasting valuable time; they need to get their shopping off the small counter top and into the trolley/bag/box fast enough to keep up with the cashier scanning it.

sflemings

Not sure if they accept credit cards but if they tell you at the start "Cash or Laser", you may think that they don't accept credit cards so you will end up paying with either cash or laser.
Plus with this way they get their money straight away. (I may stand corrected on this with Laser txns)

MarkR

As guessed above, I would lean towards them asking this to weed out the credit card / visa debit users.

emanresu

TheDriver wrote: »

nothing worse than queueing up behind someone who waits til everything is put away and then starts to take out their cards....

It only takes a second for a customer to take out their card (or cash).
If they pay first while their goods are still on the counter top, the cashier still can't start scanning the next customer's goods because there is nowhere to put them.

emanresu

sflemings wrote: »

Not sure if they accept credit cards but if they tell you at the start "Cash or Laser", you may think that they don't accept credit cards so you will end up paying with either cash or laser.
Plus with this way they get their money straight away. (I may stand corrected on this with Laser txns)

They don't accept credit cards. That is well known.
But they are not telling you "Cash or Laser", they are asking you "Cash or Laser?"

IrishTonyO

sflemings wrote: »

Not sure if they accept credit cards but if they tell you at the start "Cash or Laser", you may think that they don't accept credit cards so you will end up paying with either cash or laser.
Plus with this way they get their money straight away. (I may stand corrected on this with Laser txns)

They nor Lidl accept credit cards.

Oryx

emanresu wrote: »

Customers know that they will have to pay for their shopping, they don't need to be reminded.

Ive been stood behind a few who seemed not to realise till the cashier asked.

Now that you mention, yeah, to weed out the credit card payers before they put stuff through.

Cabaal

emanresu wrote: »

It only takes a second for a customer to take out their card (or cash).
.

You sure about that?

I've seen many people feck about for ages finding they purse or wallet and getting the money together....if Aldi employees asking reduces this then its good for other customers

Happy customers is good for business,

ash23

The place I work only accepts cash, laser or cheque. And you would be amazed at the number of people who don't seem to realise there is a difference between a credit card and a laser card.
Or the number of people who will argue with you over it.
I'd imagine that it happened in Aldi too. Person scans through shopping, customer hands them a visa card to be told "no can do" and customer is left feeling embarrassed and unable to pay and probably irate. Especially as Aldi stores are never located near an ATM

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

ash23 wrote: »

customer hands them a visa card to be told "no can do" and customer is left feeling embarrassed and unable to pay and probably irate...

Imagine the fun now Ulster Bank have changed from Laser to Visa Debit Card. It actually processes identically to a Laser Card but the cashier sees VISA and freaks out! :eek:


Anyway OP, why not ask the cashier next time rather that have us all guessing??

ash23

Tristian Muscular Lockjaw wrote: »

Imagine the fun now Ulster Bank have changed from Laser to Visa Debit Card. It actually processes identically to a Laser Card but the cashier sees VISA and freaks out! :eek:

I got chewed out of it in work for processing a british debit card. I wouldn't take one of the visa debit cards out of sheer fear

dudara

I'd imagine that the cashiers ask you in order to reinforce in the customers' minds that it's cash or laser.

FredH3ad

I read somewhare that Aldi are trialling a mobile phone payment system alone the lines of this. So soon it may be 'cash, laser or phone'.:pac:

Davy

Are aldi not taking Visa debit now like lidl do

Magenta

emanresu wrote: »

Customers know that they will have to pay for their shopping, they don't need to be reminded.

Yes they fecking do, otherwise they wouldn't spend forever rooting through their handbags because their purse is at the very bottom of it.

emanresu wrote: »

They don't accept credit cards. That is well known.
But they are not telling you "Cash or Laser", they are asking you "Cash or Laser?"

No, it's not well known, and they ask you so that if you say "Neither- credit card" they can then inform you they don't take it. They don't tell you Cash or Laser because if you shop there regularly and are told every time you will feel nagged.

Cabaal wrote: »

You sure about that?

I've seen many people feck about for ages finding they purse or wallet and getting the money together....if Aldi employees asking reduces this then its good for other customers

Happy customers is good for business,

Damn straight. The amount of customers who act surprised when you tell them that their €2 scratchcard comes to a total of... €2- so, yes, you will need your purse and I'll just sit here looking at the people behind you glaring at me while you root in your handbag for it.

partyatmygaff

emanresu wrote: »

It only takes a second for a customer to take out their card (or cash).
If they pay first while their goods are still on the counter top, the cashier still can't start scanning the next customer's goods because there is nowhere to put them.

Maybe you take a second but there are always the middle aged women e.t.c. who spend about 5 minutes paying whether by cash or card.

Red Alert

Aldi's checkouts/registers are by far the fastest I've seen anywhere recently

rubadub

emanresu wrote: »

They don't accept credit cards. That is well known.
But they are not telling you "Cash or Laser", they are asking you "Cash or Laser?"

It probably appears less confrontational than saying "we do not take credit cards, I hope you have cash or a laser". It is certainly not well known, many people presume they will take them, esp. in a large supermarket, I see it all the time in lidl and had it happen to myself. I was not asked in advance but luckily had €50 on me. It could cause embarrasment to some people at the till (not me), and just general annoyance. If they did say "we only take cash or laser" every single time you might get agitated responses from customers going "YES, for the millionth time I KNOW". Like McDonalds used to ask "do you want fries with that?" -I saw several drunks hurling abuse at them "IF I WANTED F*CKING CHIPS I WOULD HAVE F*CKING ASKED". I think McDs stopped this practise in Ireland because of this, at night anyways.

emanresu wrote: »

It only takes a second for a customer to take out their card (or cash).

I wish! in tescos you get auld biddies counting out their small change, and some act in utter shock when even asked to pay as though it was not expected. They often refuse to do this until everysingle thing is bagged which causes further delays. i.e. they could break from packing, let receipt etc be printed and contine which this is going on.

Red Alert wrote: »

Aldi's checkouts/registers are by far the fastest I've seen anywhere recently

I love lidls system, the counter is far too small to let stuff build up, pay and get the hell away from my till -I love the policy. Tescos drives me mental sometimes.

neilthefunkeone

As i have worked there i shall give you the reasons, though most have been said..

-Weed out people hoping to throw stuff on a credit card
-To advise people to have either payment ready as its all about speed at the tills
-The pos dont have a calculator function, The employee work's out the change in their head!! (so if bill comes to 27.69 thy can start counting up the change to the nearest euro..Unless your a cnut and insist on digging out your 69c and wasting everyone's time!!)

All employess are required to ask cash or laser as in company hand book thingy.. you will get fu8ked on a mystery shopper if you dont..

ttm

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

As i have worked there i shall give you the reasons, though most have been said..

-Weed out people hoping to throw stuff on a credit card
-To advise people to have either payment ready as its all about speed at the tills
-The pos dont have a calculator function, The employee work's out the change in their head!! (so if bill comes to 27.69 thy can start counting up the change to the nearest euro..Unless your a cnut and insist on digging out your 69c and wasting everyone's time!!)

All employess are required to ask cash or laser as in company hand book thingy.. you will get fu8ked on a mystery shopper if you dont..

Local Lidl ask for change, that way they don't look cnuts and run out.

Red Alert

Well it's miles better than Superquinn's POS which seems to do a dance before popping the drawer and printing the receipt.