Figgerty

I shop regularly in Aldi and Lidl in their London stores and am always deeply irritated when I am not permitted to pack my shopping into my large shopping bags which are open in my trolley. I am herded to the long, high shelf where I'm supposed to pack my shopping into my shopping bags. This only happens in the German supermarkets and really gets me in a foul mood. In other stores, I can take my shopping from the conveyor belt and place it carefully in the bags, only leaving large items loose in the trolley. This action is carried out at a height that is appropriate for most of us.

Are all German supermarkets like this?

When I only need a few items and use a basket instead of a trolley why is there rarely a 'basket only' queue?

Assanah

Yes, German supermarkets are all like this. The discounters are the worst though.

Figgerty

Thank you for replying to my post.

I find this so stressful and am put off shopping there because of this. I wonder how the Americans cope with this as they demand good customer service, even having their shopping packed for them. I also buy more than I need because of the prices and have a good deal of waste as a result. I also discovered that Aldi display a date code (week no & day of week) on some fresh produce instead of an actual date. Their staff told me this was common in Germany after I complained about some 'furry' blueberries not having a sell by date. They also pointed out that EU regulations did not require them to display a date on any prepacked produce.

What other consumer interactions are different in Germany?

Milkman, Postal service, Refuse/recycling collections, Meter readers (soon to be extinct in UK with Smart metres), Bank, Trains, Buses etc. Are Germans having their weekly grocery shopping delivered like a lot of people in the UK? Do they use eBay & Amazon? Do they have a good Public TV service or subscribe to pay TV (like Sky) and phone/internet packages. Do they drink tap water - I ask that because Aldi stock a limited choice and I always have to buy elsewhere. Do they buy designer coffee on their way to work each day?

How different is daily life in Germany to the UK and what pleases or irritates you the most. And lastly, what irritates or puzzles the Germans or those who live in Germany about the way of life in the UK.

calman014

I complained about some 'furry' blueberries not having a sell by date. They also pointed out that EU regulations did not require them to display a date on any prepacked produce.

>> That's not true. Even fresh vegetables and fruit must show a date if they are in any kind of packaging, loose/unpacked items don't apply.<<

What other consumer interactions are different in Germany?

Milkman: Does not exist
Postal service: same arrogant employees and poor service as any other country
Refuse/recycling collections:Same, with strict separation of materials.
Meter readers (soon to be extinct in UK with Smart metres): once a year
Bank: One of the best things about Germany. Great banks, polite and helpful employees.
Trains: Always on time, but they are like 1 meter higher than the platform.
Buses: Excellent buses... a godsend in the winter.
Are Germans having their weekly grocery shopping delivered like a lot of people in the UK?
Simple answer: No.
Do they use eBay & Amazon? Both available and popular in Germany.
Do they have a good Public TV service or subscribe to pay TV (like Sky) and phone/internet packages.
Public TV just as boring as elsewhere. Satellite and cable just as elsewhere.
Internet in general quite good with growing fibre optic offerings.
Do they drink tap water - Yes. It's very clean.
Do they buy designer coffee on their way to work each day? No. Starbucks is here but mainly frequented by young people in the city or at the Airport. German coffee is strong and the spoon will melt if it doesn't stand up.

Assanah

I can tell you that every German in the queue behind you will come close to having a heart attack if you would start packing your items into bags after paying at the cashier instead of moving away quickly. Same is true for slowly accelerating after the traffic light turns green. But I think the biggest difference might be the way we communicate. The article is about the Dutch but you can probably apply this to Germans too

Translation table explaining the truth behind British politeness becomes internet hit - Telegraph

This often ends with the British saying Germans are rude, and the Germans accusing the British of being dishonest. Both are wrong of course as we are only talking about a different way of communicating. Other issues that are often high on the irritation list of Germans are for example the quality of housing, the high housing and rent prices, low water pressure, low rights as a tenant, and most importantly the low quality of british toilet paper ( I bet you had no idea ).
Anyhow, my observation is that most Germans settle quickly and happily in the UK. About the British in Germany I am not sure. To me it seems that the language can be a major problem, some have issues with the German humour, that Germans don't really socialize with co-workers and with the shops being closed on Sundays.

BTW, trains in Germany are often late. Having to use the trains in Berlin for commuting can be a nightmare. Most of us resigned ourselves to the fact that the trains in Berlin are unreliable and we don't even care anymore when they use their standard lie 'Betriebsstörung' as an accuse

calman014

Berlin is the exception..;-P..to just about anything..!

amideislas

I was always of the impression that Supermarket etiquette in Germany is quite simple: get there before everybody else does.

Figgerty

calmna014
Thanks a lot for addressing all my questions.

Sell by date on fresh packaged produce. The manager stated that the date code was sufficient and it was common in Germany. I don't think it's acceptable to have to decode a number to find out the produce sell by date. Perhaps the Germans use the week no & day no for lots of things and they know automatically where they are in the year without having to use an actual date.

"Bank: One of the best things about Germany. Great banks, polite and helpful employees."
Sounds like the UK about 30 years ago.


"Trains: Always on time, but they are like 1 meter higher than the platform." This is to keep you all fit, I would have to carry a step ladder. What happens to accessibility for disabled passengers which I think is an EU regulation.

"Do they drink tap water - Yes. It's very clean." That explains the lack of choice of bottled water in Aldi.


"Do they buy designer coffee on their way to work each day? No. Starbucks is here but mainly frequented by young people in the city or at the Airport" That's how it started here but now even mothers dropping off their kids at school meet up for a coffee and we have several coffee shops in our high streets.

Novocastrian

What's the big difference between coding a date as e.g. 23.3 rather than 5/20 or 20/5 except that you don't understand it? It's very common to refer to dates (for meetings or whatever) as e.g. Dienstag, Woche dreiundzwanzig.

BritInParis

It might depend in which part of Germany you live. I commuted from Bonn to Düsseldorf every day and my train was regularly late although I was never forced to use those packing tables at the supermarket. I just packed as they scanned it through as I would in the UK. This was shopping at Kaiser's and REWE if it makes a difference.

Novocastrian

Same at Massa or Wertkauf.

Figgerty

I best not move to Germany then.

This was the response from Aldi on Twitter "are customers allowed to pack their shopping bags before leaving the cashier point in Aldi"
@ALDI We ask that customers pack at their leisure at the long shelf behind the tills. Thanks for the tweet.

As it's just a request then I don't have to obey!! The long shelf behind is too high for me as I'm vertically challenged. Perhaps there is a You Tube video showing how the Germans shop!

We Brits try hard not to offend and are therefore thought dishonest when the non Brits finally realise what we mean.

I have used this phrase in meetings "I was a bit disappointed that" and meant "I am annoyed that" and am glad I did not deal with non British contractors as they may have understood " It doesn't really matter" when it really did.

If Aldi toilet paper is an example the I disagree with them. Andrex quilted beats the Aldi stuff bums down,

Thank you for the sneak look into the German consumer lives. I suppose they queue as we do and adopt new technology like paying for our goods electronically, paying for parking by phone, using ticket machines instead of the ticket office and using self service tills in the supermarket.

Figgerty

The biggest and most important difference is that you understand it. If a date code is commonly used in Germany then it is fine but ALDI UK is selling to a different market. If they had a product description on meat in German, that would not be acceptable as few UK consumers would understand what they were buying. We need to understand the sell by date as that also is important.

Novocastrian

No doubt, no doubt. But actually I'm not sure I understand this thread at all. You live in the UK? You shop in Aldi in the UK? (Why?). And you think the German owned shop operating in the UK on a bare bones, cut price basis should modify it's procedures (thereby raising it's overheads) merely to accommodate your preferences?

Just Buy British.

Figgerty

If you don't understand the thread perhaps you should not reply.