Aldi customers enraged by Special Buy chaos: 'Ripping my hair out'
Aldi customers have slammed the retailer for their poor customer service after "technical issues" during an online Special Buys Sale.
Several customers experienced issues when they attempted to purchase the Bauhn 70” Ultra HD TV in the online Special Buys sale for $799 on Saturday morning.
Frustrated shoppers have since taken to the Aldi Facebook page to complain, saying despite money being taken from their account, they have received no order confirmation and can’t contact anyone at Aldi.
Aldi online shopper Sarah, a single mum of three from Victoria, said she was online at 8:30am when the TV went on sale, but quickly realised there were going to be issues.
“Every time I was trying to press the add to cart button it wouldn't work. Then just four minutes in it came up and said it was sold out,” she told Yahoo News Australia.
“I tried again and I was able to add one to my cart and complete my purchase as normal. I didn't have an issue paying for it - that was all fine.
“I received an order number at the end and was told I would get a confirmation email. Four days later and I still haven't received an email.”
Sarah says her purchase went through at 8:39am, but several hours later she hadn’t received a response and when she viewed her order on the Aldi website it hadn’t been processed.
“That’s when I started posting on the Aldi Facebook page explaining what had happened and asked, what’s going on here but no one responded,” she said.
“They obviously don't monitor their Facebook page over the weekend which is a bit silly when they have these big sales on.
“Then I noticed a few other people all saying the same thing. Some said they were able to purchase the TV too and had their money taken, but no confirmation.”
After multiple Facebook messages and email attempts to get a response from Aldi, Sarah still came up short with no confirmation and $870 missing from her account for the TV plus delivery.
“I’m a pretty technical person, but I was literally ripping my hair out after a few hours of trying to work out how to get through to them,” Sarah said.
“I’m a single mum so to spend that amount of money, it’s a heck of a lot of money for me.
“Because I’ve been stuck at home with my three kids in lockdown for such a long time, I just actually wanted to treat myself and the kids and I thought this is too good a deal to pass up.”
More customers orders in limbo
Several other shoppers had similar experiences, saying they are now chasing the retailer for a response too.
“I am in the same boat! How did you get a result from them?” one person wrote.
“I just want to know if we are going to get the TVs or not! The money has already come out of my account and I have an order number but no confirmation.”
Other customers have reported waiting up to two weeks for a confirmation email and being unable to get in touch with the retailer other than through the feedback section of their website.
“I tried to purchase the TV online and it went through and took my money then said all TVs were out of stock and kept my money,” another shopper who did not want to be named told Yahoo News Australia.
“I don’t have a problem with what happened, they must have gone quickly, but Aldi are very hard to contact.”
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Aldi responds to TV complaints
An Aldi spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that Special Buys sale was hugely popular and they received “higher than expected” demand.
“On Saturday we had a technical issue with the sale of the 70" Smart TV that affected a small number of customers' ability to confirm their order,” The spokesperson said.
“We have made contact with these customers and are issuing refunds to those that experienced the issue.
“We experienced higher than expected demand for our 70" Smart TV and are sorry for any disappointment caused for those who missed out.”
Sarah has since been contacted by Aldi via phone to have her order confirmed. Other customers however, say they are still waiting to hear from the retailer.
Aldi is new to trading online, with the German supermarket giant announcing in March they would be offering some Special Buys online.
Despite the technical issues with orders, the spokesperson said they are planning on having more technology products online for customers soon.
“We are working on bringing other leading technology products to our online Special Buys program in the coming months,” the spokesperson said.
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