Are you sure you want to hear about a completely ridiculous first world problem? LOL
I do a big Aldi trip ever few months, and stock up on pantry and freezer staples. I try to watch their ads for upcoming Finds, so I can plan to go during a week they have an interesting theme. Usually German foods, because Jim loves their Schneitzel. On Tuesday I saw that they were getting in various Advent calendars in on Wednesday. There was the usual cheap kids chocolate ($1.29), but also dog treat, cat treat, beer, wine, champagne, Lego ones with pieces each day for kids, and finally 2 that were fancy adult chocolate ($9 & $15). I thought I’d pick up a beer one for Jim, and a chocolate one for me as a special treat while I can’t have alcohol or caffeine. I was planning to go to the post office & the YMCA on Wednesday morning, (the day they went on sale) so I decided to swing by Aldi the same time, as they’re close together, and I know the calendars are popular and would sell quickly.
I got there about 10:20am, and walked towards the aisle with Special Finds stuff, picking up some canned pumpkin on the way. The shelves were nearly completely empty. There were a few of the ultra cheap kids chocolate ones, and a palette with a maybe 10 of the beer ones left which I didn’t pick up right away, because they’re heavy and I didn’t want to carry it around awhile. I wasn’t sure if they had already sold out, or if the crew was still putting out stock, so I decided to hang out for 5 minutes to see if they were filling the shelves. Another woman was circling, seeming very upset at the lack of calendars. She had got there at 8:00, and said there was a line outside, and people waiting in cars, but the store didn’t open till 9:00, so she ran another errand and came back. I wandered over to frozen foods to check to see if the Schneitzel fairy had been there, and the upset customer walked up past me, to the door to the back room. She started asking for something, finally shouting, ‘Can you just hand me that case?’ Someone in the back room handed her a case of calendars, and she headed to the checkout. So I thought they must still be stocking, and I should keep hanging out. Another woman with kids walked up to the manager who was a few feet away from me, and asked about the calendars too. The manager said ‘Everything we have is already out on the floor. Sorry.’
So I figured, okay, they sold out quicker than I thought, and that woman must have grabbed the last of them. I headed towards the checkout to grab the beer one and leave. But as I did so, an employee with a full to the brim shopping cart came out of the back. All the cases in his cart were labeled as various types of calendars. So I thought he must be bringing them out to the shelves, and I could grab ONE and go. Nope. He walked up to a closed checkout lane, and another employee came out of the office. He proceeded to buy an entire cart full of calendars. I was just kinda shocked. I’ve worked retail, and I’ve had managers who let you put aside 1 of something to buy as your shift ended. Like 1 of a popular book at Christmas. But this was an entire cart of merchandise, that multiple customers were looking for and asking employees about. The guy buying everything and the woman checking him out noticed me watching them, and gave me some serious side eye. I was so upset about what a crappy thing this was to do, that I put the pumpkin back, and just left.
If a store had just sold out of something quickly, and I missed out, no big deal. (Even if it is crappy to let a customer buy a case of something that popular). But then to realize they were letting employees do that just made me mad. I’ve shopped (and loved) Aldi for years, but this made me really question if I’ll go back. I was mad enough to send an email to customer service yesterday, and as of 5 minutes ago, they called and left me a voicemail asking me to call them back. I really hate calling them, especially since I wrote out a detailed account of what happened, and the form to send an email required me to include so much data, including the store’s address, exact time I was there, my name, phone number & address, etc. What more could they possibly have to ask me that they couldn’t do with email?
So yeah, that was my totally ridiculous first world problem. Then I came home and thought about buying a blank wooden one, and decorating it myself, and went down a rabbit hole on Amazon. Five minutes later I saw your post, and the rabbit hole went deeper. LOL
Iron Chef Around the World Challenge! 
Honduras: How about some 
there were only two of these night buses, so I didn’t hesitate! What happened with your aldi advent calendar drama?
