Australians have revealed the best and worst ‘Special Buys’ they have taken home from Aldi’s popular bi-weekly sales events.
From great white goods, televisions and linen to vacuums that ‘don’t do the job’ and ‘tinny sound bars’ fans of the German retailer have weighed in on their best and worst purchases.
The question, asked by Choice Australia, was promptly answered – with hundreds of people offering their definitive list of the ‘good and bad’ buys.
Australians have revealed the best and worst special buys they have bought from Aldi – with many saying their headphones broke quickly
Many people said they loved the white goods from the store and have fridges and freezers for over a decade without an issue
At the top of the ‘worst’ buys list appeared to be a range of vacuum cleaners, from cordless models through to robotic versions.
‘We had a robot vacuum and it just scratched all of our floors,’ one woman complained.
‘I bought one of the cordless vacuum cleaners only to find out I had to buy the battery pack and charger separately, but they didn’t have any!’ another woman said.
Another woman got a cordless vacuum cleaner and found that the suction wasn’t hard enough to clean her floors.
‘I could have picked up more dirt sniffing the area,’ she said.
Sound bars and headphones were also high on the ‘worst buy’ list.
‘We bought three of the Bluetooth headphones and they all broke in the same place,’ one man said.
‘We bought the headphones too and two broke after they replaced them – they did replace them quickly though.’
‘The sound bar was hard to install and sounded so tinny,’ one woman said.
One woman said the Aldi television was the worst thing she ever bought.
‘The sound quality was dreadful so I took it back for a refund,’ she said.
But others highly rated their television sets.
‘We got the Vivid branded tv ten years ago. Cost us less than $200 and is still going now,’ one woman said.
Camping gear also seemed quite popular.
Some people bragged they had some of their gear, including tents, clothes lines and waterproof bags for over 15 years.
Many people complained about the vacuum range including robotic vacuums, however didn’t state the exact models
Others couldn’t recommend the camping chairs and tables highly enough.
But others found it ‘hit and miss’.
‘The second clothes line we bought didn’t last nearly as long, it broke after the first use.’
‘We had a tent that lasted years and one that broke the first time we tried to use the zip – and they were bought at the same time,’ another person explained.
Others said they didn’t rate the kitchen appliances or glass containers which they complained leaked badly.
Most people agreed the sheets, bathroom towels and bedding were all ‘amazing’ and ‘really soft’.
‘We still have towels from 20 years ago, they are still good as spares.’
Most people said the cordless drills were a great buy and they had bought ‘lots of good power tools’ there
Some people’s responses directly contradicted others.
One woman said the best ever thing she bought in the centre aisle was her waffle iron.
The worst, a log splitter – but she said she got a refund easily.
A woman who had the exact opposite experience said her log splitter is ‘going into its third season’.
‘First season we split about 20 fallen trees of hardwood. Still going strong. We must have got lucky with ours,’ she said.
But her waffle iron was a different season, and he didn’t rate it at all, ‘opposites,’ he laughed at the end of his comment.
One woman mostly had negative things to say about the buys.
‘My dad used to constantly buy stuff from Aldi only for it to break down super quick and become expensive junk.
Some people raved about the washing machines from the supermarket chain
‘The only thing that never broke down was the washing machine,’ she admitted.
Most people agreed the whitegoods have all been good value for them.
Many had their fridges and freezers for over a decade and said their washing machines never let them down.
The same couldn’t be said for the driers though, according to one customer.
‘Heated to hot that it melted the lint holder. And due to that and it spinning in one direction only, it melted a mattress protector. And now just out of warranty it no longer heats,’ she said.
The post attracted hundreds of comments in a few hours.
Most people admitted when they did have problems they were given refunds or the items were replaced or fixed under warranty easily.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Aldi for comment.