"One Reddit thread asks, "[Am I the a*****e] for not giving someone my cart at ALDI b/c they didn't have a quarter? The poster expounds, "Finished my Shopping at Aldi and loaded the car - I can see a family waiting for me to bring my cart back so they can go in [...] I say, I need a quarter if I am going to hand it over."
"Another Reddit thread in r/PetPeeves notes that it's a common practice for fellow shoppers in the Aldi parking lot to "offer" to take a cart back, without offering a quarter in return, thereby framing the quarter-swiping maneuver as a charitable, convenient favor. As the poster elaborates, "I hate it when I am leaving and putting away my cart and someone else is coming in and they are like 'oh I've got that' and reach for the cart [...] they need to offer a quarter replacement."
Aldi charges 25 cents to use a shopping cart by chaining carts and requiring a quarter to unlock one. The mechanism aims to encourage returning carts but creates new etiquette tensions when shoppers expect others to hand over carts without receiving the quarter. Some shoppers refuse to release a cart unless the quarter is returned, citing ownership of the deposit. Others offer to take carts back without replacing the quarter, framing the act as a favor. Online conversations reveal strong opinions and conflict over whether replacing the quarter is necessary, and practical advice includes bringing a personal Aldi quarter.
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