Aldi has updated the app for its ‘just walk out’ store after The Grocer revealed customers could be charged a £10 deposit even if they didn’t walk in.
Previously Aldi’s Shop & Go app prompted users to ‘get code’ and if they tapped the prompt it would instantly deduct £10 from their payment card with no further warning. The charge would then take several days to be refunded to their account, even if they never entered the store.
Now, the app generates a QR code immediately and only deducts the payment when the code is scanned as they enter Aldi’s only Shop & Go store, in Greenwich, south London.
The £10 ‘pre-authorisation’ charge was introduced in an app update earlier this year, as revealed by The Grocer at the time.
The app puts the £10 towards the shopping bill, which is automatically deducted from the shopper’s payment card when they leave the store. If they spend less than £10 – or nothing at all – the difference is refunded but “the timing of such reversal is controlled by your card issuer”, Aldi’s terms & conditions explain.
Aldi said the update meant shoppers could use the QR code to enter the store even if their phone was offline at the time. It said the £10 deposit was to verify the payment cards of new customers, and the amount dropped to £1 after a few shops.
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