An Aldi shopper claims she was left ‘humiliated’ after staff asked to search her shopping bags to make sure she hadn’t stolen anything before checking out her groceries.
Karen Sharman, 61, claims she was ‘singled out’ after a routine trip to the budget chain’s Brighton store on March 26th 2025, turned into a dramatic confrontation.
Aldi introduced its ‘bag search’ policy in selected UK stores back in 2023 in a bid to stop shoplifting, asking selected customers to put their bags on the conveyer belt with the shopping to prove they’re empty.
Customers are also being asked to show staff the contents of any full bags they might have with them, or risk being refused service, with similar policies existing at most major supermarkets.
While customers must consent to the search, not all staff feel comfortable with the policy, with one employee writing on an Aldi Facebook group: ‘It’s an awful feeling having to ask customers.’
Similarly, Londoner Mark Cob Webb took to Facebook last week to complain about the policy in his local store, claiming that cashiers ‘pick and choose’ who to search, and it feels ‘discriminatory’.
‘The customers that are bringing these businesses their profits and paying their wages are now having to do the security’s job and to me if feels like, you feel a “bit of a thief”,’ he said. ‘Like you can’t be trusted to do your own shopping without coming into a shop and having to prove that you’ve not just walked around and stolen anything.’
Speaking about her experience, cabaret performer Karen who goes by the stage name Dolly Rocket told MailOnline she popped into the store in her everyday attire – no sequins or feathers in sight – to grab her essentials, saying: ‘It was just a normal Wednesday.
Karen Sharman, 61, claims she was ‘singled out’ after a routine trip to Aldi’s Brighton store on March 26th 2025, turned into a dramatic confrontation
The performer was asked to show what was in her bag to prove she hadn’t stolen anything before the cashier would check out her groceries
‘I filled my basket, went to the till and unloaded my shopping onto the conveyor belt. An elderly chap in front of me paid and left without a hitch. But for me? It was a different story.’
What happened next left the seasoned entertainer gobsmacked. As she prepared to pay, the cashier told her: ‘I need to look in your bag.’
Karen, stunned, replied, ‘Excuse me?’ only to be met with a curt, ‘It’s policy.’ Refusing to comply, she fired back, ‘I just want to buy my shopping – there’s no reason for you to look in my bag.’
The situation escalated. Karen demanded to speak to the manager and whipped out her phone to film the unfolding drama.
In the now-viral clip – which has already racked up over 650,000 views across Facebook and Instagram – she narrated her outrage saying: ‘I’m in Aldi today, and I’m told I have to show what’s in my bag.
‘I’m going to call the police, quite frankly. There’s no proof I’ve been shoplifting, yet I’ve got to have my bag searched before I can buy my shopping!’
Pointing her camera at the cashier, then panning to the growing queue behind her, Karen fumes, ‘We’re holding up the queue because apparently our bags have to be checked!’ A man in a red puffa jacket shrugs as she adds, ‘Like a shoplifter!’
The cabaret queen, a fixture in Brighton’s vibrant entertainment scene, told Mail Online she felt ’embarrassed and intimidated’.
Londoner Mark Cob Webb also criticised the policy and said that it felt ‘discriminatory’ because only some shoppers are asked to show what’s in their bags
Karen, who is a well-known performer in Brighton’s vibrant cabaret scene said that she felt ‘singled out’ by the incident
The cabaret performer, pictured in costume, said she was dressed in everyday clothes when she visited the store
‘I had nothing from Aldi in my bag,’ she insisted. ‘But I was being treated like a criminal for no reason.
‘I suggested calling the police because if they suspect me of stealing, that’s the proper step. I’d let the police search my bag – they have the legal right.’
The tense exchange ended with Karen branding the staff ‘idiots’ and declaring, ‘I’m going to Sainsbury’s now – that’s where I’m going!’ True to her word, she abandoned her Aldi haul and stormed out.
Reflecting on the experience, Karen said: ‘It’s a violation of civil liberties. Why should a shop assistant have the right to rummage through my personal property? It’s outrageous.
‘As a middle-aged LGBT woman of colour, she also suspects discrimination.
‘I didn’t see anyone else’s bags being searched – just mine. Why me?’
The Brighton singer, famed for compering variety shows blending comedy, acrobatics and burlesque, points out there’s no signage warning of bag checks.
‘It’s a ridiculous anti-shoplifting policy. While they were harassing me, real thieves were probably stealing all sorts.’
She also claims she found the staff’s attitude ‘sneering’.
‘They didn’t ask politely – they demanded. I won’t shop at Aldi again,’ she said.
Karen has left feedback on the Aldi website says she has made a formal complaint to customer services.
An Aldi spokesperson said: ‘Like other retailers, we ask to carry out routine bag checks with the customer’s permission. We are sorry our request was upsetting to Ms Sharman and will take her feedback on board.’
