Some Aldi supermarkets have started checking customers' bags to make sure they haven't stolen anything - with many shoppers saying it 'makes them feel like a criminal'.
The budget retailer has introduced the extraordinary measure in areas where shoplifting is a 'local issue'
And social media is awash with unhappy customers quick to slam the new initiative.
One took to Facebook to share that the procedure was happening in her local Aldi store.
She posted that both shopping bags and handbags were being looked in - but the retailer confirmed that only bags used to carry groceries are being checked.
A supermarket spokesperson said the bag checks are "not a national policy", but "where necessary, checks are sometimes introduced at individual stores as a short-term measure in response to a local issue".
Such checks are always "conducted with the customers' permission and should only cover the bags they're using to pack their shopping, not handbags or other personal bags".
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'Cashier would not serve me until my bag was checked'
Another customer wrote on Facebook claiming a cashier would not serve her until her bag was checked.
They posted: "I got asked in my local Aldi this morning as I was going through the till, if she (the cashier) could look in my bag.
"I asked why and was told they're checking everyone's bags at the till because they have a shoplifting problem. I refused and was told she couldn't serve me then.
"I have nothing to hide but I resent having to prove I'm innocent to do my shopping.
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"I'm an ex-store detective, do they really think bags are the only place goods can be hidden in anyway?
"As private property they can do what they like as we're invited in to shop with them, but that doesn't excuse this ridiculous behaviour. Will go back tomorrow with several shopping bags with other items in from other shops and see what they make of that.
"They need to address their own leakage issues by having a proper security policy and not annoy their shoppers by making them all feel like dishonest people just doing their shopping."
'She left without the lollies she wanted'
One shopper wrote on Twitter that they had clocked someone being refused service at the till after not letting the cashier check their bag.
@brettadam_23 said: "In Aldi today and a woman refused to allow them to check her bag.
"Started ranting about them not having the authority to look in her bag. Was told it's a condition of entry and was refused service. She left without the lollies she wanted."
Another customer @XchloeGjonesX was not too keen on the the procedure.
She wrote: "Do not shop in Aldi! The staff make you feel like shoplifters and say there's a new policy where they have to check bags when you've shopped in another shop! @AldiUK this is disgusting and not right."
'Got nothing to hide, so why not?'
But not all customers were unhappy with the bag-checks, with one Facebook user posting: "Crack on I say. Got nothing to hide so why not? If it helps keep prices down go for it."
Another shopper added: "As a deterrent to shoplifters, I think it’s fine. I do not want to subsidise other people's shopping."
In other countries, it seems this policy had already been implemented last year. A spokesperson for Aldi Australia tweeted in January: "Aldi's bag checks are a national store policy and are intended to deter theft.
"Our staff are directed to check handbags, backpacks, containers, parcels and prams. A sign explaining the policy may be found at the front of every Aldi store."
