Shoppers have been left 'disappointed' after queuing online for hours to try and get their hands on one of Aldi's new Kevin the Carrot toys - with some reporting waits of up to two and a half hours with no luck.
This year, Aldi has released its initial batch of Kevin merchandise online only, with a virtual queuing system helping people secure them in an orderly fashion.
To help manage demand, the supermarket also limited each shopper to a maximum of two toys.
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However, after the items went on sale this morning, many people logged on to find there were thousands of people ahead of them in the queue, meaning they had a long wait on their hands - with many finding that when they eventually got through, there were none left.
One person tweeted: "I was in the queue from 7.15, finally got through at 10... complete waste of time. You would have thought that given their popularity and the fact that we're having to keep socially distanced this year that they would have had a greater amount of stock available online..."
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Another Twitter user wrote: "Getting up early being in the Online @aldi queue ON TIME AND WAITING for 2 and half hours for everything to be sold out!!!! Come on Aldi do better you know the demand for Kevin!!!!!!!!! DISSAPOINTED TO SAY THE LEAST."
A third shared a screenshot that showed they were in the queue - a message telling them that they were number 10,029,563, and that there were 169,823 users ahead of them, with an estimated wait time of 'more than an hour'.
They said: "Come on Aldi, this pathetic attempt of creating mass hysteria over #KevinTheCarrot is ridiculous. Marketing stunt at its finest. My Autistic son is besotted with Kevin & would have spent literally 5 hours a day solid playing & focusing on him. I won't be playing the eBay game."
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A fourth person also wrote on Twitter: "Gutted I couldn't get Kevin & friends bundle #Kevinthecarrot but thought at least I would get the mug & pyjamas....wrong after hours in the queue everything sold out!"
In response to customers asking when the plush toys would be available in stores, Aldi said: "Due to unprecedented demand and to aid with social distancing we are staggering the launch of Kevin the Carrot merchandise by selling online first at 8am on Sunday 15th November and in-store from Sunday 6th December onwards."
The products have already started appearing on eBay, with one listing having reached a current price of £150 from 23 bids, with 20 hours still to go before the auction ends.
A spokesperson for Aldi told LADbible: "Our Kevin the Carrot soft toys are always incredibly popular. We have limited purchases to two soft toys of each character per customer, so as many people as possible have the chance to buy them. Additional stock will be available in store from 6th December onwards."
Featured Image Credit: Aldi