It's a bad business: unscrupulous people are trying to make money from the corona crisis by buying up toilet paper in bulk and offering it overpriced on the Internet. Supermarkets like Edeka Simmel have now responded to this.
Unterhaching / Pullach - The shelves at home: after a vacation of several weeks in New Zealand: empty. So Bernhard and Elisabeth Schweiger from Unterhaching wanted to get the basics after their return. At 68 and 67 years old, the couple bought: Edeka Simmel in the Grünwalder Weg industrial estate: tomatoes, mozzarella, ham, washing powder, meat, basil. "And a pack of kitchen paper with two rolls," report the couple. That's where the problems started.
Toilet paper is only available from a minimum purchase value of 25 euros
At the checkout, the two seniors were stopped by an Edeka employee. Because of the corona crisis, toilet paper and kitchen rolls would be rationed - you could only take one pack per purchase and the minimum purchase value had to be 25 euros. The Schweigers' bill only added up to 15.42 euros. “So the kitchen roll at the cash register was taken from us again. "We were totally flabbergasted," reports Elisabeth Schweiger to Munich's Merkur. “We feel this is a scandal. You are forced to buy more than you need. We believe that the Corona crisis is making profit here. ”
A pack of toilet paper or kitchen roll is only available from a minimum purchase value of 25 euros. Many customers are bothered by this regulation in Simmel-Edeka.
© private
The Schweigers are not alone in their anger: Kurt Hoffmann from Taufkirchen has experienced the same thing. "It is understandable that the supply of toilet paper, kitchen rolls or paper handkerchiefs is rationed as a measure against hamster purchases," he says. “But whether that is legal in combination with a minimum purchase of 25 euros?” Edeka Simmel in Pullach also handled this.
Market manager speaks of the black market as in times of war
In the meantime, Peter Simmel (60), head of the Edeka stores named after him, has tuned in and changed the practice of awarding toilet paper. "I am sincerely sorry for these individual cases," he says when asked by Munich's Merkur. "Humanity always has priority." But it is also important to distribute goods such as toilet paper in a fair manner in the corona crisis. And not easy.
Peter Simmel chooses drastic words. "It is a black market. As in wartime. ”The goods: toilet paper. The measure of only allowing one pack per purchase did not work. "Some people went in ten or more times, always lined up at a different cash register and bought toilet paper until their car was filled to the brim." It no longer had anything to do with buying hamsters, it was rather the perfidious mesh, the uncertainty To exploit normal customers, it was brought to him, says Peter Simmel, that "in the Bavarian Oberland" someone filled a garage to the brim with toilet paper and cans to sell these goods at exorbitant prices via platforms such as eBay or Amazon.
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Favored by customers
"The situation of the people in the corona crisis is exploited. It's a huge mess, ”says Peter Simmel. His son Andreas adds: “To put a stop to this behavior, we spent the minimum purchase value of 25 euros. Our goal is not to profit, but to keep toilet paper available to every customer. Even customers who shop for 200 euros only get one pack. ”
The Simmels are well received for this measure. As a Google review, a customer wrote about the situation in Unterhaching: “I think it's great. Some customers are just outrageous. Please make a minimum purchase of 30 euros, so everyone can get toilet paper thanks to you. ”And in a Facebook post, Simmel practice says:“ If every grocery store in Germany or worldwide implemented this, there would be no empty toilet paper shelves. Because what people eat in terms of food comes out at the bottom. The conversion ratio of 25 euros of food to a pack of toilet paper is very generous. ”
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A new procedure applies from now on
Peter Simmel has since realized that the distinction between normal and “bad” customers is difficult and difficult to control even with the 25 euro rule. For this reason, a new procedure applies immediately: toilet paper and kitchen rolls are now only issued directly by the staff at the checkout - personal face recognition is used to expose notorious repeat offenders.
Does this end the small war on toilet paper? "My employees are sometimes berated under the belt, my team suffers terribly from these discussions - many work at the physical and psychological stress limit," says Peter Simmel. "It is borderline." He wants a sense of proportion when shopping in the corona crisis, because normally there would be enough toilet paper for everyone.
By the way, Peter Simmel personally apologized to the Schweiger family. Elisabeth Schweiger is now taking things with humor: "We are trying again to catch one or two rolls."
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