Expert has a deposit trick: how customers are guaranteed to get their money
Created: 07/07/2022 05:06
By: Jason Blaschke
Anyone who wants to hand in a deposit at Kaufland, Lidl and Co. often struggles with striking vending machines.
Luckily, there are rights consumers should be aware of.
Neckarsulm – With the mandatory deposit on tobacco tax and postage, there have been changes since July 1 that consumers should be aware of.
Because the new legal regulations primarily affect shopping.
At the checkout, for example, customers for tobacco products have to dig deeper into their pockets because the tobacco tax was adjusted on July 1st.
Certainly bitter for many of those affected - also because the first bottlenecks in the tobacco industry only made headlines a few weeks ago.
New deposit requirements in force since July 1: Almost no more exceptions
Experts are currently assuming that consumers of tobacco products will have to pay around ten cents more for a pack of cigarettes due to the additional tax.
The second change since July 1 in retail affects significantly more customers.
It's about the one-way deposit, which is now due for many other products.
Generous exceptions - such as for fruit juices - (more consumer news on
BW24
) are no longer available.
This deposit extension has actually been in effect since 2021, but the transitional period ended on July 1, 2022.
For all consumers, this means that they have to hand in more returnable bottles in supermarkets and discounters such as Kaufland or Lidl.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for retailers to get in the way when it comes to the return of deposits.
The Hamburg consumer advice center reports on this and refers to complaints.
Consumer rights when deposits are returned: Only one feature releases retailers
“I have had the experience of several retailers in my area where (crushed) disposable deposit cans are not taken back by the staff.
Or I was told: 'We don't sell this variety,'" one consumer described, for example - a case that Tristan Jorde from the Hamburg consumer advice center often gets.
The exceptions that exempt retailers from taking deposits are very limited.
The Hamburg consumer advice center says, as BW24 writes, that the only reason for refusing to return the deposit is the material.
"Shops only have to accept the types of packaging that they themselves have in their range." There are no glass bottles in the Lidl range, for example, which is why the discounter can refuse to accept glass bottles and beverage crates.
"However, the shape, brand or content are irrelevant when returning non-returnable bottles or cans."
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Consumer advocates have a deposit tip – “demand vigorously”
According to the consumer advice center, even a damaged barcode is not an argument for refusing a returnable bottle or can.
The deposit amount is to be refunded.
"It doesn't matter whether the container is dirty, crushed or otherwise damaged," says Jorde in an interview with
MOPO.de
about the sometimes sad deposit practice in German supermarkets and discounters.
If the deposit machine does not accept a returnable bottle or can, customers should speak to an employee.
The consumer advocate recommends that those affected should forcefully demand their deposit money.
A free deposit card for your wallet, which summarizes the legal situation regarding deposits, can be downloaded from the Consumer Advice Center's website and shown in the shop if required.
echo24.de
summarizes in a service article
which deposit amounts consumers can hand in at once .
The exceptions for retailers, which exempt them from taking deposits, are manageable.
© Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg e.
V
Note with expiry date: It is better not to keep the deposit receipt for too long
Anyone who has managed to hand in all the bottles and cans should not take too long to redeem the deposit, because the deposit voucher is only valid for a limited time at Kaufland, Lidl and Co. and becomes worthless after a certain time.
So it's better not to forget your deposit at the checkout.
Incidentally, not only the extension of the compulsory deposit is completely new since July 1, but also the service that customers can hand in their old electronic devices to retailers free of charge.
