Regular customer pissed off at Lidl because of "park rip-off"
Created: 09/29/2022, 18:00
By: Thomas Zimmerly
Definitely no longer at Lidl: Evelyn Sommer, who does her bulk shopping once a week, is pissed off at the discounter.
© Norbert Habschied
A regular customer is pissed off at the discounter Lidl.
The reason: because she stood too long in the parking lot twice during her bulk purchases, she should now pay 50 euros.
The sick pensioner calls it a rip-off.
Karlsfeld – Evelyn Sommer had made a joke with the cashier at the checkout of the Lidl supermarket in Karlsfelder Niebelungenstrasse.
"But you're not being kind to me today," she said to the clerk, considering the €125 she had just shelled out for groceries.
The 75-year-old from Karlsfeld is a regular customer of the discount company.
She's been shopping there ever since there was a branch near her.
"I'm a loyal customer who does the bulk shopping here every week," she says.
She has left a lot of money in the store over the years.
But now the pensioner is pissed off at Lidl.
Because she exceeded the parking time for two of her purchases in August, she should pay 25 euros each.
Lidl is worth it... obviously not for everyone.
Anyone who parks at Lidl enters into a contract.
With regard to its customer parking lot, the discounter concluded a contract with the company Parkdepot GmbH based in Munich, which, as a private parking manager, monitors the entrances and exits of Lidl customers' cars using a "camera-based license plate recognition system".
The thing is like this: if someone drives their car into the parking lot, a contract is formed.
The permitted parking time is 60 minutes according to the "Contract and Parking Conditions", which are posted on large signs at the entrance and in the parking area.
If someone stands longer, a contractual penalty is due.
If exceeded by up to 30 minutes: 20 euros
If the limit is exceeded by up to 30 minutes, that is 20 euros.
After that, every 30 minutes there is an additional 5 euros.
According to the monitoring company, this should be "simply customer-friendly".
On August 19, Evelyn Sommer's small Nissan was in the Lidl parking lot for one hour and 32 minutes, on August 27 for one hour and 46 minutes.
As of August 29, Parkdepot GmbH demanded a total of 50 euros from the 75-year-old.
The GmbH set a deadline with the letter.
She should pay by September 12, otherwise overdue fines would be incurred.
And in order to increase the pressure to pay even more, it says: "As the process progresses, we will be forced to take civil action." Everything is regulated down to the last detail in the "Contract and Employment Conditions".
One searches in vain for an exception for customers.
Regular customer is pissed off at Lidl
"I make a bulk purchase and then I get punished," says Evelyn Sommer.
She suffers from the incurable lung disease COPD.
Every step is difficult for her.
As a result, she is slow to do her shopping.
“In addition, I always look around carefully for offers.
And every now and then I meet acquaintances with whom I talk.” 60 minutes are quickly over.
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Everything regulated down to the last detail: Parkdepot GmbH points out the applicable parking rules on this sign at the entrance to the Lidl car park.
© Thomas Zimmerly
Legally there is nothing to complain about
There is no legal objection to the contractual penalty, says Nikolaus Stumpf, market observation consultant at the Bavarian Consumer Advice Center.
The 60-minute parking time is also reasonable.
Nevertheless, questions arise.
Why are Lidl and Parkdepot GmbH teasing a loyal regular customer with a contractual penalty?
And how did Parkdepot get Evelyn Sommer's personal data in the first place?
Regular customer speaks of rip-off
The customer answers question one with one word.
She calls the approach of Parkdepot GmbH, which boasts on its website of being able to offer “digital solutions for your parking space”, simply a “rip-off”.
In order to answer question two, one must first state that it is a matter of purely private law.
Evelyn Sommer has not committed any administrative offence.
Nevertheless, the surveillance company got hold of the data.
"I will definitely never go shopping at Lidl again!"
Evelyn Sommer
Paragraph 39 of the Road Traffic Act is helpful.
It regulates that private individuals can request a holder query from the local registration office or the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
"The requesting person or body must credibly and conclusively demonstrate that the data is required to assert legal claims in connection with participation in road traffic," explains Sina Török, press spokeswoman for the Dachau district office.
How does the company get the data?
According to Török, the unauthorized use of a private parking space and the resulting claim for damages regularly represents a legitimate interest in the transmission of the owner data.
And: "The legitimate interest is also credibly demonstrated through a precise description of the facts, stating the place and time of the parking violation, affected license plate number, applicable regulation on the private parking lot."
Regular customer never wants to shop at Lidl again
The question still remains: Why are regular customers also asked to pay with the Lidl parking depot system?
"As a service partner, we have no permission to comment on this," says Parkdepot spokeswoman Tamara Oertel, playing the ball into Lidl's field.
The chosen procedure "refers to a significant exceeding of the parking time," explains Lidl spokeswoman Michelle Mueller.
It's just funny that, according to the "Contract and Setting Conditions", 20 euros are due from the first minute overdraft.
"However, the fee can be canceled if the Lidl receipt can be used to prove that the purchase took longer," Mueller continued.
Bad luck for Evelyn Sommer, who no longer has the two receipts that would prove the purchases made on August 19 and 27.
It may be that collecting Evelyn Sommer was legal.
Her anger that she threw away the receipts is understandable.
And of course she will transfer the 50 euros.
But: "I will definitely never go shopping at Lidl again!"
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