After a parking lot rip-off: Lidl buckles in front of the customer – but she remains firm

Created: 06/10/2022, 15:45

By: Thomas Zimmerly

But a woman from Karlsfeld doesn't have to pay because she parked at Lidl for too long.

zim © Zimmerly

Karlsfeld – Lidl has buckled!

The discounter giant bows to its customer Evelyn Sommer (75) and waives the 50 euro penalty for parking too long at the Lidl branch in Karlsfeld's Niebelungenstrasse.

"We have had your request checked again by our department.

We are happy to inform you that we have arranged for the cancellation of the fines mentioned and we apologize for the inconvenience caused, "says a letter from Lidl to the woman from Karlsfeld.

Lidl waives a fee of 50 euros for customers who exceed the parking time

The two tickets that Lidl is talking about are contractual penalties of 25 euros each, which regular customer Sommer received at the end of August because they drove their Nissan for one hour and 32 minutes in one case and one hour and 46 minutes in the other parked in the customer parking lot.

Lidl, in turn, has contracted Parkdepot GmbH to monitor the area.

Parking at Lidl: After one hour of free parking, a penalty of 20 euros will be charged

The private parking manager, on the other hand, has stipulated that customers like Evelyn Sommer can park for free for one hour.

After that, a fine of 20 euros is due, which increases by 5 euros every 30 minutes.

To document everything, Parkdepot uses a “camera-based license plate recognition system.

Pensioner describes Lidl's approach as a rip-off

According to information from the Bavarian Consumer Advice Centre, the Lidl/Parkdepot procedure is legal.

Sommer, on the other hand, speaks of the "rip-off" of customers.

The discounter would only have shown mercy to the 75-year-old if the customer presented the shopping list.

However, Sommer no longer has the receipts.

As a result, Lidl/Parkdepot insisted on payment.

Lidl customer has already paid the fine

"I've already paid for all that nonsense," says Sommer, who wonders "how they imagine it now."

Do I get a refund or a voucher?” When asked if she also wanted to show mercy and do her weekly bulk purchases at Lidl again in the future, she only said that bowing is not enough.

"They have to kneel down a bit." She's now shopping elsewhere.

Only when she was assured that the parking depot would leave her alone could she imagine going back to Lidl.

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When claiming the contractual penalties, the company had threatened “dunning fees” and “civil law steps”, setting a deadline of just 14 days.

Sommer finds such an approach “outrageous”.

"Everyone who drives into the parking lot," she says, "is a godsend for them!"

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