A couple years ago I saw a (non-food) shoplifter in a Lidl store in Europe. Lidl is not a large exploitational chain like Wal·Mart or Amazon AFAICT, and Europe has a bit more control over capitalism than the rest of the world. So it seems like an unlikely target for anti-capitalist action. I spotted a shoplift in progress as I was exiting. I went to the Lidl website and tried to use the feedback mechanism to report the shoplifter. The website tried to force me to execute non-free Google JavaScript in order to solve a fucking #CAPTCHA. Fuck CAPTCHAs and fuck all those who would force me to solve a CAPTCHA esp. when forcing me to feed a surveillance capitalist like Google at the same time. I’m not going to use phone credit to call it in. And even if I could have called for free, CAPTCHAs need some negative consequences on the CAPTCHA pushers.

So I did not report it. Call it poetic justice.

  • heptagonEnglish
    6·
    7 months ago

    You really don’t have to feel bad for Lidl. It is one of the biggest grocery chains in Europe, if not the world. They try to appear more progressive compared to others (e.g. in Germany they made a lot of vegan substitute products cheaper than their shitty meat) but honestly, if I see someone shoplift at Lidl, I don’t…

    • activistPnkOPEnglish
      21·
      7 months ago

      Perhaps you’re right but this would not influence my boycotts. My rationale for considering Lidl small is that their per-shop inventory is small with a narrow range of products, which I assume implies they move less product compared to huge stores like Carrefour Market and Delhaize. Carrefour and Delhaize are not so tight on real estate that they have to rotate non-food inventory the way Lidl & Aldi do.

      I direct my boycotts to the relatively worst players. For me that’s Carrefour & Delhaize. Rationale:

      • Delhaize is under an organized boycott
      • Delhaize’s website blocks Tor users
      • Delhaize has a privacy-offending loyalty card which ties the cost of privacy to food
      • Delhaize’s self-scan option is not offered to cash payers (#WarOnCash)
      • Carrefour’s website blocks Tor users
      • Carrefour has a privacy-offending loyalty card which ties the cost of privacy to food
      • Carrefour’s self-scan option is no longer offered to cash payers

      If I were to see a shoplift at one of the above boycotted stores, I’d let it happen. But that’s hypothetical because I’m never in the shops I boycott.

      Lidl and Aldi come out ahead ethically. Lidl does have a loyalty program that affects food prices but that in itself is not enough to condemn them against Carrefour & Delhaize. OTOH Lidl has the “zero waste” program. When food reaches the day of expiry, the price for the package becomes a flat 12—50¢ regardless of the weight/size. That’s so cheap it’s almost like shoplifting (but legit). If you notice something expires today as you stand in line and there is no “zero waste” sticker, you simply tell the cashier and they give it the zero waste price. It’s a good way to reduce food waste. That’s not mere appearances… that is progressive. Lidl is also easy going about returns.

      I won’t participate in the loyalty programs that keep a DB on me, so I avoid products that have a Lidl Plus promo and call it fair enough.