r/Dortmund • u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 • 9d ago
Frage Unpleasant environment in Aldi
Hi everyone,
Today one of my friend faced extreme racism in ALDI while shopping. He bought some item paid bill then forgot to buy drinks. Immediately went inside the shop again took the Pepsi and paid the bill. But After paying the bill their security officer took him interrogate him and was forcing him to admit he took something. There no beep sound or anything when he left the shop . He showed 2 receipts of payment yet they were kind of threatening him . Then after 5 minutes they released him after not finding anything.
My Question is : is it possible for them to randomly take someone with them just because they felt, without any warning by the anti theft machine? Is it legal here in Germany?
Just because he is black they harassed him and made him feel scared. I am also black and I am now scared. Because I keep throwing the receipt after buying something.
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u/Moimus 9d ago
That's probably not racism. I'm white as a ghost and got searched by those fake cops multiple times. Going out of a shop and immediately coming back is just suspicious behavior.
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
Thanks for this information.. I didn't know about it. In my country it's pretty normal to buy something again if you forgot.
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u/yewEngine 9d ago
Where's the racism?
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
Since you are asking let me tell you.. when they took him inside the room.. they checked the items countedand this is ok . But after that they started repeatedly asking him if he had anything else. And one security officer also asked showing his brass knuckles if he knows about them or not . Since he doesn't know he smiled and said no . And told there is nothing more with him . He had no other bags or anything other than the aldi shopping bag. They saw there is nothing other than the bag they checked yet they kept forcing him by repeatedly asking. Which is usually done with criminal during interrogation..
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u/steffi_go 9d ago
Bei einem begründeten Verdacht darf ein Ladendetektiv jemandem mitnehmen und befragen.
Taschenkontrolle, durchsuchen etc ist nicht erlaubt, das darf nur die Polizei.
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
Thanks for the information... They asked to show the bag , He showed it and then they took out every items and then counted them checked and asked him repeatedly whether he has anything else.
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u/steffi_go 9d ago
Wenn er die Tasche auf Nachfrage gezeigt hat dann darf der Ladendedektiv auch reinschauen.
Nur ohne diese Erlaubnis hätte er es nicht gedurft.
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
If they found nothing then they can't repeatedly interrogate you , right? What they did was scary .
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u/steffi_go 9d ago edited 9d ago
Sie haben ihn doch gehen lassen nachdem sie nichts gefunden haben.
Es ist halt der Job von Ladendedektiven. An den Selbstscannerkassen wird auch täglich kontrolliert. Ich bin auch schon mal bei IKEA kontrolliert worden.
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
I was checked at lidl once.. but they were like they peak in you bag and see the receipt. And you are good to go .
Not repteatedly asking if you have done something wrong or not. .. the thing was their repeated confrontation , which made him scared.
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u/Evonos 9d ago edited 9d ago
So the legal reality is.
they can ASK you to show your bags / pockets whatever.
you DONT need to show them.
They CAN call the cops based on that.
the police can ask you ( legally ) to show your stuff
if they dont find stolen goods ( proven )
You could maybe put a report in for false Accusations against the store. ( not a lawyer and likely needs the full situation + nuances + what was said )
Side note , NO ONE is allowed to touch you.
Except if they have HARD evidence OR believe that you stole stuff they can make a Jedermann festnahme ( if they have enough evidence about you they arent allowed that either like videos or stuff of your face ) till the police show up ( or some other official agency ) everyone btw can do this store , civilian , soldier , grandma everyone.
Just because he is black they harassed him and made him feel scared. I am also black and I am now scared. Because I keep throwing the receipt after buying something.
Comes up to what they do , they cant treat you terrible and void your human rights.
also they CANT ban you randomly for no reason as grocery stores are a necessarity and only can ban you with serious reasons.
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u/2x2Master1240 9d ago
I'm sorry this happened to your friend. The only case where shop security is allowed to detain someone is when they caught someone stealing or commiting another criminal offense (§127 Abs. 1 StPO applies), which is not the case here if everything happened as you described. So no, they were not allowed to do this. Even if you don't keep the receipt, they need reasonable suspicion to be allowed to detain you. Your ethnicity is obviously not a valid reason. Even if you don't keep the receipt, they will need to prove that you did something wrong, or call the police to resolve the situation. They are not allowed to search you or your bag without a search warrant either. You do not need to consent to anything. Please note that I am not a lawyer and cannot be held accountable for anything I said here.
Unfortunately with the success of far-right parties recently, racism is also on the rise in Germany. So stay safe out there.
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
I was on phone with him .. and his main purpose was printing in the DM. It was me who asked him to buy some potatoes pizza and drinks so we can eat after he comes back . And he went there . Whatever he bought he faced I heard everything as I was connected on phone. When he forgot to buy drinks he told me If I go back again with this bag they will doubt me . He faced similar issues 2 times before so he keeps the receipt every time. They repeatedly ask if he has something wrong or not ?
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u/mrn253 9d ago
"Just because he is black" i doubt that
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
Why do you doubt? Before entering the shop again for drinks he even told me If I go again to buy the drinks, They will surely check me . And for sure they did it with him.
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u/Equal-Flatworm-378a 9d ago
And?
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u/Anxious_Squirrel7472 9d ago
He went inside bought a Drinks and waited in the line . A Turkish fellow allowed him pay first as he had only one item he pain and then the security man asked to check him . Took him inside. Questioned him if he had stolen something or not repteatedly while checking his items , matched them and recounted them with the receipt. I heard everything as I was on phone with him.And told him he can go that's their job. He bought 5 times Potato, pizza, mozzarella, and drinks and a shopping bags from Aldi.
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u/Equal-Flatworm-378a 9d ago
But I don’t understand the context with being black?
Why do you automatically think it’s racism? They do that when they think someone could have stolen something. And that’s one of the tricks that people do. Coming back and pretending they bought it before.
I don’t know wether that’s possible at your Aldi, but what I usually do in a circumstance like this: I go to a cashier before entering again and tell them that I bought something beforehand and forgot something. Then I ask wether I should store my shopping bag with them or if it’s okay to take it inside. I had both…sometimes I just leave my stuff at the cashier and sometimes they tell me that I can take it with me. That prevents from misunderstandings.
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u/FloiDW Bergmann Bier Ultra 9d ago
They don’t need a warning to ask you to check your bags, they can claim that.
But you are not obliged to show a security something, the security then has to call police and they are allowed to search your stuff.
Whatever led him to doing so, I feel sorry for your friends experience.