When Lidl customers in Sollefteå checked their bank accounts, it seemed that the store Patrik’s Gadgets in Halmstad had withdrawn money even though they had not shopped there. A technical error on a card reader in the grocery store contributed to owner Patrik Henningsson receiving over 120 calls from people accusing him of theft – and the phone keeps ringing.
– Many are very upset, someone has been sad and someone has scolded me for notes and wondered why I take their money, he says.
It was just before six o’clock this Tuesday morning that Patrik Henningsson received the first phone call from a person who stated that his company had withdrawn money from his account. Since then, the phone has been ringing non-stop to the shop owner in Halmstad.
As of Thursday, he had received over 120 phone calls and tons of messages on Facebook and Instagram – and he has done his best to respond to all those who contacted him.
– If I myself had been affected, I would have wanted to get answers as soon as possible, he says.
All have shopped at a Lidl store
All the people who have contacted Patrik Henningsson so far have shopped at a Lidl store in Sollefteå, and even though they received receipts for their purchases, Patrik’s Gadgets still stood as a payment reference.
– They received a receipt as usual in the store, but when they looked at the bank it says that I have withdrawn money and not Lidl, hence this onslaught of people who called me, he says.
Patrik Henningsson states, however, that no money was transferred to his company account, but that it ended up at Lidl.
Technical error on a card reader
Due to the many police reports made against him, the police initially launched a fraud investigation. But what was first suspected to be a criminal act would thus turn out to be a technical error on a card reader.
– I have spoken to the head of the investigation, and it has now been called off as they concluded that it was a technical error and nothing else, thank God. But this shouldn’t be able to happen, because I don’t have that kind of payment terminal in my store.
What happens now?
– I don’t know, I just hope it ebbs away because you can’t stand something like this for a long time. You are very vulnerable as a lone small business owner. I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
The police recommend now affected customers to contact their bank in the first place.
Lidl: “The human factor”
Lidl tells in an email to TV4 Nyheterna that the error occurred when the card terminals were changed in the store in Sollefteå.
“Due to the human factor of a subcontractor, the installation has gone wrong,” writes press spokesperson Nahir Aslan.
He emphasizes that customers have not been charged twice.
“We regret what happened and the uncertainty that has arisen,” he writes.