Lidl bottle‑return machine in Poznań repeatedly breaks, causing long queues

Customers at the Lidl supermarket on Bobrzańska 19 in the Orła Białego district of Poznań have reported that the bottle‑return machine frequently malfunctions, sometimes every two minutes. Shoppers line up with bags of plastic bottles and wait for the device to start, but it repeatedly stops, forcing them to search for staff assistance. A technician was called, restored the machine for about an hour, after which the failures resumed.

Lidl explains that the breakdowns are often caused by overload, improper placement of bottles (e.g., aggressive insertion or barcode facing upwards), unreadable barcodes, or bottles outside the refundable range. The crushing module can also become full, triggering an automatic pause until emptied. The lack of an alarm button means customers must locate an employee to report each fault, adding to frustration.