85 euro fine – nice ‘basket of money’ for fast food giants?

Normally a visit to McDonalds goes quickly. Unless you have children with you and they are having fun in the enormous play area. If parents don’t watch the clock, 90 minutes will pass quickly – and that gets quite expensive in Neusiedl. Hardly any of the guests notice that parking is only allowed for an hour and a half. It is posted in the parking lot and on the door at the entrance, but the signs are often overlooked.

At the beginning of this year, the Michlits family, who had just returned from a skiing holiday, was “caught”. They ate, got another coffee, and discussed the week ahead while the kids played. The parents didn’t know the clock was ticking.

Payment term has already passed
Until the punishment came in early February. “The letter arrived at the office during the semester break,” says Margit Michlits. When she held the letter in her hands, the deadline for paying the fine had already passed. She tried calling McDonald’s several times and writing emails, but no response. Nevertheless, the new settler did not pay the fine. “Then I had enough and wrote a final, quite angry email saying I would pass on the case,” Michlits says.

Then suddenly an answer: the fine is withdrawn as a gesture of goodwill. But I don’t understand why she reacts so angrily. They like to be helpful and expect the same from their customers. “I didn’t answer that anymore because it was a shame,” says Michlits, who suspects that there is a business model behind it. If only part of the fines are paid, the fast food giant will already have quite a bit of money in its hands.