[Xylakant]

> Often with a toddler and/or car seat in hand, unlocking a cart (for example) is not just an inconvenience, it’s a dealbreaker

Interesting issue. I’ve never had that problem as a parent and have never heard anyone else raise that as an issue - having carts locked is absolutely standard in germany since at least a couple of decades. Maybe people are just used to it. There are specialized carts nowadays for wheelchair users that are not usually locked, but the normal ones are. It’s so standard that there are even plastic coins to unlock which sort of defeats the purpose.

[zaarn]

It only defeats it partly. It's still your plastic coin. If you left the cart, you'd be handing someone else your stuff for free.

[Xylakant]

Absolutely. Mine is so worn that it barely works, but you'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. The store would give me a new one for free just for asking if they can change a bill so I have coins to unlock a cart.

The best thing ever was that in the beginning, the plastic ones sold for the same price as the face value of an equivalent coin. People would by a plastic 1 DM-sized piece for 1 DM.