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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to keep this mistake?

209 replies

rootietootie · 18/12/2011 00:11

I am wrapping up presents at the moment, most of which we bought earlier today. Earlier we were in Halfords and bought a dvd player for the car for ds2. We picked it off from a picture on the wall and paid for it while the customer assistant retrieved item from stockroom and put it in bag for us. Did not really pay attention as had ds2 (11 months) with us and was faffing about with him. The model we picked was £99. Now am at home, take out of bag and see that the assistant has given us the wrong model, the much nicer, upgraded twin model that is worth £199. Would I be wrong to think that the gods have smiled down upon us and cast a bit of luck upon me. Or do I take it back because I was wittering on to the customer assistant how I really wanted the nicer, upgraded twin model but could justify spending any more on dc1, and having had to listen to me, he probably had this (wrong) model in his mind when he went to get it.

OP posts:
jasper · 18/12/2011 07:11

you know the difference between right and wrong. Take it back.

littlepie · 18/12/2011 07:40

Keep it, no question. As for karma you obviously did something really good for someone to be rewarded in this way!

MabelLucyAttwell · 18/12/2011 08:01

Was it scanned at the checkout? If so, you may keep it.

purplehonesty · 18/12/2011 08:11

Keep it!!

NorksAreMessy · 18/12/2011 08:12

Every time this has happened to me, (ordered and paid for 100 beers for a party and 144 were delivered/ got home to realise something extra in a Next bag/realised something had not been rung through the till at Monsoon/ Tesco delivery bringing six pizzas I hadn't ordered/eBay shop sending me something twice...And loads more examples , it happens to ma a LOT)
anyway, every time it has happened to me I have rung the shop and explained and EVERY SINGLE TIME they have said 'keep it and thank you'

But the thing is I could NEVER just keep it without talking to the shop first. That would feel wrong, and every time I looked at the DVD it would upset me a bit, and make me thing worse of myself.

I would be prepared to bet six pizzas that if you ring Halfords and explain, they too will say "meh! Keep it"

QOD · 18/12/2011 08:21

I had that once with a tiny hand held tv. but the jack point broke and I couldn't Tate it back. keep it though!

itsallgoneabitMrBloom · 18/12/2011 08:30

I have bought 3 of those duel screen DVD players the 1st from Tos R Us which went wrong after about 2 weeks, the next two from Argos worked for a week, the next for about a month, both exchanged. I have another one now, we hardly use it and store it in the house - they seen sensitive unless we have just been unluckly?
They wont repair it or exchange it if it goes wrong as it wont match the reciept.

Iscreamtea · 18/12/2011 08:34

I had this with a car seat once. I didn't notice until that evening because they fitted it in the car for me. By then I figured it was pointless taking it back because it had been used and they can't resell a used car seat. The world didn't end :)

MrsJRT · 18/12/2011 08:51

Halfords once did something very similar with me. I went in to buy a cd player for the car and when I was at the till the guy scanned it through, as we were stood at the till it transpired I needed an extra 'bit' to make the cd player work in my car, he went out the back to get it for me, it cost 4.99 and the cd player was 149.99, he scanned the little bit through, and asked me to put my card in the reader and put in my pin, it was when chip and pin was new technology, I did as he asked, he shoved receipt in the bag with my stuff and I went home. DH fitted the cd player later that day and it wasn't until several days later when I checked my bank account that I realised I had only been charged 4.99 for everything, the guy obviously hadn't married the two things up at the till. It was in my car by then, their mistake, enjoy your cheaper DVD player!

Emsmaman · 18/12/2011 08:55

I would keep it, the poor staff member will probably get a bollocking from their manager if you bring it to their attention (has happened to me before when I worked in retail).

SuePurblybiltbyElves · 18/12/2011 08:56

I don't understand how they scanned the wrong item at the lower price. Unless they have codes at the till and don't use the barcodes on the boxes - what does your receipt say? It sounds like the one you wanted must have been reduced anyway.

KittyFane · 18/12/2011 08:57

Keep it. Nobody will get into trouble.

KittyFane · 18/12/2011 09:00

Agree with Ems that shop asst. will probably get told off if you phone up and bring it to their attention.

ByTheWay1 · 18/12/2011 09:11

mmmmm - In a shop there is usually a notice saying "check your change - mistakes cannot be rectified once you have left the shop".

I would be of the opinion that since they gave you the item, and they charged you for the item, they SOLD you that item at whatever price they charged. They then allowed you to leave the shop with the item - it is yours.

Perhaps the assistant was doing a bit of a secret Santa???

arsenpants · 18/12/2011 09:11

Oh just keep it!!! And enjoy it!!! Yay for the christmas gods smiling on you!
And next time you lose some money or something valuable that can be your karma payback, if you believe in that sort of thing! Xmas Wink

KittyFane · 18/12/2011 09:31

Bytheway - Perhaps the assistant was doing a bit of a secret Santa???
I was thinking the same as OP was chatting to the shop asst. about wanting but not being able to afford/ justify the more expensive one.

michaela18a · 18/12/2011 12:24

Its not theft, I think in the eyes of the law ownership of item passes when payment is paid. Also there has to be intent. You have to have intent at time of appropriation of goods which you did not have. If you realised the mistake in the shop and stayed quiet it might be viewed as theft, but once you left the shop, you are in the clear.

WorraLiberty · 18/12/2011 12:28

Did you pay by cash or card?

If it was by card, I'd check your statement very carefully before you get too happy.

On the other hand, it sounds as though the product had the wrong barcode, otherwise the mistake would have been flagged up at the till.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 18/12/2011 12:52

I would contact the shop and tell them what happened - my conscience would not let me keep something I hadn't paid for. RootieTootie - I suspect you are asking the question here because you have doubts about whether it's right for you to keep this item, and somewhere deep inside, you know it's wrong. Yes, it was their mistake, but is your conscience absolutely clear about benefitting from that mistake to the tune of £100?

Rasputin mentioned that shops have a 'shoplifting budget' and this will come out of that. In a sense, she's right - shops have a margin in their prices that covers 'shrinkage' - which is loss due to shoplifting, or an item getting broken etc - but the important point that rasputin failed to mention is that the margin for shrinkage is paid for by the customers - it is a bit extra on the price of every single item sold. This isn't going to come out of Halfords' profits - it is going to come out of the pocket of every person who shops there.

I am afraid I do judge people who do this - who say, it's a gift from the christmas gods, it's karma because [insert name of big retailer here] doesn't care about their customers, I spend loads of money there, so I deserve it, the assistant wasn't polite enough to me, so I deserve it, it was their mistake, so it's OK. It's not OK.

As others have said, if the mistake had been the other way around, if, for example, the assistant had charged you for the model you wanted, but given you a much cheaper one, you would have been back in there quick-sticks, to demand your rights - to be honest, I think that if someone thinks it's OK to benefit by a store's mistake, they should take the other side of the coin too, and not be able to complain when a store makes a mistake to their detriment. I have no qualms about complaining if I am overcharged, because I know I have owned up in the past when I have been undercharged for something, or when the tesco deliveryman has left me a bag of someone else's shopping.

pictish · 18/12/2011 12:55

Oh belt up SGT!

Keep it OP - yahoo! Grin

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 18/12/2011 13:08

I'm not going to belt up, pictish. The OP knows this is dishonest, otherwise she wouldn't be posting here, asking for reassurance.

4madboys · 18/12/2011 13:08

KEEP IT and enjoy, if you feel you must then pass the good karma on Grin

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 18/12/2011 13:13

By that, I assume you mean donate something to charity, 4mdaboys. If that makes it OK to keep something you've come by dishonestly, would it work for drugs dealers, say, or people who mug or defraud old ladies of their pensions? If they give a percentage to charity, then that excuses how they got the cash in the first place? I don't think so.

It is dishonest to keep this item - pure and simple.

swingingcat · 18/12/2011 13:15

Halfords is a huge company and can afford to make mistakes!

OP keep it and let your little ones enjoy watching their DVDs.

Many years back I did a huge grocery shop and paid by cheque, the cashier checked the signature and wrote my card number across the back of the cheque and then proceeded to give me back said cheque. I thought nothing of it and thoroughly enjoyed all the groceries Xmas Grin

4madboys · 18/12/2011 13:20

i didnt necessarily mean charity no, you can pass good karma on in many ways, help out a friend or someone in need, whatever.

and equating keeping something that a shop has mistakenly miss sold you with drug dealers or muggers is frankly riddiculous!

shops have a mark up and it was probably over priced anyway, they made a genuine mistake and the op has benefited. someone who makes money from selling drugs or mugging people is commiting a crime in the first place, the op didnt commit a crime, she is the just got lucky with a till opperative making a mistake, it was probably busy and mistakes happen, no one has been hurt by it and the chances are no one will be.