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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Undercharged. WWYD?

226 replies

Haffdonga · 31/07/2014 18:15

OK, so what would you honestly honestly do? Not what is the right thing or what you would like to think you would do, but actually really do?

Today I bought 3 items in TK Maxx. They were all processed at the till, tags removed etc. The bill came to less than I'd expected and I assumed that something had been reduced , hooray.

When I get home I check the receipt and find that a pair of school shoes was not included on the bill. I think they were £25-ish. To go back and pay now would involve a return journey into town and parking costs. Plus Dh is facing redundancy for the second time in 3 years so we're feeling very poor.

You'd go back and pay, wouldn't you?

OP posts:
MidniteScribbler · 01/08/2014 00:21

I didn't get charged for a DVD one day ($10) that I was buying with my groceries, although the cashier did remove the lock on the case. I noticed before I left the shop, so went back to the counter to pay for it (was worried I would get a tap on the shoulder as I tried to leave!). Manager rang up the $10 DVD and I paid, then she gave me a $30 gift voucher for being honest. Grin

EthicalPickle · 01/08/2014 00:29

I would and do normally own up and pay and I wouldn't give it any thought.
I think in your circumstances I would be a lot more conflicted Confused but, I think I would phone the store and arrange to pay either at a later date or over the phone.
If you are lucky they may tell you not to bother

SqueakySqueak · 01/08/2014 00:33

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius Did you know hypothetically that if we paid McDonald's workers a living wage, and we're talking consistent and substantial increase in money being paid across millions of workers, a big mac would only go up by $0.68?

Business 101 for you: companies make prices with losses in mind, stores are allowed a certain loss amount. A certain percentage is a normal loss, but if it goes above that the company is investigated to figure out why. I think it's safe to say that if store merchandise is going up from a few random items it's to line pockets instead of cover losses.

I think the naive one is you. This "we all pay" is the mindset of the uneducated who don't understand how companies work. We don't all pay, because if the prices get too high, we shop somewhere else. It's not like taxes because we are not forced to shop anywhere. They will not raise prices because they will want to compete with other companies, including online companies like Amazon.

TobyLerone · 01/08/2014 07:20

Bit late to the party, but no way would I go back and pay.

Karma is bollocks. "I figure they owe me for all the times I've paid over the odds" is also bollocks. There's no way of justifying it. But I'd still take advantage of their error.

ChoccaDoobie · 01/08/2014 08:59

I think it is ott to say that we are all having to pay for the shoes STG because of the OP's course of action. The shop assistant made the mistake, OP only realised on returning home therefore if you look at it like that we are in effect paying for the shop assistants mistake. Shoplifting etc are completely different. What about the times when people are mistakenly overcharged and don't notice or take action?

I'm not saying it evens out exactly but mistakes can definitely happen both ways. I was once sent double of an order by the book people. I callled them back the same day and they said someone would come and pick them up....they never did....should I have continued calling or sent them back at my own expense?

ChoccaDoobie · 01/08/2014 09:00

Sorry, I meant don't take action, very badly written post!

OhYouBadBadKitten · 01/08/2014 09:14

We were at a pub recently where they forgot to charge us for a dessert. Dh pointed it out to the manager who came for the money. We got a polite thank you and a new bill was presented to us. (If I were her I would have given it to us for free for being honest but I'm soft)

She then bollocked the member of staff who had rung it up wrong in clear earshot of us. It left us feeling bad that we had got a young girl in trouble.

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 09:15

There are some self righteous people on here. They are not stolen ffs! The op presented the items for cashier to ring up, she made a mistake and forgot one item! Op only realised when she got home, why should she incure cost and time for some bodies mistake. I am sure if she had walked out of the shop and realised then she would have gone straight back, or she was near the shop.

needaholidaynow · 01/08/2014 09:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 09:21

It was the cashier mistake that cost the company money, not op

JustAShopGirl · 01/08/2014 09:21

just stop checking receipts when you get home... if you didn't check, you wouldn't know about it - would it still be wrong if you were oblivious?

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 09:23

I never check, they get stuffed in a carrier bag and forgotten. So I could have been over and under charged and never known!

TheNumberfaker · 01/08/2014 09:36

I do wonder what the legal position is on this. OP presented ALL items at the till, the shop assistant offered a price of say £50 (rather than £75) and OP accepted it and only discovered the mistake when she got home.
Just wondering if there's a special case for petrol stations as I remember once filling up with fuel, went in to pay but picked up a couple of things in the shop too. I know I mumbled said 'number 5 too' but the person at the till can't have heard me. I paid by card and didn't look at the amount. When I pulled up at home 5 minutes later I looked at my receipts and realised I'd only paid £5 rather than £55. I drove straight back and paid.

OnlyLovers · 01/08/2014 09:44

Large shop – no.

Small local place where every penny really does count and I'm on chatting terms with the staff etc –yes.

Did that recently actually, when someone in a local cafe thought I'd paid for two lunches upfront and went to charge me for only the coffees. she could have been more grateful about it, TBH

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 09:45

The number the petrol staff might not have heard you, op presented all the physical items there, so cashier had them in front of her. In op case I just wouldent, they probably throught you were crazy if you went back. I was shopping and shoved a very heavy 6 pint milk in my buggy as I did not want to carry it in my basket (small little mini market so no trolly), I forgot to include the milk when paying. I realised my mistake when I git home (I live a minute away from the shop). So I returned to pay. The cashier looked at me if I was mad and said to me that she would not have come back!

Stinkle · 01/08/2014 09:46

I never check receipts, just stuff them in a drawer so probably would never notice, but if I did, no I wouldn't go back if it ended up costing me in petrol/parking, etc.

Our local town is all local independent shops, it's walking distance and I go fairly regularly, so yes, I'd go back if it was something like that. But the big shops - TK Maxx/Next/H&M, etc are all a big drive away, with expensive parking and I go once in a blue moon, so no, I wouldn't go back for them, I wouldn't go back if I'd been over charged either

I scored a free pack of curtain hooks in Dunelm Mill the other day, they were stuck to something else I was buying, neither me or the cashier noticed them, I didn't actually want them and only found them when I got home. No, I'm not taking them back

Picklepest · 01/08/2014 09:46

Wouldn't give it a seconds thought. I'd think yay! Free shoes!

JustKeepPacking · 01/08/2014 09:49

There's no way id go back. Why should you have to go out of your way to go back when they were at fault. To say you've stolen them is ridiculous.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 01/08/2014 09:58

Sending your DS to school in stolen shoes - haha Grin.

Would I go back? Would I hell.

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 10:00

I agree if that was a small independent I would have gone back, despite their mistake, but not a big multinational company

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 10:01

If it was a small independent mistakes like that probably do not happen, as loosing stock would be like loosing your livelihood, so staff might take more care.

ChocolateWombat · 01/08/2014 10:03

I would not say that you have stolen the shoes. There was a genuine mistake.
However, you do now have a choice about how you respond. Personally, I think it is always good to do the right thing. You were planning to pay for the shoes and had the money for them and still do.
I would ring up, rather than trek in. I would ask to speak to the customer services manager and explain what happened. Ask them what they would like you to do. They may well thank you for your honesty and say you can keep them.
If they ask you to pay over the phone, do so, or if they want you to pop in, say you will, but at your convenience when you are already in town.

This is clearly playing on your mind. It is worth ringing, to end that underlying sense you have of things not being quite right. The worst thing that can happen is they ask you to pay. You will be no worse off than you were expecting to be, but have a clear conscience and a sense of having done the right thing....I think that is worth more than £25!

Gileswithachainsaw · 01/08/2014 10:04

Those of you who have worked in retail, what do you think when it happens to you?

Do you think "my mistake...oh well"

Or are you appreciative if someone comes back and tells you that you forgot something or have them to much change?

Bifflepants · 01/08/2014 10:12

No I would do a happy little dance and keep them. I would only fess up if it was a small independent shop.

Aeroflotgirl · 01/08/2014 10:36

I agree biffle, it would never occur to me to go on here. I would do a happy dance and keep them. But if op feels bad,she should go back.

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