Accidentally didn't pay..

[Epilepsyhelp]

So I went shopping for my friend's DS first birthday. I bought a few little outfits in M&S, I was vaguely aware that I'd spent maybe £70. Added some food bits in as well, went to the till.

I watch the guy ring everything up, carefully taking things off hangers etc and scanning them all. Came out at £58. Ooh, I must have added wrong, I thought.

Headed home, wrapped them all up, put the receipt away in case something didn't fit. Handed gifts over.

I was thinking about it later and thought, I'll check the receipt. A whole outfit wasn't scanned.

AIBU not to go back and explain/pay? Maybe this should be in WWYD - I feel guilty but it's five days later now!

Not your fault, M & S can afford it and you have to make the effort to return the goods, forget about it!

Of course M&S can afford it - because they don't bloody pay it!! The cost of shrinkage - which includes this sort of accident, and people choosing not to be honest, ARE ADDED TO THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP^ - so it is the ordinary shoppers who are being forced to afford this!

Why do people not understand this.

The shop don't pay.

The shareholders do not pay..

Ordinary customers DO pay.

That's me, you, your pensioner granny, the single parent on a low income - ordinary people.

Shrinkage is not just for mistakes. Very little is for mistakes.
Most of it is for the huge amount of shop lifters who steal things on purpose, often, and high value items!!!!
Honestly, this is quite mad now!

I don't understand why you don't just phone them up. No need to go back specially.

I have not said that shrinkage is just for mistakes, or even that it it makes up a large part of shrinkage.

All I have said is that the cost of mistakes like this (and the deliberate choice not to be honest after a mistake) IS included in shrinkage - it does not come out of shareholders dividends or company profits, or any of the other excuses people are making for not being honest after a mistake has been made.

People need to accept the fact that, when they don't own up after a mistake, the cost of that is borne by ordinary shoppers like themselves - that is all that I am saying.

Funny this, I did exactly that last week.
Was too busy chatting to the woman at the M&S till to notice she'd handed me back a 50 note instead of a 20.
I realised a few hours later when I opened my purse again and wondered why I had a 50 note in there.
I brought back the 30. It just didn't feel right to me to hold on to it.
Maybe I am stupid, or a sucker.
Just didn't feel right, her till would have been down 30 at the end of her shift.

I don't think you are stupid or a sucker. I think you did the honest decent thing.

I know but for £12, blimey.
It's gonna cost more in admin and time that it will to get the money back.
It really will!!

Which is why, when I have contacted retailers in the past, to tell them a mistake has been made, and I owe them some money, many times they just tell me to keep the item - but my conscience is clear.

A long time ago I was buying clothes in Dorothy Perkins, the woman in front of me was returning some items and they got put into my bag by mistake.

I actually did make a special trip into town the next day to return them and the manager was so pleased (and surprised!) with my honesty that she told me to choose something to the value of the items I'd brought back for free! Win win!

(I was newly pregnant and chose a hideous now I look back but I adored it maternity dress to grow into!)

Even so, I am not sure I'd do the same thing again, especially not over £12 and a week later. If I was passing the store maybe but I wouldn't make a special trip and would be wary of ending up wasting loads of time on it and possibly getting a cashier into bother.

SDTG - you asked why I make a differentiation between the big multiples and our local businesses, so I will answer, in doing so I will state I do understand that shrinkage is 'paid' by the average consumer not profits or shareholders.

The point to note however is through low wages, poor training and a general attitude the big organisations have a reputation that is more than accurate, they budget for these events and it is not my job to do the staff training or act as a supervisor to the staff. The general poor signage and dubious offers throughout the store, the product placement etc are all there to make us part with our hard earned cash, so I am not going to point our their failings, I spend enough time just making sure they are not fleecing me.

With home delivery I find the whole situation quite bizarre and if I was in charge of policy I wouldn't be letting people keep the substitutions they reject, after all now I know if I reject the substitution the cost will be removed from my bill and I will be allowed to keep it why would I not?

To conclude multinationals need to step up and treat us - their customers better to earn back our loyalty and trust

Those are all good points - but I still think I would rather be honest, and know that I am not adding to the shopping bills of ordinary folk.

Not to do so does not punish the company or make them change their ways, because they just shrug the costs off onto their customers.

With regard to extras in supermarket deliveries - I should have made it clear that, all the times it has happened to me, I haven't found the extra items whilst the van driver was there - I get the big weekly shop for 5 adults delivered, so unless something were to be blatantly obvious, I wouldn't notice the extras until I started putting it all away. If I did notice whilst the driver was there, I'd simply hand the items back.

But when I do find extras (last Christmas it was two bottles of rather nice wine, and previously it's been things like a tin of milk powder and some biscuits), I ring customer service. If it's something chilled, they cannot send the driver back to collect it, because they can't guarantee how things have been stored, so if they came back for them, they'd be binning them anyhow, so you usually get to keep it. With non-chilled items, I think it depends on the value - there was no point them sending the van all the way back to me for a tin of milk powder, but sadly it was worth their while to send him back for the two bottles of wine dammit.

So OP? Have you phoned M&S customer services yet ?

They won't mind in the slightest that it's a week later and if you at doing over the phone then there is no risk of being accused of s shoplifter.

Beryl that is a fantastic system am so stealing that!

I'm going in at the weekend, I'll have to pay for the outfit so might as well be there with my card.

Sometimes its not easy to return items. I ordered 2 sets of placemats and coasters from Argos; they were delivered on a day when I was working at home so I didn't check the parcels. I later discovered they had delivered 3 sets, cue calling customer services. It took an age to get them to accept they had over delivered; they then arranged for the additional item to be collected. So waited in on a Saturday for it to be collected, and guess what? the delivery company didn't turn up! cue rant with customer services, bad enough to wait in for something you wanted, but when it was something you wanted to return due to an error. In the end I had to make a special journey to return to a store, annoyed for an error not of my making. Don't get me started on a Boots overdelivery!!

I would go back - the clothes may not feel nice to wear if you haven't paid for them.

I think I would go back and explain - but cos I would feel guilty.
And then I would probably end up looking stupid...
I query what I am charged if it seems too little - and more than once had the 'problem' of them thinking I think it is too much - I once had an extended conversation in a clothes store as something had been reduced and I didn't know - they went through what I had bought and came to the reduced item and I said 'that will be it - are you sure that's right? - they thought I was saying they hadn't reduced the item...I wish I hadn't said anything!
(The most embarrassing thing I've ever done many years ago was buy something (electronic) on a self service till in Tescos -it was tagged and I set the alarm off - the security guard said don't worry and waved me through. Got home found the tag in the box so decided I would take it back (I reuse/recycle everything)...stuck it in my purse and forgot, did a massive shop and set the alarms off as I was leaving - the (different) security guard thought I was up to something dodgy and went through all my shopping ...)

Any update OP?

I realise you've probably made the decision not to go back after everyone saying not to, but I work in a high street chain and I would love you to the moon and back if you came back. Although the money may not be a big thing to the company, the missing item/s will be a problem to the store. We have a computer system which tells us our stock levels, which we use when customers ask for specific items which they can't find themselves. The items you got for free will still appear on their system. We waste a lot of time (our's and the customer's) looking for items which aren't there (sometimes stolen, sometimes mistakes like this). We also have stock takes where we spend a lot of time searching for items which it turns out aren't there. Most high street companies are really stretched for staff now and we can't afford to spend time looking for things that aren't there. It means queues building up, customers getting angry, us getting stressed out and the end result is poorer customer service. Seriously, you would make my day if you told me about the mistake in the stock levels.

I'm a bit confused by the posters saying Loss doesn't come out of profits but is factored into the price. It does, ultimately come out of profits. When you price an item you look at the cost of sales, and decide whether it's a suitable profit to stock at the price te market is willing to pay for it. You don't add a bit on for shinkage. I accept many people on this thread work in retail but I suspect they're not involved in the corporate finance side (or possibly, it's just not being explained properly)

Ikea accidentally sent us 2 kitchen taps in error. I return one to the store the shop assistant told me I was mad and should have kept it.

Happened again with our oven hood. Gave to my dsis who is getting new kitchen on a budget she was thrilled.

I think you should always let the shop know in situations like this. It's best to be honest, they almost always let you keep the items anyway but at least if the till won't balance or stock is missing they know why.
Last year I ordered 3× an item in a supermarket delivery. They sent 3 boxes which I didn't realise until I unpacked it after the driver had gone.
The three boxes meant I had 54 × the item and meant I paid 1.80 and got 32 quids worth!
My children opened a box so I contacted customer services and offered to pay for the opened box and asked them to collect the other two. They initially thought I must have been charged for them and were offering to refund me! They thought I must have been complaining!
Anyway once he finally understood the situation, the bloke at customer services said I could keep them all free of charge and thanked me for my honesty. I still felt guilt every time I ate one though.

Ring up the store and explain, exactly as you have here. It was their fault, but you still didn't pay for it, and you know that now.