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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To keep these clothes that weren't charged for?

465 replies

MinecraftWonder · 29/09/2015 20:03

Yesterday I went shopping and picked up a new coat each for the dc (at Matalan if it's relevant)- total cost was £45.

I got to the till, went in my bag and didn't have my purse Angry Blush
So I apologised, said i'd nip home and the man on the till put them behind the counter for me.

Returned a couple of hours later and picked up some packs of pants by the till when I was queuing, which were a fiver. Handed them over and asked for the coats behind the till that had been put by for me (this was a woman). She put everything in a bag for me, I paid with my card and out I went.

Anyway, it's only tonight I've pulled them out of the bag along with the receipt - and I have a receipt for £5.05 (the pants and a 5p bag charge). The coats weren't charged for. I didn't even check the amount at the checkout, just stuck my card in and paid.

WWYD? I feel really guilty even though it wasn't my fault. I don't know if the second person who served me just made a mistake or thought maybe they were already paid for (but why would they be?!). They've not got security tags on so one of them must have taken them off.

So keep and look at it as good luck or be honest and go back and pay for them? Opinion is currently divided in my house!

OP posts:
AnnaMarlowe · 29/09/2015 21:37

It doesn't matter how many people come on this thread and tell you to keep them. It's wrong.

It isn't like stealing it is stealing.

You know it, I know it and so does everyone else on this thread.

You can ask 'can I get away with stealing these coats' and the answer might be 'yes' but if the question is should I steal these coats then the answer is quite clearly no.

SomedayMyPrinceWillCome · 29/09/2015 21:45

Take them back.
Doing the right thing is important

KourtneyK · 29/09/2015 21:46

There's a few mind readers on this thread, knowing exactly what OP was thinking. Grin

I do think YABU though. Phone and admit it. They might let you keep them as a gesture of goodwill.

DinosaursRoar · 29/09/2015 21:48

Well, agree it's like stealing, except it's not your mistake, so you shouldn't be the one to go out of your way to fix this, I certainly wouldn't go into the store to sort it out, you'll be there hours faffing about.

Phone up in the morning and ask for a manager and explain what happened, offer to pay. I wouldn't chase them if they don't call you back straight away, or if they want the goods back in store to put them through the till, tell them to send a courier, don't do an extra trip.

for a much lower value, i've had an extra bag of things in my Ocado order I didn't order or pay for. It was icecream (3 different sorts), so not all that valuable, but I didn't want the driver to get in trouble, so I called up to tell them, by then the driver had left the area, mine was the last delivery in our town and he was already on the motorway, so they told me to keep it and enjoy.

BastardGoDarkly · 29/09/2015 21:49

I wouldn't take them back.

ZebraLovesKnitting · 29/09/2015 21:50

Morally, of course you should go back to pay. For all the numerous and very valid reasons that people have said. Although from a purely "moral" point of view, the most important thing is that you didn't actually intend to not pay enough for your transaction.

But honestly (ha!), if I were you I'd just put it to the back of my mind and do nothing. I'm sure that makes me a bad person, but so be it, it's the truth.

Original poster
MinecraftWonder · 29/09/2015 21:50

Dishonestly appropriating property

It doesn't matter how many times you say that sentence iMatter, it doesn't make it true.

I didn't 'dishonestly appropriate' anything Hmm - google the definition of what that means.

I'm open to debate but lets be realistic at least eh?

OP posts:
Senpai · 29/09/2015 21:51

(though this happened the other day paying for coffees and banana bread, and I went back the next day to pay them unnecessarily)

Yes. This happens to me a lot. They really need to stop putting my food on the counter before I've paid, because my first impulse is to grab it and go eat. Grin

(yes, I do always go back and pay if I forget)

Bigoldsupermoon0 · 29/09/2015 21:55

Sorry, OP, but this is a really grubby little thread."AIBU to keep £45 worth of stuff I didn't pay for?"

If one of the first things you do when you find out you've inadvertently nicked a load of stuff from a shop is try and get Mumsnetters to justify it for you, it's a pretty poor show. YADBU - just go back and pay what you owe.

ZebraLovesKnitting · 29/09/2015 21:56

Also, on the one hand I'd be concerned that a/both shop assistants would get into trouble if I didn't take them back and the mistake was discovered. On the other hand, I'd be concerned that going back and bringing the incident to the manager's attention would actually get the shop assistant in a lot of trouble anyway.

Bellebella · 29/09/2015 21:58

I would go back but I am really honest myself. I have made the sales assistant recheck when I thought she had undercharged me by a £1.

perfectlybroken · 29/09/2015 21:59

Go back and pay for them, it doesn't matter if Matalan is a big company or not, right is right and wrong in wrong. Also, it might be the same as with shoes and they'll squeak, squeaky coats!

Floggingmolly · 29/09/2015 21:59

I didn't dishonestly appropriate anything. Hanging onto the stuff without going back to pay is doing just that; what aren't you getting?

DinosaursRoar · 29/09/2015 21:59

phone up in the morning, or see if you can find an e-mail address for customer services and ping them a message explaining what happened tonight. You do'nt have to go out of your way to fix this (as you aren't the one who fucked up) but you do need to bring it to their attention, the onus should be on them to find an easy way for you to pay or return the items, not on you running around to fix someone else's mistake. A call or e-mail is sufficent.

oh and start checking the amount you pay!

BrandNewAndImproved · 29/09/2015 22:00

I'd keep it. It didn't go through the till and it will just be put down as shoplifted stock along with all the shoplifted stock.

I would take it back for an indi shop but not matalan.

Sixpencenonethericher · 29/09/2015 22:01

I would have to return them I bet that if they had overcharged you by £50 you would of gone back its theft pure and simple

JackSkellington · 29/09/2015 22:02

Put simply, YABU, you've stolen the items. It would have been different if you had noticed and returned, or were intending on returning.
A bargain would be getting the jackets at a knock down price, theft can't really be viewed in the same way.

MoonSandwich · 29/09/2015 22:02

So OP, what are you going to do?

My guess it that you are going to keep the coats but that you are going to 'feel bad' about doing so. Wink

However, if you want to do the right thing all you have to do is phone them. Here are their contact details. It would only take a moment to call them..if you actually want to do the right thing. I'm sure they can easily send you a free postage slip so that you can post the coats to them free of charge.

CONTACT US

If you need can't find information you're looking for or have a question, don’t hesitate to give our friendly customer service team a call, email or for the more tech-savvy, you can access our facebook page and use our Help Functionality, where you can ‘live chat’ with a member of our team.

Call: 0333 0044444 Monday - Sunday 8am- 6pm

Email:[email protected]

ShowOfHands · 29/09/2015 22:02

You did dishonestly appropriate them.

Honest appropriation of goods from shops involves paying for them. Not paying for them is dishonest appropriation.

It is theft. Not maybe. It IS theft.

Original poster
MinecraftWonder · 29/09/2015 22:05

I didn't dishonestly appropriate anything Hanging onto the stuff without going back to pay is doing just that; what aren't you getting?

Since when has 'appropriate' been a synonym for 'keep' floggingmolly ? If of course you want to be picky about it.

OP posts:
Flingmoo · 29/09/2015 22:07

Hmm, I think Zebra might have a point.

Most people I know in real life wouldn't think twice about this. They'd be like, "Oh look, the receipt says £5 and it should have been £50... Oh well, their mistake."

A lot of these companies will do anything to screw the customers and staff out of money. (e.g. I had a faulty laptop from PC world and they refused to repair it under warranty. It took a massive amount of legal letters to make them pay up) So if a big company makes a mistake because they didn't train their staff to do their jobs properly, I have no problem with them making a small loss as a result. It's their mistake, so I don't think it's immoral if a customer doesn't go out of their way to fix it.

ohtheholidays · 29/09/2015 22:08

Op have you not thought about the fact that you don't know what every poster on MN does for a living you could have someone posting on your thread that's high up within the Matalans company or a Police Officer.

Original poster
MinecraftWonder · 29/09/2015 22:09

I disagree Show of Hands.

So me leaving the shop, unaware that I'd not paid due to their fuck up is me being dishonest?

Never mind the bit that comes after (whether I return them or not) - you're talking about the term appropriate. As in taking, getting, commandeering, seizing the items. The moment they left the shop basically.

OP posts:
ShowOfHands · 29/09/2015 22:09

I don't know how else to explain it to you Minecraft.

To appropriate something means to take, to sequester, to lay claim to, to wrest, to acquire and on and on...

The honest means of doing this where a shop is concerned is to pay. You did not pay. If you do not make reasonable steps to do so, you are guilty of theft.

It's not something you can quibble over. You dishonestly appropriated something, if you don't return them/phone up/pay, you intend to permanently deprive the store of the value of those goods. It. Is. Theft.

Wrcgirl · 29/09/2015 22:11

If you have ever worked on a till I think you would go back! The cashier could be in a lot of trouble.