To not tell them their mistake

[glitterglitters]

Question of ethics here

Basically I bought some maternity clothes online from a very well known retailer beginning with T.

Goods have arrived and are perfect.

Money had been allocated from my account for the transaction and appeared under "pending".

This has now vanished, nothing on my statement and cash hasn't come out.

Spoke to my bank who said that it's most unusual but it has indeed vanished, as if the retailer has cancelled the transaction. They said that as I have "Completed" emails I'm not in the wrong, haven't stolen anything but it's up to me if I contact the company or not.

The phone advisor basically hinted (though didn't say directly) that I'd got lucky and he's never seen it happen.

Should I contact the company and let them know the error or should I just play dumb and enjoy the clothes knowing that the owner of the company isn't innocent in such matters and they have more than enough cash.

"Small indie shop = tell them. Corporate behemoth = enjoy the clothes and think no further about it."

You see, I don't understand this approach.

The corporate behemoth does not just suck up losses like this, or breakages or deliberate theft/shoplifting. It is all covered in the prices they charge their customers - it is called shrinkage - so the corporate behemoth is unworried by theft etc, but it means higher prices in the shops for ordinary people.

So when you are congratulating yourself, or someone else, for getting one over in a big company like, say, Tesco, you are wrong - you are congratulating them, or yourself, on taking money out of ordinary people's purses and wallets.

It is a truly stupid justification for keeping something you haven't paid for, even if it was a complete accident (by 'you', I am not referring to the OP, who has said she will ring them in Monday, if the money still hasn't been taken).

I don't see why I should be happy at paying more for my shopping because people want to shop lift, or even because they want to keep things that they have accidentally not been charged for.

DO NOT tell them. If you talk to someone who doesn't know the system well you could end up muddying the waters and causing chaos!

In a week or three check again and ring then, though I doubt you will have to as the machine will have said yes by then!

So has the money actually left your account? If so, you've paid. I don't really understand your explannation.

What does it say on your PayPal account?

I would contact them and pay.

Ikea randomly put several hundred pounds into my account and I contacted them to repay it [they gave me a gift voucher to say thanks/sorry]. I assume that they would have realised at some point though...turned out they had no idea where it was supposed to even go!

John Lewis recently contacted me recently to inform me that they would be taking £80 for part of an order than I hadn't paid for (when I checked it said pending rather than despatched, event though I received it the day after ordering, on my online account summary) going back about 6 weeks. I buy a lot from JL click and collect (on partnership card) so simply hadn't noticed they only took part payment from my card.

They will probably take it anyway in a few weeks - you could save yourself the hassle and just wait for that, and contact them if they don't.

This has happened to me twice. Once online with a retailer where the money went into pending and then disappeared. I also had two separate dispatch emails with two tracking numbers. In the end one parcel turned up and one lot of money came out of my account. Goodness knows what happened.

The second time was in a shop. I paid for a small item by debit card. No money came out. It was Christmas 2015 so I decided to wait until the NY before doing anything about it. I checked and still nothing. Then some stuff happened at work which completely through life off course and this thread has just reminded me that I never did call. I don't think the money ever came out.

I would wait a week and see what happens and then call. The last thing you want is two payments coming out! Just don't forget to call!

Woahhh floggingmolly, you having a bad day luv?? !!!!

I had a delivery from Tesco yesterday for £70, the delivery man said there'd been a power failure and couldn't give me a delivery note or anything. I joked "Does this mean I get my shopping free?" The money still hasn't gone from my bank and isn't even pending...

Their mistake I really would forget about it and move on.. they may still take payment over the next week or so but if they don't then lucky you

If you have paid through Paypal them I'm a bit confused as to how it ever showed as 'pending' from your bank account.

Are you sure you didn't choose that option that Paypal do where they pay the retailer for you but don't take the money from your account for 14 days? Pay after Delivery I think it is called.

The OP asked what the ethical thing to do is. The ethical thing to do us clearly to pay for the goods you have received.

I agree with SDTG. It makes not difference what the size of company is.

We have these kind of threads fairly regularly. There's always posters who criticise respondents for doing the right thing. I never understand why.

Surely we all expect to be paid for our work? That's how society operates.

It's come out of my PayPal so there's two transactions one with an order and then another with minus and then. The money was appearing in my account under Paypal-TheShop and had come off my available balance.

The PayPal ones look reconciled (is. Like all the other PayPal stuff I've bought since then which has come out of my account) and the pending transaction from PP had vanished from my pending but hasn't appeared in my statement. If that makes sense?

I'm expecting it to come out at some point but I can't work out where from though!

The retailer might not have claimed the money yet in which case the transaction will be reversed. But they still can and will, in a day or two.

Yes, lucky you, @123yourusername - but not lucky everyone who has to pay for any shrinkage via their shopping bills.

I really don't get why people don't understand that companies PASS ON all these costs - deliberate theft, shoplifting, people accidentally not paying for things, checkout operators mistakes, breakages etc.

It doesn't come out of profits - it is added to the cost of each and every thing you buy.

Oh come on STD, like for a massive company it's going to add £20 to the weekly shop. This isn't a small business we're talking about

And if that's the case, then I apologise to anyone who wants to buy from Kurt Geiger soon and realises there has been a massive increase in prices as I accidentally got sent two of my £200 order last week sorry to the goody two shoes! And yes I returned the second pair so got my beautiful shoes completely free and they are non the wiser.

You may be OK with other people having to pay for your free shoes, 123yourusername - but it is unethical and dishonest.

I respect your opinion.. in my opinion it's the stores fault.

Done 👍🏼

What if some poor member of staff is blamed for your 'free' £200 shoes, @123yourusername?

The store will have stock control, and will notice the shoes are missing. If they find out who accidentally sent the extra pair, they might have their pay docked to cover the cost. Or some innocent member of staff might get accused of theft. Someone might even lose their job over this.

Are your 'free' shoes still feeling so good and guilt-free?

I'd wait a week, especially if you bought them on a Sunday. Sunday purchases take forever to show up on my bank account, bought on a debit card. I wait for the transaction to show, I don't spend the week ringing the retailer. I'd worry about being charged twice. Wait a week, then speak to someone with a name, including surname, job title and direct line. Faff, but if they then say 'keep them" you will really enjoy them!

PayPal don't take money from your bank straight away it can take up to two weeks that's why you're not seeing anything via banking. If PayPal says the transaction has been completed then it has and you'll find the money will be taken in the next couple of weeks.

I paid for something once which disappeared, then reappeared. GIve it a few days then decide. Sometime online retailers do a sort of ghost transaction to check the funds are there, then really take the cash later.

I can't believe how many people are telling you to tell them! Tesco are in no way shape or form short of money, it's their fault and their loss. I would only be worried about them coming back at a later date, but I doubt they'll miss it in the grand scheme of their profits! If it was a small local retailer my answer might be different.

This happened to me and then the money went out a few days later. I was using pay pal too so I'm positive they will be paid

what makes me laugh about threads like this is you usually get people saying (prob correctly) that this is why they increase pricss etc, and in the next line wax lyrical about how once they were sent an incorrect item, owned up and told they could keep it. err......so still part of the reason why prices are increased then!

op leave it a week as it may still come out of your account otherwise yea, you should ring and tell them, they may let you off and increase prices