Keeping clothes I haven't paid for??

[calistaraines]

Ordered a coat from an online retailer. Full price £150.
I paid for express delivery 1-2 days as I wanted it for a specific event.
It hadn't arrived the day before so I called the company and they said it hadn't been dispatched yet but they could upgrade to next day delivery so I would receive in time.
Next day two deliveries arrived each with a coat. I returned the extra coat and thought nothing more of it.
Have now realised that they have refunded my card the full amount so I essentially have a coat for free.
My mum thinks I should own up. What should I do???

I had a series of wrong orders sent to me from Lakeland- they had confused my order with another customer's. I rang them up and the first two times I was told to keep them, the third time they came to collect it.

Steal if you like but then don't judge the thief who picks your pocket or clones your credit card and steals from you.

Either it is fine to steal - or it isn't.

Our society works because we (mostly) play by the same rules.

Same with benefits cheats and tax dodgers, fare dodgers and insurance fraudsters. If you keep it without permission it is dishonest and you know it.

I wouldn't notice as I am terrible at tracking my bank account.

I wouldn't call them and hope they don't spot mistake.

Had exactly the same with John Lewis, called to let them know & they said not to worry about it... over a year later I had a very unpleasant call from their collections department about it, they didn't believe I'd been told not to worry & I had no proof!

I wouldn't say anything and just hope they don't notice later.

"Don't mention it if it's a large company, it's not like they're gonna miss £150."

Aye, because large retailers don't go bust taking hundreds of jobs with them, do they?

Oh, wait. It makes no difference if it's ma and pa's clothing shops or, I dunno, BHS or Jaegar or Jane Norman....

Something similar happened to me recently. I'd treated myself to a bag for £100 (and I don't earn much so this was a real treat that I'd saved up for and thought carefully for ages before buying it).

It arrived and I was thrilled. About a week later I got an email thanking me for returning my item and confirming that my refund would be processed in the next few days. I hadn't returned it. Sure enough, the money showed up in my account a few days later.

I called them, not only because of my conscience (although I do always try to do the right thing in these situations!), but also because I was worried they'd suddenly take the money again if they noticed, and I didn't want to keep £100 hanging around in my account indefinitely 'just in case' when I could really use that money.

The lady on the phone was utterly baffled and couldn't understand why I'd called! She eventually offered to get a manager to try to 'get to the bottom of what happened' if I really wanted, and then left a lingering 'but....' until I eventually said 'ok, thank you for your help!' and she just said 'you're welcome, enjoy your new bag!'

I'd keep quiet about it!

My moral compass distinguishes between being the passive recipient of a benefit to which you are not entitled and actively setting out to obtain that benefit.

If the OP had deliberately ordered two coats and sent one back in the hope of creating this kind of mix-up that would be wrong. But to not act in the event of the mix-up occuring is acceptable (to me!).

Girl who eats a picnmix sweet = Thief
Keeping clothes you didn't pay for = OK

Funny old world isn't it.

Of course you should own up and send back the duplicate. Why would you want two coats anyway? They should refund the expedited delivery charge though.

It's like the girl buying pick and mix, finding out afterwards that the scales were off and she'd been under charged and not going back to pay the difference.

Like a PP said, it's not like these little mistakes add up over time, leading to companies going bust and thousands losing their jobs.

But it's okay so long as you get a free coat

Yeah, if that girl had bought 150 of sweets, maybe.

If it was me and I was planning on keeping the coat I certainly wouldn't ask on Mumsnet what to do! If you had planned to keep it I'm baffled as to why you'd tell all of us?

Of course you should own up and send back the duplicate
Op has returned the duplicate. The problem is the company has not charged her for either coat, which isnt her fault and it is up to the company to make sure the payment right. OP paid and sent duplicate back, she has done her duty with regard the coat.

I was sent a replacement phone at xmas under insurance. They phone
arrived and the phone in the box was an S7 not and S7 edge, i wanted to refuse it but the courier said i had to sort it out with company and wouldnt take it back.
Rang them up, and they apologized and said they would to a drop and swop, had to hang around another day, and wait another 5 days. Courier turns up with correct phone but refuses to take the other phone back, even though i handed it to him. They havent contacted me since to pick it up. It is their responsibility to do that not mine, to go round chasing them and waiting in all day for couriers.

Own up and then the onus is on the company to decide what action they want to take. That way you will be morally in the right.

I ordered a tiny gift set from Molton Brown at Christmas. It arrived in a massive box, which also contained an unordered and hugely expensive and elaborate gift set (for which I hadn't been charged). Unfortunately the set I had ordered and paid for was damaged. I immediately emailed the company and let them know what had happened. Within an hour they had phoned to apologise to me about the damaged set, organised a replacement for next day delivery and told me to keep the unordered set with their Christmas compliments! I am still enjoying the contents, guilt free

I have had a few things like this and every time I've called up I've been told not to worry about it and just keep whatever I've been sent. i think it's an arse for them to correct this sort of error. I'd call as chances are you won't be charged again anyway, but if you are going to be, better to know now than a week before payday like someone else said!

It's theft. If you were trying on a coat in a shop and no one was looking would you walk out with it?

It wasn't too much trouble to contact the company when it looked like the coat wasn't going to arrive in time. The customer service rep gave a shit about OP getting what she'd ordered in the right timeframe, and managed to locate an identical item and dispatch it with rush delivery without creating another invoice (which probably required management approval for a £150 garment). Returning the spare coat then automatically triggered a refund.

Apart from the original miscommunication about the coat's delivery date, I think the OP has had pretty good customer service and it's a shame to act in bad faith and keep the money.

These threads always turn nasty. Just waiting for the 'only on MN.. so sanctimonious... it's not stealing if they're a big company' responses.

I wouldn't say anything

I would ring and tell them. I couldn't be that dishonest.

Same happened to me with The Book People. They sent me an order twice by mistake. I called them and they told me to keep the duplicates.

It's theft
no it is not op has paid for the coat, the company refunded the wrong amount, which is their fault not hers.

So she hasn't paid for it then, has she?!

The company could easily take the payment again in a few days once they realise they messed up anyway, so I wouldn't count on getting away with it just yet.

She has attempted to pay for it, the company chose to refund the money. She has done her part in the process.