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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be a bit off about M&S taking back my free dress?

187 replies

YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 01:04

I bought several items in the M&S sale. Couple of things didn't fit stupid sizing so I returned them for a refund. The sales assistant couldn't find one item on my receipt and said I could only have a credit note. I knew it was the correct receipt and I wanted a refund so she took me to customer services. We went through each item on the receipt to try and identify which one it was as it was just not scanning as any of the receipt items. Turns out I hadn't paid for it Shock. I had had no idea when i bought it as i just threw the pile on the counter, and paid when asked. I hadn't counted what was scanned or checked my receipt. Who does! It seemed that the original sales assistant had missed scanning or charging for the item.

So, there we were at the customer services desk, with me trying to return a dress I had never paid for, though i hadn't known that at the time. The sales assistant said they had to keep the dress and there would be no refund or exchange and they would out it back out for sale. I accepted that I should no longer be asking for a refund because it wouldn't be right since I hadn't paid for it in the first place. I did ask him if he could at least put the dress in the Oxfam box by the desk (M&S have a charity clothing collection scheme). Since the shop had already lost the dress through its own incompetence so it didnt seem right that it should profit from me bringing it back. He said he would ask his manager but I knew he wouldn't and it was a fob off.

I left the store feeling a bit off. If I hadn't brought it back then i could have ebayed it or given it to charity shop or waited til i slimmed into it. I lost myself a free dress!!! Ok ok I know that would be wrong and I'm honest as the day.

Has anyone else had this happen to them or have got unexpected free stuff?? Cheer me up!! and share some of your windfall with me

OP posts:
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WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 06/08/2017 14:44

Nobody is reproachable on MN except the OP of course. Every time! I half expected it this time. So I clearly deserve it.

Nope. You are in the wrong, that's why everyone is saying YABU.

sheldonesque · 06/08/2017 14:50

  • Love all you moral beryls here!!

This is the only name calling I am guilty of on this thread. And its quite tame and meant in good spirit. Can't say the same for the nasty names I have been called here! Bit OTT really.

Well, em, not really....

For example.

I'm loving all you righteous armchair pronouncers. Feels like being on Jeremy Kyle! I presume none of you have EVER done anything wrong, so you can judge with impunity.

Back off judgey bullies

OTT? Aye. You were. Probably. Grin

YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 14:50

Can you tell me exactly what I did wrong here? besides posting on MN

OP posts:
YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 14:51

For whattodoaboutthis

OP posts:
LightastheBreeze · 06/08/2017 14:51

Because of someone else's mistake poor OP could have been accused of shoplifting, OP didn't know there was an unpaid for dress in her bag, if she had spent say £100, she probably wouldn't have noticed £12. I would be very angry about that.

MelvinThePenguin · 06/08/2017 14:51

OP, the dishonesty doesn't have to be immediate for a crime to be committed. This isn't just a matter of being a 'Moral Beryl' but also being a law abiding citizen.

zukiecat · 06/08/2017 14:52

I would and have taken items back if for whatever reason they hadn't been paid for

I recently got some shopping at Asda, including a magazine for £3.99, I went through the self service till, I had a couple of other magazines and they wouldn't scan. The assistant came over and put them through for me and I thought no more of it.

I am on an extremely tight budget and usually have to count up as I go along, when I paid it was slightly less than I'd anticipated, but I thought I must have added it up wrong.

Going back outside I checked my receipt and found the £3.99 magazine hadn't gone through. So I went straight back to the kiosk bit, explained and paid for it there.

I don't get why anyone wouldn't do the same

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 06/08/2017 14:53

Can you tell me exactly what I did wrong here?

You tried to dictate what they did with their own stock and then got annoyed when they (rightfully) didn't do as you wanted.

LightastheBreeze "Poor OP"? 😂😂😂 I think not Grin

YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 14:55

melvin please tell me what law I broke? And when exactly I was dishonest?

OP posts:
LightastheBreeze · 06/08/2017 14:55

Loving this, everyone getting all het up. Grin

LightastheBreeze · 06/08/2017 14:56

MN at its best Grin

YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 14:56

Can someone tell me when I "dictated" anything to the store? Not that I could have even if I had tried. But I didn't.

OP posts:
YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 14:57

light truly MN aibu. Nowhere else!

OP posts:
MelvinThePenguin · 06/08/2017 14:58

OP, on this occasion you didn't break any law. However, you have implied that you would consider not taking something back, even if you realised the mistake later. I think that's why you've got a lot of the responses you have.

YoLoZammo · 06/08/2017 15:01

Tell me where I have implied anything? I think you are jumping to conclusions.

I asked for views because I think most people would enjoy a free dress but they might not be brave enough to say so on this thread for fear of bullying and judging!

OP posts:
WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 06/08/2017 15:03

Maybe "dictate" is too strong a word, but you were unhappy they wouldn't do as you wanted them to and that is why YABU.

(As over a hundred plus posts have explained to you, so I don't know why you need it explaining yet again.)

Loving this, everyone getting all het up.

I don't think anyone is getting het up Confused

PuppyMonkey · 06/08/2017 15:06

My phone won't load all the pages but has anybody changed their name to MoralBeryl yet? Grin

£12 for a dress though.

MelvinThePenguin · 06/08/2017 15:07

So, a genuine question esp to the Moral Beryls out there (yes they do look like the above pic in my imagination wink ): If you checked your receipt when you got home and discovered the dress wasn't on it, therefore not paid for (not deliberately stolen), would you march straight back to the shop and hand it in sheepishly, or would you keep it/eBay it/ give to charity?

This. If you had to ask...

Someone would be deliberately stealing if they didn't try to correct the error. I'm not saying that's what you would have done for sure, but it doesn't come across that you wouldn't necessarily be concerned about someone doing this.

LightastheBreeze · 06/08/2017 15:07

These threads are always the same, people take several journeys on buses in wind and rain to return stuff worth tuppence to local police stations or shops miles away.

Then people laugh about it on the 'Only on MN' threads

MelvinThePenguin · 06/08/2017 15:08

Oops. Double negative. You know what I mean...

melj1213 · 06/08/2017 15:13

Can someone tell me when I "dictated" anything to the store?

I did ask him if he could at least put the dress in the Oxfam box by the desk ... Since the shop had already lost the dress through its own incompetence so it didnt seem right that it should profit from me bringing it back.

The dress was never yours, due to a mistake in this case - but neither you nor the store can prove that and so they have taken your word that it was the cashier not ringing it up properly and you genuinely not noticing - but still it was never paid for by you and therefore it was not yours to decide what to do with.

Perhaps "dictate" is too strong a word but you had no right to "ask" the store to write off the cost of the dress (which is what you wanted them to do by donating it) just because you didn't pay for it and they reclaimed it from you.

MoralBeryl · 06/08/2017 15:16

Puppy- maybe, who knows?

PuppyMonkey · 06/08/2017 15:17

Bingo! Grin

FoxyRoxy · 06/08/2017 15:26

I had something in my m&s order I didn't pay for or order, I opened it at the collection desk so I told the woman it was there by error. She told me to keep it (was a pj set). Happy days

onlyconnect · 06/08/2017 15:38

I don't get your point at all OP. I really just don't get it