To ask what would you do? (Moral dilemma)

[AliceRR]

I purchased some things online a week or so ago. I had an email saying the items were ready to collect so I went to collect them. When I got there I was told one of the items was not ready yet and to come back tomorrow. I had seen them in store on my way to the collections desk so asked if they can give me one from their store stock so I don’t have to come back the next day.

He went to the stock room and brought one for me and then I left.

He must not have updated the system as I then got an email saying the item was ready to collect.

I didn’t go and collect it as I already have what I ordered and paid for, despite being in the store yesterday.

I got an email today saying that I will be refunded because I didn’t go and collect my item.

DH said that I should contact them immediately to let them know as I couldn’t possibly let them refund me.

I am leaning towards doing that but while looking for contact details to call them it occurs to me it’s a bit of a hassle and their error.

I wondered what would you all do? I imagine lots of people would do nothing and accept the refund or might even have gone in to collect the second item.

The value is £35

if shop short changed u and you didn't realise till u left the shop I can guarantee they wouldn't give u it back cos u left the shop b4 u noticed it's kind of the same thing

So @ Tors33 if the mistake was the other way round and you were charged for something you didn't have you would be happy would you?

Their mistake was to do you a favour and let you take one from the shop floor, saving you the hassle of coming back again.

And by the same token @Tors33 if you accidentally left your cashback in a selfscan machine its ok for the staff member who finds it to keep it?

Of course you should tell them. They'll probably let you keep it anyway but at least then that will be guilt free.

So when they come to do a stock check at the store, and realise one is missing, and that or another employee gets accused of stealing it, you're fine with that then?

Also as mentioned above "pretend do-gooders" lol yeah, everyone has obviously done something wrong in their lifetime, but a lot of those wont be; being a thieving scumbag. I ordered something and got sent a different thing, I could have sold it on and made £100 profit, even after re buying what I needed, but instead I contacted the place and returned it and they sent the correct item.

I don't see the dilemma - you have what you paid for, why should they refund you?

I had similar with a John Lewis collection from Waitrose. I picked it up but clearly they didn’t update the system as eventually I got told it was being returned to John Lewis and I would be refunded. As is only right, I emailed John Lewis and told them I had actually picked it up.

Surely you know what you should do??

As others have said, where is the moral dilemma?

Either you are content to be a thief or you aren't. That's not a dilemma, that's personal standards.

I'd tell them the truth, personally. Okay, the person in store made a mistake and didn't update the system so the store doesn't know that you already have it, but you know. What you do about it is up to you, but I'd personally judge you for not being honest, and it sounds like your OH will, too. Is £35 worth it?

So if they had charged you twice you’d be ok with that I presume?

There is no moral dilemma here. You know what you need to do.

Completely depends what kind of mood I’m in. People love a good moral dilemma on Internet forums, allows them to get hysterically over the top. You’ll be in prison for life eating gruel before you know it OP

So they guy helped you out in the collection area, and now you are prepared to risk him getting in trouble because he failed to update the records after helping you out?

If you want to steal it then just steal it. Or you could just take it back and be a decent human being.

The right thing to do is to let them know. In actual fact it'll probably cost more in administration to sort the problem out lol!

They did you a favour and now you want to take advantage. Don’t be sneaky and dishonest.

This.

if shop short changed u and you didn't realise till u left the shop I can guarantee they wouldn't give u it back cos u left the shop b4 u noticed it's kind of the same thing

It is in no way thway same sort of thing

Thanks all

The responses are interesting and kind of what I expected although I know many people who would have gone to collect the additional item

It didn’t actually occur to me before that they would refund me if I didn’t collect it

Anyway I was going to contact them. Don’t think I’m wrong for it crossing my mind not to.

Ultimately I did the “right” thing and called them just now

She seemed surprised I called and said “oh we don’t usually have people calling to say we’ve given them too much money or they want to pay more”.

She basically said the refund has been processed and that I’ve dont nothing wrong and to to worry about it. She said “if you want to” you can mention it in store as they’ve obviously not updated their system properly but basically was saying don’t bother as, as far as M&S is concerned, they have simply refunded me for something I didn’t get and she can’t actually do anything now to reverse the refund and it probably causes more hassle for them

🙄

Bet you feel better now

And then she went on to tell me I did well to get my hands on two as they’ve sold out now and she wants one...

Tors33 That's what morals are love Doing the right thing, even if no one is watching or you can get away with it.
Or you can live in a society full of twats who are out for themselves. Which tends to be less great for everyone.

wow calm down and I've been in many positions where the shop have been in the wrong and I've been left out of pocket they didn't care about me
that's why I have this attitude

I would be honest. It’s not hard is it?

In relation to the guy in the shop getting into to trouble it occurred to me that he’s more likely to get into trouble were the issue flagged up than not as the shop didnt know what happened but by telling them he just gave me a calendar without updating the system I was flagging up what he did wrong IYSWIM