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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

WIBU shop keeper credited wrong amount to electricity card?

53 replies

JollyAndBright · 10/12/2018 11:09

I’m posting in AIBU for traffic as I feel this is urgent.

Two days ago my friend went to a small independent convenience shop which is close to her house and put credit on her electricity card as she does every month.

Today she went back into the shop and the shop keeper (owner) told her that he made a mistake with her electricity credit and she owes him money, she hadn’t noticed but he had the proof ready to show her that he had accidentally credited her electricity card three times more than she asked for and paid for.
In the shop if you are paying by card the shop policy is paying before the credit, so he puts the sale through his till, charges you and then does the paypoint transaction.
He obviously input the wrong amount into the paypoint when doing the credit.

The shop keeper was understandably quiet upset about his mistake and was very insistent that my friend pay him the money immediately.
The problem is she doesn’t have it, she budgets very carefully and credits her electricity card a specific amount every month.
She knows she has the credit so owes the shop keeper the money but the best she could offer is to pay it off over the two months (when she would normally credit the card).

The shop keeper was very unhappy with this offer and told her she had until the end of the day to repay the money or he will call the police.

I don’t believe the police will be interested as it was the shop keepers mistake, but my friend is terrified because technically she does have electricity credit that she did not pay for so she thinks she may be in trouble if she can’t pay it back today.

Has anyone been in this situation before?
Does anyone know what her rights are or legally what she should do?

OP posts:
Fuzzywig · 10/12/2018 11:12

She has agreed to pay it back and has made an offer to pay in stages. I don’t think there is anything the shopkeeper can do. I think it’s reasonable given the circumstances.

whatsthepointthen · 10/12/2018 11:12

how comes she didnt notice when paying or didnt notice it leaving her account??

Steelesauce · 10/12/2018 11:14

It's his mistake, the police won't do anything especially as she offered to pay it in installments. I just wouldn't use the shop again.

whatsthepointthen · 10/12/2018 11:14

I read it wrong, i think she will probably have to pay, cant she just pay it off? didnt she get a receipt?

ViragoKnows · 10/12/2018 11:16

The police won’t be interested. What’s the crime she’s supposedly committed? He made a mistake and she’s made a reasonable repayment offer. He’ll have to live with that.

TheQueef · 10/12/2018 11:16

His mistake.
The police won't be interested.

Original poster
JollyAndBright · 10/12/2018 11:17

how comes she didnt notice when paying or didnt notice it leaving her account??

As I said in my op the shop policy is if you are paying by card you have to pay before the paypoint credit, so he puts the sale through his till, charges you and then does the paypoint transaction.
He charged my friend the amount she requested first and then when doing the paypoint credit he input the wrong amount and credited 3x more than she had paid for.

OP posts:
Pachyderm1 · 10/12/2018 11:17

The police won’t be interested. She hasn’t stolen anything. There has been no crime. The shopkeeper is probably concerned that he will never see her again, but he was the one who made the mistake, and the consequence of that is that he will have to trust your friend to pay him back. Really stressful for your poor friend, but all she can do is repay him on the schedule she can manage.

BigFarmer · 10/12/2018 11:17

Mistakes cannot be rectified once you've left the premises. Works both ways. I always get a receipt now after shopkeeper took £30 and put £10 on and I was stuck with no gas for 2 weeks.

She's been more than fair acknowledging the mistake and offering to pay back as soon as she can. What does he want? Blood? These cards are used to charge people extra for being poor, no one would ever choose one.

Roomba · 10/12/2018 11:20

It was his error, she's made a very reasonable offer of payment, not sure what more she can do other than contacting the energy company to ask their advice (don't think they can remove credit from a card or meter once it's been done though). He can ring the police all he likes, she's not committed the legal definition of theft as far as I can see so he'd have to take her to small claims court (by which point it would be repaid anyway).

I'd ring the energy company and ask their advice. Shopkeeper should do the same.

I wish my local shopkeeper had been so keen to rectify things when he under credited my card, I have to say.

Original poster
JollyAndBright · 10/12/2018 11:22

She did get a receipt but didn’t read it she just stuffed it into her handbag as there was a queue of people and she was trying to get out of the way quickly.

When she was in the shop today she looked through her handbag and found the receipt so she confirmed that he did credit her electricity card by 3x the amount requested.

But from googling I can see that even if she had noticed when he gave her the reciept it wouldn’t have made a difference as once the credit has been made it can’t be reclaimed from the card, so she would still be in the position.

OP posts:
peachgreen · 10/12/2018 11:22

He's lucky she came back!

Pinkyyy · 10/12/2018 11:25

If he isnt you happy with her offer then it's not her problem and the police won't do anything. I'd offer him the installments once more and if he declines then I'd just go elsewhere to top up in future. His demand is completely unreasonable.

Original poster
JollyAndBright · 10/12/2018 11:26

Thank you for all the advice and reassuring posts.

OP posts:
DeathyMcDeathStarFace · 10/12/2018 11:27

How did the shopkeeper know it was your friend's card? It could have been someone else's card who went in the same day. They might be showing your friend the incorrect transaction and trying to scam son e money out of her.

I think the first thing to do is for your friend to check her electricity meter to make sure she actually got the credit, the shopkeeper could have shown her evidence from someone else's card. Then, if she has had the credit, she can agree to pay it back over the next few months if she wants. It was not her mistake, it was the shopkeepers mistake, therefore ultimately it is the shopkeeper whose responsibility it is to sort it.

I don't know if the electricity supplier can sort it though. If there is extra credit on the meter they may be able to adjust the meter to what was paid for and deal with the pay point provider to sort out their end. It might be worthwhile for your friend to contact her supplier. (Electricity, not drugs!)

Seniorcitizen1 · 10/12/2018 11:28

Quite a lot of these small shops have a sign up to check change as mistakes cannot be rectified once transaction completed. It seems they only want this rule to operate one way, in their favour. She has made a payment offer so he will just have to suck it up

Absentwomen · 10/12/2018 11:30

It's very similar to being over changed (something that is very hard to reconcile once a customer has left the shop)

His till will be down the 3x he has keyed into the paypoint terminal. Therefore, the shop will owe paypoint, who charge the utility company.

The fact this is a cashless transaction is an issue for your friend and the shopkeeper. She's made an offer to repay it back. That's all she can do. She has benefitted from the shopkeepers mistake. There's no intent to obtain anything by deception. The police will not be interested. She's made her offer. She could put it in writing.

If the shop assistant is not the owner of the shop, she could write to the shop owner stating her position.

Other than what she has done, (apart from realising the mistake prior to leaving the shop) there's not much else she can do.

bobstersmum · 10/12/2018 11:30

Since he's being so unreasonable and it's his mistake, tell her to just not go back till the shop again. His loss

DontCallMeCharlotte · 10/12/2018 11:41

If that had been us when we ran a shop and she was a regular customer, we would have happily allowed her to pay it when she would next normally top up for the next couple of occasions.

He has "given" her the extra credit, albeit in error, so it's his loss and she has done nothing wrong.

MadeForThis · 10/12/2018 11:41

It's his mistake.

Why should your friend be forced to pay for a large amount of electricity that she did not ask for.

Tell the shopkeeper that she will pay in the next two months as this is what she would normally have topped up. If he's not happy the offer is withdrawn.

Police will not be involved

Original poster
JollyAndBright · 10/12/2018 11:45

Quite a lot of these small shops have a sign up to check change as mistakes cannot be rectified once transaction completed

This shop actually has two of these signs one on the top of the till (right in front of you when you stand at the counter)
and a big, bold A3 sign on the front of the cigarette counter shutter.

The signs both say the same thing,
“Please check your change and receipt before leaving the shop, mistakes will not be checked or rectified after you leave the premises.”

OP posts:
SparkyBlue · 10/12/2018 11:47

He made the mistake he should be apologising to her for the inconvenience and mix up not threatening to call the police. She has offered to pay in installments and that's all she needs to do. If I were her I would avoid the shop in the future after paying off the full amount as his attitude is appalling.

staffiegirl · 10/12/2018 11:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SaucyJack · 10/12/2018 11:51

It’s his mistake. He’ll have to wait.

Tough titties if he doesn’t want to. She hasn’t done anything wrong.

Seaweed42 · 10/12/2018 11:53

I think your friend might find it useful to find someone/a third party to speak to the Shop owner on her behalf because both of them are too emotional to deal with each other.
It is his mistake. She has offered to repay in instalments.
She probably also wants to use the shop again rather than find another shop if it's the only one closest to her.
The credit on the Card is not like cash. She wouldn't be paying for her electricity this way if she had a lot of cash to throw around.