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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Didn't pay for items in shop

94 replies

Theaccidentalthief · 13/12/2019 15:22

Just been to boots with my dh and baby. Had 4 items to purchase, dh put them all on the little cash desk/counter and was looking at some toothbrushes on a stand next to us. I was holding baby so juggling baby and getting my card out of my bag and talking to the cashier. Anyway paid on contactless not really paying attention to how much it came to and at that point dh turned back to us, put the items in the baby bag and we left.

We have just got home and I've realised on the receipt she has only charged us for 2 out of 4 items! So we should have paid £14 and we paid £4 😳

Obviously this was an accident but I'm a bit mortified in case they think we did it on purpose or something! We are a small town and I go to that boots a lot so I don't want my name blacklisted so to speak!

I want to ring and explain but dh says that's overkill and I should just leave it as clearly it was an accident. AIBU if I ring? I'm happy to pay next time we are in (can't go back now as dh is going away for work conference and taking the car).

OP posts:
Lifeinaplasticbox · 13/12/2019 16:11

If they thought you’d done it deliberately the security guard would have been huckling you into the back of the shop.
If I noticed when I got home I’d just forget about it.

kinsss · 13/12/2019 16:15

You didn't do it deliberately. It was one of those things that can happen when a bit frazzled. At least you went to a cashier, most just shove the stuff up their jumper and walk out!

I'd give a homeless person a few bob instead or buy them a bit of food.

kateandme · 13/12/2019 16:18

we should do the right thing.we should definitely do the right thing on mn.but really...think of it as a gift from boris before he screw you over and thank your stars for today at least somthing went your way.

UnfamousPoster · 13/12/2019 16:18

I've somehow managed to accidentally do this on a Sainsbury's self scan till. I was distracted, chatting to my friend but swear it beeped and I put stuff in the bag, no "unexpected item in bagging area" warning, paid, went home and didn't think anything of it.

Emptied bag at home and was about to throw the receipt away when the total caught my eye as I'd bought two items for £10 each (along with other stuff), but the total bill was less than £20. Looked closer and only one of the £10 items had scanned!

I too felt dreadful for a while and had a similar dilemma. I then realised the embarrassment of going back to explain what I'd done was outweighed by the fact that I hadn't done it deliberately and it was a big enough company that I wasn't exactly going to bankrupt them. And that it made a change that the bloody thing didn't tell me there was an unexpected item in the bagging area because it normally does!

I've since been back and stocked up their food bank donation point, so feel I've done my penance!

magicmallow · 13/12/2019 16:19

boots rip enough people off, it's not going to harm them one iota.

Streamingbannersofdawn · 13/12/2019 16:21

I'm terrible for feeling guilty but I think you are over thinking this.

You didn't hide anything it was a cashier error...it happens they are only human after all but I wouldn't go out of my way to rectify it if I only noticed it later.

Always check the amount you are paying on contactless!

MumofTinies · 13/12/2019 16:22

I think there was a thread on here ages ago where a Mum returned to the store and she was treated like a criminal? Apparently shoplifters occasionally return things out of guilt.

For that reason I wouldn't go back, donate the money to charity, they probably need it more.

ibblebibbledibble · 13/12/2019 16:23

*Thinkingabout1t

girl ”I paid for shopping with a €10 note 2 months ago and the cashier gave me change as if it was a €20. I didn't say anything and shop there all the time.”
The cashier will have had to explain the deficit, when the till was emptied. She may have had the £10 docked from her pay. She will at least have had the embarrassment of being suspected of theft.*

No she won’t.

AJPTaylor · 13/12/2019 16:23

Well you could go back with your receipt but all that will do is pin point the poor cashier that got it wrong.

Chickenitalia · 13/12/2019 16:24

I work for Boots. I am certain no one will care one bit. Phone up if you want but 1) good luck getting them to answer the phone and 2) we can’t take payments over the phone anyway. You didn’t do it deliberately, chances are there was either a till error and the assistant thought they had scanned everything but it didn’t go through correctly, or there was that much stacked in the till area they didn’t know what was yours. Either way, the assistant in this case won’t be in trouble, when the stock discrepancy is noticed it just gets corrected and the stock written off as loss or theft. Staff get searched all the time so they won’t be blamed for stock missing when they haven’t taken it.

Pop some money in a charity tin if it makes you feel better, but you weren’t at fault here so personally I wouldn’t worry. But then, I’ve seen it all over my many years in retail, this may have affected my moral compass somewhat 😁

littlemeitslyn · 13/12/2019 16:25

'Vile cah ' Really??

MoaningMinniee · 13/12/2019 16:26

My worry is that the member of staff might get blamed, although in the scenario you're describing I don't think the security cameras that often monitor tills and other parts of the shop would be any use as the stock discrepancy isn't going to be noticed until the next stock take.

I have also accidentally stolen stuff during the frazzled sleepless period of small baby time, like pps I told them when I next went in (it was the very nearby supermarket that I use as a corner shop). And like all the other pps who have done so, I was told thanks but not to worry about it.

PuppyMonkey · 13/12/2019 16:30

Ooh I was expecting all the usual “you are a thief” “that’s theft” comments.

MN, you’ve changed.Grin

Oneborneverydecade · 13/12/2019 16:33

I once pocketed £50 I found dropped near a till at H&M so I am a poor example to follow. I say don't worry about it

Warmfirechocolate · 13/12/2019 16:34

I once shopped with toddler in the bugger, and came home to find that he’d managed to grab a HUGE bag of sultanas and put them in the bottom of the buggy.

No idea how I’d missed that. There was enough sultanas for Brexit / end of the world scenarios.

And I don’t even like sultanas.

I thought about bringing them back but I was just so tired. Single mum. Buggy. So the sultanas sat in my cupboard for over a year.

kinsss · 13/12/2019 16:37

@Warmfirechocolate

You had a toddler in the bugger. LOL.

I know it was predictive text, but it made me laugh, thanks for cheering me up.

SummerLove2306 · 13/12/2019 16:38

Thinkingabout1t

girl ”I paid for shopping with a €10 note 2 months ago and the cashier gave me change as if it was a €20. I didn't say anything and shop there all the time.”
The cashier will have had to explain the deficit, when the till was emptied. She may have had the £10 docked from her pay. She will at least have had the embarrassment of being suspected of theft.

And how exactly are they going to determine who did it and exactly what £10 note she touched?? They can't!

My work tills are sometimes under or over. Most of the time it'd because a shop assistant hasn't counted their change write. It's not the end of the world.

Butterflycookie · 13/12/2019 16:39

I’d forget about it

Dustarr73 · 13/12/2019 16:41

I paid for shopping with a €10 note 2 months ago and the cashier gave me change as if it was a €20. I didn't say anything and shop there all the time.

That i wouldnt do,her till will be down.She could get in to trouble.

marchingonwithmother · 13/12/2019 16:41

@Oneborneverydecade you did what?! That's awful

Thesearmsofmine · 13/12/2019 16:42

It was a cashier error, not a crime!

This happened to me in Lush, the girl took my items, bagged them, I paid and I only realised she hadn’t charged me for it all when I checked my online banking.

halloumi2019 · 13/12/2019 16:44

It’s unusual that the cashier didn’t scan the other items, but she’s probably tired and stressed/unfocused - I assume her store has been manic over the Christmas period!

I did something similar when I used to work in retail. A lady exchanged an item, I processed it as normal but then placed both the returned item and the new item in her bag🤦🏼‍♀️ She let me know my mistake though, she could have gotten away with a free dress!

This also happened to me once at H&M when I was like 15. Bought lots of clothes and a pair of shoes, she bagged everything but left the shoes on the counter behind her, so I asked her for them. She gave them to me and apologised. When I got home, I checked my receipt and wasn’t charged?? I guess she left them on the back to remove the tag then assumed she scanned them!

creamcheeseandlox · 13/12/2019 16:44

And it's not theft. The definition of theft is an "intention to permanently deprive" and you didn't so it was a mistake by the cashier.

leghairdontcare · 13/12/2019 16:46

As someone who has worked in a shop, let me assure you that the person who works there does not give a shit. If you ring, they're more likely to be in trouble than you are and it's hassle and admin to fix the mistake. Just forget about it.

zukiecat · 13/12/2019 16:46

To those saying about the cashier not being held accountable for a shortage in her till.

In the shop I worked in until very recently, she absolutely would have been. We got either a disciplinary or been made to pay it back out of wages. We were allowed to be £2 under before being questioned about it.

This was a small supermarket with branches throughout the UK.

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