Page 6 | To ask if you’ve ever accidentally stolen something

SinkGirl · 08/11/2020 13:27

I was once pushing my double buggy through the very tight aisles of an M&S. Got outside and realised DT1 had pulled a pack of size 8 knickers off a rack. Obviously returned them - my size 8 days are long gone 😂

Itsnotagazebo · 08/11/2020 13:28

Yes. Fish from the supermarket. Noticed because I was checking the receipt from the weekly shop. Didn't return it because they'd overcharged me for another item that was advertised as being on offer.

IceFrost · 08/11/2020 13:33

Bought some items in Superdrug once in a airport. Asked my daughter to grab the last few bits and chuck it in our bag while I called my parents. When checking the bag on the plane I realised she had also chucked in a £30 face cream they had at the tills. No I didn’t take it back, just gave it to my mother.

Recently 2 chocolate kinder Santa’s. Already carrying 3 massive shopping bags and a arm full of stuff, I put them on top of one of the bags. Forgot about them. Realised when I got to the car. No I didn’t return them either

D4rwin · 08/11/2020 13:39

Yes. A sleeping bag! I put it over my shoulder like a kit bag, the rest of the shop went in my basket. So I unloaded, chatted at the till, packed and paid. Neither I nor the till operator noticed! It was only when I got to the car and automatically swung it off my shoulder to throw in the boot I realised! It even had a security tag on it. I ran back. The woman at customer services was so confused. She thought I'd just not had the tag off. I had to tell her twice I wanted to pay for it!

TalbotAMan · 08/11/2020 13:46

In the days when credit cards were processed by paper slips I bought a tank of petrol. Went to the kiosk, they ran the printer over the card, and I signed the slip.

It never showed up on my credit card statement and I never did anything about it.

TwoZeroTwoZero · 08/11/2020 13:46

Yes I accidentally walked out with a Thomas the Tank backpack from Brantano when dc1 was a toddler. I put it on the pushchair handles and completely forgot to pay for it! My mum pointed it out when I'd left the shop so I sheepishly went back to pay and the staff just laughed at my honesty!

I've done similar in other shops but don't really remember the details. Some I've gone back and paid for and others I've just thought, "Fuck it!" and kept it.

Tootsietoot · 08/11/2020 13:48

My toddler "stole" a book from Waterstones.only realised on the bus. Could face the trip back in again so donated it to Oxfam.

Tootsietoot · 08/11/2020 13:51

I also bought £120 worth of food at Tesco's. Was doing the thing where you scan and pay. Was chatting away to the woman helping proof I was 25 etc and just walked away with out paying. Got the car before I realised!! Obviously took it back

Hesnotlocal · 08/11/2020 14:20

Inadvertently stole 2 towels from a hotel when I was a student.

Mum was staying at the hotel when she came to visit and a friend and I joined her for a swim in the hotel pool then dinner. On several occasions mum tried to put the borrowed towels in our bags saying 'take these- you might need them' etc. We tried to leave them in the pool changing rooms/in her room etc but she kept picking them up and being increasingly insistent that we take them. We were both taken aback (mum is a painfully honest, churchgoing lady) but said nothing and left. We agreed that she must have decided for some reason that poor students needed towels and it was best not to embarrass her by pointing out that this was stealing. The towels were used as hand towels in our student bathroom for several years and always referred to as 'the stolen goods'!

Several years later (after graduation) I raised the issue. Apparently mum thought that they belonged to my friend but that for some reason we had decided that we didn't want the hassle of carrying them around/back home and was rather irritated that she didn't seem to value her possessions.

BeyondsConstantBangingHeadache · 08/11/2020 14:22

Done it twice recently - both the fault of my wheelchair.
Once it was a bag of firewood, hung on the handles of my chair while the rest of the shopping was in a basket on my lap. Paid for the basket contents and forgot the firewood hanging behind me.
Second time did the same thing, but with a pack of nappies.

Didn't go back either time as i didn't realise til I got home.

1DoesNotSimplyWalkIntoMordor · 08/11/2020 14:33

@CosyAcorn I am just wondering whether you miss out 'thou shalt not steal' when you preach

gumball37 · 08/11/2020 14:48

Yep. Bought a bin and it had another stuck to it. Didn't realize until I got home. But took it back. Apparently I'm weird though because the staff couldn't believe it🤦

Potplant · 08/11/2020 14:51

I had my wedding list at John Lewis. When it all arrived there was a box with loads of stuff which hadn’t been on our list and nobody had bought. We tried to take it back but they couldn’t accept in the shop because it wasn’t on our packing note so she couldn’t scan in a return. The head of wedding lists was supposed to ring me, but never did.
Given that we had to lug a box of bowls we didn’t ask for into the store and back again I never chased them.

Pavlova31 · 08/11/2020 14:58

A teaspoon from the hotel coffee tray when packing ( in a rush did not realise).Popped it on the tray when i stayed there again.

EatTheHamTina · 08/11/2020 15:03

Yes sausages. They were under a bag. Didn't return them.
Also when I was buying my sons milk the shop assistant didn't scan them with my other items. I didn't take them back either.

Humpty11 · 08/11/2020 15:07

When I picked up the correct size of my engagement ring they put the old one back in the box and then that box into my bag rather than the empty one, when I went to put the correct sized ring back in the box that evening (I was working the next day and I’m a nurse) I noticed the other ring in there, I couldn’t sleep for days and when I rang them up they hadn’t even noticed!

I also accidentally took a handheld fan from a shop that I’d put under my arm and noticed when I got out to the car so ran back in to pay for it and they were very rude that I wished I hadn’t bothered!

ElsieMc · 08/11/2020 15:16

My eldest dd loads of times. She was particularly keen on Next when in her stroller. Anything sparkly she could get her hands on and in her pockets. Never went back though. I walked out of Topman with a set of mens undies dangling off my handbag. Security did see the funny side. My dd tells me you have to have intent to shoplift for it to be an offence so GlamGiraffe is right that this is was a ludicrous over reaction.

SciFiScream · 08/11/2020 18:21

Three times. Once buying a whole bunch of stuff from Asda. Had picked up thin makeup (I think eyeliner?) and held it in my hand all the way round. Had in same hand as I paid. Didn't notice. Don't notice till I was home. Didn't do anything about it.

Another time giant bag of dry cat food. It was on the counter at Pets at Home next to the wet cat food we'd bought. Didn't notice till home and DH was surprised at the cost (it was so cheap) there'd been a deal on so I still didn't realise. It wasn't till I looked at the receipt that I realised what DH meant.

Another time Ikea. DD picked up a round cuddly toy. A cat, ball shaped with a long tail. She had it on her as we went through the checkout. Still didn't notice. She was sitting in her buggy playing with it.

I didn't do anything about any of these instances

chocolatemademefat · 09/11/2020 11:04

Belts from a clothes shop. I was in the shop with one DS in a pushchair and the other one in a wrist strap. I’d put the belts over the buggy and forgot about them at the till. Didn’t notice them until we got back to the car.

Had to send my husband back with them the next day. The staff were amused that he’d bothered.

OhMsBeliever · 09/11/2020 11:10

Not me, but my twins when they were in a pushchair. They stole a card from Clintons. I didn't realise till we were home and didn't want to spend hours walking back to town (didn't have a car back then, double pushchair was too big for the bus) so kept it.

They also stole a big bar of Galaxy from the local shop. I realised as I left the shop, so ran back in and handed it back.

Both things were in reach of their pushchair, and having a double meant it was hard to keep them away from things in grabbing range!

They are teenagers now, and apart from nicking my chocolate have not turned into master criminals. Or they're really good at it and haven't been caught yet!

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 09/11/2020 20:02

My dd tells me you have to have intent to shoplift for it to be an offence so GlamGiraffe is right that this is was a ludicrous over reaction.

You don’t need to have the intent at the time you take the item. If you realise later and decide to keep it, dishonestly, that’s theft.

Iamnotminterested · 09/11/2020 20:16

Yes, but not me directly...

Had DD1 (aged about 2 1/2) in a buggy and went in to the super-expensive bike/outdoor pursuits shop about 10 minutes walk from home; didn't buy anything but chatted with one of the assistants near the door before we left. Got half way home, looked down on an unusually quiet DD to find her happily nestling one of the v. expensive shoes from the display by the door.

EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 09/11/2020 20:21

When ds was 3-4 he was obsessed with those hangers that shoes come on in the shops, (like asda etc) Every time we came out of a shop that had shoes he'd produce one, I had no idea what the fascination with them was but I stopped taking him in any type of clothes and shoes shops.

duffeldaisy · 09/11/2020 20:26

My then young toddler son picked up a bottle of shampoo while I was pushing him round the shop. I noticed halfway down the street, and did take it back. They completely understood.

Fanofromanticseries · 09/11/2020 20:54

Kind of. A friend and I once left a pub without paying for our drinks as they said they'd bring them to the table. We were in our own world and just forgot as normally you pay for drinks at the bar. Was about ten mins after we left that we realised and decided to just keep walking