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Original poster

I’ve stolen someone’s shopping. Do I own up?!

251 replies

RachyRoo1 · 26/09/2021 22:25

I’ve name changed for this. I feel absolutely awful….

My shopping was delivered tonight.
As I was putting the bags in the house, the delivery driver told me that my “meat” bag was on the top of the tray of bags.

I wasn’t really paying much attention to what was in the bag, but I do remember thinking that it was heavy that I didn’t remember ordering that much meat…. I then briefly thought DH must’ve added it on.
I did think to myself, I wonder if this is even ours, but brushed it off as me just over thinking.

Once the driver had gone and I was unpacking the bags, I was checking off my items against the delivery sheet and realised the items infact weren’t on the list.

I checked with DH and he hadn’t ordered them, so we have been given a bag of meats by mistake.

We have….
2 x pack of chicken breasts
1 x pack of diced chicken
2 x pack of sirloin steak
2 x pack 20% fat beef mince
1 x pack 5% fat beef mince
1 x pack pork meat balls

I feel really awful about it now. I should’ve spoken up at the time.
I was rushing and just trying to get my bags in the house as quickly as I could.
DH has often added things to our shop last minute and I did just think he’d most likely done the same this week.

So what do I do now. Do I contact the supermarket and take the items back?
What if these items belong to someone old / vulnerable and they were reliant on them…

I’ve stolen someone’s shopping and I feel shit about it now.

OP posts:
Taiyo · 27/09/2021 03:43

I think that’s what I’m a bit worried about.
Either being charged or being told off 🤦🏻‍♀️

Told off by the supermarket who screwed up the order!?

They will have refunded the person whose shopping it was and it will be small change to a big supermarket. I suspect at this point they won't ask for the meat back as they will just have to bin it anyway.

It's really not a big deal. These things happen every day.

FavouriteMug · 27/09/2021 03:54

Why would you be 'told off'? And why all the guilt?

You are massively overthinking this. The supermarket made the mistake, not you and it happens ALL the time.

Phone in morning but I promise you, they won't give a shit.

WaterAndRichTea · 27/09/2021 04:12

In the height of the lockdown, and the ‘toilet roll’ shortage we received a bag of someone's shopping.
It had 9 toilet rolls in, and a hand soap, among afew other things,
I rang the store straight away who told me that the person had already rang up wondering where it was and said they had no more toilet roll or hand soap to give them so couldnt replace it, they were really grateful and send a driver out to get the bag and was going to deliver it to the person who had ordered it.

We had loads of toilet roll and hand soap as we always bulked buy , way before Covid, So i added in the bag, 9 Andrex toilet rolls and 2 more Carex anti bac soaps….

I hope it helped someone out…

I would always ring the shop straight away, and try to get the driver back.

WaterAndRichTea · 27/09/2021 04:13

I would be concerned that it was a vulnerable person and the meat was running low and the supermarket couldnt replace these items,

I would return in normal times, let alone Covid times!

SelkieQualia · 27/09/2021 04:22

@WaterAndRichTea

I would be concerned that it was a vulnerable person and the meat was running low and the supermarket couldnt replace these items,

I would return in normal times, let alone Covid times!

They can't take it back, though, even in normal times, due to food handling restrictions. Where I am, they won't take it back once I'd touched it, due to covid.
LaBellina · 27/09/2021 04:29

Just call them and explain. It was their mistake in the first place!

I think you’re lucky because they very likely let you keep the stuff because they can’t sell it or give it to someone else anymore because of food safety. They don’t know if it was stored properly or if it has otherwise been tampered with. If they do take it back I wouldn’t buy from this supermarket anymore because it would mean they’re not careful enough about food safety.

WaterAndRichTea · 27/09/2021 04:31

@SelkieQualia
Well they did the items i had

Granted they wasnt ‘food items’ but still essential items

I would still ring the store

Taiyo · 27/09/2021 04:59

[quote WaterAndRichTea]@SelkieQualia
Well they did the items i had

Granted they wasnt ‘food items’ but still essential items

I would still ring the store[/quote]
I think with meat, it’s unlikely they can return it. Different if it’s stuff that doesn’t need refrigeration.

feejee · 27/09/2021 05:15

Thia happened to us, i just rang through and they said keep the extra stuff. The other customer had missing items, but it was late night so wasnt going to be replaced. Careful though...there were a couple of items i'd never consider buying before that are now a weekly staple!

BobbiPink · 27/09/2021 06:17

OP, bless you! Honestly, don’t stress. This happens all the time, it’s happened to me twice. I don’t check every item that they deliver, I just grab the bags and Chuck them near the kitchen door, and sort them out once the delivery person leaves. They can’t blame you for not checking the packets, it’s equally their responsibility to ensure they don’t mess up.

I would call them and tell them what’s happened- don’t apologise, because it’s not your fault, just tell customer services that there’s been a mix up which you’ve just spotted and you would like to know next steps. Since these are all refrigerated items, they will not take them back. You’ll most likely be told to keep them and use them as you see fit. They will then ensure they deliver a fresh batch of the mixed up items to the person who had ordered them.

And yes, just call the main customer services helpline listed on the website of the retailer.

daisychain01 · 27/09/2021 06:17

How would this scenario even happen? They have the printed bill with the customers name and address on, plus each plastic box is also labelled with the customer's name on. They normally ask for the person's name to check it matches invoice and boxes. Very strange all those checks didn't happen, didn't you give your name and look at your invoice OP? It would have had someone else's name on.

MyOtherProfile · 27/09/2021 06:20

I think that’s what I’m a bit worried about.
Either being charged or being told off

Seriously they won't tell you off. It's not your fault. If anyone's it's the delivery driver's. I never check what has come until I'm putting everything away, by which point the driver is on to his next drop.
We once got an extra bag with a load of finest wine in. We often order wine so I didn't notice it wasn't what we might have ordered until I unpacked that bag. Even then I thought at first my DH had decided to splash out.
By the time we realised the mistake and rang Tesco the driver was long gone and they just said don't worry you an keep it.

It's absolutely not your fault.

Wabola · 27/09/2021 06:25

Don't worry about this, just ring them up when they open, I never check mine at the doorstep and can never remember from one week to the next what I have ordered, also it would hold them up if I went through everything while they were there, it was a delivery mistake not yours.

Reastie · 27/09/2021 06:33

Similar happened to me. I contacted the supermarket and they told me to keep it.

Tailendofsummer · 27/09/2021 06:45

The same thing happened to me, only at a click and collect. It went straight into the boot while I sat in the car so I didn't notice (I'm a vegetarian so it wasn't any use to me!) I did bring it back, when I returned to get my actually shopping that I hadn't received all of!

Eralos · 27/09/2021 06:46

I mean this kindly but this is quite a normal thing to happen, it’s happened to me. Why does this cause you so much anxiety? Would it be worth speaking to your gp about coping methods? This sort of life event shouldn’t throw you through a loop.

HeronLanyon · 27/09/2021 06:50

Not theft. You weren’t dishonest - neither objective or subjective test.
I’d phone and report.
The problem was the delivery locker or Packer or delivery driver.

Supermarket will not want it back as who knows where it has been.
See what they say.
The other customer will for sure have been in touch with them for refund/complaint:new delivery.
I don’t eat meat but bloody hell what a mistake to be on your end of.
The most I e ever had in error was one avocado.

OhGiveUp · 27/09/2021 06:54

I once got 7 tins of cat food with my delivery order.....for a cat I've never owned.
Unless it was an invisible cat.
I didn't bother phoning the store and the dog got rid of the evidence in case the police kicked my door in to arrest me.

LakeShoreD · 27/09/2021 06:56

The meat has been out of the cold chain so legally the supermarket can’t do anything with it now except throw it away. So eat it and enjoy to avoid the waste. Obviously if this involved non perishables that would be completely different but in this case you’re fine.

SquareYellow · 27/09/2021 06:59

Call, they’ll likely tell you to keep the free meat but it will help when the other family reports missing food that they’ll get refunded and believed

home2012 · 27/09/2021 07:00

They honestly won't care. Mistakes happen with delivery's. They will tell you to keep it.

seaandsandcastles · 27/09/2021 07:09

@home2012

They honestly won't care. Mistakes happen with delivery's. They will tell you to keep it.
Of course they will care because they still need to account for missing food.

They’ll probably tell her to keep it though as they cannot resell it or give it back to the original customer.

TheWayTheLightFalls · 27/09/2021 07:15

If it's any consolation OP -

On Fri our shopping didn't turn up.
They rang late on Friday to say driver shortage, did we want to collect or reschedule the order. I said we'd collect.
Received text asking me to call and reschedule.
Called, confirmed that we'd collect that eve.
Collected.
Got another call the next day asking us to reschedule.
Called, explained we'd collected.

Yesterday I woke up to find a refund for the full shop in my account.

LadyAdrianDangerous · 27/09/2021 07:18

Everyone is saying they'll replace it for the person it's meant for, that's not always true. This happened to my mum and the shop refused to replace or refund and told us to contact the police. Police said they couldn't help and we were left with nothing.

megletthesecond · 27/09/2021 07:18

Of course you own up. It's not the end of the world.
It happened to me once, it had champagne in it too. They didn't want to come and collect it and just said thank you for letting them know. I assume they quickly sorted out another order for the other person.

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