I accidentally stole an entire big shop

[Rayoffingsunshine]

I spent about £95 on a big shop 3 weeks ago. I went through the scan and go. I had my two boys with me (2 and 3 months) and I paid using contactless. I didn't grab the receipt which I didn't notice until I got home and was annoyed because the supermarket had an offer for money off voucher if you spend so much that I had intended to grab but only realised I didn't have it when I got home.
I budget everything and wrote the shop on my budget app straight away so I noticed the discrepancy on my account within a few days. I thought it was just taking a little longer than normal to process but 3 weeks later there's still no record of it. I've checked every account I have including my husband's just in case I had his card though I'm certain it was just my day to day debit card. The only thing I can think is that the payment didn't process and I just didn't notice and walked straight out. But surely someone would have stopped me! I remember a friend telling me once, with a tiny shop, just a quick lunch on the go kind of shop, this happened to her once and she was stopped in the car park by security. I don't understand how this has happened. I wouldn't have been quick to leave because my 2 year old moves at a snails pace.

If I go and talk to customer service in the shop will they believe that is was a genuine mistake and just let me pay for it or will I get in trouble?

Shall we all from now check any single transaction we do, just in case we are thieves because whatever had happened somewhere else.

Yes, of course we should! I'm shocked that anyone would not.

As to the employer, what if you notified them that your wages hadn't been received at your bank and they shrugged and said "We'll just enjoy the free week's labour then, ta!" "We're too busy to rectify the error" "Oh well, we tried...not our fault the system didn't work properly" "We were rushed and didn't realize; catch you next time." Would you accept not being paid for services rendered, or would you expect them to apologize and correct the problem?

Shall we all from now check any single transaction we do,

Yes, of course. I always wait until the card read says "Approved".

Yes, do this! You've had a stroke of luck and as an isolated incident it will be pennies to the supermarket chain but you could do something really helpful in exchange.

OP said in the intro post. "I didn't grab the receipt" that to me means the transaction was accepted because a receipt can't be printed if the transaction is not accepted.
Transaction accepted is not the same as transaction processed. Takes time to process a transaction in your bank account and if there is an error in the system and it is not processed that is nothing to do with you leaving a transaction incomplete.

I am not going to be convinced about it because for me is not theft. And not, I'm not going to be responsible for any third party network/ WiFi software mistake.

I wouldn't probably even notice, I don't check my bank statement every time I do a purchase or weekly. I don't hold my finances by the pound.

I am not trying to convince anyone neither I would change my mind. It is an option about the issue.

And I don't see the point to continue this conversation because my opinion is not going to change.

Sorry Ladies, for you may be theft for me is not.

It is not up to the OP to use Tesco's merchandise to make donations. If they want to donate, they will. If she wants to donate, it should come from her own pocket.

The lengths people are going to, to justify dishonesty, is astounding.

If you don't like to patronize for-profit corporations, don't. But don't steal from them and try to turn it into a good deed. How absurd. If one walks away with unpaid merchandise, and doesn't rectify the "innocent mistake," one is a thief. Period.

Because she has a conscience!

OP - Phone customer services and explain.

But @Epidote, that ship has sailed. She now knows that the transaction didn't go through. It doesn't matter if she realized it two seconds later at the till, or two days later at home. She's in receipt of merchandise that doesn't belong to her. The ethical thing to do is to contact the vendor and pay up, or return the goods.

When she realized that she hadn't paid is entirely irrelevant. One doesn't get a pass because a certain amount of time has gone by.

She didn’t steal the shopping - she left shop in the belief she’d paid! If the shop has self-service tills, they have to take some responsibility for the fact that occasional errors occur. It’s happened to me once or twice but I usually check to make sure the payment has gone through before I leave. However this lady had two small children with her and as we all know these can be a huge distraction. Nonetheless, I would go back and be totally honest about what happened and I’m sure it will be fine. I’m also sure it would be fine not to go back and make a charitable donation but if the lady wants to use the shop again, for her own piece of mind it would be best to return.

My neighbour did this in Waitrose for about £40 worth of shopping. She got home and couldn’t see it on her bank statement so she rang them up very apologetically offering to come back and pay. The guy she spoke to had a go at her for not paying but told her they wouldn’t take payment for it, so she felt bad after the experience but couldn’t make amends - criticised for trying to do the right thing!
I’d say chalk it down to experience and just don’t do it again, those supermarkets make massive profits - pay it forward as some have suggested or donate it to a worthwhile charity - food bank or something - but don’t try to give the supermarket anything

I've just commented on another thread but this exact same thing happened to me, was distracted n though id scanned my card someone had left a receipt so i took it. Next time i was in they did pull me to the side, i hadn't even realised n i paid.

The worst thing? i did it again, same supermarket luckily i realised n went back the next day to pay. They were fine.

Go back n pay as its self scan they will have you recorded. Next time you're in they'll pull you to the side. Saves you the embarssment

Don't be silly! Just enjoy the free shop. Big supermarkets aren't going bust and the owners are all billionaires who don't give a shit about us.

You thought you had paid. Their prob, not yours! Make a donation to a food bank and forget about it.

They do at self scan. Had the same happen to me, was pulled to the side next time i was in. They could see it was a genuine mistake, i paid that was the end of that

I've worked for Tesco on the self scan/ scan as you shop section. Nothing bad will happen. They barely have security now due to cuts so very unlikely to look at CCTV. The self scan agent would have just cancelled the transaction and hope you went back into the shop to pick something else up.
If by some miraculous investigation they recognise you, you tapped your card, their till didn't register it. Honest mistake, nothing they can do (other than perhaps ask you to pay).
One thing that will happen though if you left your scan as you shop handset at the till, is that they would have had to cancel the shop off the handset in order to put it back in the charging wall. This will mean you'll likely have a 'random search' next time. They aren't random.

Don't pay it back, big corporate greed doesn't deserve it.

My daughter used to work in a large supermarket and this happens and when people are honest and come back it's more complicated than if you don't go back - phone them up or drop them an email and give them the decision - x

I had a similar experience in IKEA many years ago. I had a trolley full of shopping but at the till I was so distracted by my two very young children (squabbling or wailing - I don’t remember!) I managed to go through and leave without paying. I realised later what I’d done and did actually go back to own up. The staff were completely charming and so pleased that I’d come clean, they gave me a voucher to spend in the restaurant.

The bank registered a ‘decline’ on the bank account and that will have registered on supermarket records and the name and bank account details.
when customer makes another purchase on the same card in same store this will set off an ‘alert’.
In addition the particular machine was faulty so the OP was probably not the only one.

To those saying the money is nothing to a large organisation- it might not be but store managers have to balance the books at stocktake. It is very stressful and bad results cost people their jobs and overall staffing levels. They will just pull your bill from the system to confirm the payment didn't go through, thank you for your honesty, and take your payment if you need to make one.

Indeed

My Husband did this with Waitrose once accidently,
it wasn’t until he got home he remembered he hadn’t actually paid after scanning everything!
I mean we use them every week and spend £200 roughly. So not as though we would willingly wish to fleece them!
I told him he must call and pay over the phone because i felt so ashamed and thought we would never be allowed back in to shop,
so we called and they had no record of a non payment on their tills.
we checked out bank account for days after and no payment ever did debit.
so we had a free weeks shopping!

I would call the store and explain what has happened...chances are with supermarkets being so busy at this time of year that they may just say to you to leave it and don't do it again. I'm sure you'll feel better if you at least call them up and explain. Make a note of the time and date you've rang and the name of the person you've spoken to, just in case it comes back to bite you in the bum.

Not that hard if you know the date n approx time. They have cameras on the self scan and can pull a receipt off. And they take the receipt at the time. When it happened to me they had a record of the transaction as it hadn't been paid for. The assistant has to come n clear the check out so print out the transaction at the sane time

Absolute rubbish .

Because some of us are still honest. More to the point, why would you think unintentional theft is alright?
If OP goes back and they say to forget it then all well and good but my conscience would suffer til I put the matter right. I can't fathom why you'd even question paying it back.
This is MumsNet, parents need to coach their kids in right vs wrong.

Personally I wouldn’t go back, and would definitely pay it forward! But if it makes you feel too guilty and want to go back then of course they’d believe it was a genuine mistake, why would you go back and tell them otherwise!