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?

I think you should settle debts in your own life before giving to charity, so I don’t really agree with ‘pay it forward to the food bank’.

You should go back and pay. There’s no way they’ll take action against you. It was an accident and they won’t be able to show otherwise. They might even give you something for being honest.

I wouldn’t judge you very harshly if you didn’t go back and pay though. Tempting.

This was a genuine error. If this was a small store I’d absolutely say go back - but self service tills save already hugely profiteering supermarkets a fortune in staff so frankly that’s their issue if sometimes they don’t work. As to cameras - they will show that you put your card in/ waved your card/ whatever so evidently you intended to pay. Almost certainly you will cause more hassle and grief by returning/ getting staff on duty into trouble/ there will be no possible way of “ putting the money back” at this late stage. Theft is the intentional taking without paying - the fact you are anxious enough to post about it prices you are not a thief. As others have said - pay it forward to help those in genuine need but just check your receipts carefully in future!

I would call up in advance and say that you’re coming in to pay it. I say this because I made exactly the same error, I did self check out, distracted by my boys, had forgotten glasses so didn’t fully read machine, and left. The only thing is that when I went in the next time I was abruptly accosted by two security guards and marched off to the customer service desk where my photo was pinned to a wall!!! I was SO humiliated and their attitude towards me made me feel awful, my boys were upset and confused about what was happening but their thinking was I was stealing, so PLEASE learn from my experience and pay, but say in advance or the next time you go in this may happen to you, aswell 😊

Personally, I would tell them and pay it back. Something similar once happened to me - John Lewis failed even to bill me for a fridge. I got in touch, told them and paid the bill. Afterwards, it gave me such peace of mind, and I felt really good for ages. And a few days later I received a massive bunch of flowers. They lasted for weeks. It was a really lovely experience.

Go back and explain and pay it. I work in retail and regularly check our local police “Caught on Camera” page which shows cctv stills of people suspected of theft. Twice a month or so our local newspaper grabs 20 or so of these images and posts them on Facebook.

I’ve started noticing more and more images from self service checkouts. Whether it’s accidental or intentional the image of the person is still out there. I’d save yourself the sleepless nights and get it sorted.

@Bloodyel - of course the supermarkets make profit - they aren’t charities - but that doesn’t explain why you think we should all pay higher prices so that shoplifters can steal from the shops, or so that someone who makes a genuine accident doesn’t have to rectify it.

Some of the costs covered by shrinkage are unavoidable - things get broken or spoiled by accident - but theft is a deliberate choice (I exclude theft by someone who is starving, desperate or penniless), as is choosing not to rectify a mistake. If people didn’t make these choices, prices could be lower for everyone.

They won’t miss it, @CelestiaNoctis - because it comes out of the prices we in store. Things like this are shrinkage (losses due to shoplifting, breakage, spoilage, accidents like the OP’s), and a percentage of every price in the shop covers it.

Yeah. Go back and pay it. I don’t know how much hassle it will be but I think try and at least speak to someone on the shop.

I can't imagine justifying thieving because of the technology that the merchant uses.

It's up to the customer to pay attention and determine if the transaction properly processed after they waved their card. Come on. Paying attention the self-serve till isn't brain surgery.

The justification that ripping off big stores is somehow ok compared to ma and pa's bakery is such bullshit.

LaurieStrode nope it’s not “ up to the customer” - if companies choose to remove the human element from their shops to save a fortune then unless they discount customers for having to act as supermarket assistants/ till staff this is a risk they take. I’m sure it equally works to their advantage on numerous occasions ( eg when bar codes are not updated so customers are , frequently, overcharged) This is completely different to, for example, a honey producer leaving jars outside a house with an honesty box. Supermarkets are multi million industries - you only have to look at their loyalty scheme pricing to see what a scam the whole set up is. This customer did not “ steal” she was stressed and accompanied by a toddler - she in all genuineness believed she had paid - had she been served by a till assistant the error would have been quickly picked up ( and the human interaction possibly made the whole experience less frenetic) - I’m delighted you perceive the whole auto till experience to be “ not rocket science “ - the level of intervention from shop assistants when things don’t scan/ compute might suggest otherwise- possibly the rest of the population neither as intelligent or superior as you obviously consider yourself to be.

The store doesnt care about your honesty and they dont care about their workers because they are replacing them with machines that can`t check if people have paid properly or not, they only care about their stock price but maybe noticeable losses at the self-serve checkouts will prompt a re-think because plenty of people probably need a part-time job to pay their mortgage now?

I agree. Self checkouts have been brought in to save on wages... customers are not till trained or employed to work on the tills therefore errors are to be expected. I imagine supermarkets are aware of this but the savings on wages still make it worth it for them.

I know.

Unless you never plan on visiting that store again, its best to go back and pay it.
Shops suffer significant loses with customers not paying and now have camera's monitoring self check out. By your own admission it was a big shop. You don't want to find your mugshot on a poster next time you visit or or your face being recognised by an attentive employee.

How the fuck is this thread still dragging on? Can't believe the amount of judgemenl holier than thou pearl clutchers on here. MN at its finest.

If it is judgemental to think that people should pay for their shopping, and shouldn’t take advantage of a mistake/accident to have £90-worth of shopping for free, then I am happy to be judgemental, @MonZb.

Though I would be interested to hear why you think it is OK to keep things without paying for them. Would that level of generosity and understanding extend to someone who found something of yours that you’d lost, and decided to keep it? If you lose your purse, and someone worse off than you found it, could they keep your money, or would you magically find yourself becoming judgemental about their behaviour?

I agree STDG. People accept this kind of thing because they don't think there is a victim, but they wouldn't tolerate the same type of behaviour aimed at themselves.
It's like insurance fraud. I was burgled a while ago and I was shocked by the number of people who said that I should over inflate the claim, on the grounds that the insurance company wouldn't miss the money/I've paid premiums for years and never claimed before so "deserved" it/everyone does it so it doesn't matter etc etc.
It's viewed as a victimless crime but of course it isn't as we'll all be paying a little bit extra in our premiums to pay for people's dishonesty. If I took a fiver out of the wallets of all the friends who gave me this advice I don't think they'd be quite so cool about it, but if you defraud big businesses you are taking money off their other customers.* *

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

It's almost as ridiculous as the 30p bag thread where posters are baying for the blood of the OP and anyone agreeing with her!

I would telephone the store and explain what has happened. Apologise profusely and say you will call in and pay what you owe. You know its the right thing to do. You will forever feel guilty if you dont put this right. Some people have no morals and you are not one of those people. 😇

But you're painting a picture of someone being challenged by the store when they still didn't realise they hadn't paid. That's different. OP does now realise she hasn't paid. She no longer has that defence. The question is whether she should come forward.

You're suggesting that if the store spots her error, and they or the police contact her, she could tell a lie and pretend she still didn't realise and she may get away with it.

As I say to my kids. Telling a lie always makes things worse.

Despicable lack of any morals. Some people on here are really outing the moral swamp they occupy.

I actually wouldn't have noticed if I'd tried to pay I'd have assumed it went through. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, just be more careful next time. They will struggle to find the transaction now and they won't be watching you like a hawk as someone suggested cos no one will remember. I used to work at Tesco and had to tell my manager that the new cashier she had employed was actually banned from all Tesco stores for shop lifting as a young teen and she was about 19 when employed by the store 😵‍💫

I don't understand this. It is quite obvious to anyone with eyes and ears whether the transaction has completed or not. There are very clear readouts on the screens along with audio cues.

It's not difficult and it IS the purchaser's responsibility. Even at manned tills there is a screen on the card reader that indicates the progress of the transaction.