Am I terrible?

[Shakeylegs]

Just seen the thread about the person who accidentally didn’t pay for her big shop. Makes me wonder if my morals are in the bin because I’d not give it a second’s thought other than to chalk it up as a bit of good fortune.

the following three things have genuinely happened to me in the past few years, and I wonder if they make me immoral.

1. Bought some stuff off Amazon a few weeks ago. About £90 worth actually. Paid as normal. Transaction stayed ‘Pending’ for a week then disappeared and the money was never taken. I haven’t mentioned it.

2. Bought some petrol from an unstaffed supermarket petrol station. Put my card in as normal. Just as I was getting towards a tank-full, the pump just seized up and shut down. There was nobody around to ask, so I drove away. Was never charged any money for the fuel. Never mentioned it.

3. Bought some towels from a department store. Went to pay, and as I was doing so, asked if they’d mind storing them for me so that I didn’t have to carry them round all afternoon. They said fine. I didn’t pay at that point. Then when I went to pick them up, I was all ready to pay but the staff member just handed them to me and walked off, mistakenly assuming I’d previously paid. Again, I said nothing.

What do you think? I guess number 3 is the clearest cut bit of awfulness, but even then they literally handed me the stuff!

Weirdly, given what I’ve just admitted, I’d never actually steal something off a shelf. I even balked at ripped CDs back in the day, and wouldn’t touch a fire stick to get free Sky or whatever it is you can do. But those three things I did do. Am I awful?

I think God knows anyway. The amount of times I get ‘quality checked’ at the self service checkout. 24 items they checked today. Obviously all paid for cos I don’t steal except for special circumstances!

Oh god this makes me seem like a goody two shoes! I can’t be doing any of that! I bought a round of drinks at the pub last night, paid for it then the guy poured another pint of beer and gave it to me even though I’d only paid for one pint, I immediately said ‘oh, no I only paid for one !’ And so he took it and poured it down the sink 🤣 I can’t even do things like that ! Maybe I need to be a bit more naughty!

I'm more like you. Dh is of the mumsnet moral variety. Just yesterday he went to a chemist to pick up his monthly meds and they said those are free, dh pipes up 'no, they should be €80". We are in Ireland where you pay for prescriptions but it is capped at €80 a month per family we reach the cap every month just on dhs meds so sometimes our meds are free. I would have just said thanks very much and gone on my merry way but dh always does the right thing 🙄

I've been ripped off enough times by faulty products or things being missed off of takeaway orders etc that I just view events like these as the world balancing things back out. I've never engineered something like this happening but I'll take the benefit it one falls in my lap.

Though only if it's a corporation taking the hit - if I saw a random person drop money I'd give it back right away.

I've accidentally stole. One time I filled up with petrol, got a coffee, and absent-mindedly paid for the coffee but not the fuel - I'd just checked my phone and found out a relative had died so I was in a bit of a daze. The police did say it looked like I had genuinely forgotten because I was in no hurry to leave the shop or the forecourt and did pay for the coffee.

I tucked a book under my arm in a bookshop and was halfway up the street before I realised it was still there and I dashed back to pay, mortified. Past a security guard as well!

One time I ordered an item online, it didn't arrive so sent off a query email. They sent out another, swiftly followed by the original one. So I returned the extra one, and they refunded me for the original. I rang a lovely lady who said her system couldn't fix it and to just take the freebie. Another time that happened I emailed the company to find an address to send the accidental orders back to with me willing to cover the postage but I never heard back from them.

I'd just lie awake if I didn't at least try to pay for what I got. Must be the residual Catholic guilt!

I ordered a phone once. Very hard up at the time so it was from the online catalogue studio. 2 weeks went by and it hadn't arrived so they refunded me the money to my account.

It arrived about 10 days later. Did I contact them? Absolutely not. 5 years later I'm still using my free phone.

This.

So you’ve determined that because of the three examples I gave, my morals are that I will steal when I’m fairly sure I can get away with it?*

Yes.

I am presented with easy theft opportunities every day but I never take them.

Because there's a fairly good chance you will get caught.

The three fluke opportunities where you would probably get away with it, you chose to be a thief.

Also, you made this thread because you know it is wrong but you want validation that 'everyone does it'. Many do. But if you really thought it was fine, you wouldn't have made a thread.

AIBU: I used washing up liquid to do the washing up.

You don't start threads about things you know are normal and fine.

We are in the same society. We teach children right and wrong. But some people are not taught right and wrong. Others realise they can get away with doing wrong, so they discard normal morals.

What you did was way worse than anything OP did.
Someone did this to me albeit only £40 but I was horrified that someone would do that.
Shout after me, let the machine take it back but don't pocket it

If a genuine mistake has been made and I've offered to pay and the company have been rude then I have no qualms about accepting freebies!

Past Times were dreadful. Part of an order included one pack of sterling silver Christmas pudding charms but when they arrived the shelf picker had sent the entire wholesale box of carded charms. It was years ago so I can't remember the exact amount, it was at least fifty.

I phoned them up and the woman was immediately very rude and said no way could that happen.

I asked her to check their stock and she refused!

Most bizarre. No wonder they went bust!

Superdrug are equally appalling.

Three times I have ordered to collect in the store and they have not checked off my order so have marked it as customer didn't collected and refunded me.

The first time it happened it was a big order, just under £200 and I collected it and a week or so later for an email to say they had refunded me for not collecting it.

I phoned and again I had the rudest woman on the phone who said 'We don't make mistakes!' She was very snotty and said that I was mistaken! I hung up.

The next time I collected I asked the assistant to make sure they had checked it on their screen to say I had collected and they said yes they had. Lo and behold I hit a refund a week or so later. I didn't bother to waste my time phoning. It wasn't a great amount.

The third time was another big order and again I specifically asked the assistant to make sure their records showed I had collected it. I got a refund!

One of my step daughters has also had the same with Superdrug and has been refunded several times for items she has collected despite asking store staff to check it off on their screens!

My sister has had the same with a Lawnmower from Argos and a coffee machine, the latter costing over £700 and Argos also denied that this could happen and that she definitely did not collect it! She even offered to send them a photo of it in her kitchen!

When the customer service staff are snotty, then tough shit to the company.

You don't need anyone to tell you if it's on. Surely your own clear conscience should be guidance enough.

I bought something from John Lewis and picked it up.at Waitrose on New Year's Eve, it was about an hour before closing.

They gave me 2 parcels. I said I think this is wrong it's just one thing I ordered. She looked at the note and said no, the other parcel.is the accessories for it. I asked if we should have a look as the parcel seemed too heavy, she said no it's fine and walked away.

When I got home there were indeed two of the item! I did wrestle with myself about keeping them both but I kind of felt I had tried to give it back. I was probably wrong to keep it having read all this.

But part of me thinks capitalism.fucks us over so often, sometimes this is pay back. How many things have we bought that break a few weeks after the guarantee has run out? I spent £300 on supposedly very high quality solar lights. They all stopped working just after the one year guarantee ran out.

I'd chalk the Amazon and the petrol down as a bit of good fortune. But the towels was a bit naughty tbh. I certainly wouldn't go bragging to all and sundry about my "free" towels.

The only time I can think of similar was when I was in my late teens/early 20s, and bought some earrings from... I think it was H&M. They were £2 reduced in a sale. I paid with a £2 coin, but the girl behind the till accidentally entered £20 by mistake. There was a lot of faffing around to rectify it, including calling a manager over. And after a while, she proceeded to hand me £18 in change...

Needless to say, I high-tailed it out there sharpish.

You had time to fix all three things, you didn't. You were wrong. I personally don't care what anyone else does, I try to always do the right thing.

This is exactly how I feel ✌️

I forgot about Amazon.

I've often had the items, 'Parcel handed to resident' which is absolute nonsense and I've complained and got a refund or a replacement only for the item to be found in some ludicrous place days later or the driver to deliver it the next day.

When Amazon are informed I now have the item, shall I pay again they always say no.

I have also received compensation when they have left it in a place where they have clearly trespassed (warning signs) and have damaged property putting it there.

Amazon do have excellent customer service.

I take it you received the Amazon order even though the transaction didn't go through