I know it’s stealing….but…..

[VidalSass]

Im going to be Annihilated here……

i took out a store card to pay for a large tech purchase, interest free, over 36months. This was four months ago

I set up a direct debit straight away for the monthly payment and then cut up the card.

I checked my account and noted direct debit not come out, so I logged on to the store card account and the charge is still ‘pending’ - therefore minimum payment is 0 as the charge has not been processed by the merchant.

would I be unreasonable to just ignore it and therefore avoid the repayments? Surely it would eventually just be cancelled? Although it’s already sat there for four months….

i don’t want to call the merchant as obviously they will then just process the charge…..

im worries that eventually it would just be charged but a part of me is excited at the thought that an error may have occurred resulting in me getting free stuff. I know it’s technically stealing but it’s a huge company (probably not paying corporation tax in the uk) and I’m not exactly rolling in it

AIBU - should call the merchant to process the charge and start paying it back

NBU - technically it’s stealing but fuck the man and ride the freebie wave

Just to clarify, are you saying you took the store card to pay for a purchase (how much are we talking?) but the item has never been charged to the card so you can't make a payment as the card is at zero?

I assume you had to be credit checked? Are you sure they didn't charge the card you used as ID?

It will most likely catch up with you at some point so at the very least I'd be putting money aside to be able to make the payment if they ever come back to you. However I wouldn't be in a hurry to ring them up and point out the mistake.

Yes, but in this case the credit card hasn't been used. The charge wasn't put on the card. As far as the seller is concerned, they haven't yet received payment from the OP. And as far as the CC company is concerned, it has nothing to do with them. The debt is between the seller and the OP.

@HollyKnight Ah ok I see what you mean.

I have not RTFT but I think you need to be careful here. You have purchased at item and owe the company the money for it - you have a contractual obligation to pay for it.

To settle the obligation, you have no doubt signed a credit agreement agreeing to pay the amount in instalments. As part of that credit agreement there are likely to be contractual penalties for late payments which will likely result in interest charges and perhaps admin fees.

Just because the mechanical setting up of the DD in terms of a cash settlement process hasn’t worked, the actual contractual obligation to settle the credit agreement will still exist. You have a legal liability to pay for the item and will ultimately be responsible for it. It’s a hassle and a pain if they haven’t set up the DD correctly, but this doesn’t mean you have been ‘let off’ your legal obligation to pay.

If you default on your contractual obligation to make payments, it will really hurt your credit score for many years and you will have to meet the penalties for default - is it really worth it ?

Of course there’s a chance they might not notice, but I think it’s unlikely - I think you’re being a fool, it would perhaps be different if you hadn’t signed a legally enforceable credit agreement.

Maybe you should RTFT because it's nothing to do with the direct debit

to go to the effort of a very lengthy post but not to read the thread 😐

It will catch up with you eventually. If you could/can afford the monthly payments in the first place then what is the issue with calling the company and telling of the mistake? If it does catch up with you later and you've spent the money or find your financial position changes for the worst then you could end up in small claims court and you and your kids will be worse off as a result. Just call them and rectify it then you won't have to worry about whether you and others thing you're a thief or fraudster.

I wouldn't feel guilty if this happened or morally driven to call them and be honest. Their error after all. HOWEVER- and this is a huge however for me- I'd literally be unable to sleep at night for worry the error would be discovered and I'd be penalised. So I'd own up to rid myself of that anticipatory anxiety, not because I'm a moral saint or anything.

I would and many people would too, not everyone is a scumbag.

I have Read Enough of the Thread to know the contractual position - thanks for the advice.

OP has bought an expensive tech item, signed a credit agreement at checkout and the company hasn’t processed it correctly onto her account so it shows as pending, and hence she’s not paying it back (or able to pay it back).

It doesn’t matter how it shows on her online account, just because it shows as pending, they can still easily chase her for payment - even in many years time. The company aren’t going to care about processing errors on their side - she’s taken delivery of an item and signed a credit agreement at checkout so if she defaults, she’s in trouble.

Most likely, the company will realise - so definitely best to set aside the money, but the consequences of defaulting on the credit agreement are serious.

Stuff like this happens to me all the time, as I do alot of online shopping. Duplicates sent in error.
Got a free TV once as I ordered and cancelled but they still sent it. Was never charged. Never heard from them again.
It's not your fault they didn't process it properly

If the account is showing as 0 I'd try and close the account before they realise 😂

but in your previous post you state **
If you default on your contractual obligation to make payments, i**

the op has made no payments. that is the point of the thread

Ok so if there’s no balance the morally correct thing to do would be to phone the credit or store card and explain the situation see what they say? No you on paper haven’t done anything wrong the error was not made by you but how you deal with it would determine if you end up doing wrong or not.
The last part of your comment about the bank and processing fees is totally irrelevant, that’s a different situation. Just because someone wrongs you it doesn’t make it ok for you to wrong someone else

Yes exactly - the OP has bought something, clicked at checkout for a store card (this is a credit agreement) and now hasn’t paid, because they can’t (because it hasn’t been processed correctly). However the terms and conditions of the store credit card will include penalties and interest if the OP defaults.

The OP can just leave it and hope that the company doesn’t notice and keep the item. That might happen - fingers crossed.

But equally the company could easily realise, update the account and consider that legally OP has defaulted (because they haven’t made any payments in line with the store credit agreement or tried to resolve it). The OP could easily end up with a default - that’s a pain for six years in the future.

And so the OP has to decide whether the risk of potential credit history arrears is worth taking, for the free item, it’s not the same as a duplicate order or delivery error or similar cock up 🤷‍♀️.

the op hasn’t “defaulted” on any payment

i think it would be best if you read the thread!

potential credit history arrears i

nothing is going to go in to arrears because no payment is being asked from the Op so she’s not “going on to arrears”!

It's not fraud as it stands. I would be more inclined to do some research on your rights if it does come to light but you could play dumb, like you say the debit is set up, it's up to the merchant to collect it monthly, if they don't that's on them not you.

If they update the account in the future obviously OP will just have to make the minimum payment for that month if its a storecard, there won't be arrears if that is paid as needed

If it is a normal store/credit card that OP has, which she hasn't said it isn't, you pay the minimum payment each month and then the balance before the end of 36 months which I guess is what she plans to do

@VidalSass - one thought. You say this is a large tech item - have you thought what would happen if it broke down and you wanted to claim under the warranty? The company would uncover the fact that you hadn’t made any payments, and might become difficult about honouring the warranty and repairing the item. Of course, it is not your fault that they haven’t set up the DD or taken any payments, but you could end up having to fight a very complicated situation, while your large tech item remains useless - at the very least, this could be an extra pain in the backside.

Look, I’m not going to argue with people on this thread but when you checkout and opt to pay using store credit, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the credit. That click of the mouse, creates a legal agreement - it probably said ‘click to confirm you’ve read the terms and conditions’.

There will be a bank behind the store credit, and they won’t give a toss about what is showing correctly on OPs screen 🤷‍♀️ I have read all OPs posts and lots of other people’s, and people are just giving silly advice.

Of course, she might get away with it - maybe the interface between the company and the finance intermediary hasn’t worked 🤷‍♀️. But she might not get away with it. So best to be informed and consider the future risk.

It just sounds like a credit card transaction that the merchant has pre authed or authed but failed to capture. All this chat about fraud, theft or credit ratings being destroyed is ludicrous.

No policeman is going to be sent, no charges will be brought, no credit rating is going to be destroyed because of an error presumably by the merchant. The merchant may well go on to capture the payment anyway or void the transaction. If it's a large merchant, they aren't going to give a customer loads of grief if the transaction failed - they're going to complain at the payment processor or their engineers for not setting up their checkout properly etc.

From the OP's perspective, the incentive to get it fixed is to take advantage of the full interest free period otherwise she has fewer months to pay it off if the transaction is eventually captured. If the merchant voids the transaction, then it depends if she wants to phone up customer services and let them know. She may well get a store credit for the hassle!

And for all the people saying "you're driving our prices up" - if a corporation wants to increase their profits they need to sort out the bugs that drive up their costs. This is (potentially) an example of one, and their shareholders should demand that the customer gets a better experience and not have to put up with this nonsense.

yes but the op can only owe what the cc company has paid on her behalf (which she then repays the CC company)

nothing taken. so no defaulting repayments

Prior to discovering the error I had already exchanged one of the items, in person at the store using the receipt they have issued me.

the warranties have been registered using proof of purchase, the receipt issued by the supplier….

You lot who would ring them up and force them into taking your money are part of the reason everyone else has to put up with such shit customer services. Banks or phones or internet or anything contractual with a big company and there is a ridiculous (and relatively modern) onus placed on the customer to spend their time and effort to just simply get what they've already paid for. They fuck stuff up and send you jumping through hoops to prove this or identify this, or dig out some letter they sent you even though they've obviously got it on file and it's in part because a load of you will just do it for a quiet life.

This is not stealing. If someone gives you something and takes nothing for it that is not stealing. This is a company being shit at it's one and only job. I fully understand not wanting to do their work for them, you bought a computer not a Red Letter Day cosplaying as an accounts clerk. They get paid for this shit, let them work it out