What would you do in this situation, morally?

Question

I was at Wal-Mart last weekend and it was crazy packed (last weekend before Christmas-- it was insane). I stood in line for ages at the checkout counter, the lady charged the items I wanted to buy, I paid, and left the store.

When I got to my car, I realized the lady hadn't actually scanned in one of the items I bought, so I basically got it for free because of her mistake.

In this situation, would you have gone back, stood in line again, just to say, "I didn't actually pay for this. Please charge me for it", or would you see it as her mistake, her loss, and feel lucky about getting it for free?

Answer 1

Companies like wal-mart are sufficiently protected monetarily so that it isn't a big deal to the company if you just let it go. Same with the cashier, a good number of customers would not have even noticed that they didn't pay for such and such an item.

The monetary protection comes in the form of markup and low wages paid to employees. The company is raking in tons of money and anything that you accidentally didn't pay for is going to mean nothing to them.

You didn't intentionally steal anything and you didn't notice that your item had not been paid for until the transaction had been complete.

Bringing back the item presents a few problems based upon the intelligence level of the employees and managers working at the store. A) they might see it as you having "stealer's remorse" and suspect that you may have intentionally taken something but were afraid of being caught, this earns a security cam photo of you a place on the managers wall

B) it may get the cashier, who's name should be on on your reciept, in trouble for not having properly scanned the item, if it is a big enough ticket item, or that cashier has any other points against them it may be enough to cost them their job.

C) it may be appreciated, and let go

it makes the most sense to just keep the item and not feel bad, given that returning the item can do more harm than good. you haven't hurt wal-mart in the slightest. wal-mart employs alot of people but it also has quite a knack for running smaller businesses out of town or into non-existence.

I was employed by target during my senior year of high school, in order to make car payments and start saving up for college tuition, and i worked in the electronics department. A co-worker of mine allowed a customer to see and play with a floor model camera that was stored in the locked glass display. It is a customary proceedure but you are supposed to never let said customer out of your sight. It was a holiday and he was busy, and the customer went off to show the camera to her husband. In the mean time our manager noticed that there was a blank space where the camera was, went into the back room scanned in and placed a backstock camera where the space was. About 20 minutes later the woman hands the original camera back to my manager who proceeded to fire my co-worker after pulling him aside. The customers were likely no more than 30 feet away at any given time from the electronics section and yet that was the managers decision, and that wasn't even a mis-scan, it was allowing a customer to put hands on a product they were considering for purchase...

You paid well over cost for whatever you did pay for, you are obviously a good person to even consider taking the merchandise back, and I believe you should just hang on to it with a clear conscience. Were it a proprietorship or a burgeoning business, or something from your college bookstore, or something like that I would say return it no question, but wal-mart where returning it could negatively affect those other than yourself, i say keep it and feel good that you are more thoughtful then most :) Hope that helps!

Answer 2

me, personally, there's no way i would have waited in line again just to pay more money. And probably 100% of those people responding, when faced with a thousand things to do and no time to do it, would have let it go. Exactly as if they had been double charged and had to pay and extra 10 or 15 dollars.

Let it go. If you believe in karma and all that crap then it was your time. If you believe it was some sort of divine test then be prepared to get screwed over at a later date. I think it was a simple mistake and they'll make up the loss by charging you 500% markup on the next item you buy.

Answer 3

This has probably happened to everyone at one time or another. This is my take on it. If Im AT the counter and someone gives me the wrong change (either too much OR too little) I will correct them right away. If I order food at McDonalds and I get the wrong meal I will correct it right away. If I use the drive-thru and am halfway home before i notice then tough luck on me. Would you have gone back if you had paid for something that WASNT in your bag? Of course you would. So should you take it back and pay for it? Thats up to the individual. Wal-Mart is a billion dollar company and alot of people are rich thanks to nothing more than being born into money. Will they miss the 20 bucks? No. You didnt technically steal it. Its human error. It worked out in your favour. I would just be thankful and move on :)

Answer 4

It all depends on the value of the item. If the item is a somewhat valuable to valuable item then I would feel inclined to pay for it the legit way, however, if the item in question is comparable to the equivalent of taking a pen by mistake then why on earth should I worry about it and for ANY person that says they would still return no matter the value then you should return all that time you ever wasted goofing off if you ever had a any job to do because all are guilty of that even if the job you had paid nothing and I do see those “Moral Oral’s” returning that time back.

Answer 5

I have told the cashier when they failed to charge me for something, if I'm still standing there at the register. If I don't discover it until I get home or out to the car (which I can't recall ever actually happening), I really can't see me going back in.

But if you did, I would go to the customer service counter rather than back to the register. Never actually set foot in a Walmart, and never will, but if it's like Target the customer service is separate and right by the door, probably with less line at that time of year. Or you could tell the greeter and let them call someone over to deal with it.

Wait a minute, we're talking about Walmart, aren't we... forget it, let them take the loss!

Answer 6

Next time you go to Wal-Mart, pick up the same item and take it to the check-out along with your other items. Explain the situation to the clerk, have her scan it, then put it aside as a go-back. You pay for the item, but you don't need to make an extra trip for just that. Have done this myself a couple of times. It's worth the cost just to see the amazement on the clerk's face!

Answer 7

I see from the answers received so far that most people would be honest and take the item back and pay for it.
No one i saw mentioned that if you did it could effect the employment status of that cashier.
i do not advocate theft and that is what it is, these companies do have an allowance for "shrinkage" but i would not want to jeopardize any ones job for the sake of a couple of bucks.
If you feel strongly about it then put some money into a charity box.
Have a good Christmas.

Answer 8

Since you have left the store and only discover it after you got to the car and in view of the crowd, take it as a mistake made by the lady. If you still feel uneasy about it, go to her and own up the next time you are there.

Answer 9

This is a no-brainer. I would have definitely gone back inside and paid for it.

Or, at the very least, if the lines were too long and I had to get home soon, I would have just brought the item back inside and left it there. And then gone back another time to buy it.

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Answer 10

having worked in retail and having a spouse who works in retail, I know that they have a certain allowed amount for loss such as these, (though it depends on the business) anyway, I wouldn't get back on line. I would keep it, its their error, I bet it wasn't an extremely pricey item, if it was, then I would because it could affect the employees employment...all business account for 'loss' on account of mistakes or stealing...I am not saying it's right, but it is the way it is, and it surely wasn't intentional on your part...additionally, if it really bothers you bring it back the next day, in the daytime when its not so crazy, if it is crowded, go to the customer service desk instead of a cashier...just my opinion, do as you see fit...