There’s a quote that goes something to the effect of “character is what you do when you think no one is watching.”
I assume her kid knows this happened – so he is watching.
yes, stradmom, that was stated in post 10. And like you, I agree.
I wouldn’t return it or pay if it were me. I might feel a bit guilty about it, but let’s be real here.
I’ve no idea what the law says.
Although I think it should be paid for, I do think the teenaged worker is more likely to get in trouble if that happens than not.
I guess it would be far less “morally ambiguous” if her pay was being docked to cover the error, right?
^ Docking pay to cover errors is illegal in most Western countries.
Absolutely not the point.
Also not true, at least in the US.
“You might be surprised to hear that your employer may well be allowed to deduct from your wages for equipment damages, damaged product or cash shortages. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers may not make any deductions from your pay for cash shortages, accidents, damage to equipment or even theft only if those deductions bring your wages below minimum wage. That’s the sole restriction that applies to all employers nationwide. After that, it depends on your state law.” from https://www.aol.com/2015/01/13/can-my-boss-dock-my-pay-for-mistakes/
@bjkmom if pay docking is “absolutely not the point”, then why did you bring it up?
I think like many people, I would happily pocket the money from a large corporation, but not from a single employee who just made a mistake. Pocketing the money from a big corporation I’d put in the same category as speeding by 5mph, or staying too long in a parking space, or illegally downloading music or movies. Definitely a little bit wrong, but nothing to lose sleep over.
My point is that morals shouldn’t depend on whether you’re on the winning or losing end of a proposition. If you didn’t pay for it, then someone else did.
You may be right about “most people.” I guess I’m not “most people.”
I would definitely pay for it, but I’m not sure how the mistake could be traced to any cashier since the item wasn’t scanned and probably wouldn’t be noticed until/unless an inventory is taken. This is the same as someone just walking out with an item undetected.
Sorry. The right thing is to pay for goods and services. Maybe you get dessert on the house, on your birthday. Maybe you realize there’s some small, ordinary mistake, they charged for 3 apples when you had 4 in the bag.
But this was posed as the ethical dilemma around a larger mistake. A clear mistake. Trying to justify just keeping the comforter because, either a) the clerk missed it, whoopee me! Or b) the clerk would get in deep doodoo, isn’t “right.” That’s where ethics comes in. (Not morals.)
If you’re so worried about the clerk, don’t name him or her, don’t show the receipt with the employee id. Don’t go off into identifying details like, “Monday afternoon around 4pm.” Just do the right thing.
“Pocketing the money from a big corporation,” assuming their loss insurance will cover, so whoopee me, isn’t ethical. If you call and the manager says not to drive back, fine. You made the right move.
Saying it’s same as speeding by 5mph is just justifying your choice. Your lack of ethical clarity. Or balance.
And assuming the worst for the clerk is similar. You have ways to not id the kid.
Sorry.
First, I can’t help but be astonished that so many people think nothing at spending $159 on a comforter. That’s way beyond our budget for beddings that can easily be purchased for $40.
But beyond that, I don’t understand how big a purchase has to be, that is, how much other stuff was there, so that she didn’t notice she wasn’t charged $159? Whenever I make any purchase, I have the expected total in my head before paying - I just keep a mental running total as I add items to my buggy.
I think OP’s friend knew she was undercharged at the time, and was either bragging about her good fortune, or seeking approval of what she wanted to do - which is to not feel guilty about being unjustly enriched.
It is easy for us to know in our gut where to draw the line between being charged for a dozen donuts and being given a baker’s dozen, vs. a much large discrepancy that could easily make a difference in someone’s employment.
My own morals are not always perfect either. I have had an occasion where I returned an $20 outfit that did not fit well, and later found out the store gave me a credit for the entire order - including the $49 worth of items I was keeping. This was enough to me that I tried to fix it by contacting the merchant - who proceeded to re-charge the entire order. It was confusing to explain to them that I simply needed a credit for the $20 return, which they finally returned to me - but then the next month they gave me another two $20 credits. I decided it would be better for us to simply donate an extra $40 to people more needier than we are.
If this were my friend seeking approval on a situation that feels icky, I would mention karma to her and tell her I wouldn’t feel right keeping it, so I might try to balance it out by doing something extra special for the homeless shelter - like buying them 4 $40 comforters.
I would certainly call to pay for it. I don’t know if I would do the same if the item was $1.50.
You might tell your friend something like this - I read online (on this thread - since a few have mentioned it) that a cashier can face a bad consequence if they ring up a transaction incorrectly. You had a young person (likely an inexperienced, still learning cashier) ring you up and it would be a shame for that kid to be punished for this mistake.
Perhaps by explaining it that way, the ‘moral implications’ of not paying can be removed from the conversation. Then you can mention that it would be a simple matter for her to call the store and rectify the situation. No driving needed.
That said, of course it’s wrong not to pay. If it was her store, would and her cashier made the mistake, I’m sure she wouldn’t be so forgiving of the cashier. That is a large ticket item and a costly mistake for any store to just ‘absorb’.
How would the store know which clerk?
Wait, how would they know the comforter left the store? They wouldn’t know it’s missing until they manually check during inventory.
It gone back into a store when I’ve discovered that a very inexpensive item wasn’t charged and pointed out to waitresses that they forgot to Noll me for a beverage. So I’d definitely pay in this case too.
As someone who worked as a cashier, I was fortunate that the store owner wouldn’t dock me for mistakes like inadvertently not ringing up an item. However, I will be held accountable in other ways(i.e. cleaning the employee bathroom and dusty stockrooms with the boss after hours*) and that was enough to minimize my mistake.
He was also of the mind that if the mistake was on the part of the store/one of his cashiers, he’d tell any customer to keep the item, apologize to the customer for the burden of what was the cashier’s/store’s mistake, and that the store/business “deserved” the loss because it was our screwup, not the customer’s.
However, most business owners/supervisors don’t observe those beliefs and will dock the pay of employees…whether it’s legal or not.
- He made it a point to do it with me as he felt any such mistakes was partially his on account of his being the owner and because he was responsible for the training/proficiency of all employees in his business.
Indeed. Recalled reading a case about a Western Mass waitress who prevailed in her suit against her employer for docking her pay after a few customers dined and dashed. Turned out docking pay of waitstaff for that WAS illegal in that jurisdiction and the employer ended up having to pay docked wages along with damages and court costs.
Incidentally, judging by the prevailing tone of this thread, wonder how folks here would feel recipients who decide not to return an unsolicited item sent to them by mail…
While the ethics of most here seem to be to return it, Federal Postal regulations clearly state that any unsolicited item sent via mail to someone is legally to be treated as a gift from the sender at the discretion of the recipient and that the recipient is under no legal obligation to pay or to return it:
http://about.usps.com/publications/pub300a/pub300a_tech_021.htm
I would call the store. For me each time I look at that comforter I will remember that I got it for free and feel guilty about it
I made a deposit at the bank today. I knew the deposit was for $182 but the receipt I got back said $189. I sent back the receipt and she corrected the error she made in reading the checks. She took back the receipt with the error, voided the transaction and then presented me with a new receipt for the correct amount. I didn’t want to have problems with the deposit when the error would have been found later if I hadn’t told the teller to make the correction.
I will say that I’d only go so far to correct a mistake. For example, I bought a coat via internet purchase. They sent me two instead of one. I called the company and told them I’d be happy to send it back if they’d send me a prepaid label (shipping for me would have been more than 8 bucks and because they sent in a non Reusable envelope I’d have to go get that too ( large one with sufficient streangth to hold coat was another 2 bucks…I asked them if they’d credit me the cost, they were hesitant and unclear if they would. Still I was going to do it. They promised to send a mailing label via e mail. I called 4 separate times but it never arrived. I ended up keeping the coat. Enough was enough.