Money Moral Dilemma: You tore it, should you pay?

JillG

It's a matter of conscience. If she doesn't (confess, I mean - not buy both, why would that be necessary?), I hope she never dares to go into that shop again. :A

x_nina_marie_x

I used to work in retail, and we would have regulars who would come into the store particularly to damage things (in a way which they could be washed and/or repaired afterwards) so they could ask for a discount! THESE are the people who should be paying for damages, not someone who innocently damages something by accident. If Beatrice had damaged something in my store, I would thank her for her honesty and send the item back to the manufacturer as a fault. Large stores calculate how much stock they are likely to lose through damage/faults anyway, and add this onto the RRP... the fat cats never lose out!

neilpost

ThatAmericanGirl wrote: »

This actually happened to me not too long ago. I was trying on a gorgeous dress for a wedding, and the salesgirl brought me a pair of amazing shoes to try on with it... silk dress, sharp heels, not paying attention, I know, I know... straight through the side seam in the lining. I was horrified, but knew I couldn't face myself if I didn't say something, even though the rip was in the lining and not visible... so I took a deep breath and pointed it out to them. So sweet and sympathetic, they told me not to worry, they'd noticed the linings were pretty flimsy, and put it on a "return to factory" rack in the back. Yes - it definitely made me want to buy something from them the next time. I suppose the moral is that the truth is often less painful than we think.

There is a huge mark up on clotheswith a %tge stock that is identified as 'shrinkage' - theft, damage, returns etc with much of the knackered stuff back to source whenever they can.

neilpost

Ifan wrote: »

Be honest. Imagine you are the other side of the counter.

Yes, getting minimum wage, they don't really care.

If you did break it, you are only obliged to pay the actual cost, not the ticket selling price.

tara747

rsharp wrote: »

My understanding is that, as long as the damage occurred accidentally, which it did in this example, the shop cannot force you to pay for the damage. This also applies to shops where they have signs stating 'all breakages must be paid for'.

Is this true?? All the little chi chi shops here have signs like that, I assumed they must be legally enforceable. The worst of it is that their shops are often so cramped and badly arranged that you have to be double jointed not to bump into anything!!!!

pbsis wrote: »

As some people have already mentioned, it's totally the responsibility of the retailer to decide if they want their products to be touched / handled / tried on by customers - and they have to accept the consequences.

All these little "breakages must be paid for" signs across the country are effectively unenforcable. The only want to make someone pay for a breakage would be to call the police and have them charged with criminal damage. If a retailer is worried about breakages then they should lock their products away in a display cabinet - but then they'd probably make fewer sales!

Thanks for the info.

iclayt wrote: »

I used to work in a clothes shop, and the biggest problem with damaged clothes we had was not tears from jewellery or shoes, but makeup! So often we would find clothes that had been tried on but put back on the rail with big smears of foundation or blusher on the collar. Would we ever ask anyone to pay for this? No, of course not. We'd mark it as damaged and then either someone else bought it (and if they requested a discount we would maybe offer 10% at the most, after all they're under no obligation to buy it at all, let alone at a discount) or we'd just send it back to the main supplier. Damages are expected much like theft can occur, a customer owning up is a bonus as it can be found and dealt with quicker, but we never forced anyone into buying something they've accidentally damaged.

And would I confess? Maybe... I would point it out to them on the checkout and say that I was going to buy it but noticed the damage. Trust me, they'll know you likely did it yourself as that's probably the reason you're discreetly pointing it out to them - who goes around pointing out damage they didn't do?

What??? I do. I tend to notice damage quite easily, as I'm sure do others. I'd be horrified to think that the SAs assumed that it was me who caused the damage.:eek::eek::eek::eek:

I also notice makeup on clothes occasionally (disgusting - if you're going out clothes shopping FGS don't plaster yourself in makeup).

x_nina_marie_x, is that true??? Maybe I'm innocent but I am totally shocked at that.

In answer to the MMD, to be honest I wouldn't say anything and probably wouldn't buy the undamaged item either.

Dave_Montford

I would own up if it was a small business, although I believe that accidental damage of this nature does not have to be paid for, unless there is a clear notice to the contrary. I would not however bother to own up, if it was a large department store/chain.

relaxtwotribes

Dave_Montford wrote: »

I would own up if it was a small business, although I believe that accidental damage of this nature does not have to be paid for, unless there is a clear notice to the contrary. I would not however bother to own up, if it was a large department store/chain.

So, small or large business you won't pay for the damage you caused. Your morals stink.

relaxtwotribes

x_nina_marie_x wrote: »

I would thank her for her honesty and send the item back to the manufacturer as a fault

Who else do you lie to?

boliston

rsharp wrote: »

My understanding is that, as long as the damage occurred accidentally, which it did in this example, the shop cannot force you to pay for the damage. This also applies to shops where they have signs stating 'all breakages must be paid for'.

You should admit that you ripped it though, but point out how low quality it must be.

There was a thing about this on the TV show "the real hustle" and they rigged up a dodgy shelf in a china shop so that the whole shelf collapsed when someone touched something on it.

Some people actually did get their wallets out to pay for the broken china when the shop assistant pointed the "breakages must be paid for" sign!

In the end it was pointed out that a genuine accident would not make you legally liable, and you only become liable if you were "negligent" such as allowing you child to run around in the shop for example.

relaxtwotribes

So Beatrice is liable because she negligently failed to remove her necklace.