Post office error in my favour

Own_My_Own

I wonder how many people would pay up if the manager of Currys knocked at your door and said sorry you owe us £x for the TV you bought last week, as we priced it up wrong.

And please no posts about how you wouldn't shop at Currys. It was just used as an example.

pjread

Ok so lets get this straight....

Bureau de change quoted a rate
Customer accepted it
Transaction happened
{arbitrary wait}
Manager turned up on customer's doorstep demanding funds

As I see it, the transaction was fine - if the rate was wrong, and the transaction was large, MAYBE I can see the problem (to them) and that they might want to negotiate a partial return with the customer (who legally has no liability to them, as far as I see). if we're not talking high value, they should just write it off, after all it just nets out the profit on their next buy-back of the same value...

But more worrying to me is;
* where did they get the address
* Even if it was during the transaction, is a visit proper use of this information? Presumably that isn't the proper purpose it's gathered for?

Ok I know all post office managers are saints, but just theoretically how do we know this?

I'm half wondering if I wouldn't be complaining about that more than anything else, especially if there was anything in the slightest coercive about the visit.

Gromitt

Own_My_Own wrote: »

I wonder how many people would pay up if the manager of Currys knocked at your door and said sorry you owe us £x for the TV you bought last week, as we priced it up wrong.

I've seen exactly that happen, and it posted on an internet forum asking the question "do I have to give it back".

Cut 52 page thread on morality and honesty.

I'd go with the people who said "tough". If they priced it too high and you didn't notice they wouldn't care. Why should I care that you priced it too low.

geekonthepc

I hate to say it, but I'd be tempted to say keep it. It's the post office's fault, not yours - you've done absolutely nothing wrong. You have absolutely zero obligation sort the difference as the contract is complete. People make mistakes - it's up to the company to deal with that. As long as the rate you were quoted is the rate you accepted and paid in full, it's no longer your responsibility.

However, you might not be particularly popular at your local Post Office anymore.

My personal opinion is that it's up to manager to learn from his/her mistakes, not go pressuring customers to help him/her correct them.

I would also question (like others) what right the manager has to make a visit to your house - frankly I don't think that's what the information is there for.

brightonman123

I suspect OP is a troll. new member, and i never remembered given my address to ANY shop (in the UK), when buying currency..

and what if error was in their favour? i cant see them rushing round with a refund!

The_Boss

brightonman123 wrote: »

I suspect OP is a troll. new member, and i never remembered given my address to ANY shop (in the UK), when buying currency..

and what if error was in their favour? i cant see them rushing round with a refund!

To be fair I've been refused foreign currency at two places since I did not have photo ID with me. When I have done so they have written my name and passport number down. Doesn't guarantee that this thread is genuine but could be said for lots of posts.

But as mentioned previously, it is improper use of this data given that it has not been used for the purpose of why it was collected. The manager may have had good intentions but it was a massive own goal.

To the OP - what is the cost difference in what you paid compared to the correct sale value.

Fishingtime

brightonman123 wrote: »

I suspect OP is a troll. new member, and i never remembered given my address to ANY shop (in the UK), when buying currency..

and what if error was in their favour? i cant see them rushing round with a refund!

I agree I hardly think the Post manager would go knocking on someones door

matttye

Daedalus wrote: »

Just because a customer is more likely to sport a mistake doesn't mean they should help a company out who would allow the customer to be ripped off to save a few pounds.

It would cost more than a few pounds to hire ten people to walk up and down the aisles correcting mispriced items. It would cost thousands of pounds for very little benefit.

When you consider that something like a supermarket or the post office serves hundreds/thousands of people a day, there's a high chance that an error will be made at some point. The cashiers are only human. People need to take responsibility for themselves. If you think you've been overcharged, say so and state your reasons.

You have basically just strengthened my point. If the supermarket or whatever knows that they've overcharged you, they will put it right. You may need to make them aware of that fact, but that's because in a large store that sells thousands of items, sometimes there will be items that aren't priced correctly, or offers that for some reason don't show up at the till, etc. That's life.

The fact of the matter is this guy knows for a fact that he was given too much money. Therefore he should give it back.

Gromitt

matttye wrote: »

The fact of the matter is this guy knows for a fact that he was given too much money. Therefore he should give it back.

The question is that if the manager hadn't been banging on his front door to inform him they wanted some of the money back, would he had known that he was given too much money?

If he didn't notice until some weeks later, would you apply the same logic?

matttye

Gromitt wrote: »

The question is that if the manager hadn't been banging on his front door to inform him they wanted some of the money back, would he had known that he was given too much money?

If he didn't notice until some weeks later, would you apply the same logic?

Only the OP can answer that first question. Not sure what difference it makes though.

Yes. I can't see any reason why the length of time would make a difference, unless some of the euros had already been spent by that time.