Would you take the cash? Poll Discussion

Former_MSE_Lawrence

This Poll ran between 28 August -4 September 2007: The results are in...

Poll Started 28 August 2007: Would you keep the cash?

You’ve just paid for your shopping in a busy supermarket, and by mistake you’re handed an extra £20 note in the change. You only notice as you’re walking out of the store pushing a heavy trolley. Now, be honest about what you’d do – not what you’d hope you’d do…. which of these is nearest your reaction?

A. Keep the cash. It’s too late, too much hassle & their mistake. 75% (4694 votes)

B. Give half to charity. It’s too much hassle to return it but I’d only keep half. 2% (116 votes)

C. It’s theft. Go straight to the cashier and hand the money back. 23% (1466 votes)

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Total Votes: 6248[/FONT]

This poll has now ended, but you can still discuss below.

kopicbloodaxe

Keep the cash for sure. If I was £20 *short* on the change and I walked back in to the store would they just hand it over?

If it were a small local shop then I'd definitely give it back, but I'm sure these big supermarkets have a budget for errors like this. Besides, I'm sure the number of customers that get short-changed more than make up for larger errors like this.

Gordon_the_Moron

I'd take it back to the cashier to avoid getting them in trouble for making a mistake.

teddyco

I guess it would depend upon the store. If it was Tesco's where they raise their prices right before they do a BOGOF, Keep the cash, WOO HOO!

ASDA, I would probably return and admit the fault since they are the cheapest in town and always come through for me! Also, the cashier would have to take the blame once they found that her till didn't 'total up'.

Badger_Lady

I would feel a flash of guilt but it would be too much hassle to go back... just as it's too much hassle for me to go back if I notice they've overcharged me for something (like a reduced item that they've charged full price).

Whenever I try to speak to someone in a 'busy Supermaket', they ignore me unless I queue up all over again, then send me to a different desk!

This has happened to me in smaller amounts before and I've kept it - for example, £2 change instead of 2p...

But my reaction would be different in a small business, such as a local shop or market stall - I would return it straight away because I expect a personal relationship with the vendor, and it could make a bigger impact on their hard earnings. I've seen these salespeople literally run across town to chase a customer that's left their credit card or change behind...

Man_of_the_World

Key element is whether the Dark Satanic Supermarket would dock the wages of the poor cashier. If they do then you're technically not stealing money from a faceless Corporation, but from one of us!

The exception is if it's Lisa Tarbuck!!

mandarinduck

I agree with BadgerLady on this - I would probably keep the money for the same reasons from a supermarket. Also agree it would not be the same from a smaller shop. I once got refunded an extra £10 from a charity shop, for example, and returned it. It depends on the circumstances.

When I worked for a fast food outlet I knew I'd get my till docked if I was down (luckily I never was) so I knew the onus was on me to check and double check. I wouldn't have blamed someone for keeping the profit of my mistake (might have been a bit peeved with my employer though!)

coolpaprika

One day I walked past a cash machine which beeped at me. It was saying, here's £10.00, take it. So I took it, looked around, busy street by Bank tube, no one looked as if they'd left a tenner in a cash machine & no sign of Jeremy Beadle. The money felt 'wrong'. Next day someone's at the tube with a charity tine (one I'd support) so in went £5.00, the other £5.00 I spent on the lottery, won £12.00 so put the other £5.00 into another charity tin. Karma or what?

Dorrie

I would go back and give the £20 back in - after all, you know it doesn't belong to you.

I have been known to go back in to pay for something that I have found at the bottom of my trolley that got missed. I have also asked the lady on the till the following week to charge me for an extra item that was missed the week before. At that point it is up to them if they do or not - my conscience is then clear.

(Land_of)_Maz

If i spotted it in my change, or it was obviously change of a twenty when i'd only given them ten, then i would 'fess up.... but if i was half way out the store i would keep walking. The supermarket will get it off me with interest in the weeks and months to come!

That said, i work part time in a pub and the till has been short on more than one occaision, shared till and no cashing up at shift change time. This is mega frustrating as you cannot be accountable for other peoples mistakes or kleptomania.... not really a relevant point other than to say i suppose if you humanise the mistake and think someone will have worked 4 hours for nothing if they had to pay it back..... Hmmmmm?

mary_cruse

Hand it back, without any doubt. Moral relativism is always tempting but almost always ( in my view) wrong. Taking something that doesn't belong to you is stealing, whether the owner is a rich supermarket or a struggling corner shop. Would I steal £20 if my children were starving or in desperate need of life-saving medication? Yes, probably I would. Would I steal £20 because I couldn't be bothered to push a heavy trolley back into a supermarket? No, absolutely not ( particularly if I suspected that the underpaid checkout assistant would probably have to make up the shortfall from their own wages). Arguments that theft is built into the system, or that supermarkets are themselves exploiting suppliers do not justify keeping the money; two wrongs don't make a right. Where is honesty in all this?