Undercharged. Rights?

cliffjb

Hi there, a friend of mine has just bought an item in-store which was advertised and sold at £5,000. This was run through the till/card machine at £500 and duly paid for but we only noticed this after making payment and leaving the store. Does anyone know what the legal situation regarding this is, ie. underpayments, etc.?

neilmcl

A mistake was made, they owe a further £4,500.

Did they take the item away there and then or is it something to be delivered/installed at a later date? Does the retailer have contact details for your "friend"?

smithers1981

put £4500 aside and see if anyone comes looking ignorance is bliss!

cliffjb

Hello, thanks for replying. No, all they took was a name, no address, etc. and we left the shop with the item.

cliffjb

Hello, thanks for replying. No, all they took was a name, no address, etc. and we left the shop with the item.

k3lvc

I'm sure someone will be along soon with the legalese but presumably you have some morals and would expect the store to refund you pretty quickly if the boot was on the other foot.


If you'd paid cash you may have more of a chance but with a card they'll have your details and come looking (or maybe even just charge you (or your friend) the outstanding sum

alumende27

It depends on your/their conscience and concept of right and wrong. The very fact that you're asking suggests to me that you're hoping we'll all say keep the goods and don't tell the retailer.

What sort of shop was it? If it was a small independent retailer an error like that could be very significant. Maybe someone would even lose their job over it.

What would you do if you were overcharged by £4,500?

paddyrg

£4500 is 4 months salary for someone, to be honest, I'd suggest being honest. It's the right thing to do. It's the honourable thing to do.

DoaM

What sort of card? (Debit or credit).

As I understand things ... within 6 months the vendor can raise a charge for the balance without notice. After 6 months the vendor must notify the card holder before raise the claim.

For up to 6 years (5 years in Scotland) the vendor can raise a court claim for the balance before it is time-barred. (Might be difficult to do if they don't have an address to serve a claim on, but I'd expect they'd do a credit search/person search for that amount of money).

cliffjb

Many thanks for all your responses - I just wanted the legal position. And it really was a friend..not myself! So I shall pass on the info and leave it up to his conscious! Incidentally, it was an independent jeweller..

Fosterdog

If it was an independent jeweller I hope his conscience tells him to inform them of the error. Large companies can afford a certain amount of loss but £4500 to an independent could really mean them losing their business or home.