Money Moral Dilemma: Should I tell the retailer my payment didn't go through?

MSE_Kelvin

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

I purchased a £130 pair of running shoes online and paid via PayPal. I received an order confirmation and a separate payment confirmation from PayPal. The payment appeared in my bank account as a pending transaction, and I got the running shoes - but after two weeks the bank has now put the money back into my account. Should I tell the retailer?

Unfortunately the MSE team can't always answer money moral dilemma questions as contributions are often emailed in or suggested in person. They are intended to be enjoyed as a point of debate and discussed at face value.

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Mollyeyre

Yes! Apart from the embarrassment when it is discovered there is always the fact that it is dishonest!

nickel279

Personally my moral goes like this,

- If it's the producers website, I won't feel remorse as they pay the children/people in China and other mass producing countries far less for their labour. Also the company won't even feel the loss.

- if it's a big retailer like Amazon, sports direct, etc , that pay cheap labour to their staff and overuse them as well.

- if a growing business. Then you should help the person grow by telling them. as it can be an error from his billing system.

MommyOfBoys

Yes, I would contact them. It's up to them to fix it or even sometimes to reply. I've had a few of these happen over the years and have tried to fix it, but if they don't come to the party with arranging payment, I've been honest in contacting them.

ris2015

Have you looked at the transaction on your Paypal account?
The pending transaction is a financial commitment on your account (the money never actually left),
since you can now see the funds back in your account in means that Paypal never completed the bank transaction.
The Paypal system should have reacted to this by charging your backup credit card, so have a look at that account too before involving the supplier.

Mojisola

Should I steal the shoes?

No.

funkmaster_2

Next week, I ran over a child. Should I stop?


Jesus wept.

REJP

Did nobody teach you to be honest at school?
If they took twice the payment would you point out the error very quickly.
Not clever to steal.

petewooly

Yes, definitely pay the bill. I'd contact the retailer direct to let them know. I could not sit with that on my conscience and besides, you could get something back from the retailer as a thank you. If the boot was on the other foot ....... !?

Marianne40

I am not commenting on the morality here. Just be aware that when you make a purchase some banks show the money as debiting straight away and then the money goes back into your account until the company claims it. This can take days or even weeks. I know this from working with a bank in the past because customers would think they had X in the bank and then an 'old' payment would be taken. In the first instance contact your bank about this.

mrpunk50

If a company can't even organise themselves enough to take my hard-earned money from me, I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to pay them a second time.

It astonishes me that other posters have managed to fire up their moral compass over this. The shoes most likely cost £5 to make. I'm sure the CEO of Adidas wasn't going to lose sleep over robbing you blind - so just keep calm and jog on!