Money Moral Dilemma: Should I keep the refund I was sent in error for my damaged barbecue?

MSE_Kelvin

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

I ordered a £400 barbecue from a supermarket chain. Unfortunately, it was delivered slightly damaged, but it was only superficial, so I didn't give any thought to returning it. Two weeks later, I received an email from the supermarket, apologising for the item not being right and saying I'd be refunded. I dismissed it as an admin error, yet a few days later I received the refund. Should I offer to pay the money back or, as I didn't complain about the damage, see it as karma and keep it?

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HillStreetBlues

I see this as a consumer rights forum,   what are a person legal rights?
Most people will post wanting just that and not be judged morally.

So personally I don't feel this thread is suitable for this forum, as it has nothing do you with their rights.

eskbanker

HillStreetBlues said:

I see this as a consumer rights forum,   what are a person legal rights?
Most people will post wanting just that and not be judged morally.

So personally I don't feel this thread is unsuitable for this forum, as it has nothing do you with their rights.

Did you just mean a single negative rather than a double there?

It seems to me that there's an argument that it's unjust enrichment, i.e. the principle that the recipient has no legal rights to keep both goods and money in a situation like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_unjust_enrichment_law

HillStreetBlues

eskbanker said:

HillStreetBlues said:

I see this as a consumer rights forum,   what are a person legal rights?
Most people will post wanting just that and not be judged morally.

So personally I don't feel this thread is unsuitable for this forum, as it has nothing do you with their rights.

Did you just mean a single negative rather than a double there?

It seems to me that there's an argument that it's unjust enrichment, i.e. the principle that the recipient has no legal rights to keep both goods and money in a situation like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_unjust_enrichment_law

Corrected. (got it right first time, misread it after posting so changed it when I shouldn't have had)

born_again

HillStreetBlues said:

I see this as a consumer rights forum,   what are a person legal rights?
Most people will post wanting just that and not be judged morally.

So personally I don't feel this thread is suitable for this forum, as it has nothing do you with their rights.

Well it is something that does crop up in this forum. 
But one would expect that someone would know the rules...

Illegal' or 'grey legal area' content

Do not promote, encourage or glamorise any illegal activities. In particular on MSE, if you are thinking of posting about taking advantage of something that is dubious, or that exploits a 'grey area' of the law, err on the side of caution and do not share information about it. Common sense prevails here.

🤷‍♀️👍

Brie

How did they know you were unhappy with it?  That might direct people's thinking on this. 

If you were publicly grumbling maybe they were throwing money at you to stop the grumbling.  If you got the item, and honestly didn't think anything further about any minor damage I would suggest contacting the company and saying "what's this??"

Karma will be that they appreciate your honesty when they may have made a mistake and tell you to keep the ££.  At which point I'd say offer something back to Karma and buy a big whack of necessaries for your local food bank. 

Groom

I don't understand how they knew the BBQ was damaged as you say that you hadn't told them? Was it a general fault with all that batch and they refunded everyone? 

It's really up to your conscience whether you inform them or not, especially as it's quite a large amount. You are keeping money that you aren't entitled to  Keeping any money wrongly credited to your account could lead to you being charged with 'retaining wrongful credit' under the Theft Act 1968. 

Bigfra46

Firstly you didnt report any damage, but got email from store about a refund amount for damage. Maybe a batch of them got slightly damaged so everyone got a bit of a refund. Why would you feel guilty. They gave refund to you. You didnt fraudulently report it. Take it and enjoy!

gothvixen

There's no such thing as karma. Nothing out there cares about insignificant beings on a tiny planet in one of billions of galaxies. There is such a thing as a conscience, and if you can live with having effectively stolen then do nothing. I would contact the supermarket and explain what has happened.

grajay

There is a specific section in the Theft Act 1968 which covers this scenario

"Section 5(4) Where a person gets property by another’s mistake, and is under an obligation to make restoration (in whole or in part) of the property or its proceeds or of the value thereof, then to the extent of that obligation the property or proceeds shall be regarded (as against him) as belonging to the person entitled to restoration, and an intention not to make restoration shall be regarded accordingly as an intention to deprive that person of the property or proceeds."

Sungold8

What a question. Of course you should let them know and I think you probably know that as well. Maybe a chance they’ll leave things as they are because of your honesty. Ryanair refunded me twice once for the same flights and despite my best efforts to tell them nothing was done. My conscience was clear.