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

Ed264

Keep it. Very odd that the supermarket contacted you without you reporting the item as being defective. 

londoner_the

gothvixen said:

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.

I'm one who believes in karma. Something similar. I got a new TV delivered and a couple of weeks another one turned up. I tried to let them know but I gave up trying to call their rubbish call centre. It was a time when you would be in a queue for an hour.

So I kept it but didn't open it for over a year. Just in case they realised their mistake and asked for it back.

Then after 1 year the TV that I did open breaks down. It was over a year so not under warranty. (Yes I know I could still claim repairs within 6 years)

But karma said the extra TV was given to me for this breakdown. So I opened it and used it.

Bookhaven

I once received a Keter from Homebase that was damaged. I contacted them and they not only replaced it but said I could keep the damaged item too - they wouldn't have been able to resell it.
So contact your supermarket and clarify why you were refunded without having complained. Have you checked their website? If they had a general problem with that particular product it might well be listed on there. If the entire batch was faulty it's likely that as with my Keter, they too wouldn't be able to resell it. But you cannot be sure unless you ask. You're clearly uncomfortable with the situation or you wouldn’t have asked the question in the first place.

EssentialParadox

I’ve had this happen a few times in my life (surprisingly). I always contact the company to say they’ve incorrectly refunded me. (It feels nice to do the right thing, but that’s me being righteous.)

Not that it mattered much though, because in all cases they’ve said not to worry and to keep the refund.  Not saying this’ll necessarily happen in your case though, particularly as it’s a quite expensive item.

At the end of the day it depends if you prefer to have a clear conscience and for the situation to be confirmed of being no problem, than to worry about a potential future phone call from them asking you to pay the money back (which seems as though they may have some recourse to do so given the law, but I’m not 100% sure.)

Bonnymonny

How would they have known if you didn't tell them it was damaged? As someone said it must have been a damaged batch.  I would keep the money, supermarkets make enough profits. Its not like you lied and told them it was damaged when it wasn't.  Buy some steaks.

Gosportmum

It's bothering you, because you've posted on here.
Contact Customer Services and explain, offering to pay it back. Ball is then in their court to sort it out.

hill_ekaterina

I would just keep the money, whatever 

Androids

A few a years ago I purchased an expensive food steamer which was made primarily of glass with a metal. SSE and trays. It was delivered by throwing the box over my side gate and on my return home I picked it up to hear the sound of smashed glass inside and a huge dent in the corner. I didn’t open it but called the Company and they sent me another telling me to put the smashed one in the bin.
I kept the sealed box ‘just in case’ I needed to use spares which may not have been damaged. A year or so later I had a clear out and I opened the box with the intentions of throwing the broken glass and keeping the metal trays. To my surprise none of the glass was broken and despite the huge dent in the corner of the box the only damage was to internal packaging which allowed the metal trays to rattle around inside - sounding like broken glass.
I called the retailer and explained what had happened and they tried to charge my card again.
I was incensed by their cheek. Fortunately my card was reissued and they didn’t have the new number. They didn’t collect it and it’s now being used by another family member.

honestcove

You say the supermarket said: “apologies for the item not being right”. What does “not being right” mean. What does the email actually say. The full text should answer your question if it is reasonable to keep the money and the product. If still in doubt ask them if they are intending to collect the product or not. If they say yes (they probably won’t) then you can say no I want to keep it but I’ll repay the refund less an amount to reflect the damage. After a few email exchanges at most, they’ll lose interest so you’ll be back in the position if you’d done nothing, but with the warm glow of knowing you are morally and legally sound.

brianBarrett

Absolutely you should keep the refunded money.  The money is being offered as compensation for damaged goods - I suspect it was spotted as damaged during the delivery process.  You have done nothing illegal by stating the goods are damaged when they are not, or by over-egging the damage, and I guess there is no evidence/indication that they have written to the wrong person, so you are within your rights to keep it.  I see no moral maze at all here - if someone wants to compensate you more than you think the damage is, then that is up to them.