Money Moral Dilemma: Should I go back to the supermarket that didn't charge me and offer to pay?

Happy_retiree

I had a similar experience at my local Lidl. I bought about £20 worth of goods ,tapped my phone wallet app and went home. 2 days later I was on my banking app and I noticed the the payment failed to go through.  I had been having issues with my wallet app since a recent update on my phone. As I frequently use this store, I returned to store ,asked to see the manager to explain and settle the bill. Manager was able to pull the data from the self service till I had used and as I had scanned my Lidl Plus loyalty app, he was able to identify that it was me whose payment didn't go through but he was most impressed that I  had returned to pay as he told me that although they can identify the person who hadn't paid through the loyalty card/app , they don't pursue their cases.

JayD

Brie said:

buy something and give it to your local foodbank.  they need it more than a supermarket chain.

Excellent suggestion. Hopefully that would ease your conscience.

MattMattMattUK

I would pay, but otherwise it would nag at my conscience. 

ElleLM

How do you know the transaction went through? Did you have a receipt showing the payment cleared? Retailers can put the transaction through up to 6 months late if there was an IT blip their side. If you don’t have receipt or got points on a loyalty scheme  there is no way you can ask them to charge you.

MARTLITTHELP

No, they probably don’t even notice.

HonestAlbert

If the merchant has not processed the request for payment from your creditcard company it is their error, but I would keep an eye on your next couple of statements to check that it is not just a delayed transaction. Although you don’t have a receipt now did you have one at the time of transaction? Was this till staff operated or self scan?. As you now don’t have a receipt or know how much this transaction was if you can afford it buy extras on your next shops in-store and donate to their food bank collections over the next few visits until you are happy. This way if transaction suddenly appears on your card you have only lost a little but made a huge impact on those who run and use the food bank service.

ploppydoppy

MSE_Kelvin said:

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

 I did my big shop at a major supermarket and paid with a credit card as normal. Yet when my card statement arrived, I hadn't been charged. Do I go back and offer to pay, so the supermarket doesn't lose out? I'd feel a bit silly as it's been weeks and I don't have a receipt, so I don't know exactly what I bought or how much it cost. Given such a big firm's unlikely to be affected by a one-off loss, I could say nothing and carry on shopping there, but would that make me no better than a thief?

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The exact same thing happened to me at Sainsbury, so I wrote everything down, returned next day expecting them to recalculate and charge me but was told  "there is nothing we can do " I was upset at this as its ridiculous,  but I just bought more stuff and put in their donation stand. 

JustGemini

It may still appear as a charge months & months later... I have had that in the past.  Dont think that it wont!  If it doesnt, then buy food for the Food Bank box, which every supermarket has.

Fer1953

Tell the supermarket. Good chance they'll not pursue it - too difficult and time consuming. A clear conscience is a valuable thing!

RufusLechuga

I'd feel uncomfortable about doing that. You're risking getting the checkout cashier who served you in trouble at work. They're likely on minimum wage, it was possibly just an honest mistake on their behalf, and having worked similar jobs myself I know the last thing you need is to be getting pulled up by your boss because customers are coming in and saying you didn't charge them right. It could have a much bigger impact on them at work than it would on the supermarket losing out on one customer's weekly shop. Just take it as a small win