What do?

[iPanda]

My mother and I went shopping today and bought 5 little mini perfumes. The cashier only checked out 4 of them but bagged all 5. So we ended up paying for only 4 of them. We didn't know it until about 30 minutes later when we sa down for some rest.

My mom and I both agreed that we should go back to pay for the 5th one but my mom remembered something that a friend's son told her from his experience in working in a similar retail store.

He said to not go back to the store to pay for something that a cashier mistakenly did not scan/check because even though we'll look good, the cashier might lose their job for making such a mistake. So my mom didn't want to go back cause she didn't want the cashier to lose her job but we're still pretty conflicted. It's only a 10$ item and not a 100$ item but it's still, you know, ethics of things.

It also doesn't seem that the cashier was just bad at her job, it was during a huge rush at the VS sale so she may have been overwhelmed atm.

IDK... what do?

[MoonCat]

I don't understand how she would lose her job, as long as you get the same cashier. She'd just ring it up as a new sale, wouldn't she? Somebody tell me if I'm wrong...I've never worked in that kind of job.

[Pixilated]

Ugh, that's a nasty choice. If there really is a chance that the cashier could lose her job over that ... if I were the cashier, I'd say, "Enjoy the perfume!" Unless you want to go through the whole process of sneaking it back into the store and then take it back through the checkout ... would that even be possible? (It can't have been electronically "tagged" or it would've triggered an alarm at the door, so maybe ... ?) But since the cashier didn't scan it, I wouldn't think it would show up as a shortage in her cash drawer.

You could just keep it and pay it forward by donating an equivalent somewhere ... to a food bank, an animal shelter, whatever. It was an honest mistake on both your parts -- and at least you're pondering what to do. One acquaintance of mine accidentally walked out of a store with an unpaid-for item. I do believe it was an accident, but when she realized what she'd done, she didn't give a thought to how she might make reparation -- it was just, "Oh well, haha, look what I got for free!" Uh, yeah.

[iPanda]

Well, we thought we had payed for it all but when we were sitting, my mom was going over the receipt and noticed that the perfume only popped up 4 times on it. She thought "oh god, my vision really IS going!" and I went over it several times and told her no, she's fine, the perfume really only pops up 4 times.
Then we went through the bag and saw that all 5 were in there. :s

[icmedia]

I can see the employee getting in trouble if, say, their manager were nearby when you went back to the store to pay for the item....overhearing the exchange, the manager would likely come down on the employee since it was a mistake that could have gone unchecked. On the other hand, the employee may be responsible for any stock shortages, so they could get in hot water for the missing perfume.

I'd probably err on the side of the stock shortage and go back to pay-especially because, in a perfume sales position, most salespeople are ridden hard to make sales...both in number and in dollar amount. Many are even commissioned, so that $10 could make the difference between a certain commission bracket and then next one up.

[PepperElf]

I don't understand how she would lose her job, as long as you get the same cashier. She'd just ring it up as a new sale, wouldn't she? Somebody tell me if I'm wrong...I've never worked in that kind of job.

It can't hurt to try. I know my mother would bring the item back because she felt that not doing so was stealing.

now if the store said "don't worry about it" then she'd let it go. but otherwise... she wasn't going to try to talk herself into keeping it without paying for it.

[iPanda]

I can see the employee getting in trouble if, say, their manager were nearby when you went back to the store to pay for the item....overhearing the exchange, the manager would likely come down on the employee since it was a mistake that could have gone unchecked. On the other hand, the employee may be responsible for any stock shortages, so they could get in hot water for the missing perfume.

I'd probably err on the side of the stock shortage and go back to pay-especially because, in a perfume sales position, most salespeople are ridden hard to make sales...both in number and in dollar amount. Many are even commissioned, so that $10 could make the difference between a certain commission bracket and then next one up.

This was at Victoria's Secret so it shouldn't be on commission. I know we're headed back to the mall tomorrow morning to show my sister if an american mall is any different from a korean one, so I'll just pop by and say i'd like to pay for the perfume.

[sms001]

I'd go back to the store, pick up another perfume, go to ANY cashier, pay, and then say "I'm paying for this because I bought some a while ago and one didn't ring up." and leave it with the cashier to be restocked.

You pay, inventory is correct, nothing gets snuck into the store, and harried cashier remains anonymous.