Walmart, $43.00 Item not sanned by Cash Registerist?
 

I went to walmart this morning and purchased several items one of which was a $43.00 item. I had $70.00 in my hand to pay. She says its $19.50. I was not paying to much attention and handed her a $20. As she is giving me back the change I realized she did not, in some way, charge for the $43.00 item. I told her she did not charge for the item which I could see in the, pointed to it and told her it was around $43.00. She then looked at the receipt, pointed to something on the receipt and said that was it which it was not. I said okay took my bags a walked slowly out the store and sat in my car for like 5 minutes wondering if I should go back in and try to explain to the manager but then I thought if I did that the woman would get fired so I drove away.

What would you have done?

Now I feel like I cant go in there anymore. Well, atleast for awhile. She might have realized it after I left. I imagine they have security cameras. Maybe get arrested if I go back.

I'd think that your saying "You didn't charge me for this" and her saying "Yes I did" has pretty much covered your bases, as long as all the information she needed to make the right decision was easily available to her (like being able to see you taking 3 things out of the store, but only 2 things are on the receipt).
I'm all for being honest, but you shouldn't have to force them or argue with them or take over the register to make them accept your money.

You did your due diligence by pointing out the error. They refused to acknowledge it, so you are in the clear. I dig that you feel like you're stealing but you didn't do anything wrong.

I agree with dtcarson. Its not your fault that you told her you weren't charged for it, she said you were and that is that.

I doubt she would care, even if she figured it out later. And security cameras wouldn't see anything. They don't compare your receipt to your purchases. You paid what was asked, and even clarified an item. You're fine.

If you're feeling guilty about it, maybe donate the difference to a charity? If it's just about being worried about not being able to go back in there, don't worry about it.

The best part? Because of the Christmas season you won't need a receipt if you need to return it.

In a similar note, I bought my wife a $170 ring at Wal-Mart some time ago. It needed to be sized so it was going to be shipped off. My wife and I had all the necessary paperwork filled out but neither of us paid for the ring, assuming that we'll be charged when we picked the ring up a few weeks later.

A few weeks go by and we get the call that the ring is ready. I go to the jewelery counter and give the woman working it my name and tell her that I received a call about the ring being ready. She finds the ring and has me sign the log sheet saying I picked it up. While I'm signing, she's bagging it up. She hands me the bag and tells me to have a nice day. I'm not going to protest the fact that she didn't charge me.

I leave the department and head over to electronics to buy a dvd. Get the dvd, take it to the front and pay for it. Left the store. I got in my car and drove back home. Sure, I felt a bit guilty about getting the ring for free but someone along the line didn't do their job and I was the benefactor of their negligence. I've gone in there countless times since. I assure you, they see so many faces that they probably wouldn't even recognize me at this point.

That story is made even more funny if you imagine somebody named "Ed the Ripper" buying and resizing a ring for his wife -- and wearing a hockey mask the entire time. I'd give you the ring for free too!

Quick non-WalMart story.

I once had several postal money orders to cash. I went in the late morning, and they turned me away because they allegedly didn't have enough funds to cover. Let's say hypothetically that it was 1,000$ just for reference sake. So I leave, come back in the afternoon -- same post office [a very large and busy one, at that]. I attempt to have my money orders honoured for cash again and this time the gentleman starts with twenties, switches to hundreds, and it is obvious that it well over the amount. I don't even pick up the cash from the counter and instead say "Sir, that is way more than a thousand dollars." And he just looks at me annoyed. He picks up the money from his counter and recounts it bill-by-bill onto the counter again and stops at 1,000$ with a whole lot of hundreds in his hand still. He puts those hundreds wherever he got them from, I grab my money, and leave. Not insomuch as a simple thank you exchanged. I figured I saved his job.

E

If you're still feeling guilty about it, maybe you can just take it back and tell them they missed charging you for it. Tell them you didn't notice it until you got home.

I've done that before. I bought a couple of dvds, along with other stuff, and realized when I got home they only charged me for one. So I just took it in and said it was missed during the ring up and then I paid for it.

I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as getting arrested. I assume the security cameras would have shown you setting the item up to be paid.

Kudos for bringing it to their attention, a lot of people would not have done that.

I thought about that but then I think they might think I shop lifted it and was trying to right it and they might want to see the receipt to see when it was, etc. and I dont know that I have it aymore. I go into to the store frequently and never seen this cashier before. I dont know why she didnt check it more carefully after I told her.

I was in a Target last winter and I bought like an item for about 3.00 and gave the cashier (looked about 16 or 17) a 5.00 bill. The guy put 47.00 in change into my hand. I just stood there and looked at him and finally said to him I gave you 5.00 and he was like okay you gave me a 5.00 bill and I had to tell him he gave me change for a 50.00.

So, I guess I could take it back and I might get arrested or the woman fired. I did tell the kid he gave me change for a 50.00 and he probably would have been fired when they checked his register drawer.

Plus, sometime ago I bought a Dvd from the walmart bin that said it was WS/FS and the disc was only FS.

I lol'd at the randomness

You really cant put a price on aspect ratio restitutions. But maybe $43 is a start.

On the one hand, I want to call this a tiny victory against the Evil Empire that is Walmart. On the other hand, I know that situations like this--even honest mistakes, as this appears to be--have repercussions. Someone is going to get yelled at when they do inventory, prices will go up, security will eventually start paying undue attention to even the white shoppers....Oh, right. This is Walmart we're discussing. I have decided this is a victory against the Evil Empire!

That's hilarious. He entered $50 instead of $5, gave you the change and it didn't even register. Automation is making us idiots. :p

If the item wasn't scanned wouldn't it set off some sort of detector on the way out? I often see that occurring at Wal-mart and the person tending the entrance just takes a look at the customer's receipt and jots down some info on a clipboard. I've had that happen to me, although I've never been detained.

The exits can get fairly busy at times and an alarm going off doesn't exactly stop everyone in their tracks though.

At a real store, like any of your remaining independent retailers, you would not want this to happen as someone will truly lose that money one way or another. At Wal-Mart however, since they screw over their workers and pretty much everyone else they can, it's only fair that they get screwed over too.

There's absolutely no way you're going to be arrested over this, but it could be possible to get the employee in trouble if you take the item back and show them the receipt. It's been a long time since I worked in retail but I was once suspended for a mistake involving a customer that came back, so it does happen. If you don't want that on your conscience then just accept it as an honest mistake and leave it alone.

sweet!

No, it doesn't need to be scanned in order to be deactivated. If the item was on the demagnetization pad or whatever at the checkout it wouldn't register with the detector (if it even had a tag at all).

I wouldn't feel bad about this either. Probably still doesn't come close to balancing out all the stuff that gets left behind after it's paid for at Walmart because of those stupid frickin' bag caddy things they use that turn around.

I hate those things with a passion. More than once I have grbbed a bag of the person behind me's items, in my efforts to make sure I got all my bags.

Kharma dude. Something is gonna break on your car costing $43.

While I think you are ok by going back and discussing, you might have asked for a mgr. If you had not went back in, they could have charged you with "theft by deception" possibly.

I work in upper mgt for a C-store chain and we successfully go after people all the time who dont pay the proper amount for a money order or dont pay the clerk for their gas. The think it is the clerks responsibility, under the law it is not. You know you got gas, it is your responsibility to pay for it. It generally falls under the category of "theft by deception". Usually everything is covered by paying for the product, but if you are on video and appear to know what is going on, they will go after you a little harder. In KY, a retailer can charge you a $250 fine plus restitution to avoid going thru the court system.

doesnt walmart have a policy that they dont even prosecute or go after shoplifters (which you werent anyways). so even if you were trying to steal, nothing would happen.