(firepile)
Steve absent-mindedly stuffed a pickle in his pocket while shopping. A glass pickle. No one noticed him take it…including Steve. He’d be happy to go back to the store and pay for it, but the ornament is now broken.
So my wife and I were shopping for some last-minute gifts, and I come
across a Christmas ornament that I like. It’s a glass pickle, which is a
traditional Christmas ornament. Well my arms get full, so I put the pickle
in my pocket so I don’t drop it. Then of course I forgot about it, and
walked out without paying. So I thought to myself that it would be easy
enough to sneak it back in, then pay for it without anyone being the
wiser. But then I broke the ornament, meaning no cashier in their right
mind would let me buy it then. Do I have any recourse, or do I just have
to accept the fact that I am a thief?
This is similar to the Target DVD story from yesterday, with the added twist that the item in question has been smashed into bits.
Since we are way too classy a publication to make a joke about how Steve is “in a pickle,” let’s just move on to the poll.
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Go to the store with the broken pickle, explain what happened and pay for the damn thing!
I’d like to vote for “Go back to the store and pay for it”
Why did they feel the need to add “be treated like a crazy person”???
Just go in with the shards and say you broke it in the store.
LMAO THis has to be a parody! I want pics of the broken pickle!
Relax it’s a common mistake. Heck I’m sure the store has 100s of broken ornaments in the back room. It’s the reason why they make you pay $5 for an item who’s unit cost was likely .80 cents. It’s not like you saw the ornament and said to yourself, “THis is cool. Let’s see if I can get away with it.”.
“But then I broke the ornament, meaning no cashier in their right mind would let me buy it then.”
So you’re a klepto, AND a rationalizing one at that. Just tell them you don’t think the ornament was scanned properly before, and ask to buy it if it’s weighing that heavily on your conscience. You may well be crazypants, but this is probably not the first time something like this has happened in the store, and it’s no biggie.
In a climate where consumers are treated like criminals in the first place, I disagree that he was rationalizing the accidental theft. I’d be wary of returning in his situation to right a wrong as well – truly an unfortunate realization.
Also, bring the glass shards with you. Heaven forbid the receipt checker at the door cannot match up your receipt with an item, you might not make it home for Christmas at all!
Moral of the story is never, EVER put anything in your pocket, purse, etc before you pay for it. That’s where the OP slipped up on this. If he had been caught on camera concealing this in his pocket, he could have been arrested for shoplifting then and there. He was lucky, and needs to make the situation right.
I wish this was my biggest problem. Are you kidding me?
Good lord, look at these “lovely” do-gooders. I bet you 9 out of 10 of them wouldn’t end up going back to pay for it, but chide everyone from their armchairs.
Take the remnants back to the store. Get whatever items you need that day. Tell the cashier that you broke the item (true) and that you mean to pay for it (also true). You don’t have to elaborate past that, you have not said anything untrue. If the cashier or any consulted staff says not to worry it, don’t.
This covers the return of the item and omitting mention of the complete circumstances reduces the likelihood of a nuclear response to the issue.
“Do I have any recourse, or do I just have to accept the fact that I am a thief?”
Wow. Just go back to the store, take one off the shelf (to get the UPC), and explain to customer service what happened.
If Steve is so morally deficient as to need to be told how to proceed, then he’s obviously also too intellectually deficient to understand the difference between right and wrong. Is it a lot of bother to make right this one small, unintentional mistake? Of course it is.
One might “feel” obliged to give Steve credit for asking advice, but I suspect in reality he’s merely hoping for a similarly-unprincipled idiot to suggest he forget the whole thing, and save him the bother / embarrassment.