Here’s a moral dilemma. If you are undercharged for an item and you only notice later… are you under any obligation to go back and tell the store? Or should you just let it go. Reader M wants to know what you think:

M writes:

I recently visited an outdoor store chain to purchase a pair of high-end backpacking boots. The boots retail for around $200 and were sale for $150. When I went to pay for the boots, the cashier had trouble scanning the box; so, she went ahead and manually looked up the boots on her computer, which took awhile. I paid for the boots and the rest of my merchandise with a gift card that covered the entire purchase. I was on my cell phone during the transaction (rude I know), so I wasn’t paying too close of attention; I didn’t have to sign or verify the amount I had paid – I just handed over the gift card to the cashier for a swipe and was on my way.

That evening when I was taping the receipt to the gift card to track the remaining dollars on the card, I realized that I had not been charged the correct price for the boots. The price on the receipt was only $6.83; however, the description of the item appears to be accurate.

As a consumer, what is my obligation when I discover I have been undercharged for an item? Is it up to me to deal with the hassle of returning to the store across the city to correct their mistake, or do I go on with my life.

Well, it’s certainly nice of you to want to correct their mistake, especially since it was such a large error by the cashier.

We’ll leave it up to a poll.

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