Poll: Would This Be Considered Theft?

[Optimus]

2 wrongs don't make a right.

If the store takes too much of your money, then you notice that, then you can go back and get your money returned. If you don't bother then you have decided not to yourself.

If the store charges extra, then its either a) an accident or b) on purpose.

If a), then it doesn't justify stealing back from them
If b), again - 2 wrongs do not equal a right, AND you would only be assuming they were stealing - you have no proof they would be.

Either way, yes its stealing, and you might well get caught.

Just my opinion, but you did ask!

 

[GasX]

This question comes from a guy that ferverently supports progressive taxation (thread).

I guess he also believes in progressive pricing....

 

[shifrbv]

So if you went home and realized the pricing errors in the past, why not just go back to the store and speak to a manager?

Well, since the store is supposed to hire employees to make sure the prices scan correctly, I don't feel that the burden should be upon the consumer to go in and tell them how to do their jobs. Besides, what really ticked me off and sent me "over the edge" was a special I saw on either Dateline or 20/20 last week which showed how often consumers are being overcharged on items scanned by stores. I found out that what was happening to me was not an isolated instance, but rather occuring frequently all over the country. Their reporters did go in and tell the managers, yet when they came back the next day and bought the same items, the prices were still wrong. Some of the managers even at the large chains wouldn't even talk to the reporters when they came back. They just slammed the door in their faces and refused to take a second interview. How much extra money are stores raking in because of this deceitful practice? I guess I decided to take matters into my own hands.

 

[mithrandir2001]

I price-switched two products once when I was about 13. I wanted to buy a large box of Crayola colored pencils but they cost more than I had in my wallet. I then found a box of crayons with a lower price and performed a switcheroo. At that time, I thought it was logical, though not necessarily ethical; I was paying for some of it, so I didn't consider it overt shoplifting. If that's the worst thing I did as a kid...

I committed another act of ethical digression a few years ago. I was in a record store and was going to buy a certain CD. Well, the CD had been on sale in the past because it had a yellow sticker on it, but a newer, higher-priced sticker was placed on top, but it barely covered the older, yellow one. I peeled the newer sticker off and paid the sale price. You figure they'd just scan the ISBN and not have to deal with price stickers. I didn't think much of it because I thought why should I have to pay a higher price because I just didn't happen to be in the store when it was on sale?

It's easy to say "this is wrong" and take the moral high road, but everybody at some point makes concessions that would be considered illegal in some strict sense. And yes, what the original poster did was theft by law.

 

[AaronP]

huh huh, I have like 6 gigabytes of mp3's. huh huh huh huh.

Up until about 6 months ago, the concept of paying for software was alien to me. heheheheheheheheh

but that's now all in the past.

uh oh, my morpheus search just brought up some hits.

 

[GundamW]

<< So if you went home and realized the pricing errors in the past, why not just go back to the store and speak to a manager?

Well, since the store is supposed to hire employees to make sure the prices scan correctly, I don't feel that the burden should be upon the consumer to go in and tell them how to do their jobs. Besides, what really ticked me off and sent me &quot;over the edge&quot; was a special I saw on either Dateline or 20/20 last week which showed how often consumers are being overcharged on items scanned by stores. I found out that what was happening to me was not an isolated instance, but rather occuring frequently all over the country. Their reporters did go in and tell the managers, yet when they came back the next day and bought the same items, the prices were still wrong. Some of the managers even at the large chains wouldn't even talk to the reporters when they came back. They just slammed the door in their faces and refused to take a second interview. How much extra money are stores raking in because of this deceitful practice? I guess I decided to take matters into my own hands. >>



Stores like those have thousands of items on the shelf. In a perfect world, the price on each item would be what it is being advertised. In real world, everybody makes mistake(s). It might be their fault of not double checking the price. However, that doesn't justify what you did. You could have NOT buy the product and shop around for better price, or you can wait till the product goes on sale.

I don't consider theft, but I do consider it fraud.

Just my stupid opinion.

 

[GasX]

&quot;Would This Be Considered Theft? &quot;

That depends are you a Democrat or a Socialist?

 

[crypticlogin]

Dude, you rationalize a scheme to defraud a store and don't even realize it. Or you do realize it and need some other people to bolster your &quot;justification&quot; on the board so you feel less guilty about your crime. Sorry, you won't get any from me. I hope they caught you on camera and haul you to the slammer the next time you step into that store.

 

[BIGGDOG]

Yes it is theft and or fraud. You are hurting the rest of us by stealing. Now prices will go up and piss us all off.

 

[Amused]

<< I switched prices on an item that I wanted to buy. The item I wanted was marked too high in my opinion, so I made a price adjustment. Instead of paying $4.99, I switched it to $2.99.

I didn't steal the item, just made it a bit cheaper. Would this be considered theft and could someone be prosecuted for shoplifting if they did this? >>



What you've done is not only immoral, it's illegal in all fifty states.

 

[BruinGuy]

Why did you even have to ask?



<< Of all the self-righteous, new age garbage I've heard on this board... >>



My setiments exactly

 

[MrCodeDude]

It's a $5.00 item. Pay the whole $5 for it, don't make excuses. It's theft.
-- mrcodedude

 

[HansHurt]

Another on for it being wrong/theft...

I used to do this when I was kid all the time..I finally grew up, and realized how low it really is. It's a blemish in my history for sure, and I am emberrassed.

 

[Tauren]

Yes you are an un-ethical theif.

 

[AaronP]

&quot;That depends are you a Democrat or a Socialist?&quot;
---

LOL aren't they pretty much the same these days?

 

[shifrbv]

OK everyone. Misrepresenting value is theft in my state. So I am guilty. I just looked at the code, so that sealed it. Those who say I'm going to hell should be happy now.

But that doesn't mean the store gets off scott free. For those who say, &quot;the store has so many items and they can't be responsible for getting everything right&quot;. BS. They only have a handful of items on sale each week. These are only a small portion of the stores items and are &quot;the most important&quot; items that will be bringing customers into their store. There is no plausible reason they can't get it right. I believe they do not wish to get it right because they wish to try and commit fraud hoping customers won't notice and they will be able to increase their margins.

I think next time I'm overcharged in the store, I'll go for a fraud charge for misrepresentation of pricing through false advertisement. It would be interesting to show how I went through the checkout line about a hundred times on different days and was continually overcharged each time.

 

[GasX]

An important lesson is to be learned from all of this:

When someone knocks you off your high horse, you have to get right back on it!

 

[bugsysiegel]

Yepper. Theft-o-rama.

 

[Tauren]

<<I think next time I'm overcharged in the store, I'll go for a fraud charge for misrepresentation of pricing through false advertisement. It would be interesting to show how I went through the checkout line about a hundred times on different days and was continually overcharged each time.>>

In MI if you get over-charged, you get the amount back and ten times the amount up to an additional $5.00. They check those scanner all the time now.

 

[SSP]

If you think they are scamming you, then go to a different grocery store.

 

[Doggiedog]

It depends, if you are switching labels on a Microsoft product, it's called getting ripped off less.

 

[shifrbv]

I don't think they're scamming me, I know they are because I have caught it when getting home and comparing my receipt to the grocery ads.

I wish they had some mechanism here where retailers could be checked for overcharging, but there is nothing so far.

As far as going to another store, there are only 2 grocery stores near to me and both are owned by the same company (Meijer and Kroger - both owned by Meijer). Each regularly overcharges on items (mostly sale items) and you really have to watch it. The Meijer store even puts items on the endcaps of the aisles with a ridiculously low price above them, then when you get to the register, you see the real price. For instance, one time they had endcaps full of cereal with big 99 cents signs above them. Then when you get to the register, they ring up at the real price of $2.89 or higher.

 

[mithrandir2001]

<< For instance, one time they had endcaps full of cereal with big 99 cents signs above them. Then when you get to the register, they ring up at the real price of $2.89 or higher. >>


That $2.89 price might be a legal price, actually. See, supermarkets are infactuated with these evil &quot;Bonus Cards&quot; that give you access to all the cheap prices and sales in the store, in exchange for being able to track your purchases for marketing reasons. If you don't have a &quot;Bonus Card&quot; - which is &quot;free&quot; - you pay the regular price.

 

[webnewland]

That would be theft of $2 from the store. The store didn't force you to buy anything, so if you considered the price unfair, you are not obleiged to buy it.

 

[OutHouse]

The hardware store i worked at in high school caught a guy switching the pricetag of a less expensive hammer to a more expensive hammer. The security cameras caught him. while he was in line to pay for it we already had a call in to the police for a shoplifter. when he paid for it we were waiting for him outside along with a cop. The store did press charges.

So what you did was shoplifting no two way around it.