Don't want to rehash the whole cake from Walmart incident.... but this is so funny I almost peed my pants in the Sam's Club parking lot today.

My mother and I went to Sam's Club this afternoon because they have a special offer until the 21st where you buy the $40 membership and get a $25 gift card. So we each had our stuff in one cart, and our jackets were in the front handle part. She was having trouble walking after going around the whole store, so she sat up in the eating area while I checked both of us out.

We get out to the car and are putting the stuff in her truck when I lift up her coat and underneath it is a huge jug of brown gravy mix! I didn't know she had put it in the cart, and all the other items were in the bottom part. We just looked at each other and started laughing so hard we could barely breathe. First the cake from Walmart and now the brown gravy mix from Sam's Club.

And to answer the inevitable question - no, we did not go back in to pay for it!

That is so funny and ironic after the whole cake thing. Isn't Sam's Club owned by WalMart? They need to train their cashiers better!

You sure are brave for posting this. Don't be surprised if you are accused of being a thief. I understand how these things can happen.

If this starts happening a lot I will have to have you go on a big shopping with me!

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I did something like that once with a kids toy. So the next time I went in I took another one and when I checked out I ask her to ring it up and not give it to me because I had not paid for one the time before. She looked at me like I was crazy but she did it.

okay Mitchum thats it lock up this crazy women please???seriously this is funny lol....I also agree you were brave to come here and admit it .Perhaps the next time you go into the store you could ask the cashier to ring something small like the cost of the gravy 2 times this way in the end you did good, just a thought but again hon it happens.. Peace... Catherine

See? I can see how this could be missed. If it was under a coat, the cashier wouldn't lift out the coat to look. That would kind of like them wanting to take your purse out of the buggy. I personally don't want any cashier touching my personal belongins (coat or purse).
And yes, Sams is owned by WalMart.
I do understand how items can be missed by both the customer and the cashier (in all stores). And really, do you know how much your total should be at Sams or Costco?

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

The cashier could say "is there anything in the front of the cart?" Really it's both the shopper's and the cashier's responsibility to make sure everything is right. I would not want them touching my things either but if they said "is there anything up front?" in a polite way I would be happy to look there as sometimes I forget I put a greeting card or something there to protect it.

And you don't always realize how much you are going to pay. I end up putting extra things in my cart and I don't add as I go along unless I have a really small amount available to spend.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

At our Sam's Club, we have a person at the door as you go out who checks your receipt (but I guess if it wasn't on your receipt AND it was hidden, they wouldn't see it either).

Hmmm...... I'm beginning to see a pattern here! Your picture may start appearing in grocery stores in your area!

I am surprised you got thru the door. Our Sams club always double checks at the door. They count the items in your cart, and leave their initials on your receipt. I always feel like they are just waiting for someone to pull a fast one...its kind of annoying to stand in a long line, just to leave the store after paying for your items.

Agreed on all accounts.

But, when you have an item that is $50, plus other items and you end up paying much less than $50, then you should realize that a mistake was made in your favor. I can only speak for the stores around here, but most don't give coupon overage--ocassionally Safeway or Albertsons will, but Wal-Mart has never (their cashier get their hands spanked pretty hard on the coupon overage issue).
I'm just saying....

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

In our Sams Club you would swear their life depended on counting the items
on the cash reciept compared on whats in your cart, we would never be able to
forget anything , I understand the idea of what they have to do but sometimes its
really not necessary .

Not only did the guy at the door check both of our receipts, but he drew a smiley face on the back of my mother's!

You know, if I ever actually 'tried' to shoplift something, I would be the first one caught. But now twice in just over a week - I really should go for something more expensive! Although a $45 cake one week, and a $4 gravy mix the next.... I guess I'm not doing too bad!

I really have to check the cart next time - it would totally be my luck to get caught. I hope my next post won't be titled something like "Stole some gum, please send bail money"

Isn't it too cold there to go out side with out her coat.

It is very cold here and I am so tired of this weather.

I have overlooked small items under my coupon box and even in plain sight many times, and not realized it until I got to the car. I, too, think that if I really tried to steal, I'd be caught in a flash. Maybe because I would be looking and acting as guilty as the day is long.

Well doesn't this just take the cake, lol just kidding.

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Sometimes the elevator often the shaft

I'm surprised they didn't make you remove everything from the cart. At my Sams, that is their policy. They have even gone so far as to make me remove my children and place them in another cart (believe me, they heard about that!).

Smart ass lol I love it!

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

good gravy!...

The first one was a piece of cake.. and now this one was gravy.

You are making it seem too easy!!! lol

Crack me up!!! Funny, ohhgodd!!

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

what do you have planned for your next heist? :-)

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Going outside without a coat in WI???

Not me.....and how easy it should have been to go back in and pay for the item since you realized in the parking lot it wasn't paid for.

dl

Next time it will be easy as PIE!

Doh!!


deddlastt,
yesterday was a warm day for us.. I didn't want to wear my coat either, it made me feel uncomfortable when I was going in and out of the stores.
Depending on what time she left (it was freezing by 5:00), I had mine off going to my car, as well.

Not sure if you asked, or were making an accusation, but I thought I would clarify for you, since I assume you don't live here, or you would know this.

But to agree with your other statement, I sometimes have things in my cart that I forgot to either put back in claims or put back on the shelf (I am a vendor) and I will wheel the cart out to my car to place my work bags and stuff in. It drives me crazy when I see an item that I overlooked when I cleaned the cart out of trash before I left out the front doors.
I always, always turn right around and bring the cart and item back into the store and give it to the greeter, telling him I missed it in my cart. It shouldn't be their loss, nor a waste of my time, because I overlooked something. But that's just me.

Actually, I take that back.. I think that one year I had something in my cart that I forgot to put up before leaving, and it was below.. wayyyy below zero and it was a blizzard. I did not go back in. Guess I have done it too. Nevermind.

Kinda funny when we consider everything about 10 degrees warm now!

ETA - Just hit a milestone - 1400 posts! Only took me 9 years)

Yes, I agree zookeeper! LOL!! 10 degrees is so warm! haha!

Congrats on your milestone!! I am almost to my 5,000th, so I will be joining you in celebrating as well! woot!

It really just means I am a big mouth with a LOT of time on my hands..LOL

I don't think I weighed in on the cake situation, but, I think in this situation, the right thing to do would have been to go back inside and paid for it. Like another poster said, you don't expect (nor want) the cashier touching your personal items, such as a coat.

I always make a habit of double checking the cart, and if I have a coat, purse, or whatever in the top/bottom, I move it. Usually, I have to get into my purse to pay anyway.

I guess you could say, I am in the minority here, and don't really see the humor of it.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I think it was more of an "OMG, I did it again!" embarrassing moment rather than a humorous one.

If she were "pleased as punch," she wouldn't have posted it.

yes, OP did find it "funny"
"... but this is so funny I almost peed my pants in the Sam's Club parking lot today."

"And to answer the inevitable question - no, we did not go back in to pay for it!"

Well, maybe it was the way the last sentence struck me......... again, I don't see the humor in it. It is still, afterall, a loss to the company, and you and I are the ones who make up for that.

Still funny??

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I stand corrected.

Maybe the word "ironic" would have served a better purpose than her "funny" or my "embarassing" wording.

Allinaugust- excellent post

Yes it was

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Mary

Allinaugust,
Thank you for posting this! I agree that it's not funny. It was OP's fault that she walked out without paying for something and she should correct it. It just goes back to your integrity.
I did the same thing last week at JC Penney's. I was shopping with my 3 little ones and a double stroller with a car seat in one of the seats, and trying to load up on clothes for my kids for next year. Anyway, I got out to the parking lot after paying for my stuff and got my little ones in the car and when to put the stroller in and realized there were 2 pairs of shoes we didn't pay for under the car seat on the stroller. But, my kids were already in the car, it's cold out side and I was going to be late to pick up my 2nd grader. So I didn't take them back in to pay for them, I stuck them in my car and drove away. However, later that night, I went back and explained the situation, and asked if I could pay for them. It would not have felt right to have my girls in shoes that I didn't pay for, even if they were only $3 a pair. Same thing should have happened with the cake and the gravy.

I would have really laughed if you had peed your pants!!!!!! lol Isn't it fun to have a good laugh!!!????

I've been going without a coat in Iowa for most of the winter. I just wear my hoodie (no tshirt or anything underneath) and jeans. I think I've actually only worn a coat maybe 7 or 8 times. I'm ALWAYS hot. I hate summer!

Yes, peeing your pants because you stole, how funny. A good laugh, an even better laugh, go right back in and steal some Depends.

It must have been cold enough to wear the coat in, or at least have it along. Well, just for laughs, then I guess the coat was just there for decor purposes.

So many missed the point. This was theft, it wasn't funy, and easily could have been righted.

dl

OMG.......ROFLOL....... Now THAT was funny, and after the month I've been having, I needed a truly good laugh. Thank you.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Had to go searching for the "cake" post to follow this one, and I have to agree with several posters...I would not feel comfortable with either scenario. I understand the frustration with the cake, but would never think the cashier was giving it to me for free because he had somehow gotten the word that there was a problem. I am certain if Walmart were to decide to give away a $45 cake in the interest of customer retention, they would be pretty vocal about it.
With the gravy, I couldn't drive away without paying for something that I had accidentally concealed. I just could not do it.
I remember when one of my kids was still in a stroller & we were at the mall. I took my 4 kids in and out of several stores, and was heading to the parking lot when one of the other kids realized the baby had a rattle from the Disney store in her hand! She's a quick one! Had to take them all back across the mall to the Disney store, explain to the perky greeter what happened, and return it.

I don't, either.

I might have had the response been to then go back and pay for it after saying, "I can't believe I did this TWICE!"

But I guess I don't find just driving off with what was essentially stolen merchandise particularly funny. I have accidentally done similar things, but have never just left the store's property without going back in and making it right with them.

When I was in college, I went to a local clothing store and bought a few things. When I got home, I realized that the clerk not only put my clothes in the bag, but also gave me several of the items that the previous person had bought. The previous person had bought a lot of things, so had several bags of stuff.

The store was not close to my dorm, but I schlepped back. When I told the clerk what happened, instead of thanking me, she said, "Oh, they didn't fit?" indicating that I wouldn't have returned them if they were my size.

Things like this make you wonder why anyone bothers to be honest.

I agree with you. I got change back once that was way off by maybe $5 to $10 in my favor. I say to the clerk I'm sorry but you gave me the wrong change. Before I could say more she snapped at me no I didn't. She was so snotty I just said I'm sorry and walked off with my extra money.

One time I was in Walmart using $2 coupons. Can't remember on what but they would not scan so the cashier had to type them in and I had like 10 of them. Well my toddler was throwing a fit because it was taking so long so I paid and left. I get home and look at the receipt and see that one of the $2 coupons was $20 taken off (he typed in an extra 0 on accident). I lived 20 mins from Walmart but I went back up there that night and told them what happened and gave them the $18 I that was accidently taken off. They thanked me. I don't know I just feel that Karma is a biatch.

I guess I understood how the OP "rationalized" the first incident but the second one?? What's the rationalization for it?

I guess if I stick something in my pants and forget to pay for it on the way out it's okay. I mean, isn't it the cashier's job to make sure they've checked me for unpaid items? I don't see the justification...

hashbug is exactly right. Karma is a biatch and rest assured, those chickens will come home to roost. I hope you have lots of cake and gravy to feed them when they show up.

Count me in as one who frequently (well, maybe not frequently...but several times a year) returns things to a store that I rec'd but did not buy or change that was given but was incorrect. Tell ya what though, it gets harder each and every time to do the right thing....because almost never does the person say "Thank You", oftentimes it's like I'm putting them out or something. I'm sorry, but I am returning $10 that would have shorted your drawer or I schlepped an item back to the store that didn't belong to me and it's like I'm causing a problem or creating extra work. WTH?

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

That is so true, cj..

It is almost like they have a predisposition to believe that anyone who does this is actually trying to rip the store off in some way.

It just isn't the norm anymore, it is more the norm to steal or take from another...and when you do something that is not the norm, it raises suspicions.

Amazing, isn't it?

The last time I schlepped the item back to the store (that my dd inadvertently forgot to put on the counter) to pay for it, the cashier was so appreciative that she thanked me profusely and repeatedly and gave me a 30% discount on the items.

We live 20 minutes from the store where this happened and it was late at night when we got home and realized what had happened. First thing the next day, I went and paid. I think I would lose all credibility (deservedly so) with my kids if I just blew it off and didn't go back and make it right.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Yeah, it's a drag when you do the right thing and don't get the recognition deserved. But like the above poster said, weather it's karma or the golden rule or divine reciprocity or what goes around, I'm really just looking out for my own back when I do the right thing.

On the other hand because I have always worked in jobs where large amounts of cash changed hands, I have had the opportunity to return literally hundreds of dollars to people that sometimes didn't know it was missing. I think the reaction was divided between thank you so much and angry acceptance. The angry part seemed like they thought that I was pointing out that they had made a mistake. I guess some people have trouble with that.

Either way I'm just trying to keep my Karmic slate clean.

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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

ITA last time I tried to give them back something that wasn't mine/wasn't paid for CS didn't seem to understand...they asked me to stay while they called a mgr, I did wait a few minutes, no one came, then the lady asked me to wait while she looked around in the storage room to find a form to fill out and then wait for a mgr to sign it...OMG no I don't think so LOL, here is the merchandise, take it, you're welcome, see ya!!

I can see how the OP would let the first incident slide. I might have too, in that situation.

What happened in the second situation, however, was just plain theft. Simple as that.

The item should have been taken back into the store and either given back or paid for. There is no possible way to rationalize NOT taking it back.

If I was the OP, I'd be watching my p's and q's. Karma won't look kindly on this action.

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Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

We had paid off our car loan with a loan with a lower interest rate, from the same bank, tho. Well, guess what came in the mail???? Our car title stamped PAID IN FULL on it. They had accidentally sent it to us.

At first I was somewhat "thrilled".....then, it dawned on me. NOPE, they just made a snafu, and I took it into the bank. I expected a big "OH THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH". Didn't get anything even close to it. But, I knew in my heart I did what was the correct thing to do, and my conscious was clear.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

That is why I had said to the op the next time she goes into the store to purchase something of equal value and ask the cashier to ring the item up twice so this way to perhaps make-up somehow I hope for the can of gravy. I do not think the op did it on purpose and I also feel that if this happened again that Mitchum would do the right thing and pay for the item whatever the item may be. Peace. Catherine

I would have taken the gravy back in. We had a very similar situation happen to us recently when we were shopping at a grocery store during the holidays. We had picked up some candy canes coming in the store, and my daughter carried them around while we shopped. When we got to the car after we checked out, our daughter suddenly said, "Uh oh" and showed us the candy canes. She had forgotten to put them on the belt, and the cashier never noticed that she had them. DH took her back inside and she put them back on the shelf...he was too embarrassed to go back up and buy them. The point was that even though the cashier didn't notice....it would have been stealing to keep them.

It may be embarrassing to go back in and make it right one way or another, but it is the right...and LEGAL...thing to do. Allowing yourself to "justify" committing a crime in any way is a slippery slope. It may seem like an honest mistake now, but really you are only robbing yourself as stores have to raise prices due to "oversights" such as the ones that happened to you.

I don't see ANY humor in dishonesty but you better stick to petty theft. If you thought stealing Sam's Club's gravy mix was so funny that you almost peed your pants then the hilarity of a bank heist would probably give you a coronary!