I decided to do something I always thought of as financially irresponsible and sign up for a Costco membership at my local store. Roughly 10 miles from where I live, I knew that my allegiances to Publix and Winn-Dixie (the two local grocery chains) would prevent me from visiting Costco more than a few times a year and my small apartment would do the same. As much as I wanted to buy a 600 pack of popsicles during the days of 200% humidity, I just don’t have the room.
After spending about an hour at the membership counter, waiting for my Costco card to be printed so I could visit the warehouse club for the first time, I was asked if I wanted to upgrade my membership to the executive level for just $50 more. I would receive a 2% cash back check (there’s an oxy-moron for ya) at the end of the year but I politely passed. I just wanted to get on with the free-samples and aisle browsing as quickly as possible.
So I make my way up and down the aisles with my new Costco card in hand and I’m finding it difficult to pinpoint things I can actually store in my apartment. I knew I wanted to get a good 10 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast and another 5 or so pounds of extra lean ground beef (you can make thousands of different meals with that stuff) but nothing else really stood out as a bargain. I’m a buy one get one free nut and these deals were good but not great for me.
After about an hour of browsing, I managed to get 11 items in my cart. They were:
- 10 pounds chicken
- 5 pounds ground beef
- prepared Caesar salad for lunch
- 100 oz Lipton tea mix
- 4 pack Healthy Choice steamers
- gallon of whole milk
- gallon of Lactaid free milk (for the Mrs.)
- 24 pack of Lipton Iced Tea (bottles)
- 36 pack of pudding cups (none for the Mrs.!)
- 24 AAA Duracell batteries
- 25 pack of Philly swirl pops
Now, when I make it to the register, I take pride in knowing to the penny, how much things are going to cost. With the batteries and salad being my only taxable items (because the salad is prepared), this one was easy. Rounding up, I’m in for $105. 11 items at this price always seemed ridiculous to me, but considering the size of these items, I’m confident I can make them last the entire month. I have my proteins, my drinks and desserts and enough vegetables in the salad to last a good 24 hours. I’m set.
Something I learned right away at Costco is that the cart goes down a different path than you do at the checkout counter. I guess that’s to make sure you’re not trying to sneak any items? Not really sure but so be it. My 11 items are on the belt, slowly making their way to the cashier, who scans them one at a time. I watched her scan all 11 items and while the Mrs. is getting a box (no more bags for me!) to pack things up, the cashier turns to me and says “$58.92.”
In that split second, I knew something was wrong. I’ve gotten math problems wrong before but NEVER by this much, and definitely not on something as simple as 11 items. It was at this very moment I had two choices. Pay with my debit card as if nothing was wrong, OR alert the cashier that she had made a mistake and she should take a look. I wasn’t exactly sure which items had been missed but I knew the chicken and beef were prime suspects. How bout that pun!
Knowing the title of this tale, you know I took the former road and kept my mouth shut. It was at this very moment that I knew I had done something wrong. But those that shop at Costco know that my journey to freedom is not over. You see, warehouse clubs like Costco have someone at the door to check your receipt. The store is wide open enough were theft is a considerable problem and not only does this Costco have one person at the door but today they had two.
Immediately my mind shifts to strategy mode. I’ve totally forgotten about the moral dilemma I’ve taken on and am now processing the guarded door I need to pass. The 30 or so yards I had between us gave me time to watch the employees very closely. On the right was a young kid, who appeared to be scanning the receipts quickly. On the left, an elderly woman meticulously taking her time on each and every item in the cart. Too easy I thought … as my cart slowly drifts to the right.
As I approach the young man, who seems extremely disinterested in his work, I face yet another dilemma, as if my Costco experience isn’t dramatic enough! The elderly woman is waiving me in because she is free, while I wait for Jeremy (he looked like a Jeremy) to finish up with the person in front of me. Would it be too suspicious to wait, rather than to casually roll the cart to the left? I didn’t care. She would have found the proteins immediately. I waited and pretended she wasn’t even there.
Thankfully, her persistence wasn’t a strong one and I slickly moved my cart to the front of Jeremy’s line. I handed over the receipt like I had pulled this scam a 1,000 times. With his left hand, he grabbed it took a look at it, then looked at my items. I expected him to go back to the receipt, take his black sharpie, make his mark and watch me as I fly through the Costco parking lot with $45 worth of goods that I knowingly didn’t pay for. Much to my surprise, his next move was to look me in the eye. For what reason I do not know but it almost broke me down. Had he held his eye-to-eye contact a second longer, I would have cracked a guilty smile but he took his marker, drew a line and sent me on my way. My receipt below shows how a kid that looks like a Jeremy signs his Costco receipts.
I bolted through the parking lot, sat down in the driver side of my car and thought about what I had just done. I suppose had I not known the cashier made a mistake, this guilt ridden adventure would have never happened. Damn me for always trying to make mathematics fun.
Some people would never notice this type of mistake and others might figure it out after they arrive home and check their receipt. In both situations, it’s perfectly reasonable to keep the items and move on with your life. But what about mine? The fact that I willingly kept my mouth shut, only to compound the depth of my devious behavior with each passing second leads me to believe that I may as well have taken $45 from the cash register. Is there really a difference?
So I present this to the readers. Forgetting it happened to me, would you return to this Costco, go to the customer service counter, inform them you were not charged for $45 worth of items and pay for them right then and there? Am I crazy to even suggest such a thing? I mean, people get little breaks in life all of the time and while $45 isn’t a big deal, will my appearance at Costco even be understood? How many times do you suppose the customer service counter deals with people coming in to pay for stuff from weeks ago? I probably would spend more than an hour explaining what I’m trying to do.
I’m just looking for a different perspective.
Michael Pruser
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Published or updated August 4, 2010.
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Follow your heart. And I think it’s leading you back to Costco!
Not only would I go back, I have gone back for much less. I can think of one time at Target when we bought 5 things, and we got to the car and realized they only charged us for four. The one they missed was $3.99, as I recall. We walked back in, went to Customer Service, explained what happened and paid the difference.
They did not act like this was an unusual occurrence in any way.
After checking out at Wal-Mart one day I found a small item at that wasn’t rung up. It was a $2 item, and had I not needed it, I would have taken it back, set it on the counter, and went on with my day. Unfortunately, I did need it and had to wait another 20 minutes in line to pay for it. I was grumpy afterward because of the 20 minute wait, but it was the right thing to do. And to think, Wal-Mart probably had a $.15 profit margin on that item.
Yep, you definitely need to go back. I’ve gone back for 39 cents before. I believe that if you keep that $45, you’ll lose a lot more. Karma doesn’t fool around.
Man, tough one.
I would have probably brought it up at the register ONLY because I wouldn’t want the cashier to get in trouble. I do the same thing with incorrect change. I give them one chance to get it right and then I am out.
At this point I wouldn’t go back lol I think it would be weird and I doubt they’d even know how to take your money
In my opinion it’s not that big a deal. Sometimes life hands you a little break and you shouldn’t feel bad for taking it. It’s not as if you are stealing from the taxpayers by abusing political systems in place. You are obviously hard-working, and when you put it into perspective it’s only pocket change to a huge corporation whom in fact, budgets for this very sort of thing. Enjoy the little breaks when you get them, they are few and far in between.
Whew
I was getting nervous that the first four comments suggested I drive back to the store right now. Good to see some different perspectives in here!
I know it’s easier to take the advice of those who say to keep it, but I’m with the Karma comment. My grown daughter and I have experienced this time and again and we never tempt Karma anymore. I would have brought it up at the register. Karma is 1000% more valuable than cash, either good of bad. The fact that it bothered you enough to write about it should be the answer to your question. It may be a drop in the bucket to a major corporation but it’s a boatload of Karma in your personal account. Good luck if you take the low road.
Go donate the money you saved to a worthy cause
This is a pretty long article. Motivated by… guilty feelings?
If you noticed that you have something from the store that you didn’t pay for, I’d say that constitutes theft. The moment you noticed it and didn’t make it right, it becomes theft. You can steal things without the other party noticing, but that doesn’t make it right.
What if this had happened at your business? I say, pay the difference, and bank the karma. Just my 2c, since you asked.
Don’t mess with Karma – it’ll bite you back. Give back the $45 dollars (clearly you are feeling guilty and hence this post) and to feel “less” worse about giving up $45 eat more free samples.
The post was very engrossing! Excellent write up with the facts and emotions mixed in well.
I would have spoken up right at the register. Stealing is stealing, whether from a big company like Costco or from your grandma. The cost of your theft gets passed on to all the other Costco members. Of course you don’t think it’s a big deal – just 50 bucks, right? There are thousands of people just like you and it all adds up. I just rss’d your blog a few days ago, but it’s unsubscribed now.
That happened to me at Costco once, so I went to customer service to pay for the unscanned item. It took 10 min for me to explain the problem so they could get it, and another 20 min for them to figure out how to charge me for the item since it wasn’t on the original receipt. I walked away feeling irritated at the time it took and at the looks I was getting from the reps thinking I was crazy to turn myself in.
Think of it this way: if the cashier over-charged you or didn’t give you the correct change, you would go back and attempt to make it right. You should probably do the same in this case, too.
So sorry: Theft is theft. Costs us all (time AND money AND trust) in the long run.
My friends who are Nordstrom employees always tell me about the women who return dresses after weddings and proms–use to cost them MILLIONS a year. It’s not renting–it’s theft. Now Nordstrom and other stores don’t let ANYONE (even honest people) return with the tags attached.
Great story, Michael. I never found much use for Costco or Sams before I had an extra mouth to feed. Surprised you went. Although, I do like Sam’s $1.50 hot dog and coke meal. Anyway, I’d say good for you for wanting to do the right thing. Don’t rush back, but put in on your to do list for next month when you return for more pudding.
Yup, you stole it.
I’ve been in this spot, and I’ve spoken up because I’ve been afraid of getting caught and embarassed about it.
That said, I don’t think you did anything wrong, per se, but I’m with everyone else here on the karma bit. I like trevor’s idea to give the money to a non-profit, or PT’s idea to do it but don’t necessarily rush back.
Yes – you did do something wrong. Simply put you knowingly stole those items. You were in the store, you realized an error had been made and you did nothing to correct it. If this was your child – what would you tell them to do or be doing to them if they knowingly took something from the store without paying.
I’d go back. Actually, I would have listened to my gut at that checkout moment and said something. It would eat at me if I didn’t–and from the sound of it, it will eat at you if you don’t return.
You customer number is on the receipt and Costco will put you on black list ( may be charge you more next time automatically, ha ha ha )
I wish Alan
But the receipt is missing a few key details of course. With the amount of premeditation this story shows, I would be crazy to post the receipt with full information!
But perhaps charging me more next time would be the easy way out here.
Would there be any consequences for the cashier (whose name is on your receipt above) were you to return?
I am not advocating either way. But here’s how Costco works:
On merchandise, Costco hardly makes any money. They make very little profit on many of their items. They’ve mitigated this a little bit by selling their Kirkland brand products, but still, overall, they make very little on what they sell.
Their profits come from membership fees. This is the bulk of what goes to pay for salaries, rents, utilities, benefits, etc. But unlike other big box stores (eg. Target, Walmart), they provide a very decent living wage to their employees along with great benefits despite keeping prices relatively low.
They also bring added value to your Costco experience to improve your shopping experience, as well as hoping to bring in new customers. This has included the additions of expanded electronics, clothing lines, home/garden sections, Kirkland branded products and probably most popular, Costco Gas.
Wow, I sound like such a costco homer…. but I love shopping there. I know of small business owners who have “carried off” with hundreds of dollars of stuff, through accidental and purposeful theft. As with most big businesses, Costco is built to absorb this and has posted good profits (with the exception of the hardest points of the recession) over the years. It won’t affect the cashiers, since no transaction crosses the register and there may not be a real impact on bottom line figures since those are perishable items and there is a lot that is thrown out.
I’m not entirely sure I would do anything different from you. I’ve gone back to pay for 50 cent things and $50 things, but I’ve also knowingly walked away with 20 cent things and $20 things. Does this make me a bad person? I’m no advocate, I’m just saying….
I can tell your integrity is worth more than $45.
Perhaps you should write a letter or send a link of this blog to your local store to get their input…
My daughter works at a local grocery store and forgot to wring up an item that was .79 cents. The person was honest and went to customer service to let them know about the mistake. My daughter was written up for this and was told that if it happens again she could be fired. So now I think twice about reporting if a cashier overlooked an item. I would not want to be the reason why someone was fired.
You made the wrong choice. No two ways about it. I have a feeling you already know that. Costco paid for those items, you did not. And now every other Costco customer will have to pay for a tiny portion of your chicken and beef as the company recovers its loss. Now you’ve stolen from me and every other Costco customer. It doesn’t really matter what the amount was, but in this case you have sold your integrity for a paltry $45. That’s not nearly enough to retire with in the Caribbean.
You’ll never regret going back and making it right. If you went back to Malyery A. at register 4, it may change her attitude toward mankind.
I work for Costco as a Supervisor and I do deal with that. Members that come back to let us know that we missed something. If you do come back and pay for let the person at the door know that you have an adjustment and they will send you to the adjustment register where a Supervisor will take care of it. Bring back the stickers with the prices or write down the item number with the money amount since we sell those by weight.
You will be reminded about it each time you cook up some chicken or beef. And you have 15 lbs total.
Oh, Michael. How simple you are. Do you not know that (this is if a manager or supervisor of the store comes across this post) on your receipt, even though you blocked out your membership number, you will still be looked up by the date, time, and transaction I.D. number, which you failed to block out? Sure, like I said, if any store manager or supervisor happens to come across this boasting of theft, Malyery as well as young Jeremy will probably get into trouble with you having gotten away with $45.00 worth of items, but if you are man enough to post what you have, and feel “terrible” about your action, why don’t you man up and do what’s right? It’s only been a few days. Is the economy REALLY this bad, people?
Bill
The date and time are correct. Transaction and Member ID are not. That said, should someone from Costco at this particular location read this post, then sleuth their way to the bottom of this … well, my guess would be I have a better shot of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning on the same day.
I’m all for it but I think the best advice offered here is to donate the $45 to a good cause. Perhaps it’s not going where it 100% belongs but I think I’ll consider this moral dilemma closed.
Wow. That’s some bad luck you just set yourself up with. Gutsy. Anyway, agreed, donating the $45 to a good cause, such as The Children’s Miracle Network, would be something to level out the karma. Good luck.
Coward. I am unsubscribing from your blog because I will not seek financial advice from someone of questionable character. That’s what this is about. Not $45. Not whether or not Costco will miss the money. Not to whom you should donate the money to atone for your misdeed. Not how lucky you are for this “found” money.
Knowing the truth, you intentionally deceived Costco in order to avoid paying for those goods. That was the point that you crossed the line. You can still make things right, but you are choosing not to do so because you are embarrassed. Your principles are compromised.
It’s like that old joke…
Man: “Would you sleep with me for $1 million?”
Woman: “Yes.”
Man: “Would you sleep with me for $100?”
Woman: “What do you think I am?”
Man: “Madam, we already know what you are. We’re now simply negotiating the price.”
If the tables were turned, and you went back to Costco seeking $45 that they owed you, how would you feel if they said, “Oh, we donated your money to the Children’s Miracle Network because we couldn’t bear to face you and we couldn’t keep the money in good conscience”?
If you’re simply trying to generate a healthy debate on your blog, well done. I applaud you. However, if these are your true colors, for shame. May the dishonesty you’ve demonstrated be returned upon you 1,000 times. Coward.
As a senior manager it is very depressing to see your lack of anonymity towards the cashier and member service employee you embarrassed. I can not immagine how they must feel. The sad part is you knowingly walked out with unpaid merchandise and failed to make it right. To make matters worse we know who you are Every time you shop your card will be flagged (beware of possible theft). At no point will you be approached. Yet, we will be watching you from this point forward no matter which Costco you shop. Thnak you for the heads up XXXXX
Are you just pissed off that this didn’t happen to you and you didn’t get to save $45?
In no way shape or form is this theft! THEY are the ones who made a mistake and THEY have to live with it! Once you walk out of that store, no one cares about the items that were missed. And if any of you tell me that you go back to the store if you don’t get charged for $1 items … I call you a big fat liar!!! If I worked at that store and you come back in for something stupid like that… I’d laugh at you.
You want to tell me that if you find cash on the ground, you start walking around asking people if it belonged to them? There is no such thing is Karma. People like you made it up so that you can feel better about yourself when someone does something bad to you.
All you people need to calm then because Michael did nothing wrong. He should keep that money and put it into something useful in his life. Cash doesn’t just grow on trees, especially not $50 bills.
I have been in that situation a few times, and I thank them very much when they come back and pay for something that we made the mistake of not charging.
On a daily basis we receive so many items that members leave out in shopping carts in the parking lot and other members take the time to come back and hand it to us. We keep a log of it, so that when members comeback and ask they can get whatever is they forgot. It can be from school books, wallets, cases of water, paper towel or a bottle of allergy medicine.
There are good people out there.
Just imagine if everyone steals something everytime, Costco would have to raise its prices .
Wow. Being a Costco employee, it pains me to think of the problems that may have caused the cashier. Since they didn’t get you at the door and the cashier missed it as well, he/she probably couldn’t have gotten in trouble for errors…BTW…$45 is substantial. Unfortunately, you left all of the other information. My personal honesty as well as my distaste for your actions may very well lead me to turn in the information and track the sale…hence tracking you in the process. Don’t be surprised if there is a block on your card in the future.
Oh yeah……
Nice that you were thoughtful enough for yourself that you whited out your membership number. Too bad you did not have the same decency to white out the cashiers name as well.
I am surprised that all these coments have so much altruism. Karma, have u ever thought that might be your reward for doing something good in the past dude. Chill out and stop pusshing ur buttons take it walk it off and enjoy it…live for once man…no one gives a hoot if that happened. Honesty is not good as in this case will hurt the store clerk..they might just get fired dude…and the manager just writes it off…someone up the line just made more money from raising the price on ur future products..not because you didnt give the 50 bucks back..cause its other factors..see now that u dwell on it..it will eat u more..it was a gift dude..just dont play that game again cause u can get burned…simple as that…
lol..that is so funny..i just read what angela had to say…and boy that is so true..see dude now u can be tracked.(now u forced too by ur own weird sense of honesty to fess up and maybe face prosecution by some person that might think ur a thief)…angela u should just do the right thing ur self too…honesty will pay off for you too in this case too u might just get a raise…or promotion…sarcasm..
It blows my mind that anyone would not consider this theft.
What to do, now, is a legitimate question – especially considering the posts about fired cashiers.
your cashier and door guy will no doubt lose their job if you go back…I would rather the guilt over the 45 than two people losing thier jobs!
To me being a Costco member is like being a member of a country club. All the employees know me, and that makes the Costco experience number one. The problem that you will have if you do not do the right thing and return the money, is that you will feel guilt and deceit every time you enter the store. Hope you do the right thing since I have stock in Costco. So I guess you kind of are taking my money. I hope you will reply with your results and let everyone know what you decided to do.
You are all a bunch of tools. Your a tool for stealing the meat, and the rest of you are tools for telling him to return it. Who cares, the government and the banks are stealing tons of money from us everyday. while big shot CEO’s are paying themselves millions and jumping out of the windows in golden parachutes. The mortgage industry stole like sharks in a feeding frenzy from people who were poor and unable to pay loans back. So what, a regular guy at a local Costco seized the opportunity to get a little free meat. Good for you bro, you took one for the team as far as I am concerned. If all of us started acting like our government officials, we would be pushing carts of food and merchandise out of stores and refusing to pay because we DESERVE this food! I stole milk today and I feel GREAT about it.
Rhonda,
So I guess you waiting for Utopia before you develop some morals and a conscious? There’s never going to be a perfect just world, so you can justify any action you choose to. Good luck.
They did this and they did that, so i’m entitled to……We all know what the right thing to do is. Being an adult means having to act like one every now and then. Intergrity is comprimised by the theft of penny, as much as a dollar.
You stole product and you knew you were stealing it the minute you realized the cashier forgot to ring up a couple of expensive items. . . Your next admitted actions show your true ‘character’
(Immediately my mind shifts to strategy mode. I’ve totally forgotten about the moral dilemma I’ve taken on and am now processing the guarded door I need to pass. The 30 or so yards I had between us gave me time to watch the employees very closely. On the right was a young kid, who appeared to be scanning the receipts quickly. On the left, an elderly woman meticulously taking her time on each and every item in the cart. Too easy I thought … as my cart slowly drifts to the right.)
Yes it was theft but you paid $45/year to join so it just negates the membership fee. I’d be OK with it after doing the math that my local costco stores gross one million dollars a day.
Nope, if you go back, poor Malyery (your cashier) will get a write-up! Costco can afford it, but the cashier can’t! Very well written story though, I’m still laughing!
I do believe in karma but I am not quite sure that karma cares about big business as much as previous posters would like to believe. Cashiers have forgotten to ring up items, and gave me back too much change…sometimes I let them know and some times I have not. I usually do not notice until later though and I would not drive back to the store (after all they are not going to pay me for the $5-$10 I spend on gas to go back to the store nor will they pay me for my time). I find myself in a similar situation right now. My college book store just started something new; students can search for and reserve their text books and pick them up from the school before the semester starts. I went and picked up my books yesterday and the bookstore people let me know that one of my books were sold out and that none of my selections could be purchased used. They handed me three bags (the bags were already bagged…I did not even go in the store, they were located in the front of the school in a bus/van with a school logo) 2 of which had receipts stapled to the bag and all of which had my name written on the bag. I only skimmed through the bags. I did think it was weird that I had 3 bags because I had made 2 seperate orders but I figured they bagged the orders in more bags so the bags wouldn’t break…after all text books are heavy. About 10 hours later I took all of my books out of one bag then after looking at them placed them back in another bag. Then I grabbed the second bag and it was like deja vu…because I was looking at the same three books I had just looked at. I looked in the other bag to make sure I hadn’t picked up the same bag twice, and I had not. They had duplicated my first order. There were only two receipts and my online account only shows two receipts so I am almost certain that I was only charged for one set of the duplicate books. Should I drive back an hour to my school and give these books? I mean they do overcharge for the books. Would I be a bad person if I gave away these books to one of my classmates? I can’t say that I would.
The next time your at school, return the books. If you don’t, you are stealing. It’s really not that complicated. Keep your life simple…and no, you would not be a bad person, you’d be a thief.
Costco helped steal the lives of those chickens and cows, so you don’t owe them a dime. Who you owe is those chickens and cows. May God bless the suffering animals, and those who’ve already suffered. That’s my two cents.
i probably would have done the same. but more b/c I have no idea how much I spend until I get the receipt and I would have figured it was my math error. However, i would not have posted the receipt on a website.
Basically, you took something you didn’t pay for…Thanks for letting all of us know that you are selfish
Wow, what a joke. Who are you people? This is stealing, end of story, move on.
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