Feeling guilty and paranoid for price tag switching. What have I done..

[Guest]

Hi, I was drunk and high and had a moment of madness at Tkmax. I replaced the price tag of an item that was £40 with a tag from another similar item that was half the price. I took it to the till and paid for it with my credit card and left. I know it was a moment of madness because I very rarely get so drunk or high (once every several years only because some old friends smoke weed) and have never even attempted nor thought of switching labels before in my life. I'm still not sure what came over me at the time, but I've been feeling terrible about it since and have come here to seek some advice. Part of me says I should go back to the shop and return it, and part of me is paranoid that if I go back I might just complicate things if they've already identified me through CCTV. But then part of me thinks that they may be tracing my card purchase and I'll be soon talking with the police. I can't think straight for days. What is the best thing to do?

I was, until now, a fully law-abiding citizen with no criminal record. I suppose I cannot say that anymore.

[efpom]

You committed(at least) 2 offences - the first was an offence under the Theft Act, switching tags, and the second was an offence under the Fraud Act. using the card to make payment. You are now worried that you might be convicted of those offences. You are right to be worried.

What to do?
You could try writing to the CEO of the company, simply saying that there was some confusion over the purchase price, with the result that you are certain that you underpaid and enclose a postal order for the amount owing, copying both documents before sending.

That would not extinguish the offences as the offences completed at the time of committing them, but it would make it extremely unlikely that you would be arrested, charged and convicted of the offences.

[des8]

You could also do nothing.
The chances of Tkmax trawling through hours of CCTV in real time to see if anyone has been acting improperly is in the region of nil.
as the firm just will not pay staff for the overtime on the offchance of picking up a misdemeanour.

[Guest]

You committed(at least) 2 offences - the first was an offence under the Theft Act, switching tags, and the second was an offence under the Fraud Act. using the card to make payment. You are now worried that you might be convicted of those offences. You are right to be worried.

What to do?
You could try writing to the CEO of the company, simply saying that there was some confusion over the purchase price, with the result that you are certain that you underpaid and enclose a postal order for the amount owing, copying both documents before sending.

That would not extinguish the offences as the offences completed at the time of committing them, but it would make it extremely unlikely that you would be arrested, charged and convicted of the offences.

Thank you for your detailed and well-considered response. It was just my own normal credit card I use to make any other purchase every day. So, I have committed another offence simply by using my card to make the payment? This is worse than I thought.

[Guest]

You could also do nothing.
The chances of Tkmax trawling through hours of CCTV in real time to see if anyone has been acting improperly is in the region of nil.
as the firm just will not pay staff for the overtime on the offchance of picking up a misdemeanour.

Thanks - obviously there is part of me that wishes it could blow over this way. But part of me also thinks it only requires a stock discrepancy to trace a transaction and observe footage around the time of that transaction. That is, if they haven't already spotted me and it's already being processed. I still can't quite grasp the state of near "psychosis" I must have been in from being under the influence of alcohol and cannabis to have done something like this, but I keep wishing they stopped me at the shop and cautioned and fined me like I've read has happened to others around this forum.

[des8]

You are over thinking the import of this incident.
Why should an outfit the size of Tkmax worry about a very minor stock discrepancy.
It will cost them a lot more than they lost to have someone scour hours of CCTV footage in the hopes of possibly spotting someone switching labels.
It just won't happen

[Guest]

You are over thinking the import of this incident.
Why should an outfit the size of Tkmax worry about a very minor stock discrepancy.
It will cost them a lot more than they lost to have someone scour hours of CCTV footage in the hopes of possibly spotting someone switching labels.
It just won't happen

I suppose I thought it would be a simple job to check CCTV at a specific transaction time if they found an item missing. But if what you say is the case, I also suppose it would be simple enough then for me to go back and return and refund my purchase and put my conscience at ease. Thanks for your opinion.

[des8]

I suppose I thought it would be a simple job to check CCTV at a specific transaction time if they found an item missing. But if what you say is the case, I also suppose it would be simple enough then for me to go back and return and refund my purchase and put my conscience at ease. Thanks for your opinion.

if your conscience is troubling you, rather than risk trying to return/refund why not make a donation to a charity.
i don't condone theft, but neither do I think it is always wise to make reparations if it might cause other problems for the repentant!