What would you have done?

Yes Pompa I know what you mean. I'm well trained with bags for groceries now and only buy a plastic 5p bag if I've bought fish but I don't want to put new clothes in a grocery bag. I think when I've paid a lot for clothes they should come wrapped. Mind you it is quite fun to walk out with a pile of clothes over one arm. It must give the assistants and security staff nightmares.

In response to OP we'd have paid. Partly conscience and partly because I wouldn't feel comfortable going there again if I didn't.

It must be causing problems for the stores. I bought a dress in M & S and the security tag hadn't been taken off. Of course I set off the alarm and went back in, holding out the said offending, bagless, item, and went straight to the nearby security person, who escorted me back to the till. To be honest, I felt like a criminal, though I'd done nothing wrong. The assistant then took off the tag and handed the dress back to me with a quick apology. Nobody at any stage asked to see my receipt though!

I can't believe someone would even consider not paying. Pay up.

DH and I realised when we got to the car after a nice meal in a restaurant that they had forgotten to put the bottle of wine on the bill (and, although we hadn't drunk it all they had given us the rest to take home).
He went back and they smiled and said - 'We realised it was your wife's birthday and it was a present from us' which was lovely.
But we would not have left without going back and trying to pay.

Ah, that's nice J. And you can go back there with your head held high.

I would, but checked the place out after our nice meal and found it only had a 1 hygiene rating . It was very nice though
I must check again, they must have improved since then.

Pay up of course. You drank the wine for goodness sake. You know that the waiter would have had the cost taken out of his wages don't you?

Pay for it no questions asked

I am now the owner of 4 silver deckchairs when I really only wanted two.

I asked an assistant at the garden centre where I could find the particular chair that was on display as i wanted two. She went to get them for me. I paidand took the boxes home.

Each box contained two chairs! I phoned the garden centre but they could not fathom the problem... they even checked stock control and as they could not trace an error said not to worry!

Re OP yes I would have paid! Did you not notice the bill was a bit cheap!

My DD1 was at our local butchers buying her usual stuff when on the counter were some of their delicious pork pies fresh from the oven. So DD said Mm delicious, will have one, paid for it and walked out with children.
Sitting in the car they were tucking into the pie when one of the staff came over, tapped on the window said they were glad they were enjoying the pie but. . . . . Would she mind paying for the rest of the shopping! Lol!
Of course she returned to pay, laughing, and I don't think they'll ever let her forget it!
Mercifully they all know each other well. . . .

Penstemmon - same thing happened to me once.

If you drank the wine, you should pay for it! Always treat others as you would like them to treat you. Karma will be round the corner......!

If they had over charged you for an extra bottle of wine and you noticed when you got to the car park, would you have asked for a refund? If your answer is Yes, then you pay up.

My daughter once came home from Tesco and found to her horror that something was in her bag that dhe hadnt paid for. It was worth about 70p. She vouldnt sleep for worrying! She rang them up the next day.and they laughed aNd said thanka for your honesty but dont worry about it. Give tge monwy to charity if you like. So she did!
We always check the bill in restaurants and tell them if theres an error either way! Would definitely have paid.

Oh dear, it happened again today - walking out of a shop with an unpaid item .
DD and I had gone to Tesco to pick up two safety gates from Click and Collect. The baby was sitting in the trolley and we only just managed to put the large packages in the trolley. We had some grocery shopping to do as well, but decided to walk back to the car and stow the two packages away first. Then we saw the two packs of bibs DD had picked up from a stand near the C&C counter.
No-one had challenged us as we left the store (thank Heavens! How awful that would have been!), and I imagine it's because people are now frequently leaving the store with unwrapped paid for items. It must be a nightmare for the security staff - they can't stop and ask everyone for their receipts.
We were going back in anyway, so the items were paid for with the groceries. It was a bit of a heart stopping moment though

Apart from some hilarious examples of senior moments at all ages, I find it hard to understand why this thread continues to run.
You drank something, they omitted to bill you, you (apparently only after some discussion) went back and paid for it. Big deal! Although I note the reason for paying up was that you might want to go there again, not because it was the right thing to do.
It's like announcing proudly "I pay my taxes. " Yes, well, that is the law, there is no particular virtue in doing it, anything less is dishonest. As other have suggested, if you had been charged for something you hadn't had, I bet you'd have been back in there like a shot making a vociferous complaint.
So I don't think anybody needs to pat themselves on the back for anything more than plain decency.

I meet up every six weeks with very old girly friends. The bill is always split and checked by "the treasurer" and we would always know if we hadn't been charged for the wine, the amount would be too little ! My advice, always check and double check the bill before you leave.......

We once took our son's fiancee's parents and son and girlfriend out for a meal. First time we had met them.We paid the bill without checking it. I looked at it when we got home and found it was the bill for another table altogether! I phoned and told them of their mistake .They had realised by then but as our bill was only £2 more they told us not to worry.

I was once trying on some shoes in M&S in Leeds when there was a bomb scare and we were rushed out of a rear entrance, through the delivery bays and to the street. It was only when we got outside that I realised I was wearing the unpaid for shoes and had my own shoes in my hand with my bag.

We were made to clear the area and I had no choice but to do so. I went home, a bit shaken from the bomb scare (turned out to be a hoax)and slept badly worrying in case I was dubbed a thief. I rang the store next day and went in and paid for the shoes a few days after that, when I was next in Leeds. They didn't take credit cards in those days or I would have paid over the phone.

All these stories relate to mistakes on the part of someone - however I knew a person who had quite a clever method of shoplifting - she bought an item she fancied and paid for it - kept the bag and receipt - went back with the said bag and receipt and stole an identical item - getting them into the bag etc. a couple of days later she would take one item back to the shop and ask for a refund!! This was a person who was far from poor and if her husband had known he would have been mortified.

Pay up of course.

I would have kept those shoes without saying anything. Result!!!

This struck a chord with me. I went out for a meal with family members recently. It was someone's birthday and the chain restaurant had actually sent a reminder that they had celebrated there at an earlier time and had given a substantial discount voucher for a meal. During the meal, a second, unordered bottle of wine appeared on the table. There were 5 people drinking wine ( I was the only one who wasn't) and only one bottle ordered, so frankly a second bottle was welcome. However, the bill did not itemise it. The bill was paid and this was not queried. However, I felt deeply uncomfortable and reading this thread has brought that feeling back. If I had been the person to pay, I would have at least queried it and paid up if necessary - I suspect it was a 'gift' bottle, but we will never know and it somewhat spoilt the meal for me. People paying are wealthy - I just couldn't have ignored the problem.

Why are you asking on the forums? Honesty is something you should do automatically. We're you trying to justify your consience.