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Returned A Different Item Than Was Purchased - How serious trouble am I in?

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  • 02-09-2007, 11:10 AM
    in_trouble17
    Returned A Different Item Than Was Purchased - How serious trouble am I in?
    Hi,
    The last 24 hrs of my life has literally been crazy. A DAY OF STUPIDITY.

    First, I bought a really expensive designer coat.

    Secondly, someone switches my coat with theirs in a conference. I didn't realize this either, the other coat was the same brand as mine. I wore the coat and came back to the work place. But something wasn't right, for starters it didn't fit me all that well and second the material was not the same as mine. But what confirmed that it wasn't mine was the fact that it had some change and a pen in the pocket. The first thing that happened was i was really mad that i was unlucky enough to loose the coat and second, i had to lose a very expensive coat. i tried to find out if someone reported a lost coat but all in vain.

    Third, in all this confusion, I thought let me go return it to the store and exchange it for a different size. Since I had bought it the same day and it was hard for me to distinguish I thought it should be ok. I went to the store gave the bill and took the next size.


    I did some research on the internet to see if I am in trouble, and I am beginning to think I might be in trouble. Do you think I am in any sort of trouble? Should I go explain this and get the other coat back? I thought of doing this yesterday evening but I was afraid I might entangle myself with the shop authorities unnecessarily. I thought of giving them a call then I realized they might threaten to press charges and just ask me to pay a huge penalty. Do I need to get a lawyer and settle it through him? Or just leave it the way it is and sort it out if they send me a letter for retail fraud?

    Somehow I have no clue what has to be done or what the consequences are. I would really appreciate if you could throw some light.

    Thanks a lot.
  • 02-09-2007, 12:38 PM
    seniorjudge
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    I would get a lawyer.
  • 02-09-2007, 01:01 PM
    aaron
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    Are you now able to recover the actual coat you purchased?
  • 02-09-2007, 01:21 PM
    in_trouble17
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    No, I haven't been able to recover the coat that i lost. But what do you think i should do about this mess.
  • 02-09-2007, 01:26 PM
    Happy Trails
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    Was the other coat exactly like the one you purchased other than size?

    Same value?

    New condition?
  • 02-09-2007, 01:29 PM
    in_trouble17
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    Isn't it the responsibility of the store to verify it at the time of exchange? What is the extent of my liability once it's been exchanged?
  • 02-09-2007, 01:31 PM
    in_trouble17
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    I am not sure of the cost of the coat i exchanged, it was in pretty new condition but may not be as expensive as the one i bought. But it was the same color and brand, but a different size.
  • 02-09-2007, 01:38 PM
    aaron
    Re: How serious trouble am i in?
    Consider mailing in a check for the value of the coat you (no offense) stole, along with a letter explaining the "mistake". If you're worried about having your name attached to it, send a money order and keep the receipt for your records.
  • 02-09-2007, 01:52 PM
    in_trouble17
    Re: Returned A Different Item Than Was Purchased - How serious trouble am I in?
    I can send the money order, but will it get me off the hook. I mean how are they going to associate the money with this particular incident.

    Is it better to get a lawyer and settle this. As i said before it was just stupid of me. I did one stupid thing after the other. I just want to resolve this, rather than making it worse.

    I can think of two choices:
    1> Get a lawyer, and settle this, as someone earlier suggested.
    2> Since it's a huge mall, hope they don't bother pursuing this, and figure out what to do later, if they send me a letter for return fraud.
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