Rebate or refund

[bigC]

I paid $300 for a mobile, later the shopkeeper said the price should be $350 and asked me to pay $50 more.

Is the $50 a rebate or refund?

 

[GoesStation]

Both of those words would mean the vendor was giving you money. Would it not be illegal in your country for a vendor to demand more money from the customer for a product which had already been delivered and paid for?

 

[bigC]

Both of those words would mean the vendor was giving you money. Would it not be illegal in your country for a vendor to demand more money from the customer for a product which had already been delivered and paid for?

What I wrote is just an example.

What I am anxious to know what is the correct word for the money which customer gives to vendor to make up for a shortage in the price.

 

[Rover_KE]

You could call it an extra charge or a premium.

 

[bigC]

The correct word is "extortion".

Base on dictionaries “extortion” is to some extent related to illegal activities.

If the shortage was due to the carelessness of the vendor, he politely asked me to return difference to him so that he would not have to suffer the lost.

Is there a milder word?
He asked for _________, so that he will not have to suffer the lost.

 

[tedmc]

The RM50 is the amount undercharged, if it was a case of undercharge by the vendor.

 

[bigC]

The RM50 is the amount undercharged, if it was a case of undercharge by the vendor.

If I write "He asked for the undercharged", does this sentence imply he was asking me to return the amount to him?

 

[emsr2d2]

"He asked for the undercharged" isn't grammatical. You would have to say something more complicated like "He asked me to pay the amount by which he undercharged me" or "He undercharged me and asked me to pay the leftover amount/the rest".

If you have already left the shop, I don't think the seller can ask you for more money next time you go in. If you're still in the shop when he realises that he has undercharged you, he is probably well within his rights to tell you he made a mistake and charge you the rest.

 

[Rover_KE]

... or giving you the option of returning the mobile and getting a refund of your $300.

 

[Tdol]

If I write "He asked for the undercharged", does this sentence imply he was asking me to return the amount to him?

Use Tedmc's form of the amount undercharged.

 

[probus]

Sometimes when you buy something you can apply to get some of the purchase price back, usually from the manufacturer, not the business that sold it to you. That is a rebate.

Sometimes you get all your money back. That is a refund. Usually you have to return the product to get a full refund.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

In America, the popularity of rebates comes from a time (I think maybe in the 1970s) when government temporarily froze wages and prices to try to help the economy. Costs to manufacture goods continued to rise, but manufacturers were unable to charge more to cover those rising costs, so profits fell. The solution was to charge a higher initial price which would cover possible cost increases (in case this happened again), and "rebate" down to the actual net retail price paid by the consumer.

Rebates also function as a marketing tool: It feels like you're getting money for nothing. The rebate can be offered as cash for a big-ticket item (the classic example is a car) which is financed by a long-term loan.

A refund usually means getting all of your money back- typically because of some dissatisfaction or defect in the product/service. Usually, this involves the physical return of the item to the seller, but not always. Sometimes the cost or hassle of returning the item is greater than the value of that item. Sometimes it's a gesture of good will on the part of the seller, and of course it's impossible to reverse a service already performed.

 

[Tdol]

If the seller undercharges you in the UK, they can ask for you to pay more, but you can generally tell them to get lost as you paid what they asked.