Moral Dilemma

[Almost There]

Would you or wouldn't you notify and pay back a small sum of money (under $500.00)that a corporation sent you because their accounting is so screwed up that they have it all wrong?

Here's the scene - I cancelled annual services with a company because they and I didn't see eye to eye over their services.

First they sent me a notice (the only correct one btw) saying that they owed me a very small refund (Under $25.00). Then they tried to put through another months worth of automatic withdrawal which I had already blocked and didn't owe them.

Next notice is a new statement with a $50.00 charge for the non payment since I had blocked all charges from them at the bank. They wanted me to pay them that less the refund they owed me...ain't happening!!

2 weeks ago I get a new statement from them - reinstating my service that I didn't want and had cancelled and notification that they were going to take the whole of the balance of the years payments in 2 payments. Needless to say, they aren't getting any money out of my bank.

Next thing I know I go to check my bank account for debit transactions and the silly #$%$%^ have refunded me the entire amount of what I had paid them to date on this years' coverage.

I'm tempted to just keep my mouth shut and be done with them. But a little gremlin on my shoulder says the money isn't mine!


What would you do?

 

[WriterMs]

Since it is a corporation (not a person) and they tried (at least by incompetence) to charge you money you do not owe, it would be tempting for anyone to simply keep the money.

Here are the questions I would be asking myself: If you keep the money, will it be worth that nagging feeling that you kept something that did not belong to you? How many years might that pop up as a slightly bad feeling in your conscience? Is it worth it?

You might call or write and tell them they refunded too much... and ask them how you should handle it. Who knows, maybe they will tell you to keep it and then your in the clear (yeah, right, huh?).

 

[gcal]

Would you or wouldn't you notify and pay back a small sum of money (under $500.00)that a corporation sent you because their accounting is so screwed up that they have it all wrong?

Here's the scene - I cancelled annual services with a company because they and I didn't see eye to eye over their services.

First they sent me a notice (the only correct one btw) saying that they owed me a very small refund (Under $25.00). Then they tried to put through another months worth of automatic withdrawal which I had already blocked and didn't owe them.

Next notice is a new statement with a $50.00 charge for the non payment since I had blocked all charges from them at the bank. They wanted me to pay them that less the refund they owed me...ain't happening!!

2 weeks ago I get a new statement from them - reinstating my service that I didn't want and had cancelled and notification that they were going to take the whole of the balance of the years payments in 2 payments. Needless to say, they aren't getting any money out of my bank.

Next thing I know I go to check my bank account for debit transactions and the silly #$%$%^ have refunded me the entire amount of what I had paid them to date on this years' coverage.

I'm tempted to just keep my mouth shut and be done with them. But a little gremlin on my shoulder says the money isn't mine!


What would you do?

Keep quiet. It's  not about the money. It's  about reopening a can of worms that is finally closed.

 

[Queen]

I'd let the money sit for a long time, if their accounting department doesn't flag you within a year, keep it. I'm done trying to play nice with corporations, been there done that so many times I've lost count, I'll consider money in my favor a stupidity tax. Not to mention all the time (which is worth money) you've already spent and you'll continue to invest in trying to fix their mistake.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

I have to take issue with the "it's a corporation, not a person" viewpoint.  Corporations are owned by people, sometimes a single person, sometimes many stock holders.

I always ask myself, what would I want someone to do if the roles were reversed?  If it was my corporation, would I want a person to return money that I mistakenly sent them?  

The law of karma states "what goes around, comes around".  I don't care what you do, but Vishnu might.

 

[Marie]

You already know the answer. "Do the right thing".

 

[Canine]

I think you already know what you should do.

 

[Queen]

For the "you know what you should do" folks, how much time and effort should the OP expend when dealing with an incompetent business? Is a couple of hours of phone time too little, or ten?

I recently went through this merry go round with BoA, kept track, it was over seventeen hours of phone calls over a period of four months dealing with their mind numbing incompetence, seventeen hours of my life spent trying to get them to stop sending me money that wasn't mine. It FINALLY worked but never again, I'll simply let the money sit and ignore it, they can fix it if they choose.

 

[TMG51]

One time, the IRS mistakenly sent me an extra $9,000 back with my tax return.

I deposited the money in a CoD, waited a couple years for the IRS to notice, and when they did, I returned the $9,000 and kept the interest.

You have to plan for what to do when the mistake is noticed.

 

[Almost There]

For the record, the corporation is that insurance company that caused me no end of grief when they decided that they want off risk because I was putting a camping interior in the cargo van.

I just finished reading their annual report. It's a privately held nationwide conglomerate who is very proud of their 8.5 million dollar profit this year and explained that most of their 1/2 million dollar increase in profit was because of increased premiums and a substantial reduction in their overhead. I'm sure the couple of hundred they overpaid me will not be missed in the bigger scheme of things.

And yes, I spent countless hours and had several sleepless nights of worrying about insurance coverage.

Between the broker and I, we've spent more hours than enough trying to get them to straighten up their accounting records.

I'm going to let the broker know what they've done. She'll probably just shake her head at it.  If and when they want the excess money back I'll be deducting the bank charges for stopping their auto withdrawals and the $10.00 or so it cost me in registered mail fees trying to get them to correct their records.

 

[Marie]

Queen, I understand your frustration in trying to work out a difficult situation with an incompetent corporation or business. However, I think that in the end, it isn't about how screwed up the company is, or how inconvenient it is to make things right. I think it's about who you are, and what you think of yourself. Doing the right thing isn't always easy, but it is always right.
TMG51 might have the right idea: everybody wins!!!

 

[Queen]

Marie, "right" as I see it is doing your best to correct a situation, but not allowing yourself to be a doormat. The corporation has responsibility in these scenarios as well, not just the individual.

 

[SoulRaven]

If I owe somebody money, or feel like I have done wrong in any way, shape, or form, I will lose sleep over it, until I have resolved it to my satisfaction.

I don't like losing sleep, or having that negative nagging feeling hanging over my head constantly bugging me.

Resolve it to your own satisfaction and peace of mind.

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

Would you or wouldn't you notify and pay back a small sum of money (under $500.00)that a corporation sent you because their accounting is so screwed up that they have it all wrong?

Here's the scene - I cancelled annual services with a company because they and I didn't see eye to eye over their services.

First they sent me a notice (the only correct one btw) saying that they owed me a very small refund (Under $25.00). Then they tried to put through another months worth of automatic withdrawal which I had already blocked and didn't owe them.

Next notice is a new statement with a $50.00 charge for the non payment since I had blocked all charges from them at the bank. They wanted me to pay them that less the refund they owed me...ain't happening!!

2 weeks ago I get a new statement from them - reinstating my service that I didn't want and had cancelled and notification that they were going to take the whole of the balance of the years payments in 2 payments. Needless to say, they aren't getting any money out of my bank.

Next thing I know I go to check my bank account for debit transactions and the silly #$%$%^ have refunded me the entire amount of what I had paid them to date on this years' coverage.

I'm tempted to just keep my mouth shut and be done with them. But a little gremlin on my shoulder says the money isn't mine!


What would you do?

I'd listen to my conscience. I have to live with me, after all.

FWIW,

Jesse.

 

[SoulRaven]

If you meet me in Florida this winter we could donate these funds to charity.

I know of some old mariners named Admiral Nelson, Captain Morgan, and Sailor Jerry that could use the money.

 

[buckwilk]

When it comes down to it you're either honest or you're not. No amount of rationalizing will change that. My instinct tells me you're honest!

 

[MikeRuth]

I think Queen and TMG51 have the right Idea, you have already had enough hassle. Put it in some form of int rest bearing account and let it sit. If it's rightfully called on later then pay it.

personally I don't consider this DISHONEST. This is only happening becuase your dealing with (I assume) is a corporation that has it's head where the sun don't shine.

Others said "if I owed someone money" I consider that "me and another person or small business", but if that were the case you wouldn't be having this issue in the first place.

 

[ccbreder]

The issue will never be closed unless you keep the money in a savings account and wait until the Corp bookkeeping has every thing balanced and ask for the money actually owed.

 

[buckwilk]

How does keeping money that does not belong to you make you any different than the " corporations " you don't care for?

 

[compassrose]

Tell the local insurance agent. Then wait to see what happens. I would put it into a savings account that you can get it back out of and wait for a while. If they ask for it back, give it back. If they don't, you have an emergency fund. You will want to keep adding money to the emergency fund otherwise the bank can take it for "inactivity" (yes they do that, my husband and his sister lost their savings accounts that way). After a year, the money is yours. You will have tried to give it back and you will have told an agent of the company (insurance agent). If it still bothers you, donate the money to a good cause.