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Ethical dilemmas

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Original poster

Company refunded too much money and now want it back

42 replies

Blueturtle2 · 28/10/2020 11:34

A couple of months ago I bought some items from an online company and returned some of them. The company has just discovered that they accidentally refunded too much money to me, and now want me to pay back the excess. I had not noticed that they had refunded too much, and I have made financial decisions since then based on how much money was in my account, thinking that was correct as a statement of how much money I had. The amount the company wants back is nearly £140.

On the one had, I can see that the company feels I should pay them this money so that their accounts are in order. On the other hand, it was their mistake, and if they hadn’t made it, I would have made different decisions about my money since then. Do you think I should return the money to them?

OP posts:

IceSkater · 28/10/2020 12:22

Yes of course you owe it to them.

Graciebobcat · 28/10/2020 12:22

Great straw man @TheQueef

Absolutely nothing to do with the OP's situation.

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 28/10/2020 12:32

You need to pay it back. We're not badly off but I'd still notice an extra £140 in my account. If you genuinely can't afford it as a one off payment contact them with an amount you can afford each week/month.

TheQueef · 28/10/2020 13:10

Fair point 're strawman it was meant as a more involved situation but I maintain it's dishonesty.
Do you think there is justification Gracie?

Graciebobcat · 28/10/2020 13:37

It's not dishonesty, it's an error. I'm agreeing that the OP should pay it back, but as it is a business to customer relationship, the company must act reasonably towards her if she can't afford to pay it back all at once.

Iamthewombat · 28/10/2020 14:13

I didn’t say that the OP’s situation is the same as an employer overpaying an employee. I said that I’d heard the OP’s proposed arguments before and that they were unlikely to be effective.

TheQueef · 28/10/2020 14:13

Nah I don't buy it Gracie I'm not saying it would stand up in court but as I said upthread I don't believe you would accidentally absorb that amount of money in such a precarious position.
I think the extra money would be noticed and the error realised. And the money spent anyway.
There is an attitude that it's ok because customer > business it's still dishonest though.
Dishonest to repay in instalments if you can afford the whole amount too imo.

Redglitter · 28/10/2020 14:16

Ofcourse you need to pay it back. What kind of person even needs to ask that question

dolphinpose · 28/10/2020 14:17

Return the money. A client of mine recently overpaid me accidentally by several hundred pounds and I repaid him as soon as he informed me. You don't get to keep money given to you by honest mistake. Reverse the situation. If you'd overpaid for goods or services, wouldn't you expect the mistake to be put right?

byvirtue · 28/10/2020 14:21

Ah well you had a 50:50 chance they would:wouldn’t discover their mistake. It’s the right thing to do to pay them back. It was never your money to spend in the first place and you know that.

Changethetoner · 28/10/2020 14:21

Yes I absolutely think you should return the money. It is hard to believe you didn't notice the refund was too high. I imagine you were chuckling at your good fortune at the time you checked to see if the refund had gone through. So. yes.

AdoraBell · 28/10/2020 14:23

Definitely pay it back but if you cannot do it that immediately talk to them and see if you set up a payment plan.

Toilenstripes · 28/10/2020 14:32

I would have made different decisions about my money since then.

Just pay back the money and stop trying to act like you’re Lady Astor.

stillsomewhatsheldonesque · 28/10/2020 15:17

Dishonest as queef said.

Doesn’t matter whether it be straw, sticks or bricks.

And if the OP thinks differently then I will be doing a big chinny reckon with the 3ft rogue hairs on my chinnychinchin.

If they thought it was an upstanding thing to do, it wouldn’t have entered their head to post on here.

And another Chinnyreckon at not noticing it was a very generous refund.

VettiyaIruken · 28/10/2020 15:23

If you'd accidentally paid them £140 too much would you tell them to keep it on the grounds it was your mistake and you will just suck it up?

I'd pay .
1 -If you don't they'll probably chase it/send it to debt collection/something similar which will cost more and
2 it's the right thing to do

AnneLovesGilbert · 28/10/2020 15:23

You should pay it back. This is not an ethical dilemma. If you don’t you’re committing a crime.

Graciebobcat · 28/10/2020 22:52

It's not dishonest to repay in instalments, it's just sensible. I would do it in at least two monthly instalments as a matter of principle for anything over £100, whether I could afford it or not, for my inconvenience at having to sort out their mistake, whether or not I had discovered it myself first and informed them, or they had informed me.

Businesses have a higher duty of care to me as an individual customer than I do to them, as the power ratio is so much in their favour, and the law recognises this. It's up to them to spot their mistakes, and not to make them in the first place, consumers are not their accountants.

And I probably wouldn't order from them again as they are clearly shoddy and disorganised. They might do it again and make another mistake the next time I order. I wouldn't want that worry of having to constantly check they hadn't buggered something else up. Life is too short to deal with flaky online shops and there is enough competition that you can just move on to the next one who are more organised.

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