What would YOU have done?

LauraT25

Ok, story time.  My FI has been giving me a really hard time over this, so I want to know if I'm a complete freak for doing what I did today.Basically, I got an e-mail saying that I was owed a $2500 refund from my university, through this third party company.  I know the place is legit, because it's all over my school's website and everything, but I was confused because I didn't know how I could possibly be owed a refund - I haven't paid my school more than $400 total, because I'm a grad student and my tuition is paid for.I went to our student accounting website and it said that this company handles refunds for people who have student loans and overpay, or something.  I don't have a loan, so I was even more confused.  I considered just filling out the forms, getting the money, and depositing it in my savings account since I could REALLY use the money for our wedding, and I figured if it was a mistake I could just give it back and maybe it would have even collected a little interest.  But I had this guilty nagging feeling, and I just had to figure out why I was getting this money.  Plus I didn't want to get too excited about it since I knew I was probably going to have to give it back - but if for some reason it really WAS mine, I would like to know that instead of being paranoid, waiting for someone to contact me about it.  So I e-mailed student accounting and asked them if they knew anything about it.  Five minutes later I get an e-mail from the third party place saying the refund was taken back, and maybe half an hour later I get an e-mail from student accounting saying it was a mistake, the money was supposed to be sent to my department for overpaying my tuition - not to me personally.  I was really bummed, but didn't think much of it, except that it was kind of emotionally draining and I had to go through a lot of crap to set up an account with these people...But I got home and my FI won't stop telling me he can't believe I didn't just keep it without saying anything.  He says it's not my job to look into other people's mistakes, and that I could have at least collected interest for my troubles.  Now I feel like an idiot, and kind of like I have a freakish sense of guilt/paranoia for trying to get it straightened out rather than keeping it.  I can't explain why, it's not like I thought I'd get in trouble, I just couldn't handle it.  Am I weird?  What would you have done???

LauraT25

holy crap that got long.  sorry.

shellydiane820

Its called doing the right thing....said the girl who would have stolen the $1000.

tidetravel

You did the right thing.  If you took it and it was a mistake, they could come back and collect it at any point - and Murphy's law says that it would be at the worst possible time.

julezlee

You did the right thing.

ThePinkSuperhero

I would have done exactly what you did.  You can't screw money companies- money that "accidentally" falls in your lap isn't really yours, and they find out sooner or later, and they come and take it back.  You avoided all that drama by doing the right thing.

LauraT25

Thanks   I know I could have given it back no problem since it would have been in savings...but who knows, what if it took them a year and a half and I forgot and spent it or something??I'm glad I'm not crazy.  I know it's so tempting to say you'd keep it, but it's hard...I don't know if I can get Jeff to believe that!

lyndausvi

I would have done the same thing you did.   A lot of the time mistakes are found out at a later date anyway.  In my luck I would spend the 'found' money only to be told I have to pay it back.

AnneAndJJ

You definitely did the right thing. I probably would have done the same thing, but that would have been at bf's nagging (he's all about doing right) haha.

ggmae

I would have done the same as you.

Samantha Durange

hun you did the right thing. plain and simple.

saschaduran

You did the right thing. Sooner or later they would find out. And if they found out later there is a good chance you would have spent it. And your FI's remark about the interest is lame. You wouldn't have even made $100.

notquiteblushing

You did the right thing...and by the time you went to pick it up they would have looked in the system and figured it out anyway probably.  If not you would have spent money your school was going to come looking for eventually.

brookelynpaisley

I would have looked into it too. Obviously it didn't make sense to you that you would get a refund and it eventually would have raised a red flag for someone else too.

carrieoz_76

Ditto PP.  My brother actually thought he was getting magic money a while back.  Hundreds of dollars kept getting mysteriously deposited into his account.  He spent it as quickly as it came in.  Come to find out it was actually my mom trying to deposit money into her SAVINGS account, and the bank was mistakenly putting it into my brother's checking (they had a joint checking from when he was a kid).  If she's pushed it, they would have gone after it from him.Best not to mess with ppl who receive and give money.  Way to be an upstanding citizen.  :)Carrie

Mofongo

Now I feel like an idiot, and kind of like I have a freakish sense of guilt/paranoia for trying to get it straightened out rather than keeping it.I agree with pp's, you definitely did the right thing Why on earth would you feel guilty for trying to get it straightened out and not taking the money? I'm not really sure where your FI is coming from here.

FutureMrs.McC

I agree with what everyone has said and can't figure out why your FI would blame you for returning money that is not yours.  I know how you feel though.  I found $1000 cash in a bar once and located the owner.  I did kick myself a little in the morning .  But I believe the universe will be better to you if you live your life as an honest person and do what's right. 

LauraT25

p.s. the sun in her head:  your bio is amazing, seriously.  I am very jealous of all of the animation.  And where are you from?  Also, I kinda think it's stealing too...plus I don't think it would make my PhD program very happy, since the money was supposed to be given to them because they overpaid my tuition or something, and got given to me by mistake.  I could just see my committee using that against me...

thesuninherhead

Thanks! I must admit it was much easier to create than it looks- I used a site called Wix.com which makes flash very simple.I really need to update my bio with more wedding details given how close it is, but I don't know when I'll find the time! Maybe after the wedding, haha.And I'm in Australia. My understanding of the law here is that if money appears in your account/is wrongly credited to you, and you recognise the error, by not making efforts to return the funds you can be charged with stealing. Even if you don't recognise the error, in most cases you will need to return the funds. It's much like the law in New Zealand, with those people who received 8 million dollars instead of 80,000 and running off with it being regarded as thieves (I think they're still on the run somewhere in Asia, actually).

kmmssg

Tell your FI it's called integrity and you did the right thing.

temerityjane

I would have done exactly the same. Not necessarily out of any kind of extraordinary moral fiber, but because it would nag at me.I bought a Toyota Yaris the 1st year they were produced in the states. About a year after owning it, my insurance payment dropped down about $12/month with no warning. Instead of being all "whee!" and paying it, I was immediately on the phone, asking if they were SURE and making sure that if I got in a fender bender the next day, they weren't going to be like "No claim! You owe us $12!"I wouldn't have been comfortable with taking the money until I was sure it was mine, like you. Not because I'm all noble and stuff, but because I'd rather it not be taken back once I'd spent it.

temerityjane

Er, the payment on the insurance dropped because they'd just gotten a year's worth of data in on the safety, repair costs, etc of the car and it was better than their original projections. I knew I missed a connecting piece in there somewhere.

LarissaAnn

You did the right thing, exactly what I'd have done. And I have a problem with your FI for thinking it's ok to be a thief.

LauraT25

Now I feel pretty bad that my FI looks so bad here. Seriously, he's just giving me a hard time because he's teasing me - it's just how we are. But his teasing did make me wonder if it's normal for me to immediately feel like I need to spend two hours at work yesterday morning figuring out what was going on. He wouldn't SERIOUSLY keep the money, but it's not as clear-cut for him that it's straight-up wrong to keep it if I have every intention of giving it back as soon as someone notices. He's a good, ethical person and has actually returned money to people before, but he is a little bitter about being an underpaid graduate student who gets treated like cr@p by his school, and I think part of him thinks that he wants to keep it just to be spiteful, even though he'd never really do it if he was the one really in the situation. And it's more an issue of not wanting to get in trouble, than doing the right thing, for me. Not that I'm not a good person, but guilt and paranoia outweighs everything else in these types of situations.