Errors in Your Favour. What Would You Do? (Unexpected $200 PayPal Deposit and Incorrect Prize)

Lnmat on 16/02/2015 - 15:22

I have had a couple of weird situations lately that I have stood to gain from, but have been a bit morally questionable. Would love to hear if anyone has experienced anything similar, and any thoughts on these types of situations!

  1. I received a deposit of $200 into my PayPal account from a registered user in a different state. It contained no details about the purpose, I had not sold anything recently, was not expecting and such money, and I did not know the person. I tried contacting them but got no response. I contacted PayPal support who also could not get in contact, and said that I "may" refund the money via PayPal. I waited about a week, still no response, then I did send the money back. Has anyone had anything like this happen before? What would you do?

  2. I won a prize and I'm pretty sure they have given me the wrong thing. The prize is tickets to an event and 'money can't buy' experiences at said event. They told me on the phone I had won a family pass and a particular experience that I could attend, and an allowance for food and merchandise. I went to the venue to collect it in person, signed for it etc however I didn't actually look at it until a little bit later. When I looked at the prize more closely, it is a pass for two people, there are three different 'experiences' (none of which is the one mentioned on the phone) and none of the food/merchandise vouchers. The one that I received I think is of higher value (not sure though), and also is more appealing to me personally. I don't have anything in writing about the prize I won, only a phone call telling me to come and collect it. What would you do in this situation? I am feeling guilty, and will probably contact them to clarify.

General Discussion

Comments

  • brazen00 on 16/02/2015 - 15:26
    +23

    Bank error in your favour. Collect $200.

    • angelkulit025 on 16/02/2015 - 15:45
      +1

      Are we playing Monopoly here? lol =)

  • brazen00 on 16/02/2015 - 15:29
    +5

    I usually try to do the right thing in these circumstances. I imagine if I was on the other end (e.g. made the paypal mistake) and what I would think then.

    • nmat on 16/02/2015 - 15:37
      +1

      Thanks. Yes, I agree, exactly my thoughts. It's just weird that the person didn't reply at all.

      • brazen00 on 16/02/2015 - 15:40

        Your email may have gone to their spam, especially if it's gmail. They're quite aggressive with spam filters when money is mentioned in my experience.

        Paypal makes it easy though. If you weren't expecting it you can send it back :)

        • nmat on 16/02/2015 - 15:50

          Yep, can't fault them for that, they even refunded the fees they took out of the $200.

        • Tal_Shiar on 17/02/2015 - 03:46

          @nmat: am i missing something? how can paypal take a bite out of funds someone sent you?

        • nmat on 17/02/2015 - 09:16
          +1

          @Tal_Shiar: It came through as a purchase and so was subject to the 2.x% merchant fees.

  • roddy84 on 16/02/2015 - 15:39
    +2

    I remember once a lady left a wad of $50's in an ATM I was waiting to use.

    I left it in the machine and chased the woman down to tell her to come and retrieve her money.

    The woman frowned and treated me like I was trying to steal it.

    No thank you, no nothing. I didn't expect anything except maybe a think you but certainly didn't expect to be treated like I was pick pocketing her.

    • moogi27 on 16/02/2015 - 15:43

      Same thing happened to me the last time someone at Coles forgot to take their change from the self serve checkout… People only treat me with suspicion :(

      • brazen00 on 16/02/2015 - 15:44
        +4

        I guess some people are so used to being screwed over that they don't know how to react to genuine kindness :(

    • nmat on 16/02/2015 - 15:43
      +1

      Wow :/ I once left $50 in a supermarket Self Serve checkout. The attendant chased me down and gave it to me. I thanked her about a million times!

    • drdolphin on 16/02/2015 - 15:55
      +5

      Similar thing happened to me recently. Saw a woman drop a bundle of $20 and $50s and rush off. I picked them up and chased her down and gave them back. Didn't even get a thank you, just snatched them out of my hands and quickly walked off.

      At the time I thought I'd "bungled" a ransom drop-off given her attitude!

      • cloudy on 16/02/2015 - 16:06
        +1

        That is the most frustrating thing! If it makes u feel any better, I think you did the right thing and believe good karma will come of it.

      • Charity on 16/02/2015 - 17:55
        -1

        no good deed goes unpunished.

        probably lucky u didn't get charged with a crime.

  • Paul Atreides on 16/02/2015 - 15:45

    maybe a scammer accidently put your email instead of theirs. youve lived like a nigerian prince does for a day

    • nmat on 16/02/2015 - 15:49
      +2

      And I felt ridiculously guilty the whole time!

  • cloudy on 16/02/2015 - 16:07
    +3

    I once had a friend who saw a random drop a load of cash, it was easily 1-2k of cash, in $50 bills. He ran for the person and gave it back, and the person thank him by pulling out the $50 and handing it to him.

    I swear it was drug money, lol.

    • Charity on 16/02/2015 - 18:11

      reduce Television intake.

  • Karlos101 on 17/02/2015 - 10:17

    i dont think you need to ask advice On what to do. If your decisions help you sleep at night and you're not a psychopath. I think you made the right choice.

    • nmat on 17/02/2015 - 10:51

      Thanks :) yeah, I'm confident in my decisions, was just interested to hear people's stories! Seems most people here are pretty honest, although I am sure there are some out there who would 'take it and run'.

  • forever saving on 18/02/2015 - 12:36

    Mate Karma is rewarding you. If you choose not to take it now, you will get it later, in a larger amount and in a different form.

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