I'm having a discussion with my co-workers and I want you to try to answer as truthfully as possible (I suppose going anonymous in this case would be OK?). If you got extra money from the ATM machine and knew your account hadn't been debited, would you take it back to the bank or would you just figure it's the bank's problem and keep it?

By Tonya on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 11:20 am:

I would turn it back in because sooner or later they will catch up with me and hit me for it. Or that karma thing it always seems to bite me in the A@@ sooner or later. And what if it showed coming from someone elses account like an old person on a relly fixed income. You never know who else you could be affecting if you kept the money.

By Jackie on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 11:24 am:

Yes I would take it back. I figured they would catch it eventually, and plus I wouldnt feel right keeping it.Now if I found a 50$ bill laying in the middle of the street,well thats just a different story LOL

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 11:24 am:

I would bring it back. In fact, I have brought $ back to the bank when an error was made. It's the right thing to do.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 11:49 am:

I would bring it back. Or call the bank and notify them and have my account debited.

First - it is the honest thing to do.
Second - you never know if/when they will find out, as Tonya points out
Third - it makes you a great model for your children when you talk about honesty - and of course, you would bring it up at the dinner table, telling everyone what you did (but make sure dh knows ahead of time to agree that you did the right thing - one never knows how other people might think about something like this) (My kids, 30+ years later, still remember and talk about the time I found a dime in the refund slot of a pay phone - yes, it was only a dime then - and put it back in with a call to the operator telling her it was "your" money, not mine. I'm glad it had an affect on them. ... And, truthfully, if my kids hadn't been with me I'd have put the dime in my pocket - but I was "setting an example" about the whole message of "if it's not yours, leave it alone or give it back".)

The $50 bill in the street - I'd pick it up and keep it - it's next to impossible to find out who it belongs to without having a whole lot of people falsely claiming it was theirs.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 11:59 am:

I'd take it back. They ALWAYS discover those errors.

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 12:24 pm:

Ditto Karen. Though finding money on the ground would be a different story....

By Crystal915 on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 12:25 pm:

I'd return it, because the bank will eventually figure it out. We've actually had things like this happen with military pay, and then 6 months later they take half a paycheck because they realize they overpaid you way back when. (there is no way to "return" that money, you just have to know that it will be taken back and plan accordingly.)
Now, money in the street, if it's a single bill, I'd keep it. If it were a wallet or moneyclip, I'd take it to the police, and see if anyone claims it.

By Vicki on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 12:28 pm:

I also would take it back. I worked in a bank for a few years (many different positions) and have a great respect for the way everything has to balance and the problems it creates for people when it doesn't. I would always take it back.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 01:53 pm:

I would bring it back.

By Breann on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 02:29 pm:

I would take it back. I know that if I spent it, they would discover the error and debit my account and that could cause more problems than it's worth.
Also, I would hope that my kids would be with me if this ever did happen, so that they could learn a lesson in honesty.

By Yjja123 on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 02:43 pm:

I would absolutely return it!

By Imamommyx4 on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 02:58 pm:

Take it back.
I was buying something for dh at Harbor Freight and toddling dd picked up something that cost $1.50 and put it in my purse b/c she thought it was pretty. She didn't understand at that age. I found it when I got home which was about a 45 minute drive and called the store to ask for a total so I could send them a check. THEY sent me a $5 gift certificate and told me to forget it. Honesty pays.

By Cat on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 03:01 pm:

Definately return it. My brother had an account once that all of a sudden had about $1000 more in it than it was supposed to. Dingbat thought he'd made a mistake with math so he just went with it and spent it. About two or three months later they caught it and he had to pay it back. They will find it sooner or later. On the other hand, I made a mistake on a deposit slip once and the bank sent me a letter the next day saying I had $100 more than I thought. I'm glad they're honest and hold the same standards for myself.

By Janet on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 03:02 pm:

This is funny, because with the exception of me and one other person (co-workers included!), everyone I've asked has said they'd keep the money. I was holding my breath this week because we were forced to put brand spanking new tens in our ATM (we usually use older money) and we didn't know if it would be handing out two-for-one bills or not. I told my supervisor that no one had come in with extra money, and she laughed at me. I maintained that at least one person would (because I would, and I figure I'm not that unusual), but everyone else in the bank said no, that no one would. So I started asking my friends as well, and they all said they would keep an extra ten (with the exception of one guy friend of mine who said he'd return it). Thankfully, today when we balanced the ATM, all the money was accounted for, so I didn't really get to test my "human goodness" theory. I applaud all of you ladies for doing the right thing!! (Now here's another take...what if you would never get caught? Would you still return it? )

By Vicki on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 05:25 pm:

You know Janet, when I first started working at a bank and the age of 18 (so this was about 20 years ago...man I sound old!), I was a teller and we HAD to put new money in the machine. We couldn't use old money. It wasn't until about 10 years ago that I started noticing old money in the ATM machines. So putting new money in wouldn't have worried me at all. LOL

And yes, even if there was no way I would get caught, I would still return it.

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 05:56 pm:

I'd still return it!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 08:00 pm:

I would take it back. I found a $20 bill outside Sarah's school, when she was in kindergarten. I took it to the office, in case it was supposed to be someone's lunch money. We put money in accounts here, and then they scan a card to debit your account. Putting in $20 isn't out of the question. They kept it a couple of days and no one came in asking for it, so they called us and told us we could come get it.

I was undercharged for some pillows once. I went in and told the girl that she had made a mistake. She was very glad I did.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 08:36 pm:

Dawn-After reading your story about the $20 I started thinking. If I found it outside of school I would take it in as well, because that's how they do the lunch $ here, too. BUT... if I found a $20 outside of Walmart, no one in the area, just lying there, I'm sure I would keep it.

For me, mistakes are a bigger deal than finding something that's lost that really is unlikely will ever be claimed anyway. If I get undercharged at the store (I don't think THAT'S ever happened!) and don't catch it before I get out the door, it would have to be $5+ for me to go back in and correct the mistake. Then I definitely would. $1-$2 I would probably just think "oh well".

By Cocoabutter on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 09:57 pm:

I would report it to the bank so that they would debit my account. They would most likely find it sooner or later anyway, so why bother trying to get away with anything.

I have walked out of the store before, put my groceries in my car, and realized that the cashier never scanned the case of pop in the bottom of my cart. One time, I decided to let it wait until the next time I was in the store to tell the cashier to charge me for it (since I am at the store 2 or 3 times a week anyway), and I happened to have my son with me, so as Ginny said, it sets a good example for the younger ones to follow.

My grandpa told an interesting story of one time when he and my grandma were at the doctor's office. My grandma found a gold chain necklace on the ground in the driveway at the dr. office, and picked it up and took it inside and asked the receptionist and the nurses if anyone knew who it belonged to. No one knew, but a nurse said that she should keep it b/c it was worth a lot of money. So, my gma, being the honest person she is, took it to the police station, and they kept it under lock and key for 30 days. After 30 days, no one came to claim it, and they called my gma and told her that it was hers. She wore it to dinner with friends one evening, and the gentleman that they were dining with offered her $200 for it.

So it pays to be honest!

By Unschoolmom on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 07:12 am:

I have had similar things happen and always report it or take it to the bank. Never though much about it.

I did have a friend who was credited hundreds of dollars by mistake. She went out and spent it and then just couldn't figure out why the bank came after her to repay it when they realized their mistake.

By Kaye on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 09:24 am:

I think the key is, it is a bank. We trust them every day to do the right thing with our money. So if they make a mistake, we have trust they will find it. So it isn't really about honesty, but about our trust in the bank I think.

Also, the bank does it's job, they don't "screw" people by charging too much, or giving the wrong sale price. We don't spend enough money there we deserve it this time, all those are exlusive rationals to retail or service operations. The bank just has it's own idenity.

So for me in other situations. I am mostly honest. I do believe you do the right thing because you should. However, I am also a person of convience. I wouldn't go way out of my way to fix an error that someone made over little amounts. If it cost me more money to undo their mistake then I don't do it. If I catch it right away, I always fix issues. At the grocery store on more than one occasion I find something in my cart that we didn't pay for....I always return that. But if I get home and something was sacked that I didn't pay for I don't take a trip back. Some of that is convience, but the other part is simply, I think if food comes home and you return it, they can't reshelf it. So instead of tossing it, I think I should keep it.

By Janet on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 10:19 am:

OK, thanks! I think you're a great bunch of honest ladies! And Vickie, when I was a baby teller in the 80s, we also had to load our ATM with new money, because it's all it would take. We just got this new machine, though, and didn't know if it would handle the bills. Nice to know it will, and I don't have to be so paranoid about giving away free money (my dh said to just look out and see if there was a line forming at the ATM).

By Vicki on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 11:04 am:

That could be one way to get some new customers!! LOL

By Janet on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 11:54 am:

Hmmm...I'll suggest it to the Big Boss...