Friday OT - Shady Doings (or Situational Moral Ambiguity)

[Angie]

So, due to what I think is a clerical error on the part of several people at an airline, Janny and I got free round trip for two and a bit of an additional credit for the future (when I think the credits should maybe have been much smaller). I normally would be horrified at keeping it, but I've been rationalizing it to myself that we got credits at all due me having just horrific service on three different trips, and that the tickets we got were on planes that were currently 95% empty, so it isn't like we're stealing from someone else.

Is there anything that you have received for free that you felt slightly icky about? Could you rationalize it to yourself? How so?

 

[pulse]

Speaking in hypotheticals, a car loan may have made a clerical error and missed sending a bill one month. If they figured it out a year later after the title was sent, they would be SOL when they requested additional funds. One could rationalize that it wasn’t one’s mistake because they never received a bill in the mail that month and they magically received credit for it originally, and a lot of interest had already been paid.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

So, due to what I think is a clerical error on the part of several people at an airline, Janny and I got free round trip for two and a bit of an additional credit for the future (when I think the credits should maybe have been much smaller). I normally would be horrified at keeping it, but I've been rationalizing it to myself that we got credits at all due me having just horrific service on three different trips, and that the tickets we got were on planes that were currently 95% empty, so it isn't like we're stealing from someone else.

Is there anything that you have received for free that you felt slightly icky about? Could you rationalize it to yourself? How so?

Two times I have hired a lawn service to mow my lawn when I was out of town. Each time I told them when I would be back and to send me a bill because if they just left one in the door it would most likely blow away.
Neither ever sent me a bill. I still feel a bit guilty about it at times.

 

[iowa_wildcat]

My younger brother talked me into letting him borrow my car for a date. When the time came he was far too drunk to drive. I asked him who he had a date with and made sure she had an entertaining evening. She married me over 50 years ago so it must have been fate.

 

[isukendall]

My wife works part time at a local brewery, and I've become somewhat of a regular there and basically part of the family, I even attend the employee Xmas parties. When they are slammed busy I will bus and wash glasses so they can keep up, and usually get a free beer or two out of it. I already get an employee discount by association, but sometimes if I stop in for a few beers or maybe buy some for friends I notice my tab may or may not have all the beers on it. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but don't ask.

 

[SerenityNow]

A small bonus was paid to me in my direct deposit that I didn't earn. I found out a month or so later and went to payroll and had them debit my next paycheck to ensure it was addressed.

I think most people would do this since it's the company I work for, but it may have never been caught if I didn't discover it.

 

[Cyclonepride]

If I feel slightly icky about something, I point out the error to the relevant party and give them a chance to correct it. I'd rather have the peace of mind than whatever I might gain.

 

[Colorado]

My wife works part time at a local brewery, and I've become somewhat of a regular there and basically part of the family, I even attend the employee Xmas parties. When they are slammed busy I will bus and wash glasses so they can keep up, and usually get a free beer or two out of it. I already get an employee discount by association, but sometimes if I stop in for a few beers or maybe buy some for friends I notice my tab may or may not have all the beers on it. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but don't ask.

If my wife worked at a brewery, especially somewhere like Funkwerks, I'd be an alcoholic

 

[Angie]

If I feel slightly icky about something, I point out the error to the relevant party and give them a chance to correct it. I'd rather have the peace of mind than whatever I might gain.

I had definitely said to the gal on the phone that I had my credit card to pay the balance I thought I should have, and she said, "You won't need that, but let me also run this by my supervisor." They both agreed with the new value, which just didn't match my math, so I just figured maybe I had done all I could!

There was also one time when I was on maternity leave at an old job. They accidentally gave me one extra week of short-term disability payments while I was already back at the job. I asked HR what I should do with the check, and he said "cash it."

 

[Dandy]

Not necessarily icky or shady but...

I work at a company where I'm one person in a team of four in our specific role. The other three people all quit within a four month span and they wanted to make sure I didn't leave too so I got a decent raise just to stay and hold the fort down while the made new hires. I didn't really do anything to deserve this raise and I had no intention of leaving the company.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I had definitely said to the gal on the phone that I had my credit card to pay the balance I thought I should have, and she said, "You won't need that, but let me also run this by my supervisor." They both agreed with the new value, which just didn't match my math, so I just figured maybe I had done all I could!

There was also one time when I was on maternity leave at an old job. They accidentally gave me one extra week of short-term disability payments while I was already back at the job. I asked HR what I should do with the check, and he said "cash it."

Yeah, I'll certainly argue it, but only to a point. When I hurt my back at work and started receiving work comp checks while I was off, they were higher than my normal paycheck. I called them and asked them how they figured it, and let them know that the amount I was receiving didn't seem correct with what they had told me, but they checked it and said it was, so I went with it.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Target shipped us an extra xbox controller this winter. My wife wanted to return it and let them know they made a mistake. I took the receipt and controller and returned it for a $100+ refund.

If I think someone could lose their job I will fix their mistake. Last summer the bank tellar gave me an extra $100. I asked him to count it again and he realized his mistake. Oddly he didnt thank me though.

 

[cowgirl836]

I had definitely said to the gal on the phone that I had my credit card to pay the balance I thought I should have, and she said, "You won't need that, but let me also run this by my supervisor." They both agreed with the new value, which just didn't match my math, so I just figured maybe I had done all I could!

There was also one time when I was on maternity leave at an old job. They accidentally gave me one extra week of short-term disability payments while I was already back at the job. I asked HR what I should do with the check, and he said "cash it."

Our maternity leave in this country is already such ****, take that and run!

......until they discover their mistake and make you pay it back

 

[RyCy04]

Ordered a $200 router from Amazon. It was 2 days past the expected delivery date and I demanded and got a refund. The next day my neighbor brought over the router as it had been delivered to the wrong address. I have no trouble doing this to Amazon. I've gotten discounts from them for packages being 30 minutes late.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Target shipped us an extra xbox controller this winter. My wife wanted to return it and let them know they made a mistake. I took the receipt and controller and returned it for a $100+ refund.

If I think someone could lose their job I will fix their mistake. Last summer the bank tellar gave me an extra $100. I asked him to count it again and he realized his mistake. Oddly he didnt thank me though.

A long time ago I was in the drive through cashing my paycheck in the morning. She gave me double. I went to the bar and realized, waited until the bank office opened and went over to give them the money back. This was in the days when you walked in the bank and they knew your name.

 

[Angie]

Our maternity leave in this country is already such ****, take that and run!

......until they discover their mistake and make you pay it back

That was totally my thinking, too - it's just the worst, and I already had to pay in all of my insurance and crap from the rest of leave in my first paycheck back, so I figured it was basically coming out even!

I was TOTALLY worried about them discovering their mistake, too, and so I held it even longer than he said!

 

[cowgirl836]

Ordering some yoga/workout pants and after 10 days they still hadn't shown up. By this time, I had already reordered and received the same items (free shipping/returns), so I effectively had what I wanted and since the first order seemed lost to time, I wanted to cancel it and get charge reversed. They did so and gave me a $40 gift card for my trouble.

Literally the next day the pants showed up. Via labeling, we could see they had gotten stuck in distribution somehow and reprocessed. I called back and am like hey how do I return these now and the person is like keep them! So I returned the second order, kept the free ones and with the gift card, effectively got paid to take two pair of pretty expensive Lulu pants. I'd only ever intended to get one pair so it was an ethically sketchy super win to me.

 

[cyclonpediaJoe]

At a certain popular Des Moines grocery store, sometimes the meat counter guys/ladies will throw in something a little extra without me or my wife noticing. It's an awesome perk when you go to make a dinner and realized you have enough for lunch the next day. Pays to a regular and nice.

 

[jbhtexas]

Our maternity leave in this country is already such ****, take that and run!

......until they discover their mistake and make you pay it back

Yeah...if it involves payroll/disability/leave payments, it is a very good idea to check it out with those paying. I know a couple of cases of folks who got raises/bonuses and started getting bigger checks than expected, but did nothing (despite much advice to check with their employer). They ended up having to pay back the overpaid money, which can be tough if one has decided to spend that extra money...

 

[BoxsterCy]

Still wanting for something we can respond in horror to with a "Damn, dude, you are going to burn in hell for that!"