Company overcredited my account during refund...

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Lesson learned, at least! Next time you get your hands on money that doesn't belong to you, keep it, and spend it on whatever your heart desires.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force's Err has taught me well.
 
Hello,

So, I'm in an interesting position...

Recently I purchased a laptop online. Unfortunately, the optical drive broke, and I had to request an RMA, and send it back. Recognising that it was faulty, they accepted my RMA request and gave me a refund...

...but the interesting thing is, they refunded me 5x the amount they actually were supposed to credit to my account.

They were supposed to refund me £388.93, but instead they refunded me £1944.65.

I'm in an ethical and possibly legal dilemma. I've researched on the net to find out the legalities of 'companies overcrediting' customers accidentally, and 'overpayments', but my research has drawn vague and contradictory information. I suppose that's how law is.

What I want to know is, does the company have the right to demand that I pay the amount back? And what can the company do if they discover that they have overcredited a customer? What are the legal implications, if any?

The way I understand it, if a till operater gave you too much change at the checkout of a supermarket, and it's already in your possession, the cashier does not have the right to demand for you to give the overcredited amount, if and when he/she identifies the mistake. Much the same way that a customer, when underchanged at a till, cannot return to the till and demand for the correct amount of change be given when the transaction has ended and the customer has already left the till. However, information suggests that by law, one who has mistakenly made an overpayment has the right to recover that amount.

Some appropriate law material I've been reading:

Restitution: Restitution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unjust Enrichment: Unjust enrichment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Overpayment (Lemon & Co Solicitors): Overpayment – Can I Keep the Payment?

I'd also like to know what you think should be done.


Easy decision for me to make; I would report it and make every attempt to give them the money back without hesitation.
 
I would report it. But *DO NOT* go out of your way. Just send them a polite, to the point email.

In the mean time high interest account.
 
Yup karma exists now somebody will do something nice for you, like if you overpay something theyll refund you your money =)
 
ahhh darn it you helped a corporation out!! this trust is gonna take over our lives now and make us overpay for their laptops that are built extremely cheaply by small children in china so they can benefit from it and sit in their big fancy office smoking cigars and laughing at the world!!!

jk you did the right thing, you helped some little child in china from working harder in order to gain back the losses.
 
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