Good morning Dinks. I had an absolutely great money week because I received additional money on a refund and I got a huge discount on one of my purchases. I just love when that happens to me – don’t you? But when money is given to you that is not yours there comes the inevitable question of should you keep it or should you give the money back?
I didn’t take it; the money was given to me so it’s not stolen right?
Two weeks ago I went to my hometown to visit my parents and my best friend. To make a long story short my best friend and I did some shopping and I mailed myself a package because I didn’t want to carry all of my stuff back home with me on the train. I paid a premium for my package to be delivered overnight and I paid to include $200 worth of insurance just in case the package didn’t arrive.
Well, in true post office fashion my package didn’t arrive the next day, it arrived two days later so I called the post office to get a refund on my shipping. I gave the customer service representative my full name, address, the tracking number on my receipt as well as the total amount that I paid which was $20.11. The customer service representative apologized for the inconvenience and assured me that within 10 business days I will receive a check in the mail for the full amount.
I did in fact receive a cheque in the mail, but not for $20.11. I received a check in the mail for $61.12. What do you think I did – should I have called the post office or should I have just kept the money?
In true Kristina fashion, I deposited the check into my bank account and that is that. Would you have done the same?
Any discount is good, a 60% discount is even better!
Next weekend I am headed to Toronto for the Canadian Personal Finance Conference and I am travelling by train. I originally booked my round trip ticket at the lowest fare which means I am not travelling at the most convenient times. Both of my trains are longer than usual and after thinking about it I am really not looking forward to my trip – and that’s not good because I really love taking the train.
I decided to upgrade my tickets to first class in order to travel a little more comfortably and to travel at a more convenient time – all the cheaper tickets were sold out. When I originally called the train customer service they told me that the upgrades and time changes would cost $80.
After thinking about the additional cost I am justifying it by telling myself that I always travel cheap – and that’s true. So I called back to reserve my new tickets. The customer service representative told me that the difference owing with fees and taxes is $61. Score!
Friday I went to the train station to pick up my tickets and to pay the difference. To my surprise I only owed $38. This was my second good financial windfall of the week so I knew it had to be too good to be true. I gave the representative my confirmation number and told her twice that it should be $61. I’m not sure what magic she worked but instead of owing $80 I only paid $38. I love my money life this week.
Has something like this ever happened to you? Tell us! I love a good money story.
Photo by taxcredits
For the Train ticket, I might have asked at the time what the breakdown of the pricing was so I could understand why the amount owed was what it was…..but as for the refund check I suspect it would have been WAY more work than it was worth to get a straight answer from a government agency or try to rectify it if it was incorrect. :)
Ah thanks Brock – now I feel better about keeping both :-)