Honesty - Would You Return “Free Money” From An ATM?
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 12:07 am
I want to know how honest you are…
Today, during a lunch break in work, I went to the nearby newspaper shop to get some supplies for the rest of my shift (food, drink, reading material, headache tablets…). I was a bit low on cash, so I used the in-store ATM that charged a fee per withdrawal, even for something as low as £20. Everything went fine, and the machine spat out 2 crisp £10 notes. It then started to make a weird grinding noise, then stopped. An error message appeared on screen saying that it had failed to give me £20, and that the amount would be altered to match what I had been given. The machine printed out a receipt showing the mistake and changed the error page to a generic “Out of Service, See Attendant” message.
I checked the receipt, and weirdly it said that despite asking for £20, it says it dispensed just £10. It didn’t realise it spat £20 out for me. The machine screwed up and would only be charging my bank account £10. I had the right amount I had requested, but at half the cost. Effectively the machine gave me “free” extra cash.
Me being me, I took the extra note and the slip of paper to the woman behind the counter at the shop, explaining what had just happened, and gave her the £10 to put back into the machine. She looked at me weirdly, and asked why I didn’t just keep it for myself. Funnily enough, everyone else today asked the same question, as if it’s a break from the norm to hand in seemingly free money.
Most would believe that since there’s so many withdrawals and fees being taken out each day from the machine, that the company that operates the ATM wouldn’t miss the £10 at all. Yet, weirdly, my thinking is more that it isn’t MY money, so therefore it belongs to someone else, and I should try to rectify the problem as quickly as possible.
No-one I have talked to today have said they would return the money, preferring to spend it. Even when I suggested if the machine accidentally dispensed an extra £50, most of the same set of people would do the same, with only a small proportion of them thinking that at the higher value it would be better to hand it in. I’d have thought more would do what I would consider “the right thing”.
Moral Dilemma Time – When faced with an extra note coming out of the ATM, would you keep it, or return it to the bank?