# Ethics of collecting s/o else's refund money **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 22, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-collecting-s-o-elses-refund-money/572254 "2011-02-22T18:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-collecting-s-o-elses-refund-money/572254/1 "2011-02-22T18:02:56Z")
Today I was ripped off by a malfunctioning clothes dryer. The concierge said to call the number on the machine and they would send me a refund. But I can’t be bothered to call and get the $1.75 back. Suppose I said this out loud and another person said they would make the call for me if I would give them the money when I received it. Ethical? (I think yes. Once the money is in my hands I can give it to whoever I please.) What about if they asked me if they could claim the money since I wasn’t going to? (I don’t know about this one.) What about if they heard me say I wasn’t going to claim it, so they claimed it themselves without my knowledge? (Here I think they are clearly in the wrong. I could well change my mind and claim the money, or ten people could be in their situation and call in to claim the same money.) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-collecting-s-o-elses-refund-money/572254/2 "2011-02-22T20:42:16Z")
I agree with you. Ethical for you to decide that it’s not worth your time and let someone else get the refund. I think of it as subcontracting the collection of the refund for 100% of the proceeds. Not ethical for someone to make a claim without your agreement. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-collecting-s-o-elses-refund-money/572254/3 "2011-02-22T22:07:48Z")
Exactly as ethical as a company selling debt to a debt collector. Actually, slightly more ethical. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-collecting-s-o-elses-refund-money/572254/4 "2011-02-22T22:14:02Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Exactly as ethical as a company selling debt to a debt collector. Actually, slightly more ethical. I think the OP covered this as ethical. But in the case of a debt collector going out and collecting a written off receivable of a company without the Company’s consent…definitely illegal and unethical. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-collecting-s-o-elses-refund-money/572254/5 "2011-02-23T01:30:26Z")
In some cases, I’d call it a duty. We have a stupid deposit law in my state. On the few occasions that I have returnables for some odd reason (they’re usually not very much), I’ll make it a point to just give them to someone in line at the disgusting deposit-return machines. You see, if I throw them out, the state collects the unreturned deposits for its coffers. I’ll no longer stand in line for those disgusting machines; my time and health is worth a lot more than the 40¢ I’d stand to collect.