I've got magical money!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

That, or I inadvertently stole from a Chinese takeout place last night. One of the two.

Let me explain.

I ordered Chinese food last night. It was late, it was dark, it was a bad neighborhood on Halloween night, and I was hungry, so I called the number on the random takeout menu that I had found wedged into the doorframe of the apartment. The total came out to $9-something. When the delivery person showed up to the apartment, I held out a twenty, he counted out the change, I gave him a couple of bills back as tip and waved off the coins, and we parted ways.

It was only when I put the food down on the table that I realized, I still had the twenty.

Insert several seconds of studying the twenty dollar bill. I could have sworn I only had the one. And yes, it was the same one. Relatively crisp, still creased down the middle where I had it folded in my wallet.

I called the lady at the restaurant. The conversation went, nearly word for word, like this:

Me: Hi, I just had an order delivered.
Lady: Yes?
Me: The thing is, the delivery person forgot to take the money.
Lady: Forgot the money?
Me: Yes.
(Muffled sound of her conferring with someone in the background.)
Lady: No, no. Already gave.
(Pause.)
Me: Wait, I – I gave him the money?
Lady: Yes.
Me: Are you sure?
Lady: Yes, yes.
Me: O…kay.
Lady: Okay bye. click

And I went back to my beef and broccoli, which I apparently paid negative eight dollars for. It was pretty bad food, but under the circumstances I don’t think I should be complaining.

What would you have done, Dopers?

2

You must have had another 20 or something. But, even if you didn’t, I guess you did what you could.

3

That was MY 20! Could you please send it to me? Just scan it and fax - that would be fine.

4

If they insist that everything is fine, there isn’t much you can do. Perhaps order from them again one time and give a slightly exaggerated tip, if you really feel bad about it, but I think I’d just let it go.

5

Isn’t it possible for an ATM to spit out two bills when you only wanted one-esp if they are new and stuck together a bit?

6

Hmm. I really don’t think it was a different twenty. I don’t usually carry around much cash, so I keep tabs on what’s in my wallet. And I held one $20 bill when I opened the door…and still had a $20 bill when I closed it.

I maintain that I have a magical $20 bill that returns to me even when I give it away. Any Dopers want to test this theory by taking it off my hands for a while?

No? No takers? Ah well, guess we’ll never know.

7

You did everything you needed to do. Any further action on your part would have been inappropriate in my opinion. Maybe you did have an extra $20 in there. From where I don’t know. Let this be a lesson for the future to verify every transaction you make because too often the shoe is on the other foot.

8

I have pondered that question many times and vigorously counted the money dispensed for accuracy. Never have I found an error. I have heard of rare dispensing errors where the machine cycles more cash, but as far as bills sticking together, I think they have that hole plugged.

9

They shine a light through the bills before they are dispensed. If two are stuck together not enough light passes through and the bills are dumped into an “error” bin and they start again. It’s pretty hard to dispense two bills stuck together like that.