Comment by ryandrake | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ryandrake | Hacker News Reader

I once did an internship with a BigTechCompany, and after my internship was over and I went back to university, they kept paying me! Every two weeks, I got another paycheck direct deposited. As a starving student, I have to admit it was not easy to just ignore it sitting there in my bank account but I knew if I spent it I'd eventually be in a world of hurt. I tried to contact BigTechCompany, but evidently their HR department was as incompetent as their payroll department--they didn't understand what I was talking about and kept saying since I don't work for them they would not discuss internal payroll issues with them. So month after month, my bank account grew and grew, and I'm sitting in class eating ramen noodles.

Finally, after about 8 months of this, I got an extremely threatening letter from BigTechCompany's lawyers informing me that due to a payroll error, I was overpaid, and they demand I immediately return the money that was not mine or face legal consequences, blah, blah, blah. Of course I sent it back, but what a wild and crazy way for a company to treat people when it's entirely the company's fault.

You should have ignored the letter and called a lawyer. Depending on your location, you may have been allowed to keep the money. I had something similar happen before (a much smaller amount, 3 weeks extra pay) and I was able to keep the money. They did send a threatening letter, but I paid a lawyer a few bucks to tell them to go pound sand.

Exactly what I was thinking. Company fucked up. Not my job to babysit their money for 8 months, and DEFINITELY not my job to call them and beg them to take it back. Corporations have brainwashed a lot of people I think, to forget that you have agency over your own life.

Oh trust me, I did call an attorney for a free consultation. Apparently in my State my chances of keeping the money were slim and he advised me to just return it and move on with life. I figured if even a lawyer doesn't see any money for himself here, then I don't see any either.

Another way might have been look at it like a free loan. Invest the money (in something relatively safe), and then pay it back having earned yourself some interest / return for your trouble of looking after their money.

lol God no

smart move! very good to seek legal consultant in such situations

Just so no one reads this and thinks it's a good idea to tell the company to simply fuck off if the same thing happens to them:

There is such a thing as acting in good faith. When you notice an obvious mistake in your favor (even if it's made by The Evil Faceless Corporation of Malevolency), trying to tell someone about it is not only going to protect your ass if it winds up in court, it's just The Right Thing To Do.

(Of course, if they ignore you or send you in circles, then you have a stronger case that they don't want it back all _that_ bad.)

> The Right Thing To Do

Hopefully you're joking on this part. No large company will ever act or care about the above quote, so its foolish for an individual to do so.

But the Judge will.

The theme here is that a (small) win is not worth a life-ruining liability.

Who cares? The right thing to do doesn't rely on what others may hypothetically do. Acting in good faith consistently in life can pay off multiple times over if you build up a reputation for it. And from a non-selfish angle, it's the moral choice to make.

Now the poster has the opportunity to work for that company again, which would have probably been burned if they fought to keep the money accidentally paid to them.

I think think OP did do the right thing. He tried to contact them and was blown off

This also happened to me. 25 years ago I was fired without severance (shady consultancy), but I kept getting paid for three months. I used that money because I didn't have savings, and needed to support my family while I got a new job.

At the fourth month they called me and threatened me to get their money back, but in my country all deposits are final, so they didn't have a legal recourse. I offered to return it in six installments, and they threw a tantrum and ghosted me.

I still think you did the right thing. I wouldn't have touched that money if I had an option, because even if it was legal, and the lifesaver I needed to hop jobs, it was immoral. I'm sure someone was scolded because of that, I hope they didn't make them pay that sum in my place.

The fact that their lawyers were threatening you was your signal that you likely had a legal case for keeping it. Lawyers get bossy when they get scared

This happened to me and at least one other intern in the late 90’s at Cisco. The other intern told them after 1 week and was told to just keep it. I waited five weeks (a little more than $4K) and then told them. They never got back to me but stopped sending me checks. I left it in my bank account from August until the following May (paid my taxes). When I graduated, I used that money on a nice trip to Europe.

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