Comments on: The difference a typo can make

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:14:26 +0000

You can neither lose nor gain from a mistake. Need to give the money back – it isn’t hers.

By: GTS

GTS — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:06:07 +0000

I cannot believe anyone would feel it was okay to keep this “tip”. Is this what has become of our society when people feel that they deserve something for nothing. My Lord she did a little catering job, does she really feel that she deserves 29K for it even if she made a couple of calls? Why didn’t she go to the college office and tell what happened? I can guarantee that she would do that if she never received her paycheck! She is nothing more than a thief without an ounce of morals or self respect.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:57:18 +0000

I cannot understand how anyone would agree that she keep the money, not even if the President of the University thanked her for her honesty and told her she could keep it. As several others noted, there are effects both financial and intangible when someone benefits out of an error like this. I would LOVE to have had $29,000 fall in my lap when I was a student at a University and working for the on campus catering department. I would dishonor myself, and my parents if I didn’t exhaust all ways of returning the money. I’ve made my share of mistakes (especially during college), not a single one of them includes selling my soul. Another sad example of morals in the 21st century.

By: Essie

Essie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:57:54 +0000

Student? What student? I thought it was a caterer.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:28:36 +0000

Bonnie, this woman was an event caterer, not a student. I agree her ethics are in question but we have no way of knowing how her parents raised her.
If I get too much change back, or a cashier misses an item on the bottom of my cart I make them aware and pay what is owed. Most people would do the same, even in hard economic times.
Bottom line, she KNEW the tip was a mistake and kept it anyhow. It is exactly the same as not returning the overage of change at the grocery store. This makes her dishonest and is going to cost her in the long run. Who wants to hire a dishonest person to cater their next event?

By: kevin

kevin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:59:22 +0000

Wrong is wrong. When I use to be in Audit and Tax Law it was always discussed what would the prudent person do in any given situation. I would gladly yield to any sane person who thinks that she did the prudent action by cashing the check. Not a chance. Then to go out and spend it instead of returning the check to Notre Dame seems to show very poor and suspicious behavoir on her part. Come on everyone, did common sense die in America? I know, if it is so common almost everyone would have it

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:40:34 +0000

If she did indeed atempt to contact them and they did not return calls within a reasonable amount of time, the ‘tip’ should be hers to keep – Now.. what about the IRS?
Did they get their $9000+ cut?

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:38:41 +0000

Do you think that this student ever thought about the job of the person that made the typo? When the university couldn’t get the money back, I am sure they fired the person who did the typo.

You don’t get something for nothing, it bites you eventually.

The parents of this student should be proud, she is stealing which shows her poor upbringing.

By: Judy Buckley

Judy Buckley — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:00:30 +0000

I agree that anyone would know this wasn’t “something wonderful” and I wonder how specific she was when she called. Did she just ask for someone to call her back or did she say, “I received a $29,000-plus tip for a catering job and I think that must be an error. Please call.”? Surely that would have gotten someone’s attention. She rationalized and now she’ll have to dig up the money plus attorney’s fees, if there is any justice.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:23:33 +0000

One would think that the University has an expense policy requiring dual-signature for large dollar amounts.

Additionally, I agree with “r” that NOBODY gets a 14,000% tip. This was not a “windfall from God”, it was an accounting error. This woman’s recessive entitlement gene obviously disabled her common sense. As a business owner, she should have known that this was a mistake and would be corrected.

“….something wonderful had happened….” GIVE ME A BREAK. “Wonderful things” don’t happen as part of a business transaction. Based on a $30 tip, I’m guessing the entire bill was around $200 — NOT EVEN CLOSE to meriting a $30k tip. She deserves to get her a$$ sued, and the University has every right…..

BUT, If I was the University’s head of accounting right now, I’d be seriously questioning which financial controls failed, to allow this to happen.