Is this considered stealing?

[crosses]

I was coming home from a friend's house who I hadn't seen for awhile and I was running a bit low on gas (she lives quite a ways from me) so I pulled into a convenient mart / gas station and purchased $10 in gas. I paid with a $20 and received 2 $5 bills in change and headed home.

When I reach home and I looked in my wallet, I found that I had 4 $5 bills and not 2. The bills were new and I guess they stuck together. So I didn't pay anything for the gas. Is this considered stealing?

[Ima saver]

It is certainly not stealing. You didn't take anything, you were given extra money.

[PrincessPerky]

No not stealing to me, but the gas attendant is going to get in trouble.

[PRICEPLUS]

I don't think it is stealing but I would make the effort to give it back. That is just my .02 cents.

[cercis]

It isn't stealing, per se, but karma won't like it. If you don't believe in karma, God won't like it.

How far away is the gas station? If it is close, I'd try to get it to them. If it's 30 miles or more away, I'd call the manager and get the address and put it in the mail (in a check).

The clerk will get in trouble and may have his pay docked that $10.

[naturalwoman]

not stealing unless you knew before you left. i would return it

[robex]

No, I wouldn't consider it stealing.

It is, however, dishonest to keep it!

[baselle]

Its stealing if you keep it.

[BAGAGT1]

Originally Posted by baselle

Its stealing if you keep it.

It is most definitely NOT stealing whether you keep it or not. Once the attendant has to balance his/her drawer and the drawer is short, the attendant will be in trouble regardless of whether you return it or not. If I had noticed immediately, I would return it, otherwise, I won't go through that much trouble for $10.

[locolorenzo24]

As a former gas station jockey, I have to put in my .02 cents....

When the close of shift paperwork is done, that clerk will find out his drawer is 10 bucks short. Normally, shortages and overages are an expected part of the day. However, if they've had many days where the range falls too far outside 5-10 bucks, they may be docked or given an extra day off(unscheduled) of course....

I believe in a force behind us. If it's extra, give it back.

[baselle]

Originally Posted by BAGAGT1

It is most definitely NOT stealing whether you keep it or not. Once the attendant has to balance his/her drawer and the drawer is short, the attendant will be in trouble regardless of whether you return it or not. If I had noticed immediately, I would return it, otherwise, I won't go through that much trouble for $10.

So you'll let the attendant hang, eh? That's sooo much better! Wooo. My conscience is clean!

Let's take a look at the situation. The original transaction was something for $10. You received 2 X 10$. The attendant probably made an honest mistake, but even if the attendant was incompetent, what happened is that you received $10 that is yours and $10 that is the store's.

The second transaction is keeping the extra $10 and not rectifying it, and that I believe is stealing - keeping something that is not yours. Now I admit that this is passive. You didn't hold a gun or write a note threatening bodily harm as you received the money, but you received it nonetheless.

[crosses]

As I mentioned in the first post, I was coming back from a friend's house that lives quite far from me. It would mean a 2 hour drive back and I'm not sure if I can even find the station (although I probably can if I try hard enough). While I feel bad and would return it if I had noticed earlier, is it my responsibility to take time and spend money on gas (which won't be reimbursed) for a mistake that wasn't mine? I'm thinking I'll donate it to charity.

[cercis]

That's why I suggested calling and mailing the money. Charity probably isn't a bad idea either.

[crosses]

Originally Posted by cercis

That's why I suggested calling and mailing the money. Charity probably isn't a bad idea either.

That isn't possible - I paid in cash and the receipt doesn't have a contact number or address. I have no idea what street it's located on - like I mentioned, I was out of town.

[baselle]

Is the gas station near your friend's house? Perhaps your friend can help you locate it. Another thought is to do a Google Local search of the gas stations in that town - I've pulled an *amazing* amount of geographic and address information from there.

[BAGAGT1]

Originally Posted by baselle

So you'll let the attendant hang, eh? That's sooo much better! Wooo. My conscience is clean!

Unfortunately, the attendant hung himself, crosses had nothing to do with it. Honest mistakes happen everyday, I try not to get hung up on them.

Crosses can not correct this mistake without returning the $10 to the exact same attendant who took care of him that night. If he returns the money to anyone other than the attendant he can't garuantee that he has rectified the situation (crosses might clear his consciense, but the attendant could very well still be out $10).

I've been overcharged several times in my life, but I don't always try to rectify the situation because sometimes it is not worth the hassle. I've been undercharged as well, I won't try to rectify the situation unless it is a great amount. The issue for me is the amount, I would not go through the hassle for $10, I'd be on the fence if it were $20, but definitely would try to return anything greater than $25. That is my perception of a sizable loss. If the gas station was one where I visited frequently and was nearby, I would try to return the $10, but I'm not driving 2 hours to return $10, it might cost you $10 in gas to return the $10, now you are out $10 more than you had planned, is that just?

If the attendant doesn't make these types of mistakes on a regular basis, he probably won't lose his job over this. If he does make these types of mistakes frequently, then he needs to find a new line of work. Not everyone is cut out to be a good cashier, I sure wasn't, but I never got mad at anyone when I didn't balance (either positive or negative), I knew I made the mistake, and I had to face the repercussions of my mistakes, and yes you do get in trouble when you overcharge the customer.

In order for it to be "stealing" some law had to be broken, and in this particular case no law was broken. Crosses did not take something that didn't belong to him, he was given something that didn't belong to him. That distinction is very important!

Now Baselle, if the attendant gave you .10 cents more in change than he should have, are you going to drive two hours to locate the exact attendant who took care of you that night to return .10 cents to clear your consciense?

[CheaplyClever]

Back to the orginal question....it is not stealing, but it was a mistake that you CAN correct. Keeping the money is dishonest. The poor clerk was disciplined for his/her mistake. It's your turn.....

[baselle]

Bagagt1 - We are talking about 10$ and not .10. You are right, I wouldn't do it for .10. I have been known to do it for small amounts close to home. My conscience is a bit of a pain in my life. I've been known to ask University of Chicago profs to re-add grading mistakes when they weren't in my favor.

My set point for this would be about $5, rather than $10 as described here, or $20 which is your threshold. 5$ works for me because that is close to minimum wage - which is the likely wage for a cashier.

[BAGAGT1]

Originally Posted by baselle

Bagagt1 - We are talking about 10$ and not .10. You are right, I wouldn't do it for .10.

I didn't want to get to argumentative, but the way I read your first response, you were labeling Crosses a thief if She kept the money, which based on the facts presented to us, didn't hold water.

Honestly I wouldn't return it based on my prior experience:

• The disciplining of the attendant will not change based on whether the money was returned. The attendant will be disciplined because of the mistake not the amount (If it were a huge amount, the attendant would definitely not be working there anymore).
  
• I truly believe that one can not effectively clear your conscience until you return the money back to the attendant who served you that night. Otherwise, you can't garuantee that the $10 will be returned to its rightful owner.

If the gas station were nearby, I would definitely make the effort, but being possibly over 100 miles away, it might be more trouble than it is worth.

[Bruce Wayne]

Originally Posted by robex

No, I wouldn't consider it stealing.

It is, however, dishonest to keep it!

What Robex said