Um, I just got a check in the mail for $5000 dollars

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So I got a check for almost $5,000 in the mail today, from my old job. I haven't worked there for almost a year now, and I have no idea why I received this check.
Though I felt underpaid the entire time I worked there, I'm pretty sure they didn't owe me any money when I quit my job and went back to school.

Uh, what should I do? I have moral qualms about cashing it. But at the same time, the broke grad student in me thinks 'new computer! trip to Berlin!' etc etc. Agh! It's taunting me! I guess I'll call my old employer tomorrow and ask...

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 19 December 2002 07:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, call. Safest bet -- if it were cash, that might be something else entirely. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 19 December 2002 08:10 (twenty-three years ago)

If it was from any other org apart from public TV I'd have to say CASH IT IMMEDIATELY. The rules in UK say you can keep it in most cases but I'm unclear about the US.

Bank once accidentally added a zero to a $600 cheque I received and as it didn't hurt the company I was working for, I kept schtum and moved to England using the extra $5400.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 19 December 2002 08:35 (twenty-three years ago)

If it was from any other org apart from public TV

haha! sigh.

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 19 December 2002 09:03 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, i won't keep the check if it's in error. but maybe they did owe me back payi dunno, i'm gonna put in a call to payroll in the morning...gah argh ack!

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― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 19 December 2002 09:13 (twenty-three years ago)

cash the cheque but dont spend...wait till they call you...if they want it back you still got the interest if nothing else

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 19 December 2002 09:17 (twenty-three years ago)

best thing to do is to cash it, then pay the money into my account, just to be on the safe side.

― g-kit (g-kit), Thursday, 19 December 2002 10:38 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a tax rebate of over £200 on my paycheck for last week. I don't know why. I am awaiting a call back from my temping agency. I hope that this really is my money and not an error.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 19 December 2002 10:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Liz, they might have moved you from 'emergency' tax (ludicrous name, when I started working here I wondered what the HELL their emergency was) to regular tax.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 19 December 2002 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

I got a cheque for £71, I was like "yay!", but then I realised it was a refund for Pokemon the Musical, and it was my money after all.

(If I got a cheque for $5000 dollars, I'd phone payroll ASAP to find out why, coz I know it'd just eat away at me if I cashed it without checking. I am prone to worrying.)

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 19 December 2002 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

The rules in the UK aren't that soft Suzy. In the end if they are in error and you had no good reason to believe the payment was for anything you can still get prosecuted if you don't return the money.

Of course if you have spent thge money and don't mind toying with bankruptcy there ain't much they can do.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 19 December 2002 11:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Your bank didn't catch a simple 5400.00 encoding difference? Holy crap. That's pretty weird.

― Kim (Kim), Thursday, 19 December 2002 11:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Kim, I didn't touch it for MONTHS and it was a teller error that put the extra zero there. Apparently teller error is reckoned for in the accounting for banks - at least according to my (20 years in financial services) mum.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 19 December 2002 12:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah! It _was_ my tax band being changed from 'emergency' status. I know it was always my money and I'm just being given it back now, but it's still sweet as to have an extra 200 squids just before Christmas. Kickass.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 19 December 2002 12:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Geeta the old saw about possession being nine-tenths of the law was coined precisely for this reason. That money's yours. I'd deposit it first, then ask them why they sent it to you.

Trip to Berlin, though? Are you feeling OK?

― J0hn Darn13ll3 (J0hn Darn13ll3), Thursday, 19 December 2002 13:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Remember my story about being overpaid at my last job and having to pay it all back??? Definitely don't cash it. Find out what it is so your life doesn't become total hell.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Thursday, 19 December 2002 13:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Geeta will you buy me a chocolate orange mc flurry?

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 19 December 2002 14:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Are there any garage bands out there with an MC Flurry, cos there should me.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 19 December 2002 14:31 (twenty-three years ago)

The idea of putting it into a savings account while you wait to see what happens is an excellent one. At the very least, you'll get a couple of bucks of interest out of it while they try to figure out what's going on.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 19 December 2002 14:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Berlin roolz John! Have you ever been there? It's like the future come alive! I fucking loved Berlin last time I was there two or so years ago. I almost wanted to move there. Too bad my German sucks these days.

Ronan sure thing, anything for a fellow Journalism sufferer. However I'm still not sure if the money is mine. I just phoned Payroll like the good kid I am, and they were completely clueless and transferred me to the Accounts office and they didn't know anything either.

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 19 December 2002 14:34 (twenty-three years ago)

In that case I would probably deposit it for the time being and then wait and see if they bother contacting you.

― Nicole (Nicole), Thursday, 19 December 2002 14:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Could be any vacation pay they owe you when you left. Cash the sucker and sit on it till the next tax year.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 19 December 2002 15:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Sadly, the check is not mine. I was good (ie an idiot), called Payroll again, matched up all the routing numbers and figured out that it was indeed their error. I found a bug in their computer system that had given me the check by mistake. They thanked me profusely, said that it would have taken them a long time to figure out the bug on their own, and I even volunteered to mail them the check back. Fuck, man. I deserve some kind of humanitarian award for this shit.

I'll still buy a McFlurry for anyone who wants one, tho. I've got like $400 savings in the bank!

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 19 December 2002 15:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Pay it in QUICK!

― Graham (graham), Thursday, 19 December 2002 15:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Aw, dang. Never mind, Geeta. McFlurries are bad for you anyway. Although tasty.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 19 December 2002 15:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh yes, with my tax rebate (admittedly not $5000 but a measly £229.86) I can buy filthy McFlurry happiness for anyone (within reason) who requests it over the Christmas period. Cheaper than pints, anyway.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 19 December 2002 15:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Geeta, you deserve a medal at the very least, or the squeeze for an off-term job at 13 (they should sort you out and you should work it bigstyle). If your employer wasn't a non-profit would you have banked it?

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 19 December 2002 15:56 (twenty-three years ago)

This reminds me of this.

― bnw (bnw), Thursday, 19 December 2002 16:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Quick answer Suzy: I would feel much less bad about it, yes. Americans - you can sleep soundly, knowing that your viewer contributions are going directly to support quality programming and not to me :(

(Dialogue from the phone with Payroll this morning:)

Payroll officer: "The check looks like it is for your freelance work with Antiques Roadshow..."
Me: "I never worked for Antiques Roadshow."
Payroll officer: "How about Frontline? Did you work there once?"
Me: "Yes, I did -- and you have no record of this? I believe I got paid for my work there last year."
Payroll officer: "I can't seem to find...are you sure you didn't work for Antiques Roadshow?"

etc.

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 19 December 2002 16:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd rather viewer contributions go to geeta than more Keeping Up Appearances reruns.

― rosemary (rosemary), Thursday, 19 December 2002 16:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Geeta, apparently you suffer from the same "honesty gene" I'd been born with; a twinklefairy appeared to kick my ass, the few times I'd been tempted to twist the truth;>

If I could, I'd send $100 to the "Keep Geeta From Poverty Fund". As tis, double check Payroll tomorrow; if they still have no record of paying you, hang on to it for a month. If no threatening letters come, then cash it.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 19 December 2002 19:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I really enjoyed the story bnw linked. Thanks! What a great way to waste more time at work! :)

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Thursday, 19 December 2002 19:43 (twenty-three years ago)

aww geeta, how upright of you. you deserve a cash award.

― Maria (Maria), Thursday, 19 December 2002 22:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Or at least a McFlurry!

― rosemary (rosemary), Thursday, 19 December 2002 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh poor Geeta; you deserve the proper Berlin Low experience!

― Mary (Mary), Friday, 20 December 2002 03:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I had a Chocolate Orange McFlurry last night. Am I entitled to a refund Liz?

― Graham (graham), Friday, 20 December 2002 22:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Damn, that's too bad Geeta. Find me at Interpol tonight -- I will buy you a drink!

― Jen (nstop), Friday, 20 December 2002 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

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