Real-life MMD: Whose glitch is it anyway?

[Barryfan]

I really think honesty is the best policy here! The £200 rightly belongs to the exchanfge bureau and no doubt this will eventually come to light. Your friend should do the right thing and contact the bureau - to do otherwise is theft - and he knows this!

[Gillsx]

It's their risk if they spend it as the charge could be put through at a later date. Their bank account and you are not entitled to anything. End of.....

[Greenfly]

It's not your, nor your friend's money. The friend has to keep it as it will be collected from him one day. I'm suprised that you even concidered asking for it back.

[happyinflorida]

The money exchange place can debit the money at anytime. If your friends bank a/c is the one being used for the currency they may debit in the future so you both shouldn't assume they aren't going to because they haven't to date.

You also shouldn't be arguing over who the money belongs to - it belongs to the money exchange place who may well debit any day now - so you'd be daft to go spend this money. I'd advise your friend to leave it in his a/c for 6 months and if they still haven't debited it by then - they may not do so.

If you want to do the decent thing - ie some member of staff may have made a genuine error and may be under threat of losing their job for this - then contact the exchange place to inform them and ask why the money's not been taken yet?

I don't think it's right to expect your friend to give you the money back as their a/c could be debited any time.

[Dilligaf2010]

It's a bit of a dilemma really, the correct thing to do would be to advise the bureau, but at the same time, the banks have been robbing us blind for years, so who, in reality, has the moral high ground?

[Brian Steele]

Before worrying about which of you deserves it more, remember it is actually the currency exchange's money so you should own up and give it back if they want it.

If they don't - and certainly in my happy experience some insurance companies are so dumb they cannot cope with oddities like this - then you should probably split it, but work on the assumption that you are giving it back.

To spend it is technically fraud and remember that it is the account holder who is liable, so if you divvy it up and they come after you, he's the one who will be in trouble.

[reluctantworkingmum]

Originally Posted by pennypinchUK

Wow, if he's a friend I'd hate to meet your enemies....never mind the £200, dump the friend and move on. Quick.

Wowee - to all you people saying dump the friend...what has the friend done to you? he got your euros for you (without charging you for the effort) - and the bank hasn't debited his account - yet!
So how does that affect you?
Correct me if I'm reading this wrong - but you are the one thinking he should give you £200 - WHY?
Pot calling kettle black! If I was the friend - I would want to be dumped - so fast......

[Shreddie]

Don't get involved in this. You got your Euros. Your friend will get the £200 deduction from his account at some point. The money isn't your's or his. Stay out of it.

[The crazy pig]

What goes around comes around, one of you you will get shafted for the cash at some point. If I was in this position it wouldn't be me.

[florere]

It isn't yours, it isn't his, it belongs to the bureau, he should contact the bureau and tell them about the mistake.

[life.is.beautiful]

My boyfriend works for a well-known bureau de change chain and, in that particular company, the individual member of staff has to pay back any shorts out of their own pocket. Only keep the money if you are comfortable knowing that it has most likely come out of the pocket of someone on minimum wage.

[tallgirld]

1) The money is NOT rightfully his
2) I wouldn't ring the foreign exchange (let your friend do that)
3) If he chooses to keep it he should go halves
4) If he chooses to keep it and NOT go halves he's a tight !!!
5) They may catch up with him at some stage and claim it back anyway!!!

[TheKingsHead]

The money does not belong to you or your friend, if either of you keep it or any part of it, then in my book it's no different to stealing. Your friend should return it to the Bank straightaway. At the end of the day it's what successful trade is all about ie being honourable, trustworthy and doing the right thing. If you had accidently overpaid the Bank, you would expect them to return your money on their own initiative, and not wait for you to find out they had still got it.

[Tasha_Deane]

It's your own fault you didn't get the foreign exchange yourself! . . maybe they shouldn't have told you about it, then you would never have know. Either way just see it as a lesson learnt - exchange your money yourself or just be happy you got your euros!

[Ambro]

Wow, I really can't believe the responses in this thread. In order to answer the actual question (what should the OP do): Nothing

Here is the situation:
You purchased £200 worth of Euro's from your friend at cost price (no admin fee etc)
They provided the £200 worth of Euro's
Your transaction is finished, you have what you paid for at the price you agreed on beneficial terms to yourself.

My opinion: Be glad for what you got and don't go causing trouble behind your friends back when they were doing you a favour. You seem like a greedy individual even asking the question.

As to the situation regarding the friend (not actually asked):
Your friend purchased £200 worth of Euros from the BDC
The BDC provided the agreed sum of Euros but have not as yet demanded the cash (apparently in error)
Your friend now has a moral (and possibly legal) obligation to make the BDC aware of the error and pay the funds

My opinion: Whilst I feel they should contact the BDC I would expect the majority of people to keep hush about the money and hope it is not reclaimed. Whilst I would be disappointed if someone did this I would neither be surprised or find it outrageous. Certainly not worthy of ending a friendship over, especially a friend who is willing to help you out with no strings attached when you need it.

[ronangel]

Originally Posted by Torry Quine

I would be telling the currency exchange as I couldn't relax and enjoy spending money that I hadn't paid for.

Bet you would not if he offered to pay you half....
This is easy for you to say but what about people with very little money?
anyway its not your problem its his they may ask him or take money when it shows up missing on their acounts, and it all depends if you want to keep him as a friend or have him help you again.

[alittlemadam]

You agreed and transferred money to your friend £200 in order to get you currency which he did. The fact the he has now found out that the exchange bureau did not or has not as yet taken the money out of his account is really not your problem. If he wishes to spend it that is entirely you to him but rest assured the Bureau will eventually catch up with him and the money will have to be repaid.

I wouldnt ask him for any of it knowing that I can sleep at night being honest.

[Barbara Adair]

The money doesn't belong to either of you. Declare it and pay back to the bank.

Originally Posted by Torry Quine

I would be telling the currency exchange as I couldn't relax and enjoy spending money that I hadn't paid for.

[BNT]

Your friend is wrong: the money is not rightfully his. At a minimum you should make sure he understands that (some people might genuinely not realize it). How he handles it is up to him, but if you are a friend I'd hope you would advise him to take the matter to the bureau.

As the money is not his to give, I'm not sure why you are asking him to give it to you.

[clairvoyant]

50 - 50 would be a good solution