Assuming that the person who you shared the room with won't come back for verification AND if you somehow feel bad about the whole affair, just donate the refund to your favourite charity! :D

You didn't lie by ommision, you lied knowing full well that you were lying. There was only one room charge and you lied to your roommate about it when questioned. This is not a lie of ommision. Whatever your justification and reasoning was, you lied. And obviously there was a discussion over it with your roommate and you decided to lie. Lying is not usually considered ethical.

I think you already know what the right, ethical answer is or you wouldn't have lied to her about the bill or come in here seeking justification for what you did.

If whether or not shafting her is a function of if she's a friend or acquaintance, remind me not to trade with you on Coupon Connection... :rolleyes:

peace,
~Ben~

I think that is completely immaterial to the discussion, but out of curiousity, what was the issue with the hotel that they gave you the one night free for anyway?

Care to be a bit more specific on what was the problem that got you the night comped? Most seem to assume that it is a problem with the room - then you should share. But if it was outside the room, and only affected you, I'd say that the hotel gave YOU $200 compensation.

SmilingBoy.

You lied to their face when they saw the bill, you probably already know the answer to your question or you would have explained there was an issue that affected you and not them and they had to pay full price and you go for free.

I think you should have split the bill, but it's probably too late for that. I'm sure they are posting something somewhere along the lines of "I can't believe the nerve of that person....."

If they were concerned about the total they should have waited for you to get the error corrected.

Me, I'd probably put a stop payment on the check, call it a bank error, and smile when you called.

Another vote for returning it.

For all she knows the bill said $200 for the stay and you wanted her to pay $200 as "her" part. She will probably feel ripped off and tell everyone about it.

Had you explained that you got your night free, maybe even lied about having used points, I don't think there would be this problem now.

HTB.

Although I can see both sides, I think that fact that you had to lie to her face would indicate that you are not on the steadiest of ethical grounds. If you are really 'in the right' you should have felt fine with telling her the truth.

On the other hand, I did just lie to a good friend and tell her that I had paid for part of a hotel room with points but that was so I could pay the majority of the bill. I wanted to splurge for a nice room at the end of our trip and knew she couldn't afford it (and also knew she wouldn't let me cover more than half). Still wrong since I lied, but I figure we both benefitted.

You felt the need to ask about the ethical ramifications, so you know something is not quite right. There are no degrees of integrity...you either have it or you don't.

How would you have handled the situation if instead it was her credit card that was used instead of yours? Is it only because you felt you could hide it from her that you feel she isn't owed something?

I also think describing the situation may also lend more credibility. If you had dirty sheets, well - that's random as you picked that bed so she should share in the mutual risk. If it was a bellman ruining your luggage than that's personal and perhaps owed directly to you.

I would however look at it as the hotel did not give you a $200 voucher, they credit you 50% of your stay. Why not split it. You still come out ahead.

I agree. If, as the OP says, the problem was one that did not affect the roommate in any way (not merely something that affected but didn't particularly bother the roommate), then the refund was to the OP, not to both occupants of the room. It was already agreed that the OP could pay for one night's room with points--why not with a complaint?

It's unfortunate and IMO unethical that the OP left the implication that she would still be paying with dollars, but that doesn't entitle the roommate to half the settlement.

Yeah - I think that would be my assumption if I were her as well. She probably just didn't want to make a stink about it at her friend's wedding.

peace,
~Ben~

I also have to ask - what exactly was the problem that you were compensated for which your roommate didn't even know about?

I think this is the important issue. I realize you feel that the $200 refund was your effort, and you're entitled to all of it because you did all the work. That's fine, I agree with you.

But it's not that simple, and you know it. Because from the outside, looking in, without knowing why the bill was only $200 rather than the $400 you told your roommate it would be, it looks very, very fishy. Think about how you would react if someone told you a rental car costs $300 for two days and asks you to $150, and then at the counter you see the car is only $150 for two days. You would feel cheated, and you might not confront the other person about it, but you might mention it to others. If this is what your roommate does, it might hurt your reputation down the line.

What I think you should do is call up your roommate and explain to her exactly what happened. What the problem was, why you got compensation, and that you consider the compensation you worked to get your half of the bill. That's better than leaving it at what you have now.

If you don't feel comfortable sharing whatever it was that bothered you so much, then tell her you used points for your night after all, that that was why the bill was so low. If she didn't study it in detail, that's believable enough, especially if you mentioned this to her as an option beforehand. The best course of action is the truth, but if you really can't handle telling her the truth, this is a backup. Unless of course, she did examine the bill carefully and would know you're lying through your teeth.

Ironically, someone sent me this lawyer joke today:

After drafting a will for an elderly client, the attorney announced a fee of $100 and the client gave the attorney a $100 bill.

After the client left, the attorney saw that the client had in fact paid $200, as two of the client's $100 bills had stuck together.

Looking at the $100 overpayment, an ethical question arose in the attorney's mind: "Do I tell my partner?"

peace,
~Ben~

Yes, and the OP's follow-up post suggests she really wants us to validate her decision to lie about the bill and keep the discount to herself, despite her qualms.

To me the litmus test is: how would you feel about a particular action if everyone knew what you were doing?