United mistakenly gave me an extra travel certificate...
Jul 30, 2022, 2:50 pm
#17
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By law a consumer is under NO obligation to return unsolicited goods, including those delivered inadvertently by the merchant.
They may be able to remove the certificate electronically under terms of the account, but they have absolutely no legal recourse to claw back anything if he spends it.
Believe it or not, no competent legal department would allow auditors to force action against the recipient.
It's a trivial amount and not worth the expense and potential negative press.
Jul 30, 2022, 3:51 pm
#18
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I am someone who points out to restaurant staff when they underbill me. But I am still a little inclined to agree here. You sent a note to UA, they can do something with it, or not. I wouldn't force the issue. If it's something buried deep in the IT, it may be costly for United to figure out and fix. And the staff doing the fixing won't appreciate it.
You can always just not use the credit if you feel strongly. Or donate it to a good cause, or to someone who can't afford to fly but would really like to?
By the way, one thing I'm sure you checked is that you did not, in fact, get charged on a credit card for the trip you thought you used your previous credit on?
You can always just not use the credit if you feel strongly. Or donate it to a good cause, or to someone who can't afford to fly but would really like to?
By the way, one thing I'm sure you checked is that you did not, in fact, get charged on a credit card for the trip you thought you used your previous credit on?
But in this case we have a large public corporation, and the OP owes no duty of honesty or fair dealing to that corporation. Rest assured the corporation would do everything possible to get the maximum value from the OP, so I don't see a problem doing the same in return. Every one of us who took a mileage run or otherwise worked the system to our advantage has nothing to feel guilty about either.
Jul 30, 2022, 5:23 pm
#19
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I'll take the contrarian view, and say go ahead and use it for normal travel you'd book anyway (so you're not too bummed out if they figure it out and bill you later).
At UA's scale they make a lot of one off errors for you and against you, so may as well take the upside as the downside is unavoidable.
At UA's scale they make a lot of one off errors for you and against you, so may as well take the upside as the downside is unavoidable.
Jul 30, 2022, 7:23 pm
#21
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Jul 30, 2022, 7:27 pm
#22
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It's law in all US states, and by FTC regulation. In the UK it's a criminal offense for a merchant to demand payment for unsolicited goods.
Here's an example from Washington state law:
"If unsolicited goods or services are provided to a person, the person has a right to accept the goods or services as a gift only, and is not bound to return the goods or services. Goods or services are not considered to have been solicited unless the recipient specifically requested, in an affirmative manner, the receipt of the goods or services according to the terms under which they are being offered."
Here's an example from Washington state law:
"If unsolicited goods or services are provided to a person, the person has a right to accept the goods or services as a gift only, and is not bound to return the goods or services. Goods or services are not considered to have been solicited unless the recipient specifically requested, in an affirmative manner, the receipt of the goods or services according to the terms under which they are being offered."
Jul 30, 2022, 7:35 pm
#23
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I would wait a bit and then start using it on tickets you would be willing to pay for anyway. The worst that happens is they come back to you requesting a credit card payment instead.
Jul 30, 2022, 9:13 pm
#24
Join Date: Jul 2021
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Agree--and your situation is not unique
You will be left with nothing but regret, at best, by attempting to "Do right" by this enormous corporation.
There is no organizational sentience that will recognize and reward your "honorable" behavior.
You will, at best, cause mild annoyance to a staff member and supervisor who'll have to deal with an unorthodox, troublesome situation that will, once resolved, unnoticeably re-enrich a corporation that genuinely couldn't care less if you lived or died.
At worst you'll prompt a review that will end up costing you in some unexpected way.
You might, perhaps, get a passing and insincere thank you from a staff member who'll very likely prefer you hadn't bothered. They'll probably
have a laugh at your expense, so you can take comfort that your sacrifice brought some joy into the world
You attempted to reach them. IMO that's sufficient. You were only thwarted by the immense delays their self inflicted (by misusing covid aid) staffing shortages caused. Unless your time is truly worthless, stop expending precious resources on this.
When they screw up we spend uncompensated hours seeking a resolution, I'll be damned if I'm going to chase them to make sure their daily accounting rounding error is a little smaller.
This is a soulless, mindless machine. Front line staff are not equipped or authorized to show "gratitude" for your largesse, and this is small enough it won't be reaching upper management's attention, so no special treatment from them either.
There is no organizational sentience that will recognize and reward your "honorable" behavior.
You will, at best, cause mild annoyance to a staff member and supervisor who'll have to deal with an unorthodox, troublesome situation that will, once resolved, unnoticeably re-enrich a corporation that genuinely couldn't care less if you lived or died.
At worst you'll prompt a review that will end up costing you in some unexpected way.
You might, perhaps, get a passing and insincere thank you from a staff member who'll very likely prefer you hadn't bothered. They'll probably
have a laugh at your expense, so you can take comfort that your sacrifice brought some joy into the world
You attempted to reach them. IMO that's sufficient. You were only thwarted by the immense delays their self inflicted (by misusing covid aid) staffing shortages caused. Unless your time is truly worthless, stop expending precious resources on this.
When they screw up we spend uncompensated hours seeking a resolution, I'll be damned if I'm going to chase them to make sure their daily accounting rounding error is a little smaller.
This is a soulless, mindless machine. Front line staff are not equipped or authorized to show "gratitude" for your largesse, and this is small enough it won't be reaching upper management's attention, so no special treatment from them either.
Jul 30, 2022, 9:17 pm
#25
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United is a merchant, not a bank.
By law a consumer is under NO obligation to return unsolicited goods, including those delivered inadvertently by the merchant.
They may be able to remove the certificate electronically under terms of the account, but they have absolutely no legal recourse to claw back anything if he spends it.
By law a consumer is under NO obligation to return unsolicited goods, including those delivered inadvertently by the merchant.
They may be able to remove the certificate electronically under terms of the account, but they have absolutely no legal recourse to claw back anything if he spends it.
It's law in all US states, and by FTC regulation. In the UK it's a criminal offense for a merchant to demand payment for unsolicited goods.
Here's an example from Washington state law:
"If unsolicited goods or services are provided to a person, the person has a right to accept the goods or services as a gift only, and is not bound to return the goods or services. Goods or services are not considered to have been solicited unless the recipient specifically requested, in an affirmative manner, the receipt of the goods or services according to the terms under which they are being offered." [Emphasis added.]
Here's an example from Washington state law:
"If unsolicited goods or services are provided to a person, the person has a right to accept the goods or services as a gift only, and is not bound to return the goods or services. Goods or services are not considered to have been solicited unless the recipient specifically requested, in an affirmative manner, the receipt of the goods or services according to the terms under which they are being offered." [Emphasis added.]
As a matter of law, does an erroneous monetary credit equal "goods or services"? Or is the "service" what you would be seeking to obtain with the ill-kept credit?
The legally safe course of action would be to let the credit expire unused, even after reasonable steps to inform UA.
Should you desire to proceed otherwise, you should seek competent legal advice, from an attorney familiar with the law not only of your jurisdiction, but that applicable to UA contracts.
It is never prudent to accept "legal advice" from anonymous commenters, and this post is not intended as such.
Jul 30, 2022, 9:39 pm
#26
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Query:
As a matter of law, does an erroneous monetary credit equal "goods or services"? Or is the "service" what you would be seeking to obtain with the ill-kept credit?
The legally safe course of action would be to let the credit expire unused, even after reasonable steps to inform UA.
Should you desire to proceed otherwise, you should seek competent legal advice, from an attorney familiar with the law not only of your jurisdiction, but that applicable to UA contracts.
It is never prudent to accept "legal advice" from anonymous commenters, and this post is not intended as such.
As a matter of law, does an erroneous monetary credit equal "goods or services"? Or is the "service" what you would be seeking to obtain with the ill-kept credit?
The legally safe course of action would be to let the credit expire unused, even after reasonable steps to inform UA.
Should you desire to proceed otherwise, you should seek competent legal advice, from an attorney familiar with the law not only of your jurisdiction, but that applicable to UA contracts.
It is never prudent to accept "legal advice" from anonymous commenters, and this post is not intended as such.
The "legally safe" option is to return the credit? Are you sure? What if it's not necessary? What if it causes some unexpected problem by triggering a review of his account?
You seem quite comfortable offering legal advice.
What's your basis for insisting that the rights he appears to have under consumer law should be summarily waived to the benefit of UA?
Last edited by Ghoulish; Jul 30, 2022 at 9:47 pm
Jul 30, 2022, 9:57 pm
#27
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I am an attorney, and was quite clear that I was not offering legal advice. My rationale was stated in Post # 25 above. One would have to research, among other things, whether the credit falls within the consumer ambit of "goods and services".
Jul 30, 2022, 10:30 pm
#28
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WineCountryUA
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Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jul 30, 2022 at 11:00 pm
Jul 30, 2022, 10:52 pm
#29
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Fascinating to read the responses here. I think one of our challenges as a nation (USA, but maybe this applies globally) is our equating of legality with morality. Big mistake in my book. Sometimes, as they say, the law is an .... But that's not a discussion for this forum, though I'm intrigued by the potential legal considerations in this case.
To the OP - personally I think you've done the right thing, but more importantly, you should do what allows you to sleep well at night. I was issued a double refund once, I emailed UA, and they cleaned it up. And sent me a thank you email, but I neither asked for nor expected anything else, nor did I receive anything else. Worked for me.
My personal view is that one should play it the same on all sides of the equation.
Option 1: If I'm willing to take something erroneously given to me, then I should accept when I receive less than I expect by mistake as well.
Option 2: If I'm going to fight for what is correctly due to me when I'm given less, I should give back what I didn't earn as well.
I'm an option 2 person. That's my view of integrity. Each person has to figure out their own - certainly not for me to preach or judge, and I don't presume that my way is right other than it being right for me.
To the OP - personally I think you've done the right thing, but more importantly, you should do what allows you to sleep well at night. I was issued a double refund once, I emailed UA, and they cleaned it up. And sent me a thank you email, but I neither asked for nor expected anything else, nor did I receive anything else. Worked for me.
My personal view is that one should play it the same on all sides of the equation.
Option 1: If I'm willing to take something erroneously given to me, then I should accept when I receive less than I expect by mistake as well.
Option 2: If I'm going to fight for what is correctly due to me when I'm given less, I should give back what I didn't earn as well.
I'm an option 2 person. That's my view of integrity. Each person has to figure out their own - certainly not for me to preach or judge, and I don't presume that my way is right other than it being right for me.
Jul 30, 2022, 10:56 pm
#30
Join Date: Jan 2005
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United is a merchant, not a bank.
By law a consumer is under NO obligation to return unsolicited goods, including those delivered inadvertently by the merchant.
They may be able to remove the certificate electronically under terms of the account, but they have absolutely no legal recourse to claw back anything if he spends it.
Believe it or not, no competent legal department would allow auditors to force action against the recipient.
It's a trivial amount and not worth the expense and potential negative press.
By law a consumer is under NO obligation to return unsolicited goods, including those delivered inadvertently by the merchant.
They may be able to remove the certificate electronically under terms of the account, but they have absolutely no legal recourse to claw back anything if he spends it.
Believe it or not, no competent legal department would allow auditors to force action against the recipient.
It's a trivial amount and not worth the expense and potential negative press.
If United discovers the error, asks for the money back and does not get it, I can absolutely see them taking this step.