What would YOU do??? hmmmmm

[kaorder1999]

Woman Mistakenly Given $29K Tip

By LILY **
(MYFOX NATIONAL) - The University of Notre Dame mistakenly gave a $29,000 gratuity check to a catering employee. Now it's suing to get its money back.

The South Bend Tribune reports that on April 17, the university made a mistake and sent Sara Gaspar a check for $29,387 when it should have been in the amount of $29.87. The lawsuit alleges that instead of notifying the university about the wrong check, Gaspar spent the big pay day on bills and a new car.

Gaspar said she left messages for university officials, and when her call wasn't returned, she assumed it wasn't a mistake. She adds that she was even told by her supervisors that the check wasn't a mistake and that they would pass on the message to the human resources department.

"I guess because it was there and I was in a bad situation, I went out and spent it," Gaspar told the Tribune. "I was so excited ... I thought, I could pay some of these bills."

The university hasn't issued a statement, but Gaspar's attorney said that because the money was under "gratuity" and not "wages," Gaspar was in the clear.

In April a woman found a check for $357,959.55 on the ground in Los Angeles and returned it to the bank from where the check was issued. It was given back to its rightful owner.


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[GreenMonster]

The lady claimed that she contacted the university 3 times to inform them of the mistake and was told that it wasn't a mistake. 2 months later the university calls wanting their money back. I would have spent it too if I tried to give it back 3 times already and they refused to take it back.

[jason]

i would have gotten it in writing from the university that they did not want it back - and then spent it....


if it were the university of texas, or tarleton, i would say give it back - but it's notre dame, so who cares....spend it....

[kaorder1999]

i call BS on her supervisers telling her it wasnt a mistake. Give me a break!

[ronwx5x]

This story requires more information before jumping to conclusions.

1. Phone calls and messages can be verified. Did she actually call and what "messages" did she leave? Were they just a "call me back", or an explanation about why she was calling? The University states that she did not call.

2. Have her supervisors been questioned about her report that they informed her it was not a mistake? How in the world would her supervisors know one way or the other? Supervisors is plural, so can we assume she asked more than one supervisor? I have serious doubts anyone in a supervisory position would simply tell her it was not a mistake without first verifying it.

3. Does she work in an area that would ordinarily have gratuities? If not, why in the world would she just assume it was a gift and think it was not a mistake?

[Bullaholic]

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if someone sends me a large amount of money that I didn't earn, I'm going to make every effort to talk to a decision-maker of the owner before I spend a dime of that money. Common sense tells me that a mistake has been made, and sooner or later someone is going to try to correct their mistake. It is the same thing if you find somone's purse or billfold with a lot of cash in it----you make every prudent effort to find the owner and return every penny of the money. I grew up taught that you don't want anything that you didn't earn unless it is a legitimate gift with no strings attached.

[crzyjournalist03]

It's an odd story, but it's not the first time that I've read stories about people receiving ridiculously high tips. If she has phone records proving she called the university, I don't think they have much of a ground to stand on. How is the university going to prove two months after the fact that the check writer wrote the wrong amount? Can they prove that the writer of the check didn't intend to give her a large tip?

[ronwx5x]

Originally posted by crzyjournalist03
It's an odd story, but it's not the first time that I've read stories about people receiving ridiculously high tips. If she has phone records proving she called the university, I don't think they have much of a ground to stand on. How is the university going to prove two months after the fact that the check writer wrote the wrong amount? Can they prove that the writer of the check didn't intend to give her a large tip?

Phone records to the university would have to have more than a request to call her back. The University has every right to correct a mistake, even if it were two months ago. Two months is not an extended period of time in this circumstance, and proving it was a mistake should not be at all difficult.

The person writing the check probably did not have the authority to "give her a large tip". Do you think if the federal government sent an incorrect income tax refund they would not attempt to correct the mistake and collect the funds? And two months would again not be too long.

While we might feel sympathy for the woman, that is no reason to just forgive her and write off the error.

[kaorder1999]

whats the old saying? "If its too good good to be true then it probably isnt..."

She knew it was a mistake. If apparantly she was only supposed to get a $29 tip then receiving a 29k tip is obviously a mistake. She knew it and is now playing dumb. Thats what a lot of people nowadays do!

And when it comes to her supervisers....they wouldnt have told her it wasnt a mistake when it was this amount. Once again...it was supposed to be $29 which tells me the lady probably doesnt make a whole lot to begin with.

[waterboy]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if someone sends me a large amount of money that I didn't earn, I'm going to make every effort to talk to a decision-maker of the owner before I spend a dime of that money. Common sense tells me that a mistake has been made, and sooner or later someone is going to try to correct their mistake. It is the same thing if you find somone's purse or billfold with a lot of cash in it----you make every prudent effort to find the owner and return every penny of the money. I grew up taught that you don't want anything that you didn't earn unless it is a legitimate gift with no strings attached.
^^^^I agree with what Bullaholic said. ^^^^:clap: It would be stupid to not KNOW that it was a mistake! If you didn't earn the money...........give it back. I seriously doubt anybody in a supervisory position told her that it was NOT a mistake. By the same token, I think a reward IS in order for returning the money......say 10%, maybe.....

[BobcatBenny]

She should delay for a few months ... and she is in the clear.

The way things are headed, that $29K won't be worth $.02 in a few months. :eek:

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if someone sends me a large amount of money that I didn't earn, I'm going to make every effort to talk to a decision-maker of the owner before I spend a dime of that money. Common sense tells me that a mistake has been made, and sooner or later someone is going to try to correct their mistake. It is the same thing if you find somone's purse or billfold with a lot of cash in it----you make every prudent effort to find the owner and return every penny of the money. I grew up taught that you don't want anything that you didn't earn unless it is a legitimate gift with no strings attached.

Bull I admire the Catholic Church.

[Trashman]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if someone sends me a large amount of money that I didn't earn, I'm going to make every effort to talk to a decision-maker of the owner before I spend a dime of that money. Common sense tells me that a mistake has been made, and sooner or later someone is going to try to correct their mistake. It is the same thing if you find somone's purse or billfold with a lot of cash in it----you make every prudent effort to find the owner and return every penny of the money. I grew up taught that you don't want anything that you didn't earn unless it is a legitimate gift with no strings attached.


Not old fashioned. You were obviously raised by good parents who taught you well.:D

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by kaorder1999
whats the old saying? "If its too good good to be true then it probably isnt..."

She knew it was a mistake. If apparantly she was only supposed to get a $29 tip then receiving a 29k tip is obviously a mistake. She knew it and is now playing dumb. Thats what a lot of people nowadays do!
KA, that's not necessarily true. I used to wait tables at a restaurant in Port Aransas where we received ridiculously high tips on a somewhat-regular basis, so I wouldn't necessarily "know" that a huge tip was a mistake based on my own personal previous experience and stories I've heard from other people in the industry (such as the $10k tip from the Donald or the $4k tip from Johnny Depp). I've received tips of $672, $500, and several in the $200-$300 range for tables that ordered less than $150 in food. You just have some notoriously big tippers out there and when they come into town they want to be sure that they're taken care of.

Another thing to consider is that with typical caterers/waiters/bartenders/etc. they have a "bank" they turn in every night. They're paid for the food, but they have to close the credit card or check (with the tip) and run it through the system before they get their tips. Otherwise, they pay for the food and don't get the tip. I've been run out on once or twice and was just out of the money at the end of the night---but was also lucky enough to work at a restaurant where I'd walk with $200-$250 every Friday and Saturday night. Much easier to pay someone's tab with that than with a $29 night.

We can assume from the tip that the total was right around $200, and a couple weeks without $200 for a struggling server is tough. So I can definitely see where the supervisor would just tell the server to run it with the included tip.

Now I'm not claiming to know all the details of this situation and I do realize the difference between the few hundred bucks that I got and $29k. And I agree with KA 100% that she should've done everything possible to actually TALK to someone in charge before her spending spree, especially considering that it was from a university and not an individual. It's not only immoral if you're wrong (can't quite call it stealing because it was given to you, but you can call it deceptive), you also know that $29k is going to come back to bite you hard if you're wrong. The smart thing to do would be to not have spent the money until you TALKED to the customer or one of their supervisors who had knowledge of the event. I guess we'll see all the details come out--what was actually done by the server and whether the university ever received an "I need to talk to you about this bill" call-- in the coming months.

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
KA, that's not necessarily true. I used to wait tables at a restaurant in Port Aransas where we received ridiculously high tips on a somewhat-regular basis, so I wouldn't necessarily "know" that a huge tip was a mistake based on my own personal previous experience and stories I've heard from other people in the industry (such as the $10k tip from the Donald or the $4k tip from Johnny Depp). I've received tips of $672, $500, and several in the $200-$300 range for tables that ordered less than $150 in food. You just have some notoriously big tippers out there and when they come into town they want to be sure that they're taken care of.

Another thing to consider is that with typical caterers/waiters/bartenders/etc. they have a "bank" they turn in every night. They're paid for the food, but they have to close the credit card or check (with the tip) and run it through the system before they get their tips. Otherwise, they pay for the food and don't get the tip. I've been run out on once or twice and was just out of the money at the end of the night---but was also lucky enough to work at a restaurant where I'd walk with $200-$250 every Friday and Saturday night. Much easier to pay someone's tab with that than with a $29 night.

We can assume from the tip that the total was right around $200, and a couple weeks without $200 for a struggling server is tough. So I can definitely see where the supervisor would just tell the server to run it with the included tip.

Now I'm not claiming to know all the details of this situation and I do realize the difference between the few hundred bucks that I got and $29k. And I agree with KA 100% that she should've done everything possible to actually TALK to someone in charge before her spending spree, especially considering that it was from a university and not an individual. It's not only immoral if you're wrong (can't quite call it stealing because it was given to you, but you can call it deceptive), you also know that $29k is going to come back to bite you hard if you're wrong. The smart thing to do would be to not have spent the money until you TALKED to the customer or one of their supervisors who had knowledge of the event. I guess we'll see all the details come out--what was actually done by the server and whether the university ever received an "I need to talk to you about this bill" call-- in the coming months.

I catered for Texas ATM events as an outside coordinator and they when there was a discrepancy it would take an extended period of time to get a response. So we took the AP department a bunch of brisket and sausage one day that we had left over from another campus event and I never had to wait again. My only point is they operate months behind and probably disregarded the phone calls because they assumed the payable amount was valid. If I was the waitress and I called 3 times I would have considered it mine as well. 29k isnt enough to run to Mexico with, but I would have put it into an investment of sorts...

[ronwx5x]

Originally posted by rockdale80
If I was the waitress and I called 3 times I would have considered it mine as well.

And you would have been wrong as well as she was. Of couse I'm assuming she was wrong.

Actually, Rock, you are probably much more sophisticated and would have done everything necessary to insure the $ was yours. I don't believe for a minute you would have left 3 messages and then spent the money.

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by ronwx5x
And you would have been wrong as well as she was. Of couse I'm assuming she was wrong.

Actually, Rock, you are probably much more sophisticated and would have done everything necessary to insure the $ was yours. I don't believe for a minute you would have left 3 messages and then spent the money.

True. I would probably have written a letter and had it delivered certified mail. I would have probably called more than 3 times as well. If I didnt hear back for 2 months though I probably would assume it was mine.

[Sville]

I had this friend;) that received an IRS refund check that was 6k more than expected. He talked to his CPA and CPA said put it into a CD and wait. After 5 years it was all his plus interest.

[kaorder1999]

how do you handle gratuities on your taxes?

[BILLYFRED0000]

If you do this for a living you know what a tip is and what a tip is not. Integrity folks integrity.

[Charlie47]

She was in a bind, desparately needed money, this solved her problem, for a while.:( ;)
She wanted it to be hers!

[jason]

Originally posted by kaorder1999
how do you handle gratuities on your taxes? what gratuities?

;)


my girlfriend works at a golf course and they dont have to declare their tips on their taxes...

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by jason
what gratuities?

;)


my girlfriend works at a golf course and they dont have to declare their tips on their taxes...

But legally she should. Just saying I have a friend that got in deep doo doo for not doing that.

[Farmersfan]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that she knew this was a mistake. Only a real moron would not know. I would hope most people would make the effort to get the mistake cleared up but I also believe because it was labeled "gratuity" then the lady got away with the money and theres nothing the school can do about it. The idea of "Earning" or "Not earning" does not apply because it is a "TIP" for services rendered. The quality of the service and the amount of the gratuity is completely subjective and therefore nobody can actually say she didn't legally "earn" it. And we can't compare it to a IRS refund mistake because everyone knows how much they have coming back on their refund. Compare it to a GIFT. If you give someone a gift and you sign the card stating it is a gift you cannot go back later and claim the gift was too expensive so you want it back. I don't think this is any different.

[Charlie47]

My bank deposited $70,000 in my account that I would have loved to spend, there's just some things that you need to do the right thing and making a sincere effort to get the money back to the right person was it. My bank even assured me they "don't make mistakes". They called back a few days later, with a different attitude.

I sure had some places/things I could have spent it on.:D :doh:

[crzyjournalist03]

Originally posted by jason


my girlfriend works at a golf course

Is that where you picked her up?

[jockcity33]

I would return the money...but if I tried three times and they kept telling me that the money was mine and not theirs then I walk away and buy a new truck.

[Looking4number8]

I would have donated it to the 3ADL

[BuckeyeNut]

It does not matter how much it was. How much is your honor worth??:confused: :confused:

[lulu]

Absolutely unacceptable to keep that money. One knows when something is wrong and I believe this lady knows she did the wrong thing.

Honesty is the best policy.