THEFT IS A terrible thing. During the holiday season, we seem to be surrounded by news stories of incredible generosity, acts of kindness,…all those things that express the goodness in human nature. But, as many of us know, there are those that simply don’t share in those same values. They instead, try to use this season to attempt to take advantage of people during a time when we are most vulnerable. So, I guess we were a little dumbfounded with what occurred this past week. Let me explain, as things played out today…
As you know, we LOVE to do our weekly Facebook Freebie Gold Crown Giveaway of loose gems and jewelry. Sometimes we are able to work with our suppliers to acquire these giveaways, sometime we purchase them, in order to “have a little fun” and serve as a give back to all those that have attributed our success. Last week, we made a purchase of some very unique gemstones that would simply be perfect for a December giveaway. We quickly purchased the parcel of gemstones using Paypal and waited on pins and needles for their arrival….only to later discover, they would never arrive. We DID send payment for the purchase of these gems, but as was our error, we sent the electronic payment to the wrong email address and not the vendor we bought the gems from. That was our mistake. We contacted Paypal, and they agreed we should make try to make contact with this seeming unknown person we had mistakenly sent this payment to, and explain what had happened, which we hoped would inspire them to, with the click of a mouse, do the right thing and return the money that was not supposed to have been deposited in their account.
We soon realized, that this unknown recipient of a sudden cash infusion to their account, was actually a previous customer. With a sigh of relief, we knew they for sure would understand and return the money. We were absolutely shell-shocked, when we finally got their reply email, basically stating they had actually thought about it…and decided they would keep this unexpected cash “wind-fall” and not send it back to us. At first, I was not sure how to react. How does someone actually make a decision like that? Really…they are going to simply keep money that they know is not theirs? (Please note, the way we sent the money, Paypal can not simply do a reversal without the recipients consent.) It’s not like they found money laying on the ground, they found money in a “virtual wallet” with their neighbor name in it, and wants to keep it.
It took a bit to process all of this in my mind, reflecting on my own values, and the 
fact that it’s better to just “let go” of things that sometime disappoint us. There are just those in society that prey on others. But, then again, maybe this person is in a financial pinch, perhaps they are trying to feed their children and are finding it hard to stick to “doing the right thing.” Makes you wonder what values they are demonstrating to their own family and friends.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Friends, as it would be with each of you, the money we lost was not the issue, as much as the principle of the matter. My only regret, is that at least for this week, we won’t be able to do our weekly Facebook Freebie Gold Crown Giveaway. For this we do apologies…but we should be back with one next week.
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