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Anks329
November 19, 2008 3:18 AM
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wow, that's really impressive.

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Yankees368
November 19, 2008 3:19 AM
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Wow...i'm not sure if I would do the same in these circumstances. Pretty impressive!

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mariospants
November 19, 2008 3:58 PM
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@Yankees368: Same here, I doubt that I would have paid for it after the fact. Essentially, he did TRY to pay for it but the company had technical issues beyond his control. I think this client deserves full lifetime free upgrades and support.


Us NA's have had the image of the ROW peopled by raving lunatics in hijabs burning effigies of Ronald McDonald in the street thanks to the news media (but frankly, why would the news show anybody in another country unless something bad is happening?). My experiences with contractors working in Singapore, Pakistan and India serve as reminders that there are more good people in this world than bad.


Kudos.

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Con Seannery
November 21, 2008 5:57 AM
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@Gstein: Naturist Albinos, Rabid Online Werewolves?

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cwsterling
November 19, 2008 3:21 AM
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@Yankees368: that is exactly what I thought when I read this....its a shame that more people can't be like this.

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jumpo64
November 19, 2008 3:22 AM
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My grandfather owned a small tractor and lawnmower business in Ohio. He was a WW2 veteran, and was probably the most honest man I've ever known. At his funeral, someone told me a story of the first time someone passed a bad check at his business (and never returned). He was unable to believe that someone would be as dishonest as that, especially signing their name to it. He lived in a generation where your name was often all you had. Your name was your word. I had to laugh considering how the world has become now, with probably a thousand bad checks passed in a day. It shows how the world has changed in 50+ years. Good to see that immigrants are bringing an honest mentality to the US, god knows we could use some.

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MrEvil
November 19, 2008 4:24 PM
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@jumpo64: Back in my granddad's day you didn't have a checkbook. There were counter checks everywhere. When you wrote a check for something you just scratched out the name of the bank and scribbled in your own if the check wasn't from your bank. My dad found a box full of old bank statements, ledgers, and canceled checks my grandfather had written, many of which had the name of the bank X'd out and his bank's name written in its place.

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LoganAdams
November 19, 2008 9:09 PM
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@MrEvil: I remember those, and I'm only 23. We had them at a lot of businesses in the town where I grew up. People put their name and account number on the check and signed it, and that was that. I haven't seen one in years, though. They fell out of favor because a bunch of people in town changed from being the salt of the earth to being the scum of the earth.

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BeFrugalNotCheap
November 19, 2008 3:13 PM
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@jumpo64: Your grandfather was a good man. People like him will be missed. My folks still write checks (debit card? No thanks) and the thought of passing a bad check, even by mistake, is unthinkable in their eyes.

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Wormfather is Wormfather
November 19, 2008 2:39 PM
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@jumpo64: Just another reason I support strong immigration reforms!

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uchari
November 19, 2008 4:03 AM
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@jumpo64: give those immigrants 3 years to became a dishonest consumer :P

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weakdome
November 19, 2008 3:22 AM
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I used a mail server software that I once felt was incredibly underpriced, and every year I used it I would send the owner/programmer an additional $25 donation around Christmas time. It's a good feeling.

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Angiol
November 19, 2008 4:01 AM
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@stopNgoBeau: I'm guessing he means the owner was the programmer; i.e., it was a single person job.

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KyleOrton
November 19, 2008 3:23 AM
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I hope this is a sign of immigration reform. Skills in medical, engineering or sports fields used to get someone a green card faster than an unskilled worker. Maybe now they've realized the US needs conscientious, upstanding citizens and made that a priority.

Hopefully the guy didn't get the money from a 110% of value, zero-down stated-income home loan on a 4500 sf house.

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EdinaHumphrey
November 19, 2008 4:58 PM
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@KyleOrton: Hmm...Is the suggestion that immigrants who get home loans are more likely to default? The Wall Street Journal reported a while back that ITIN mortgages--those obtained with an individual taxpayer identification number, vs. a Social Security number--which are most likely obtained by immigrants, have a delinquency rate of 0.5%, compared with the 9.3% delinquency rate for subprime loans.

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thesadtomato
November 19, 2008 3:24 AM
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Reminds me of the Windows 3.11 games I had on my computer years ago. The About box would always ask you to send the developer $10 at his home address in Armpit, Iowa. I still feel guilty . . .

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Trick
November 19, 2008 3:59 AM
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I sold a box of laptop memory (22 X 256MB PC2100) on eBay for next to nothing and the shipping charge was just enough to cover the shipping cost.

About a week after receiving the memory the buyer sent another $20 because he thought I was a very honest seller, was impressed that there was 24 chips (I put 24 by mistake, I guess I'm not good at counting) and just wanted to say thanks for the great transaction.

There are good people here in the US. People who sell and honest product and people who pay an honest amount for the product and even a bonus if the service is really good.

This story was really nice.

What a shame there are a few scumbags who ruin it for the rest of the good people here in the USA.

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uchari
November 19, 2008 4:09 AM
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I (immigrant) think \"behaving\" is part of our culture but at the same time there are some scumbags immigrants too so lets say that we have everything in this world.

But reading this post, It's good to remember that we have to be as that person... we need to change this world... or at least our neighborhood.

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mariospants
November 19, 2008 4:02 PM
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@uchari: That's so true. I have Somali friends (we have a lot of them here in my city) who refuse to go Walmarts where there are predominantly other Somalis. In his words \"they're rude, smelly and dishonest.\" Too funny.

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MustyBuckets
November 19, 2008 5:13 AM
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@Angiol: I'm guessing stopNgoBeau means 'Which program', not if some stranger sent money to one stranger or another stranger.

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weakdome
November 19, 2008 5:45 AM
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@weakdome: The program was \"Argosoft Mail\", and as far as I could tell the owner and the programmer/designer were all the same person. I don't know if it still exists or if it's still supported, but I remember \"Artie\" would always answer any and all techsupport emails personally, within 12 hours. I don't get that kind of response time from software I've paid 10x the money for!

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catastrophegirl chooses not to fly
November 19, 2008 6:24 AM
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there are still some honest people out there! when i worked at walt disney world guest services, people turned in loose cash at least once a month to lost and found.

it kind of made up for the times that people came up to lost and found and asked if they could root through the bin of lost cameras because 'they didn't remember exactly what brand theirs was' [no, you DON'T get to look at lost and found and just pick out things you want]

for the record - if the cash wasn't claimed it went to charity, along with the coins from the fountains. to claim lost cash at disney you have to describe where you might have lost it, how it was folded and what denominations

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RodAox
November 19, 2008 6:39 AM
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Kudos to the guy...

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aristan
November 19, 2008 6:40 AM
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Wow, what a great story. Though it's a tad sad that we all get so surprised by someone doing the right thing. And bravo to the company for actually admitting that they made a mistake that lead to the whole problem.

If the customer was indeed from Pakistan, he may have been a Muslim. One of my friends who is a Muslim once told me that many forms of debt are not halal, meaning that they are forbidden by islamic law. I know that he told me that while he always paid his credit cards off completely because incurring a debt to pay a debt was definitely against Islamic law.

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S-the-K
November 19, 2008 2:12 PM
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@aristan: I think it is because Pakistan is an Islamic country where they chop off hands for theft. He probably had many sleepless nights that the company would have the Islam Police come to his house and chop off his hands for [inadvertently] stealing software.

Sending a check to pay for it was probably his way of assuaging his conscience (as well as being halal) of not being a thief.

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Anonymous
November 27, 2008 11:44 AM
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@S-the-K: \"where they chop off hands for theft\"

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JustThatGuy3
November 19, 2008 2:26 PM
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@S-the-K:


Yes, because all those Islamic countries are exactly the same.

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godlyfrog
November 20, 2008 2:16 AM
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@JustThatGuy3: It's all in the reading. You apparently read it to mean that Islamic countries all cut off the hands, where I read it to mean that it was an Islamic country where they cut off hands.

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aristan
November 19, 2008 6:43 AM
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@aristan: \"...always paid his credit cards off completely every month because...\"

(couldn't we used to edit these?)

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gibbersome
November 19, 2008 6:47 AM
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What a nice surprise, I wonder how long till America changes him. :)

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redkamel
November 19, 2008 7:35 AM
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my american friends NEVER understand my views on my money. Which is, I never ever borrow. My friends can give me money, and I always return the money, or a favor. It sounds like I am borrowing, but its more like we just share our money, and if anyone feels they are getting screwed, they stop. or ask for money. But no records are kept. I hate \"owing money\". I'd rather have a friend I know has given to me in the past, so I will give in the future.

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MasterShazbot
November 20, 2008 1:02 AM
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@redkamel:

It's the same with my friends. The way we look at it is we've been friends for 15 years, and hope to be friends for many more years. Over time it all balances out, and even if it doesn't, who cares? We had a lot of fun doing it at the time.

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TheWillow
November 19, 2008 3:57 PM
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@redkamel: My friends and I tend to be on the \"I'll get it this time, you get it next time\" plan - I figure at this point we all owe each other about a half a million bucks, so who cares.

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RandaPanda
November 19, 2008 7:56 PM
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@TheWillow: That's how me and my friends are. We're constantly telling each other \"I'll get it this time.\" (mostly Taco Bell) And we're all figure we owe each other enough to pay our rents for the next 3 months.

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MrEvil
November 19, 2008 4:28 PM
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@TheWillow: Same here, my friends and I all work on a Pay it Forward kinda deal. Helped my friend move last weekend into a new apartment. Guy spent all his dough on renting the moving truck so I sprang for some 4 way dollies and an Appliance dolly. I don't sweat it because he's helped me out in the past and friendship is worth more to me than $33.

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NitrousO
November 19, 2008 9:01 AM
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Thats the sort of person that causes you to keep a little faith in humanity. Honest, intelligent, and with a functioning moral compass.

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Triterion
November 19, 2008 11:37 PM
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@NitrousO: Yeah, if I were an alien about to destroy the human race i'd stop for a second when I saw that guy... but just for one second.

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CountryJustice
November 19, 2008 12:39 PM
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This story makes me happy.

I do customer service work for a large publishing house and have direct daily contact with many many customers in the middle east. It's been my experience that they are some of the most humble, most honest, and friendliest, people of anywhere on the planet. That the protagonist of this story is Pakistani makes complete sense to me and totally aligns with everything I've come to know about the people and their culture.

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AliyaBabasaur
November 19, 2008 1:24 PM
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@CountryJustice: Pakistan is not in the Middle East. It's in South Asia. Just because its a Muslim country doesn't mean its Middle Eastern.

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AliyaBabasaur
November 19, 2008 6:28 PM
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@CountryJustice: you said you delt with people in the Middle East and that given your knowledge of Middle Eastern culture it didn't surprise you that this gentleman was from Pakistan ...Totally different part of the world, totally different culture

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AliyaBabasaur
November 19, 2008 6:23 PM
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@CountryJustice: Maybe if you were South Asian and CONSTANTLY CALLED MIDDLE EASTERN and then when you corrected people they said 'its all the same thing' you'd be a little touchy too...

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ConroyCotta
November 19, 2008 1:34 PM
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I don't find this \"Above & Beyond\". A similar situation happened to me. I payed $200 to my dentist via his website. My account with the dentist was credited, but the money never came out of my checking account. I called them, they said they'd fix it, and never did. So after 2 months I went into the office and wrote them a check for the $200. If you intend to purchase something and don't follow through with payment it's stealing.

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oregongal
November 19, 2008 6:15 PM
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@ConroyCotta: I had this happen as well only with the Mom & Pop oil change business in town. For whatever reason, their machine wasn't working so they did the old-fashioned CC paper one (ya know, the pressed and handwritten style). It never processed out of my acct even though I had accounted for it. A couple of months later I called them and they never even realized it hadn't cleared. I went in next day and gave them cash since the card machine was on fritz again lol. They wanted to give me discount on next oil change but I declined. I owed so no favor was due me.

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EyeHeartPie
November 19, 2008 1:42 PM
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@ConroyCotta: Considering he was in a different country, and the company had no way to make him pay or to report him for non-payment, the fact that the first thing he did when coming to the US was to pay off a debt a year and a half old is remarkable. And rare.

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Traveshamockery
November 19, 2008 1:37 PM
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Neither honesty nor dishonesty know any borders.

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tempest667
November 19, 2008 1:42 PM
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Had a similar thing happen to me when I ordered HDMI cables from a vendor. They used the Yahoo Checkout. I paid and I noticed they credited and debited the transaction within seconds of each other. The cables arrived a few days later and I recieved a call explaining the problem and asking if I would mind if they actually charged me for the cables. I agreed (they held up their end of the deal) and we both were happy. I got a good deal on cables and they got paid.

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bravo369
November 19, 2008 2:04 PM
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Sounds like he's a customer you want to keep. I would try to do something nice for him in return. If you have a newer version of the software, give it to him for free or give him 20% off. things like that might make him a customer for life or at least build up the reputation of the company so others will buy the software too

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seamer
November 19, 2008 2:08 PM
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I don't think it's anything racial, there's good and bad people all over the world. When your product is really good, your customers reflect that.

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scootinger
November 19, 2008 6:48 PM
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@seamer: I don't think that anyone thinks it's about race, but more about culture and how the other culture's values are different than ours.

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rick_in_texas
November 19, 2008 2:35 PM
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@seamer:


I agree. I work with a lady from Iran and I will never, ever again loan her money. She \"forgets\" and needs to be constantly reminded or else if the period of time is too long (because of her delays) she then claims she already paid. Once we went out to eat and she pulled up in her Rolls Royce (her husband is filthy rich) and proceeded to stiff the waiter on a tip (after arguing that all she ate was a salad and drank water...I know she drank SOUP and ate a Salad and drank tea). I went back in and gave the waiter her share of the missing meal and the tip.


I will never again loan HER money. I have other Iranian friends who aren't such cheapskates!

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YaleLentulus
November 19, 2008 2:27 PM
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I guess this is what 30-odd years of greed mentality by corporations has done to this country. We are absolutely shocked and awed when someone performs an act of honesty that would have been considered the norm 50 or 100 years ago. I'm constantly reminded of that infamous \"greed is good\" speech by the Gordon Gekko character in the 80s movie Wall St. If you ever want to understand why the economy is in its current state of affairs, rent that movie. I personally know of at least 2 people who used to work on Wall St who said their whole motivation for getting into finance was that Gordon Gekko character, and they viewed him as a hero and role model.

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Wormfather is Wormfather
November 19, 2008 2:37 PM
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I blame the customer, fully and wholy

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vastrightwing
November 19, 2008 2:52 PM
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I like to pay people who do work for me as soon as possible and with a tip. I don't do this because I'm a particularly nice guy; I do it because I people to like working for me and when I need them to be responsive, they are. They'll go out of their way to help me first, and they do it because I pay them without them having to pester me and I over pay a little to show my appreciation of a good job. Not being nice, it's being practical.

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Snakeophelia
November 19, 2008 3:04 PM
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Pakistan is a world away from Maine, but they must share the same honesty gene pool. About 8 years ago, I visited an island off the coast of Maine and fell in love with some pottery at a local store. They only took checks, and all I had was my credit card. So they allowed me to walk out of their store with $150 worth of pottery and nothing more than a kiss and a promise to mail them a check for it when I got back to Philly. They didn't even write down my driver's license info - just my name and purported address.

Of course I mailed them a check the minute I got home. That kind of trust just can't be abused. I hope they're still that trusting! Or perhaps they now take CC's and verify them first...

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Ninja Tree
November 19, 2008 3:40 PM
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It's nice to see honest people. heck make his next purchase free, He didn't need to do that, although he probably felt bad for scamming the store.

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sruss13
November 19, 2008 3:42 PM
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It is really sad that we get so shocked when people do the right thing, but it happens so often that they don't. The coffee shop near my office had computer problems one day and couldn't take cards, but I didn't have cash. They gave me my bagel, etc. and wrote down the total, telling me I could pay the next time I came in. They did this for everyone without cash. When I went back a few days later I showed them the paper and asked them to add the 3.50 or whatever to my bill. The cashier was shocked and had to ask someone else what to do - apparently, I was the only person in three or four days who came back to pay. And this was a busy shop.

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animeredith
November 19, 2008 4:30 PM
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@sruss13: I'm always amazed at places that do this. My current work is like that, we often just let people who forgot their wallet or are short a couple of dollars take their crepes with the promise that they'll pay us later. We don't even keep track of it. It's hard for me to get used to that kind of trust, especially since my previous job was at a beer&wine (and you can't trust ANY of those mofos, they're always trying to get one over on you).

Surprisingly, almost everyone comes back later to pay us. There are more honest people out there than you'd think.

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quizmasterchris
November 19, 2008 3:46 PM
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And where are we attacking right now? Pakistan! Because we're morally superior... ahem...

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nsv
November 19, 2008 4:09 PM
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I bought a piece of handmade jewelry for a gift. Everything was done over the phone, the artist mailed it to me expecting I'd send a check. Since the amount we agreed on was relatively cheap, I figured it wouldn't be much to look at.

It was fantastic, and the person I gave it to loved it. I sent a much larger check than was requested.

I didn't think that was strange. I paid what I thought she earned. Is that uncommon?

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hhole
November 19, 2008 4:16 PM
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In many parts of the world, debt, even owed to those in distant countries is a huge issue from a cultural standpoint. I am confident that the buyer was concerned about making sure that debt was paid the moment he knew it was a debt and not a freebie.

Thanks for the story!

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scoosdad
November 19, 2008 4:29 PM
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'Course the software cost $50 and the check he sent was for $10,000 with the instructions to take the $50 out of it and wire the rest back by Western Union....

...just kidding.

Nice story.

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Rachacha
November 19, 2008 4:41 PM
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Was the guy from Nigeria, and was the check for more than the services rendered? Just Kidding.


It is truly a good story. I try to be this way as well, but mostly as it seems that when I profit from the mistake of a business (or individual), I get bit in the @$$ by karma.

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xkevin108x
November 19, 2008 5:21 PM
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I don't think his honesty has anything to do with being from another country and to me saying so is anti-American.

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pecan 3.14159265
November 19, 2008 5:25 PM
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I agree that good deeds and goodwill toward others has no ethnic boundaries, just as ill will toward others is the same.

I once received a paycheck for a holiday I didn't work. It was a significant sum of money, but I gave it back because I fully believe that good deeds will reward you in the future, in many ways. If anything, to avoid the shame and guilt that will inevitably hover over an honest person's head.

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crazyshoes
November 19, 2008 7:05 PM
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@CountryJustice & AliyaBabasaur: You should clearly be arguing about this more.

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AliyaBabasaur
November 19, 2008 7:19 PM
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@crazyshoes:You'd be sensitive about it too if you were in my shoes... other desis here know what i'm talking about

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AustinTXProgrammer
November 19, 2008 8:09 PM
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I had a $1300 debit fail to go through at Sams Club. I ended up returning the purchase and they had to get a manger because debit is refunded in cash.

I specifically told him it hadn't hit my bank account and something was wrong. He disappeared for 20 minutes and came back with the cash.

I tried to call later but he didn't return my call. I gave up and figured my membership fees have been prebated for the next 26 years.

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Gamer1128
November 20, 2008 3:27 PM
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If the many great leaders of Pakistan were like this guy, it would be a completely different place.

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Garbanzo
November 20, 2008 4:04 PM
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A little while ago I tried to be an honest customer. Through Amazon marketplace I ordered a replacement for an item I use daily, which had broken. I bought and paid for product A, and instead I received product B, a better version which cost $100 more. I contacted the seller and wound up taking time off work to go to the post office to ship it back to him. He seemed really blown away by my honesty, so I kindof expected him to ship my product out the day he received my return, but I could tell by tracking numbers he actually waited a few days. Grrr.

When the next package finally arrived, something like a full two weeks after I placed the original order, I opened it up and found...another (different) one of product B.

I polled a dozen people I know, including some I highly respect for their integrity, and they uniformly said that I should just keep and enjoy product B, so I did.

Later I realized that if the device breaks down I probably won't be able to get warranty service, since I don't have a receipt for product B. So karma could yet bite me in the ass on this one.

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lestat730
November 24, 2008 12:23 AM
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It is always good to hear about honest people doing the right thing, especially when it happens to you. When I visited Niagara Falls in Canada my wallet fell out during a ride in a large barrel shaped chamber with a screen that simulated going over the falls while shaking a whole lot. Only after I walked the 45 minutes back to the hotel did I realize it was gone. I literally ran the entire way back knowing I'd probably not find it. When I got there, the young man running the ride came right up to me and gave my wallet back.. cash, credit cards, and everything else still intact. He was so happy to have had the chance to return it to me and even happier when I gave him something to thank him (which he didn't expect and refused it until I insisted.) I really like to think that all people are basically good at heart and that doing the right thing feels good and is a reward all in itself. Of course I know there will always be the bad apples, but I like to keep faith in people.

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Anonymous
November 24, 2008 4:41 PM
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This story makes me feel very optimistic. I am a big fan of honesty.

What I don't get is when a mistake is made (by consumer or company) that hurts the consumer, the consumer is so quick to point it out and it's fixed, no questions or fight. When a mistake is made that puts the consumer at an advantage, the consumer says nothing. How is this ok? How is it not seen as stealing?

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Tonguetied
November 24, 2008 9:40 PM
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Nothing against this gentleman and more power to him but please keep in mind that other cultures have a far more pervasive and corrupting practice of requiring regular bribes to carry out the most basic civil services. Also the reason why a site like consumerist is so successful is that ripoffs and poor customer service are the exception and not the norm. If you knew that trying to get your phone service fixed automatically required a payoff to the technician coming to your house and that there was no hope whatsoever for a refund for bad merchandise then complaining via such forums as The Consumerist would be nothing but a waste of time.

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Anonymous
November 27, 2008 1:57 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I took a red-eye flight from California to Philly and left my iPod on the plane inside the front pocket. When the plane landed early in the morning in Philly, I was sleeping and after the plane docked I was half sleep and got off the plane without checking the pocket. Since I do not use my iPod very often and only during flights, I didnt even realize I had left it on the plane. After 3 days, some guy called me on my home number and said he had my iPod and needed the mailing address to ship it to me. At that point I remembered I didnt take my iPod from the front pocket. I was quite shocked that he actually called me and returned the iPod via FedEx which he refused to take the money for. Now the reason he had my number to call me was when I bought the iPod I had engraved my name and home number on the back side of it.... remember it was for free in the beginning and people had made fun of me that no one is this honest that they would return a lost iPod. I think when I bought it it was $399. I guess in the back of my mind I still had faith in humanity.

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