Reply #12: Numbers one and three would not be stealing [View All]

[skygazer]

But when you borrow something, it is implicit in the agreement that you recognize that the item is not your own. It is not the responsibility of the lender to ask for it back but of the borrower to return it. If the term of the loan is unspecified, it is still the borrowers responsibility to return it at some point so if it is never returned, that is not ethical. Perhaps calling it theft would be overstating since technically, the term of the loan could still be in force until the death of either of the parties but it's not nice.

I also don't consider it theft per se when one keeps the change that one has been overpaid but I do consider it dishonest and unethical when they've noticed the error but kept it anyway. Particularly when you consider that the money will likely come out of the clerk's pocket rather than that of the company and the clerk is probably making shitty wages to begin with.