Bank error in your favor, collect $6 million

Oh sure, maybe your life isn’t going so hot right now, financially speaking, but for a few residents of Secret Pirate Island, in today’s economy, they can’t afford to not be millionaires.

A New Zealand couple were mistakenly given 10 million dollars by their bank. Apparently, it is now on like Donkey Kong. Help from Interpol, those dastardly international do-gooders, has been requested. It’s suspected that the couple have fled to Hong Kong with the money. That’ll buy a whole lot of chicken feet.

Comparatively speaking, it might be kind of fun to live that sort of life, always being on the run, buying yachts that lead to boat chases on the high seas, probably wearing sweet t-shirt/suit combinations.

The company wants its money back

Normal people losing money, that’s one thing. You can almost set your watch to it, truth told. But a big corporate company losing a bunch of money inadvertently? That’s not just odd — that’s real.

Oh, and they’d like the money back. KTHNXBYE=).

Unceremoniously (but, sadly, not out of the norm in these current times), Microsoft laid off 1400 employees. 25 of those unfortunate few became fortunate, as they were apparently overpaid in their severance packages. Score! Woo-hoo! Bonus! Take that, big business!

AHEM. Done yet? Because Microsoft would very much like amount returned them in one monetary form or another. A letter from the House that Bill Built to the employees stated:

“We ask that you repay the overpayment and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to you,”

Said letter then made its way onto the intarwubs. Much lamenting ensued. Also, photos of kittens. So, is there a happy ending to the story?

Actually, yes, there is a happy ending. Lisa Brummel, Microsoft’s senior vice president for human resources, called most of the 25 employees, telling them they could keep the money.

“I decided it didn’t quite feel right.”

That’s kind of her and the company. I mean, it’s not like making the employees pay back the money wouldn’t have been a total marketing nightmare in this day and age. A much imagined monolithic company (once investigated for holding a monopoly) forcing a bunch of laid off former employees to pay back a screw-up on the company’s fault? Nope, no way, no how, no problem at all with that marketing image at all.