Your Wife is…there is no use in fighting it…they are in control of the (computer) money and they will deduct it from her account whenever they want and for any reason that makes sense…

If the bank benefited from a mistake you made, how would you want them to act?

I can assure you that were this done at my bank, you would be paying that money back. Yes there was a clerical error on the part of the bank, but your wife knew how much was supposed to be on that card. She should have taken the card back when she realized there had been an error.

However, they do have reserve loss accounts set aside for just that reason. Some poor teller or CSR got into a lot of trouble for that $200. I would CALMLY talk to the branch manager about this. Maybe they will work with you on it, consider a payment plan.

Good luck. They are both wrong.

the bank

Keeping in mind I’m not a lawyer…..

According the the Uniform Commercial Code banking laws, Article 4 states the following:

§ 4-401. WHEN BANK MAY CHARGE CUSTOMER’S ACCOUNT.

(a) A bank may charge against the account of a customer an item that is properly payable from that account even though the charge creates an overdraft. An item is properly payable if it is authorized by the customer and is in accordance with any agreement between the customer and bank.

(b) A customer is not liable for the amount of an overdraft if the customer neither signed the item nor benefited from the proceeds of the item.

So, as I read this, since your wife did authorized the purchase, and did benefit from it, the will be held liable for the cost.

Yeah, it sucks. But you know bankers.

If the gift card was for just $100.00 would you ask for the rest of the money?

It does not matter who is responsible for the mistake, you will have to give the bank back there money. This happens all the time and the banks money was spent by your wife.
It may seem unfair to you but it is the banks money in the end.

Probably the bank, but if this is a bank you do a lot of business with it would be best for her to pay it back. Plus, she knew it should only be for $300 so she should do the right thing.

are you going to take advantage of someone error. you may get the person that sold you the card in trouble or is two hundred dollars that important to you that you would take the monet under false pretenses. talk to all the higher ups you want and they will tell you the same thing. you took the money knowing to much was on the card. your good name at a bank will go a lot farther than that two hundred dollars. think about that the next time you apply for a loan or their is an error on your account. if you added you deposit ticket wrong and deposited more than you wrote down is that your fault or the bank’s fault. it will come back to bite you in the ass if you keep the money. if you spent the money and can’t pay it back in one lump sum then i am sure the higher up’s would work something out to where you could pay on installments. an honest mistake is one thing, but knowing is down right theft.

I think at the end you will probably pay it back one way or another. But one thing you can demand from the bank is an apology for making such a stupid mistake. What would have happened if you gave the card away as, let’s say, a graduation gift to your boss’s son. You can’t go to him and tell him to pay you $200 back. The bank should not assume you have used the money. If I were you, I would give the money back in exchange for a written apology.