Is is “illegal” for a business in Canada to retain or unreasonably refuse to return a duplicate payment received by them?
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Is is “illegal” for a business in Canada to retain or unreasonably refuse to return a duplicate payment received by them?
We have shown this entity that they cashed a duplicate payment by our company (we are US based) and for months now they have avoided refunding the amount – claiming for example they are waiting for their bank to investigate, when that should be a simple process of verifying the deposits (and we provided copies of both checks which were in turn paid by our bank).
Asked on June 21, 2013 under Business Law, New Jersey
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Yes, it is illegal: a business may not keep more than the agreed-upon price or charge for a service or product, so if they do not return a duplicate payment, they have certainly given rise to grounds to sue them--which, however, may not be cost effective, especially when dealing with a foreign corporation. You could try reporting the matter to their local authorities, but be aware that the police are almost certainly going to say that this is just a "civil" matter--the police often refuse to get involved in disputes between customers and merchants, unless out-and-fraud, coercion, etc. can be shown. (Also: for this to be criminal--as opposed to "just" something giving rise to grounds for civil liabiltiy--you'd have to show a criminal mindset or intention or their part, which can be very difficult.) Therefore, there may be effectively no recourse open to you, even though what they are doing is illegal.
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