In this situation it turned out we had
two dummies: owlgames sent the BTC incorrectly to the forum, and then
I sent his refund to the wrong address. I'd been referring to my previous notes on how to do the refund correctly, and I sent the BTC to the
last person who overpaid, since their address was still in my notes and I forgot to change it this time. (Now I've rewritten these notes to remove addresses...)
I thought there was little chance of getting the BTC back, since the last person who overpaid looked fairly anonymous, and in any case they were probably using an exchange address or something. So I refunded owlgames properly in a new transaction, and I expected to just eat the cost. But surprisingly, the person who got this random $1000,
EZ0010, returned the BTC ~immediately. Thanks to him!
The lessons:
- There are good, honest people in the world.
-
Always double-check your addresses before sending, even when you've done the exact same type of transaction a million times before.
there was a note that any larger amount sent to the address will not be refunded.
Some wallets/exchanges don't let you send below a certain amount. If you overpay due to that, then your payment will be accepted, but that small amount will not be refunded. You also won't be refunded if you're banned or change your mind about paying. But accidental overpayments are refunded.