A friend of mine (call him Bill) recently won a number of CD's from a radio contest.They were sent to his house; upon receiving them, he realized that he really didn't like any of the bands or performers.
The next day, he took the CD's (still in their shrink wrapping) to a store and "returned" them. (He said he had lost the receipt.) The store clerk scanned the bar codes and then gave Bill $90 in store credit, which he then used to get a bunch of new CD's.
When he told me this, I was appalled and told him that what he did was unethical. John said that it wasn't unethical because the store "took back" merchandise which it would then sell. I said that his "returning" the CD's to the store would throw off the accounting; he said it wouldn't. Finally, I said that even if there were no financial harm done to the store,what he did was still pretty low.
What do you think?
8 comments:
Although Bill’s action of returning the CDs in exchange for money was pretty low, it’s hard to blame him for what he did. Not knowing Bill’s financial status, I can assume that having an extra $90 to spend on other CDs wouldn’t hurt. With that being said, it’s not like the store clerk gave Bill $90 in cash, in which he would be able to use it wherever, which would be a completely different story. Initially, when Bill signed up for the radio contest, I’m sure he expected the CDs to be filled with great music that he genuinely enjoyed listening to, however, when he realized he didn’t like any of the music, the decision of exchanging the CDs with ones he liked was cunning. Moreover, the store could easily sell the CDs to someone who would put them to better use, in comparison to sitting in Bill’s garage and being easily forgotten. Overall, I wouldn’t necessarily say Bill is a snake, but I’d rather say he’s smart and quite manipulative.
What Bill did is something I personally wouldn't do or recommend but at the same time like what Priyanka said, you can't really blame Bill. The store will make back the profit from the CDS he gave back. However at the same time, it will take long for that 89 dollars to be made back compare to the 89 store credit he immediately used. At the same time, Bill could have done something more ethical like give it away since he didnt pay to be in the contest. Bill made a switch of the CDS. It is low to do considering that you should just accept what you got but at the same time Bill took a chance to get better CDS and got his chance and succeeded.
Ok, Bill clearly was not going to get any use out of the CD’s, that he won fair and square, still the choice that he made of lying about purchasing them was not justified. It is reasonable to want to exchange something you do not want, and in today’s world that is so easy to do. Bill could have gone onto Amazon or Ebay and sold them for a larger profit on there— with the money from that he would be able to buy anything he wants, not just get a store credit. He lied to an innocent sales clerk and because of Bill, someone will realize something is off with the numbers when they are counting and stocking the CD’s and guess what: Bill won’t get in trouble, someone else will!! Hey Bill, are those CD’s so important to you now that you’ve cost someone their job? Nice going bud.
In my opinion, what Bill did was unethical and rude. It’s extremely ungrateful seeing as he received a bunch of CDs for free, and gave them away without even appreciating that he had them. With the number of CDs he received, it’s unlikely that he didn’t have any friends or relatives who would like at least one of the CDs. Also, it’s just a douche move to take a bunch of things that you got as a gift and throw off a store’s register to buy some CDs that are up to your standards. What was the point in calling in if you don’t like the CDs they gave you? There are people out there who called and hoped to get those CDs. But no. You got them and you don’t even appreciate them. And you’re selfish because you won’t even give any of them away as gifts. Do better, Bill.
I understand why Bill's actions can be viewed as low, but I do not think what he did was completely unethical. He did not really cheat anyone through this whole situation. The store gave him $90 in store credit, not cash. He was essentially receiving the same prize value the radio station gave him, but instead he was getting something he could actually enjoy. The store would also be able to re-sell the initial CDs to someone who would want them, therefore putting them to better use. Had Bill received cash instead of store credit, then I would most definitely agree that this was completely immoral as he would then be taking advantage of the radio station and the store. It was wrong of Bill to lie about the receipt as this could potentially throw off the store's financial records. Although I understand Bill's actions, I personally would not do something like this due to the potential consequences that may follow.
I feel like even though Bill's returning of the CD's for his own personal gain was selfish and low, I don't think its right to say it was completely unethical and no one should ever do something like that. To begin, like others have said, from returning the CD's to the store, he received in store credit, its not like they gave him $90 back that he could use for whatever he wanted. If that was the case then I'd consider what he did some type of mean scam but the fact that the store wasn't really losing anything by giving him $90 back. I can't really blame Bill for his somewhat creative but low idea since in his mind, he most likely thought he wasn't hurting the business of the store at all but if I was in his place, I would have avoided lying. Instead, Bill could have sold the original CDs online or to someone who was willing to buy them and use that money he earned to buy CDs he actually enjoys.
Billy’s decision to “return” the cds was not ethical, because he lied, but it isn't that bad. First of all, he did not steal anything, only traded something he didn't like and wasn't going to use for something that had value to him. Secondly, he traded them in and got an amount of cds for cds of equal worth. This means that the store didn't lose any money because they regained the same amount of money by taking the won items. Lastly, this could even be beneficial for the store. Now, the store will have more cds that another customer might like. For example, let's just say that the cds he traded in were actually fairly popular. This may mean that the store is making money by selling their extra copies instead of having copies of cds that might not have been sold or that aren't as popular. Not only is it hurting the store but stores deal with misscounts all the time so it wouldn't make that much of a difference if one more cd was added to a collection of that same cd. Overall, Bill didn't hurt anyone in the process, it was only a couple of cds, and he didn't do anything illegal, therefore it was totally ok for him to trade the cds. While the stores count might be slightly messed up, they were not losing any money and they were not losing any merchandise. It is also their fault that they don't have a better system that would stop this from happening. If it really made that much of a difference to the store then they wouldn't take cds without a receipt.
This post is now closed! (Finally)
Post a Comment