<p>I know it is unethical, but sometimes you have to put ethics aside.</p>
<p>The computer company provided horrible customer service. They first never returned my e-mails. When they finally returned my e-mails, they called me impatient.</p>
<p>I will give you a situation. Pretend somebody treated you bad and then they come to you and ask you for help with something. Would you help them? If it is not a life and death situation, I wouldn’t help them.</p>
<p>This is the same thing with the computer company (only it involves money). Should I go out of my way to contact them about their mistake? I wouldn’t.</p>
<p>“I know it is unethical, but sometimes you have to put ethics aside.”</p>
<p>You’re trying to convince a group of dedicated and honest people that it’s okay to cheat and steal. One of the nice things about this forums is care and concern for others and that many parents can look at the transaction from the point of view of the company or its workers. If you make a mistake in your life or in school, do you want to be treated poorly by the party on the opposite side?</p>
<p>A good reputation is something that is earned by honorable living over a long period of time. So that those around you trust you to do the right thing, even when noone is looking. A good reputation is destroyed in an instant. It is very, very hard to go from a bad reputation to a good reputation.</p>
<p>Many of the parents here have been in many positions where they’ve had to make ethical decisions and they’ve lived with the consequences of those decisions. The collective wisdom of this group of wise parents is pretty clear. Perhaps you think you know more than the hundreds or thousands of years of experience of the parents here. But we have seen it all before.</p>
<p>“I know it is unethical, but sometimes you have to put ethics aside.”</p>
<p>Once you put ethics aside, they’re nearly impossible to recover. You have to choose the kind of person you want to be. Make your choice and stop asking honest people to agree with your assertion that dishonesty is acceptable behavior.</p>
<p>Are you willing to pay for this laptop if/when the computer company figures out their mistake and sends you an invoice, or perhaps just charges your credit card?</p>
<p>How I am dishonest? Did I lie to the computer company or the credit card company? No I didn’t.</p>
<p>I will give you another example. Pretend you broke one of your Mom’s figures. She first doesn’t find out about it, but then later she figures out you broke her figure. You then admit that you broke her figure. </p>
<p>Did you lie to your Mom? No, because she never asked you about it.</p>
<p>I heard someone say once- paraphrasing- if integrity was easy we’d all have it. I’ve never heard someone say …you have to put ethics aside. Clearly you now see the right thing to do- return the computer you received after you bought another, BUT you feel you are justified keeping it because customer service was rude. If you keep it you are being dishonest because you didn’t notify computer company to cancel, and secondly because you intend to keep mdse you didn’t pay for.</p>
<pre><code>I will give YOU a situation, 100. I hope you never try to sell anything. What if you try to sell your car, a house, dog, a washing machine etc? If the buyer interprets your demeanor as rude, he gets to take your item FREE!- At least according to your logic. Figurine comparison no good. Seller didn’t just draw your name from a hat and then ship you a computer. You specifically ordered this item, but didn’t inform seller that you changed your mind. Now you have received product.
</code></pre>
<p>I guess there are possible legal consequences. Maybe computer company might consider not cancelling with them but getting reimbursed on credit for not receiving mdse card as fraud. It might appear you were trying to get their product for nothing. Imagine that! Even if they sued you but lost, think of the money you’d have to pay an attorney to have defended your position. I think the most likely scenario is that if you keep the product, then this billing cycle or next their paperwork will process and they will see they shipped you the item, but it was charged back; so they are likely to bill you again- after all, you did receive the mdse. By the time that happens, you might be too late to return it for credit. What a jam you’d be in then! If it were too late to send it back, then you’d have to pay for a computer you don’t need because you had tried to hoodwink computer company. </p>
<p>Please don’t keep repeating customer service was rude. It may be true, I will assume it is, but we’ve heard it too many times already, and it isn’t justification for stealing. Saying it more won’t convince anyone. Unless of course you are trying to convince yourself.</p>
<p>“I will give YOU a situation, 100. I hope you never try to sell anything. What if you try to sell your car, a house, dog, a washing machine etc? If the buyer interprets your demeanor as rude, he gets to take your item FREE!- At least according to your logic. Figurine comparison no good. Seller didn’t just draw your name from a hat and then ship you a computer. You specifically ordered this item, but didn’t inform seller that you changed your mind. Now you have received product.”</p>
<p>I never changed my mind that I didn’t want the computer. I wanted the computer, but they never shipped it. I called my credit card company and they gave me a full refund. The merchant never contatced me, so I wasn’t able to contact the merchant.</p>
<p>I never said you should get something free if buyer feels the sellers demeanor is rude. I said if the seller makes a mistake, I wouldn’t correct it.</p>
<p>I have protested charges before, the company will reverse the charge initially, but they can come back and undo that if they determine your story is not meeting the guidelines</p>
<p>Send an email to the company, explaining the situation. Tell them to send UPS to pick up the computer since it is their error. Tell them that nonresponse will mean that they are gifting the computer to you to make up for the horrible service you received. I’ll bet they’ll send UPS real quick.</p>
<p>Now, I get the impression that you want to just keep the computer. Even if you could get away with it, which I don’t think you will, how do you think your brother will feel knowing that the computer he’s using is stolen merchandise?</p>
<p>This information is straight from the Chase website. This is written to the merchant’s point of view:
If you don’t feel sure about your sense of right and wrong , I wouldn’t suggest looking to Chase for a push in the right direction.</p>
<p>just do a search for Chase Bank ethics- I found too many examples of bad behavior that benefitted - guess who, to cite just one example.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can put your ethics aside for just one instance. It becomes a habit. Truthfully, it is a breakdown in ethics that has led to our current economic crisis. Too many people are willing to take things that do not belong to them based on some sort of distorted sense that they deserve things wihout really having to work for them. Greed is a real sickness, and it seems to be contagious.</p>
<p>Take the high road. You’ll be glad later that you did.</p>
<p>football100: Here is my husband’s point of view:</p>
<p>You have a legally binding contract with the computer company that has not been cancelled. Failure to cancel the contract means you’re obligated to pay for the merchandise. The credit card company did not contract for the computer and has no authority to cancel a contract between you and the computer company. Your legally binding contract with the credit card company is for the loan of monies for a fee. Your contract with the credit card company simply has provisions that allow the credit card company to intervene on your behalf to recoup inappropriate billings. Therefore, no matter what discussions and arrangements you had with the credit card company, you did not cancel the contract and are legally obligated to pay for the merchandise.</p>
<p>The company never caught the charge. The funny thing is that they sent me an e-mail and gave me a free shipping refund. So, they gave me the free computer and the free shipping refund.</p>
<p>This compnay doesn’t deserve to be in business.</p>