<font color="cyan">Just somethin that happened to my Mum today...she was going to Tesco (local supermarket) to buy me a DVD (American Pie 1&2 Box Set).

The clerk only charged her for one...

Would you own up to the clerk and say that she was wrong?

My mum didnt own up as it was my money, but she said if it was hers she'd own up.

If it was me, I wouldn't think about owning up...whats the point?It's a company that makes millions a day, so what is £15 to them? Nothing.

To me? It's £15.

</font>

Hmm..let's see.. the point... Honesty, integrity and stealing. The company that makes the dvd has to make account for it's stock and that is one less they get their money for and the store as well, has lost money. The clerks need paychecks as do the guys and gals who actually run the machinery that makes the discs. Who am I to decide what they do or do not deserve? They make the product and sell it, I bought it under the system, knowing the big company makes a profit. If I didn't want them to make their money, why would I buy from them?

I'd tell the clerk. I feel if you can't depend on a person's honesty in that situation what else might he/she do? Where are lines drawn? Cheating friends? Taxes? Will this person be the pharmacist who gives medicare patients fewer pills than the doctor prescribes and sells the rest to them later for full price? Will this be the doctor who is more interested in money than my health? Or maybe it just ends up being the clerk who shortchanges your mum next time she buys milk or bread?

Anyway, I have been known to go back into the store to give a clerk a few cents change if they overpaid me. So yes, I'd definitely tell them they undercharged me. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 03-26-2002, 02:01 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

Ahem, considering the number of times our local super market charged me too much, I would consider it part of the money they still owe us.

I'd probably say it, unless of course it was so small an amount that it was insignificant, then I wouldn't want to bother them with it.

<font color = lightgreen>I would suggest telling the clerk "you undercharged me" for 2 reasons: 1) it is the right thing to do and 2) if you are not charged for an item at the register and you walk out of the store, the company would be within their legal rights to have you prosecuted for shoplifting.
If I realize that I have been undercharged upon arriving back home, no, I do not drive back to the store to makes things right. Rationalization? Yes. Reasonable? Yes.</font>

<font color="cyan">Are you sure you are being honest?

Are you sure you aren't just saying this to make people think you are a "nice" person (cloudy excluded!!! :D )

I mean, £15 is enough for another DVD...and as long as the clerk wouldn't get in trouble, which she wouldn't, as no-one would know...

Secondly, you HAVE paid for your goods. You trust the clerk to not make errors, therefore, if you left the store, it isn't stealing, as the error is not your fault.

Well, I am being honest, even if people think I am wrong for doing it...I'd not tell her, and buy another DVD...call it selfish if you will, but I do gain! Which is nice!</font>

own up?? what are you insane?
why would I own up when buying a DVD that they get for probably about 5 bucks and then they charge me 4 times that? theyre making money either way. Some faceless makes 10 bucks off of me instead of 25-30 big deal. They'll live. Youde have to be nuts to think otherwise. The clerks will get paid either way so that is completely irrelevant as far as it being 'the right thing to do' The right thing to do isn't to overcharge your consumers in the first place. I know I have been ripped off by faceless corporations more times than I can count to. strike a blow back for the consumers, and take them for everything you can.

As a store manager of an entertainment store that sells dvds, amongst other shiny disks, I can only say owe up. The losses retailers take from mistakes like the one you have encountered, not to mention shoplifting, will only be made up by charging higher prices in the future.

The average mark up on a dvd is around 15%, though after you account for shrink (theft) and labour cost, the actual profit is around 0-5% The more you "rip-off" that "faceless" corporation the more you'll pay in the long run.

I totally agree!

I could easily lead on to an argument about pirating and why it is sooooo wrong but all I'm going to say is that for every item you get for free today, you'll be paying three times as much tomorrow.

I also live by the philosophy of "what goes around, comes around" [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color = lightgreen>I would never say anything just to make other people think I am any sort of person; I simply speak my mind. That, of course, is a wonderful side effect of not worrying about what other people think of me. :D </font>

<font color="cyan">You'll pay in the long run?

Oh please.

Even if we do, so what? Live for the now. You might die tomorrow.

And the more and more people raise prices, the less and less people will buy them.

And just to counter your point, if the economic value of things goes up, so will the wages that people get paid..

IE - JAPAN. They get payed a fortune, because everything over there costs so much.</font>

Well, Lavindathar, think of it this way. If the checkout chick had charged you double instead of half, would you go back and ask for your money back? Or would you just say, oh well, it will all even out? If you think them charging you too much is wrong, then you taking something without paying for it is wrong too.

Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world free from greed? - large corporations included [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I was going to say pretty much what Aelia said. [img]smile.gif[/img] The bottom line for me is that if I KNOW I am stealing (yes, folks taking something and not paying no matter whose 'fault' you want to make it, IS stealing), then I will make it right,I'm supposed to follow those commandments and one of 'em says "Thou shalt not steal". My conscience won't allow anything else.

My moral and religious beliefs make it clear that it's the right thing to do. There's this 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' thing going there too. Do I want someone ripping me off? Of course not. I also firmly believe that honesty and integrity count for something.

Frankly it disturbs me to hear all this "so what, it's a big company' stuff. It's not any more right to steal from them than it is to steal from your parents, me or the kid who delivers the paper. And saying 'oh well they make a lot of money' doesn't cut it, as far as I'm concerned. If it was me making the money because I had the know how and the business skills to do it, I'd not want to be ripped off so why is it right for me to do it just because it is someone else who suffers the loss? If your mom sold those things for a living would it be right for guys to come in and pay for half what they take? Nope.. not in my book. Sorry,gang, I am pretty set on this issue. And, I'm not saying it to be 'nice'. ;) I just feel it's the right way to act.

And if you're going purely on your own self-interest and not on morality and ethics, keep in mind what was mentioned about the markup being made to future sales in order to make up the losses. You would then lose when you buy more and you'd be part of the reason everyone else did to.

Cloudy

btw..Lav, good issue to raise. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 03-26-2002, 05:55 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

Just too make the matter a little more personal, My job performance and potential for bonus and advancment is partially reflected in the amount of loss my store incurs. This is noraml retail business.
In general high shrink has caused stores to close and people to lose jobs. Every little bit of merchandise that walks out unpaid for takes way from somebody's livelyhood. Believe me, every little bit adds up.

Great discussion, mates.

I would probably look at the receipt and ask the cashier if it was on sale or something. If she looks at the stuff and says it's right, then in my eyes it's right. You gave her the chance to make it right.

AND

In your original post, didn't you say it was a boxed set? Doesn't that mean it has both in the same case ie one price.

BK

<font color="cyan">Yes, but it was in a sleave. She took one DVD out, scanned it, and left the other in.

BTW guys, maybe when I am older, I will look at this differently. But I am a 17yr old, and for me £15 is quite a bit of money!! So yes, I'd still take it.</font>

Black Knight! Good to see you! I was wondering what happened to you. You were one of the first persons to reply to my first post here. He. I remember that stuff! "Own Game" [img]smile.gif[/img]