General Consensus, Honesty is the best policy?

[Owenski]

A well known saying I'm sure you all agree but despite us all knowing honesty is the best policy how many of you would actually cough up with out been prompted?

This comes from a topic in the office today, a co worker ordered a christmas gift from the states.
It didn't arrive in time so on Friday 4th he complained and they sent him another one. The delivery came on Wed's 8th (i think).
However now a second parcel has arrived (marked as dispatched on the 8th)...

Now morally speaking he "should" contact the company and inform them of the mix up... but would you?

A few facts to consider:
This is an expensive item, a £300 piece of electrical goodness,
Both deliveries were signed for as received,
They don't have any debit card information as the initial purchase was done by voucher.
The only means of contact they have is email.

So I put it to you, what would YOU do. Dont give fairy tails of idealist situations I'm intrigued to see just how corrupt/angelic we all are.

[Fallout]

I don't believe in black and white mate. I think all situations are mixed race. :) Basically it's all about damage vs gain in all situations like this. If your gain is significantly more meaningful than their loss, then it's all good. If it's not, then it's bad. Two classic theft examples are a starving hobo nicking a sandwich from Tesco (fine), or a rich ******* nicking a PS3 from a struggling independent merchant (bad). They're both theft and both illegal, but morally I have no problem with the former.

So is this company a struggling merchant, and is your colleague short of a few quid or quite flush?

[454697819]

what goes around comes around I believe strongly in that...

[Spank86]

Generally with large companies I don't bother notifying them. It's a lot of hassle and they'll already have claimed off the courier company.

If its gone outside their timescales and they've decided to send me another I simply give the extras away to people I know that will appreciate them.

It's happened twice to me near Xmas with amazon and its made me appreciate their customer service and use them more so fuzzy morality aside it's good for everyone.


If it was a small independent store I may act differently.

[Littlepeahead]

I would contact the company and say that it had arrived and then expect them to pay for the first item to be returned and also that it be collected at a time and place convenient to me.

If then then said not to worry I could keep the item guilt free.

[Owenski]

I don't believe in black and white mate. I think all situations are mixed race. :) Basically it's all about damage vs gain in all situations like this. If your gain is significantly more meaningful than their loss, then it's all good. If it's not, then it's bad. Two classic theft examples are a starving hobo nicking a sandwich from Tesco (fine), or a rich ******* nicking a PS3 from a struggling independent merchant (bad). They're both theft and both illegal, but morally I have no problem with the former.

So is this company a struggling merchant, and is your colleague short of a few quid or quite flush?

I'd say he's comfortable but not flush.
The company is a international, well in the sense they sell to the world but I do believe they're based state side.

[missyburd]

Is the company likely to go into administration any time soon? ;)

[Dicky Ticker]

Similar dilema--I bought a r.c. helocopter for my grandsons xmas which proved to be faulty so we returned it to the shop where it was purchased.As they were unable to repair it there and then they gave me another,better one off the shelf.They original purchase has now been repaired and returned in full working order.obviously he has now played with the replacement-------what to do

[Messie]

I had a similar situation once. I ordered and paid for a new settee, which was then duly delivered. A few days later I had a call from the delivery company asking to deliver my sette a few days later. The thought of two new settees was appealing but I chat with a layer friend of mine.

He said that if I accepted delivery of the second settee I would be dishonestly obtaining goods, as I knew they weren't legally mine. Therefore an offense would be committed.

In the end the delivery company realised they had made a mistake so the situation didn't fully arise. So, I think if you keep the goods without informing the company, there is dishonesty and illegality involved. I'd try call them, as LPH has suggested, and I would guess that it wouldn't be worth the hassle to them to return it.

[Bibio]

you are what you is.

many many years ago i walked away from a cash machine leaving the cash in the drawer. there were some students standing there when i done it. i got about 20 yards down the road when one of them shouted me back and handed me my money. i gave them £20 as i had just taken out £200 and thanked them for being honest.

they could have indeed taken all the money and done a runner but clearly they were honest people and i hope that it has served them well being so.

if you don't like it being done to you don't do it to others. honesty is the best policy.

[carelesschucca]

I would contact the company and say that it had arrived and then expect them to pay for the first item to be returned and also that it be collected at a time and place convenient to me.

If then then said not to worry I could keep the item guilt free.

you are what you is.

if you don't like it being done to you don't do it to others. honesty is the best policy.

Both of these seem reasonable to me, let the company know, but let them make the arrangements to get their product back...

I had it with an internet bike spare parts company and they sent me to pairs of mirrors. They told me to keep the extra ones, as they may come in useful, still have one gixer mirror in the garage if anyone wants it :)

[Runako]

Give it back.

I worked late a couple of weeks ago, skipped lunch so ordered a Large Pizza for delivery when I got home (starving). 30 min later, no Pizza - they're based 2 minutes away. Called em up, they delivered to my next door neighbour by mistake! They agreed immediately to send another. But I was incensed that the neighbour accepted the pizza. Knocked on the door to ask (and possibly rescue the remnants of my Pizza). The guy said he accepted it cause "someone could have bought it for me as a present ..."

What? And not tell you about it?

No, he knew exactly what he had done and didn't even want to open the door when I knocked cause he knew someone was bound to come calling. Needless to say, it didn't end well and there was no apology. If he had to pay for it, he would have rejected it, but it was already paid for. Next day, a special delivery package was left at our place for him ... Karma!

Where has the honesty and neighbourly spirit gone?

[Fallout]

Where has the honesty and neighbourly spirit gone?

It's still there, you just have a crap dishonest neighbour. :p

[dirtydog]

If it was me I'd let the company know and as LPH says let them arrange to pick it up etc.
A little while ago I bought some led strips from eBay and they never turned up so I contacted the seller who sent out new ones. The ones I ordered originally turned up 2weeks after their replacements!
I emailed the seller and offered to pay for them, he thanked me for my honesty but refused payment

[Kenzie]

if it has been signed for then they could trace it back and you could be in trouble. you never know,they might say keep it. in which case it's a bonus as it might be a hassle getting it back stateside.

[garynortheast]

It's easier to tell the truth than it is to keep track of all the lies you need to tell to keep the original dishonest act covered.

[Sid Squid]

My mummy told me that honesty is always always always always always always always always the best policy - except for sometimes.

This is not one of those times, call them up and do the right thing.

[Specialone]

I'm a big believer in karma, I don't even download 'available' content on the net.

I'd tell them tbh.

[Owenski]

Good o'l org!

Time to come clean then, the co-worker is infact myself.
I was expecting a replacement Contour HD GPS, which I received just after new years.
However I've also a little later received another one.

I toy'd with the idea of just keeping quiet but I've got a guilty concious on it, your thoughts generally echo the thoughts of what I think I should do, so I've done it.
I've sent contour support an email, if they want it back I will post it.
If they don't then I guess I'm up one HD camera and as LPH said, I'm guilt free about it.

[Bluepete]

If they let you keep it, I'll give you £50 for it!

Pete ;)

[Owenski]

£50 is the best offer I've had so far lol

[flymo]

I think had they messed me around and given me a hard time when calling to complain about the missed delivery, it would be on ebay quick sharp.

If they had been responsive and displayed good customer service then genuinely I would have contacted them to explain both parcels had arrived.

[Bluepete]

It's a deal then!

PM me your details and I'll have the money ready. First come, first ...

Pete ;)

[Sudoxe]

It's a deal then!

PM me your details and I'll have the money ready. First come, first ...

Pete ;)

Sounds like entrapment to me! ;)

[Specialone]

£107 is what I offer, £50 is an insult frankly :rolleyes:

[missyburd]

Good o'l org!

Time to come clean then, the co-worker is infact myself.

That's a cry wolf if ever there was one! So next time when your "friend" has accidentally made a teet of himself and forgotten his anniversary and how best to get himself out of it or when your "neighbour" has managed to lock himself in the house we will know. We WILL know. :twisted:


:p

[Owenski]

It's a deal then!
PM me your details and I'll have the money ready. First come, first ...
Pete ;)

Nice try mr officer but Im saying nowt until I've had mi phone call.


£107 is what I offer, £50 is an insult frankly :rolleyes:

£107 is the new current winner. but dont get your hopes up I'm almost certain they'll want it back. Its an expensive camera and postage is only £30 back to them.

[Bri w]

I'm for being honest. If the company find out, someone could lose there job... would you want it to happen to you?

[Owenski]

I honestly cant believe it...
I just got this response from contour support.


Hi Matthew,

You can keep the second camera. It would cost too much in your time and our shipping to get it back Hang on to it as a back up camera if you would like.


So, let the bidding begin lol.

[Specialone]

http://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/3309984450542214917?q=contour%20hd%20gps&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&ei=9sX5UPDTHYzI0AWAxYHICA&ved=0CEsQ8wIwAg#hsec:overview

[Bibio]

I honestly cant believe it...
I just got this response from contour support.


Hi Matthew,

You can keep the second camera. It would cost too much in your time and our shipping to get it back Hang on to it as a back up camera if you would like.


So, let the bidding begin lol.

:thumbsup:

[andrewsmith]

£107.01 my man

[keith_d]

IIRC, the forum rules explicitly say 'no auctions'.

You might be able to ask people to submit offers by PM, something along the lines of "highest offer received by Sunday 12:00". I'm not sure how the mods will regard that.

Keith.

[Specialone]

As one of the mods, I strictly forbid any auction for this, to maintain fairness, I'll take it off matts hands for £110 to stop any auctions going ahead and breaking the rules :)

[andrewsmith]

£101.10

[Owenski]

Sorry Keith you're right i was semi serious following Pete and Phil posting, as in with a big enough offer id sell it but in honesty I haven't really decided what ill do with it yet. Could be quite cool getting some forward and rear video on the bike.

[Owenski]

£101.10

You muppet that's £8.90 less than phils offer, you got brain freeze from the snow Andy?

[Bri w]

I would love to bid on this but having already 'won' on Ebay tonight... its gone very quiet in our house.... I wouldn't dare even think of asking HID(treasurer) can I raid the mattress.

[andrewsmith]

Should have been 110.01, fast hand cause carnage

[Specialone]

£101.10

You muppet that's £8.90 less than phils offer, you got brain freeze from the snow Andy?

Lol, I changed it, I knew he wouldn't notice

[Owenski]

Mod madness, its the power I tells ya it goes to their heads.

[andrewsmith]

Matt
120

sent from Specialones phone

[Balky001]

I admire your honesty Matt and pleased you now have a guilt free camcorder :)

[MisterTommyH]

Matt
102

sent from space

Oh dear... you don't quite get the concept do you Andy? ;)

[LewSpeight]

Oh dear... you don't quite get the concept do you Andy? ;)

Haha.

So, what's stopping the more absent and ignorant minded person from now ordering a camera from contour and then emailing them a few weeks after receiving it saying 'I didn't receive it', now we all know they'll just send out another free of charge?

[Owenski]

Haha.

So, what's stopping the more absent and ignorant minded person from now ordering a camera from contour and then emailing them a few weeks after receiving it saying 'I didn't receive it', now we all know they'll just send out another free of charge?

Na the context of the original post in the thread isn't accurate to what really happened.
It was the only way I could relay a reasonable sounding situation to get people's views on what they'd do if they received duplicate items. In reality I believe my second camera was merely a dispatch error due to Christmas confusion/rush. I did email to find out why it was taking so long but at that point even the first one hadn't been sent.

What a tangled web of lies, how deep does the rabbit hole go I bet you'll wonder.

[andrewsmith]

Matt
102

sent from space

The mods are picking on me

http://wowjava.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/crying_baby.jpg

sent from a phone ;)

[Specialone]

The mods are picking on me :'(

sent from a phone

Nope, purely eliminating any opposition for the camera lol:thumleft:

[andrewsmith]

for when you go dredging ;)

[Specialone]

for when you go dredging ;)

No, dogging :)

[andrewsmith]

You Brummies are Weird

[Specialone]

Nope,just me :)

[andrewsmith]

need I search brummiedogging.com to find your bonce?

[Specialone]

need I search brummiedogging.com to find your bonce?

I own that web address lol