The Morals of the story or lack thereof. (Very long)

[jim.powell@xxxxxxx]

My last word on this because you get it or you don't.

David Simmons Says >>> with snipping <<<

>>>If the seller makes an offer, in this case an advertisement or quote over the
phone, and it is accepted by the buyer, such that his/her money exchanges
hands,(ie they charged your credit card), there is a legal binding contract. If
the seller later discovers an error on their part they get to eat it, no moral
or emotional grounds here.<<<

No argument there.  Once they take your money, the decision to pay more or not
is upto you.

>>>If the buyer feels that he/she does not want to take advantage of the
seller's error that is fine, and commendable.<<<

This is where you go off track, maybe.  If you mean after the sale.  Ok.  If you
mean before the sale, you are wrong, morally, ethically and legally.  Its called
theft.
     
>>>If no money changed hands, then the seller has not 'acted' on the agreement
and can therefore, legally, correct the error.<<<

Sounds like the case here.  remember on CC orders no money changes hands until
the CC slip is processed at the sellers bank.

>>>If Sears prints an ad with the wrong price they are obligated to honor it
unless they prominently display a correction prior to selling you the goods.<<<

Like telling you at the register?  Should that have made anyone mad to find out
they caught their mistake?
     
Then Michael Weishaar Says >>> More Snipping <<<

>>>Well, since I was one of the people who mentioned what a deal I got on
"Unbeatable", I'll throw in my opinions.

I checked out bestbookbuys.com, and found several stores that offered
the book at great prices.  I ordered 2 copies from a1books.com.  (I was
ordering a copy for a friend, who moved to China)  I emailed them
several times and asked if $27 was the correct price.  They said it was,
but that the book was on backorder from the publisher, and it would take
several weeks to get it.  I left my order with them, and tried several
other places.  I exchanged several emails with someone from
1bookstreet.com, and explained that I was looking for the book, that I
heard it was on backorder from the publisher.  I asked them if their
price of $35.96 was correct.  They said it was, and that they had the
book in stock.  I called them up, and ordered it.<<<

I tend to agree that the scenario seems to suggest the publisher was confusing
first edition prices with the reprint.  At *this* point you can be let off the
hook.  Unless of course you were just verifying that they would unknowingly let
you steal from them.

>>>No, I didn't say "Hey, this book is way underpriced" but I did give them
plenty of opportunity to check on the actual price of the book.  They had it in
stock, so they should have known the price.<<<

Now it appears that you *knew* that this wasn't close to the real value of the
book.  If this is true, then you stole their money.  Let me tell you a story. 
I'm not holding myself up as a moral authority.  I have my problems, vices and
moral burdens.  Theft just doesn't happen to be one of them.

I was remodeling my house several years ago.  This required hundreds of feet of
oak molding.  I went down to the local home supply.  It was a Menards or Home
Depot type place.  Well I got the trim to the register and the clerk scanned the
bar codes for each piece. I'm not paying much attention but at the end the girl
(teenager, how would she know?) asks me for something like $17.  Now I
knew/suspected/divined that there was a problem here.  So I said that I thought
it was wrong and that it should be much more.  She typed in the SKU code on the
terminal.  $1.42 (or close).  Hmmmm.  This is a 16 ft. piece of oak trim.  Well
we know the real story here don't we?  The computer thought it was a per piece
price when it should have been per foot.  I could have paid the cheap price. 
Instead I told her to void the sale, call the manager and take the next person
in line.  It cost me alot of money to do that.  But I don't have to worry about
applying for a job where they give Polygraph tests.  I don't have to worry about
people saying to be careful, I'm a cheat.  I don't have to have my kids grow up
with confused ideas of right and wrong.

>>>I never had to say "Hey, honor your advertised price!" they just did it.  I
wasn't going to keep the other 2 copies, but since they charged me $27 apiece, I
did.  I could have shipped them back I guess, but I didn't.<<<

Yes there were several places you could have done the right thing.  But you made
your choice.  You decided what type of character you were willing to have.  Now
you've told the rest of us too.

>>>So now I have 3 copies, at an average price of $29.99.  What am I going to do
with them?  Hey, maybe I'll sell them for $40 and make a little money - NOT.<<<

Why?  Do you think its wrong to profit at someone else's expense?  Could have
fooled me.

>>>  I wasn't out to screw any company,<<<

But you did.

>>>but when I bought the book at a good price, I let others know.<<<

Theft is always so much easier to justify when you have company.

 >>>A week after I got it at such a good deal, it was still advertised at that
price on their web site.  Who knows, maybe they got a deal on them too, since
there was obviously some miscommunication on the price between the publisher and
the distributors somewhere along the line.<<<

Maybe.  Probably at first.  But at some point you knew the real story didn't you
Michael?

Jim Powell

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