MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Alan give the laptop back?

Contains_Mild_Peril

I can't imagine the situation occurring in real life. I do remember being told when I went to Trading Standards about a shop which had overcharged me by 50p (and I want to make it clear that it wasn't the initial error that prompted me to report them but the staff's attitude after I pointed it out) being told that whether I was entitled to a refund of the overcharge would be questionable because I could be deemed to have accepted it at that price.
I almost certainly wouldn't take a laptop for £3.99 (not unless I felt the shop owed me for some reason), but if that was the price I was charged and it was legally mine then I wouldn't pay £399 for it either - I'd haggle.

jez33

id think of the poor trainee cashier as she will probably loose her job now if Alan doesn't pay the full price.

plus put your self in the companies position, if you were the boss/owner wouldn't you feel very mift ?

A.Jones

misha wrote: »

It is sad that moneysavers like A.Jones and Gekite spent hours on this topic trying to bury simple and obvious dishonesty under a pile of technicalities. However, I am grateful to Attlee for pulling even that carpet from under their feet. Even law seems in this case on the side of simple morality.

What? If you think words like transaction, contract and so on are piles of legal technicalities, you really need to take a lawyer with you to do your shopping. Strange how you back someone writing a post that has lots of legal jargon if it supports your view that this is dishonest, yet cry foul of others if they use complicated legal jargon like the word contract if they do not support your argument. Obviously you think it is moral to have double standards.

And there is no such thing as simple morality. My morals are different to your morals. I would be morally justified in keeping my laptop, once it is paid for, because my morals say that once someone sells something to me for the agreed price, it is mine. It is exactly this reason that there is need for law. People's morals are different, and you cannot base law on morals alone. Many laws are against my morals, yet I have to abide by them.

Even given this one lawyer's view of the legal situation, I would not give the laptop back. I would stand my ground - the receipt is a contract at the time the item is bought. The company would need to go to court to decide if there was a valid contract - they cannot decide by themselves that the contract is invalid. I would let them do that, and if the court decided no contract was in existence, then the laptop would be returned, and I would ask for my money back. I would probably then approach the press to make sure that the company got a lot of bad press about it.

If the company tried to prosecute for theft, then I would simply point out that the shop owner / manager said the item was legally mine, so I did not return it.

A.Jones

jez33 wrote: »

id think of the poor trainee cashier as she will probably loose her job now if Alan doesn't pay the full price.

Is it moral to do business with an immoral (in your view) company? This company clearly does not have very agreeable morals if they do not train a cashier properly, yet fire him/her for making a mistake.

jez33 wrote: »

plus put your self in the companies position, if you were the boss/owner wouldn't you feel very mift ?

I sure wouldn't make the mistake again.

Bargainfinder_3

Keep it, you never have to see them again! They should train their trainees better - besides, they can aford it... isn't this a form of 'legally robbing a bank'....?!

Ebenezer_Screwj

I'm sure that someone with the mental acuity to use a laptop would realise that a mistake had been made. Of course he should have it put right and pay the correct price, wasn't this his intention in the first place ?

surviving-ok

I think the shop usually actually WOULD tell you if the mistake was in their faviour; also legally this scenario is nonsense as legally for a mistake like this it cannot be upheld in law - if they do something like put it in the sale, you buy it reduced then they chagne their mind, it;s tough for them. Howevre in this situation legally it's still their's so it would help if scenarios were at least in compliacne with existing UK contract law. Its amazing how many people would just take it and run- that's not money-savin gthat's just plain dishonest. Negotaiting a discount is smarter. But effectively you agreed to buy it at a certain price.

halia

big chain I'd walk out with laptop and £296 spare, small independant shop I'd ask for a 10% discount and leave happy.

yamaha43

from a web nutter, here are some good sites for legal advice:
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law
http://www.takelegaladvice.com/
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

hope it helps - all are free

bradgirl

I would want to walk out of the shop with my £3.99 purchase in tow, but I know that if the manager stopped me, I would be too scared to take it away. Plus I'd feel bad for the shop assistant!!