So, a bunch of good friends are doing something that I am beginning to see as morally questionable. Worst of all, they have an argument for it. Granted, it isn't all that convincing, but it is an argument.
There is this deal at a large electronics detailer that sells out to a pretty shady tact on sales. In more lewd terms, they "shaft" people. Good hard working people like my roommates and friends. Currently they have this deal where you purchase a great deal of "stuff" then you get these deal on a t.v. set. So what you do, is get everything then return all of the other stuff except the t.v. and you just got a huge t.v. setup for really cheap. Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea, but I have a problem with this whole thing.
We all know that this conglomerate corporation is after people for their money. This means that people are reduced to merely a means to an end, which we all agree is a travesty. However, if we are taking the products from these corporations with some form of deceit in order to "stick it to the man" or whatever, then we are reducing the commission of THOSE hard working employees (not the soul-less ones in big offices who make Malaysian children unsafely manufacture their good). In that sense, we are after these people for their product. Thus reducing them to a means to an end. We are just as bad.
Don't get me wrong, I hate having the 8.50$ an hour I make at a wing joint stolen from me by corporate big-whigs. However, when I am buying things like clothes and shoes, I see my getting shafted there as slightly different from the shafting one would invite from buying a big screen plasma television. Is it really necessary?
My friends would argue yes. Why? Because we want a place that people will go to. I totally would much rather hang out with a friend who has a 32 inch (our current size television) than a friend with a 28 inch. This mentality makes me want to absolutely berserk. We use large and in charge equipment, toys if you will, to attain or maintain relationships with people. The connection blows my mind. Use superficial silly things, in order to reel in deep and meaningful relationships with deep and meaningful people? I don't quite understand. This decadent mentality is something that this current generation is going to need to combat a little bit more than we are. My own little 12 year old brother wanted a 350$ cell phone for Christmas which the company cleverly named "The Envy". When I was 12, I wanted an 80$ gameboy for Christmas and I knew that was asking much. Things are changing, and I am growing weary of all of the stuff we are after in this world. Myself included.
I think it is the obligation of our generation to check ourselves and where we are spending our money. Has it made the live of us or those around us better?
(Note: my friends are amazing people, and are not shallow. I look to them for so much, and they always provide in wonderful ways. I am more upset with the mentality then the people.)
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Even though it's technically pretty shady, if it's a big box store and not an independent or local chain, I probably would considering buying all the stuff then returning it to keep the cheap TV. I know when I worked retail, we had policies that stopped people from taking advantage of the Buy One, Get One and deals that rewarded you for buying certain things. The company should be covering itself with the fine print because whether or not it's ethically right to buy then return, every company knows that it will happen, that someone will try to "take advantage" of their sale. It would surprise me if they DIDN'T have some kind of fine print to stop that sort of thing so if your friends do choose to do this, they need to be sure that they're able to return everything but the TV and still keep the TV discount price.
You bring up a good point about the commission aspect of it, though. Do they take commission away from the salesperson if you return things?
I guess I don't know much about how commission works. I would think that scam would hurt the employee the same way that getting a deal on pizza would hurt the delivery guys by reducing their tip. I agree in general that we want to many big things or rely on then too much or see them as something we must have. Although I don't think I know that many people who want a bigger TV to have more friends or to keep current ones. Maybe to have more people at their house in general, if it is a monstorous plasma or something. Materialism is and has been a huge problem for our country and much of the world.
See, I don't see that as wrong at all. That's business and the world and the profit incentive. If they're willing to invest the time and money into getting mass amounts of cheap TV's, more power to them. The corporation will stop doing that if it comes to it, but this is the kind of creativity that envigorates our capitalistic system.
Well Ben I agree I do think that what they did isn't the best thing in the world. Being under the employ of a big electronics retailer myself I can tell you that such little schemes do hurt the over all bottom line of that store, however I think that the loss is pretty insignificant. Things like people finding loop holes in pricing, the ever annoying price match guarantee and even shoplifting which is hardly ever caught and when it is isn’t prosecuted is all built into the price of the item so when you do see a deal come around, it might if your lucky bring the price down to, if your lucky what I the employee pay so big electronic stores have probably little to no quarrel with what happens because they already know that it’s simply the cost of doing business. I do agree that it’s sad that we are a bigger is better country, but isn’t that same attitude that makes us a people that’s know for there strive for greatness and makes us all push a little harder? I’m not saying that it’s good but maybe its not that bad.
in today's society. certain wrongs do make a right. I see that as getting even with the corporation. If the company is out there to take your money, AND NOT EVEN MANUFACTURE THE TV AND ELECTRONICS IN THE US. Then screw them. They're the ones messing up our economy anyway.
THOSE hard working employees (not the soul-less ones in big offices who make Malaysian children unsafely manufacture their good). In that sense, we are after these people for their product. Thus reducing them to a means to an end. We are just as bad.
Look where the TV is from, it's from china. Not from the US buddy lol. We are not just as bad, the importers are creating an interrelated global economy.
If anything the return wouldn't even so much as dent the companies budget.
+mspin