Honesty
What would you do if you were put in a position where you could profit off of someone elses mistake. Something where they would never know? Would you do the good "right" thing, or would you take advantage?
I find myself in this sort of prediciment. I recently ordered some new seats for my car to replace the ones that got water damaged when my car got flooded. Now these things cost a pretty penny at $500 a piece. I ordered two for my car, and all the hardware to mount them. They were shipping from Oregon so I was excited for them to arrive the other day. So monday rolls around and up pulls the UPS man with a couple of large boxes with my sweet seats in them. There are no brackets to mount the seats however. I talk to the guys that sold them to me, and apparently they shipped those separatly, so they'll show up a couple of days later.
So on thursday I get a call from home that a couple of boxes have come. Yes! Those must be my mounting brackets that I've been waiting for. I get home from class and there they are two huge boxes that look way to large for a couple of small pieces of metal. I open the boxes and what do I find? There are my brackets, but there's something else as well....
Two more seats.
Now what do I do? Do I keep these extra seats that they have accidentally shipped me? I am very certain that they will not realize their error. I could turn around and sell them and make my money back. In fact that's what a lot of people I've talked to have said to do. Is that dishonest? Is that a bad thing to do? I guess that all depends on your perspective.
What am I going to do? I'm going to tell the business that I bought them from that they have made a mistake, and that they need to send a shipping label so I can send them back. Why would I do that? Because I'll gain more than money by sending them back. I can always EARN more money, but I'll never be able to get that small part of myself back that I'd be giving up if I took advantage of some guys honest mistake. It's always a good feeling to do the "right" thing. Try it sometime.
I find myself in this sort of prediciment. I recently ordered some new seats for my car to replace the ones that got water damaged when my car got flooded. Now these things cost a pretty penny at $500 a piece. I ordered two for my car, and all the hardware to mount them. They were shipping from Oregon so I was excited for them to arrive the other day. So monday rolls around and up pulls the UPS man with a couple of large boxes with my sweet seats in them. There are no brackets to mount the seats however. I talk to the guys that sold them to me, and apparently they shipped those separatly, so they'll show up a couple of days later.
So on thursday I get a call from home that a couple of boxes have come. Yes! Those must be my mounting brackets that I've been waiting for. I get home from class and there they are two huge boxes that look way to large for a couple of small pieces of metal. I open the boxes and what do I find? There are my brackets, but there's something else as well....
Two more seats.
Now what do I do? Do I keep these extra seats that they have accidentally shipped me? I am very certain that they will not realize their error. I could turn around and sell them and make my money back. In fact that's what a lot of people I've talked to have said to do. Is that dishonest? Is that a bad thing to do? I guess that all depends on your perspective.
What am I going to do? I'm going to tell the business that I bought them from that they have made a mistake, and that they need to send a shipping label so I can send them back. Why would I do that? Because I'll gain more than money by sending them back. I can always EARN more money, but I'll never be able to get that small part of myself back that I'd be giving up if I took advantage of some guys honest mistake. It's always a good feeling to do the "right" thing. Try it sometime.
posted by Erich Tabert at 8:25 PM
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