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A question on ethics.

So do I...but I did not like the way "Tiger" told me they'd send it and after it was too late let me in on the real way to get it.

Reply to
philo 
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I hope you tell every one you know.

Radio Shack. I purchased a cell phone with $40 rebate. Reminded them a couple times, I never got the rebate. I've not purchased even a penny's worth of merchandise since then, and that was 2006.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I've dealt with Visa on issues before and here is how it goes:

1) If an unauthorized person used your card...that is fraud and the card holder is 100% covered. All you need to do is fill out a fraud report. Visa is excellent in that area and makes a huge effort to prevent fraud. Several times they called to to confirm whether or not the transaction was legit. 2) If the card holder makes a purchase but it is not to their satisfaction...all Visa will do is hold charges for 30 days while the card holder and the vendor work things out.

In my situation I did not deem a long , drawn out fight for just a few dollars to be worth doing...so I did what I thought best and stopped doing business with them.

In a court of law, Tiger would have won. To get a rebate, it would have been required that I sent in the rebate form...and I did not. Though I was verbally given the wrong info...I am sure they had the proper procedure buried somewhere on their website...and from a legal perspective would have been in the right.

Reply to
philo 

Yep...

As to Tiger...I just make sure everyone knows they need to print out the rebate form first. It's been a long time since that happened and I possibly would buy from them again.

Reply to
philo 

Thank you, I will, but I don?t believe in a ?conscience? but I always try my best to do what is fair.

Reply to
recyclebinned

I believe a lot rebates are a scam and a way to fool customers. The advertising has a low price in big print but underneath, there is very tiny print, "after rebate". ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

And do you think from the description of the situation it's likely that the client said "Go buy an appliance and charge me whatever you like for it." Or do you think they said "Go buy me an appliance and I'll reimburse you for what it costs and pay you $100 for getting it and installing it?" Sure sounds like the latter to me.

I seriously doubt that the contract struck was one where he can charge whatever he wants for the appliance. Perhaps the OP can supply the missing details, but I'm betting the arrangement was one where he was to be reimbursed for the cost of the appliance. In which case, I would hope you would agree, the customer is entitled to the rebated.

And I would have provided the customer with the rebate form and whatever is necessary to claim it, because sometimes the rebate never shows up and I would not want it to be my problem.

Reply to
trader4

No one here but the OP would know what the agreement was.

Whatever it was however, is what the OP is bound to do.

Reply to
philo 

When I do service work, I charge a higher price than what I pay for any item I provide because I'm using my resources to pay for it. I'm not a wholesale supplier and I don't sell material to make money. I sell my time and will add the price of my time for obtaining any large item. I keep supplies in stock and I don't bill a customer the same price I paid for anything, I'm going to make a profit. Years ago, I had a friend who worked for NCR and they charged a minimum of $1.50 for any small item like a screw or tiny resistor that may have cost 5 cents. That is what a business does and it's not stealing and it's completely ethical. If a customer supplies a large item and not the hardware to install the item, I will charge for what I supply and it's not going to be 10 cents. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

That's right, your expertise deserves to be paid.

Here is something I did:

I have a friend who is a professional photographer and I do all of his computer repair work and I generally do not charge him for my time.

Even though I warned him many times about backing up all his data...on two occasions I've done major data recovery jobs for him that took me countless hours...and never charged him a cent.

I told him I was never going to to anything for him again unless he got a back up drive...so he asked me how much that would cost.

I saw a drive at NewEgg for $100 and told him it would be $100

When I went to order it...I then saw there was a $20 rebate.

I never mentioned it to him but I took it.

The only thing I feel guilty about is not charging him for the data recovery jobs. A lab would have charged at least $600 per job.

Reply to
philo 

Even if they agreed on price, the customer likely to be upset when s/he learns of a later rebate. They will say "it's not fair".

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I've found that many people who complain about what I charge based on what they think an item costs at a wholesale house, are often the same people who pay a lawyer $150.00 for a few sheets of paper with some writing on it. They can't seem to understand that I'm selling the same thing as their lawyer, "My time" and I find it very insulting when someone thinks my time isn't worth anything and they can just take it up without paying for my product which is my time. When someone takes up my time then complains about the bill, I ask them if they would like to pay my cost? If they say yes, I hand them a bill for $400,000.00 which freaks them out. I explain that's what my cost over 40 years is to reach this point. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Here is where my perceptions changed:

I called a plumber to replace the inlet valve to my house.

Of course he had all the necessary tools and parts with him and I watched him cut and thread a custom length pipe. He did the whole thing in 90 minutes and charged me about $450.

Wow, I said, that's a lot of money.

He told me he was charging me "by the book" and that particular job was a $450 job. I was paying for his expertise not his time.

When I realized I would have taken all day and countless trips to hardware store...and it would have leaked all over hell when ...I realized the $450 was actually pretty reasonable.

Reply to
philo 

Any reason you did not give all the facts in your first post? It definitely changes the right answer.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Your plumber is no doubt successful - in part because he does know what he's doing, and in part because he was able to make you understand exactly why you were paying a high price for his services and not feel ripped off or offended. The latter is a skill that is no less important than the technical skill.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

I notice that krwd hasn't chimed in on an "ethical" problem, speaks loads about his lack of them

as to your question, it depends on if you want your client to refer you and/or give you more work

Reply to
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds

Good grief, Malformed!

I recently had new furnace and central air units installed. The dealer did an excellent job installing both. Based on past and present work performed, I would recommend this dealer to my closest friends.

I assume that this dealer gets an end-of-year sales rebate from the factory. I don't feel entitled to any portion of that dealer's rebate. .

Reply to
Roy Biggins

He made the purchase *acting as an agent for his customer*. Had he quoted a fixed price for everything he would "sort of" been a vendor.

Reply to
dadiOH

Context is everything. If the customer asked you to get the best price, that is one thing. A bait and switch is another. Charging more than you paid for something is to be expected, yet does not have to happen if you are not putting yourself in a financial hole to accomplish this.

People will treat regulars differently than an out of thin air customer. A repeat customer will get better deals. A new customer, unless work is grim, will get the standard quote with expected mark up. I worked for a man that high-balled all new installations. He did not care. He did not want the work. He made his money off of fixing other people's mistakes. He would tell his customers to put the job out to bid and that he would come in later and make the system work.

In the end, the customer paid around the same price, but my previous employer did not have to mess with the hassle of a new installation, change-orders, time- lines, and the usual cost overruns associated with getting a facility up and running, either as a gen or sub-contractor. I care not to explain the entire process, but he had a niche market for himself, and that was beneficial to me at the time.

Reply to
Irreverent Maximus

mentioned it to him but I took it.

Well, most of the people I repair computers for have very little money so if I charge at all, it's typically just $25.

Only once did I get a job for a very wealthy business man but since it went over 5 hours, I gave them a 20% discount.

Reply to
philo 

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