A question of ethics. You buy, say, a 42" smart TV from Amazon and legitimately pay 1p for it, although the supplier takes the hit. Do you:
Laugh all the way to eBay and sell it?
Laugh, keep and use.
Respond positively to a call for compassion from the supplier, like one such call reported in the press this morning, and pay him the full price direct?
Or something else.
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There was a guy on TV yesterday boasting that he had bought about £6,000 of kit for a few pounds during the software problem, clearing a small sellers entire stock of phones. That borders on the criminal in my book.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 09:27
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1/ The retailer is offering goods at a certain price.
2/ You decide they're a bargain and buy one/several/many.
3/ You pay, they despatch and the contract has been fulfilled.
4? The retailer subsequently discovers they've made a mistake with the pricing - tough, their problem.
In this case with Amazon, they should bite the bullett and compensate their sellers with the full purchase amount as it was their fault.
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>> 2/ You decide they're a bargain and buy one/several/many.
If it's a decent TV for 1p, wouldn't you realise it's a mistake rather than a bargain? Still not illegal to take advantage of it, but perhaps not great morally.
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>> In this case with Amazon, they should bite the bullett and compensate their sellers with the full
>> purchase amount as it was their fault.
But it wasn't Amazon's fault. It was a third party that had software that altered prices on Amazon Marketplace to match prices elsewhere. Which went wrong. Amazon was simply the service/site which hosted the sales and they handled dispatching the stock. I don't see what Amazon did wrong.
The seller had bought into a service that adjusted prices. So I think it is the company that offered that service that needs to cover any losses. I wonder what they contract said in the Ts and Cs?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-30475542
Company was Repricer Express.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 11:35
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Ethics question on the original post still applies, While it is legal to take advantage of something like this, would anyone on here do it & feel good about it.
I don't think I would do it, for what it's worth.
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- If I bought something from Amazon intending to pay the advertised price of £10 but got it for 1p, would I pay the balance when asked?
- If I bought something from Amazon intending to pay the advertised price of £10 but paid £20, would I expect Amazon to pay the balance back?
Since I would very much expect Amazon to pay me back, I would pay the balance. Although I would expect a request, not a demand, as I would request them.
What I would most certainly not do is intentionally go and buy something because I knew the system had a glitch, and I most certainly wouldn't go and buy 200 phones, or whatever it was, just to take advantage.
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"What I would most certainly not do is intentionally go and buy something because I knew the system had a glitch, and I most certainly wouldn't go and buy 200 phones, or whatever it was, just to take advantage. "
Same here.
But then I'm also daft (?) enough to point out if someone gives me too much change by a few pennies or if they give me change for a tenner when I gave them a fiver.
I always think it might come off their wages!
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No you're not daft just honest in the true sense of the word not just the narrow "it's technically not illegal" sense that some would have us believe is acceptable.
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I'm with PhilW and CG......
.......but we are in the minority I fear.
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I think the majority of people are honest and would flag incorrect change, etc. And in the example of items for 1p, I'd have contacted the seller myself. It was clearly an error.
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I didn't mean HERE Fullers. Sorry if it seemed that way.
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I've had something off Amazon, nothing like a TV, but a book. I think I paid two pound odd, I see them all the time, not sure if that would put me down as wee taker.
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Try World of Books. Cheapy Cheaperson for sure. Bought a 2nd hand copy of Harry Patchs' book for very little money from them. 1st class service and book as described. Excellent.
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I've bought ebooks on offer from Amazon. Some for free. The Ts and Cs mean they can offer some peoples' book for knock down prices and there's nothing the author can do. It depends what they agreed to.
Of course if they are good books you buy others. And that is what has happened. One I got for free was first published a long time ago so the author probably didn't really lose out. And the other books were for a fair price.
Now anything like a TV or a phone for 1p is obviously wrong.
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Won't there be something somewhere in the T&C which everyone clicks without reading to the effect that "E&OE" ?
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1p Sales - Old Navy
