Hypothetical question: Would you keep a wrong ordered lens, if it was in your favour?

A lot of good truth posted in the last few replies.

Ed: I agree that often companies are probably pretty clued in on customer dishonesty. That's all part of the cost of things we buy - their losses are integrated into the prices. I remember when I was marking undergraduate labs and stuff. It seemed like the students were trying to be 'clever' in being creative with their copying, but we always knew what was going on.

DaveSt: FOr sure, penalties can be more than just the money... I agree.

Neil_r: yup - in the end insurance companies make money, that's why they exist - one persons gain is actually a cost that is distributed to the rest. But you should know that when buying insurance - it's like a gamble. You pay for everyone elses' loss, for chance at a payout should you have a loss.

99.99% chance that I would just return it and hope that karma would catch up to me, but if I were in the same situation as Sports_Dude, then I would keep my lens/money.

In fact, something sort of like that happened to me about two years ago. I bought myself a new flute from a local music store, and they ended up handing me a more expensive model with silver plating. The difference was probably a solid $350. I told my mother, she takes it back to the shop, and they tell her to come back in three days and pick up the right one. She goes back, picks it up, and it's the silver plated one yet again. We mentioned it, and the lady at the front desk insists that it's our order and that we should take it. $700 flute for $350. If they make the same mistake twice, then it's on them, not me. At least how that's I feel.

Without a shadow of doubt, if it was from a large company, I would keep it.

Once, I bought an Ipod. This was back when they cost hundreds of pounds. It didn't arrive in the mail, so I called the company(John Lewis) to complain. They said they had sent it, but the courier hadn't delivered it yet. The courier claimed to have no record. They refused to refund my money until investigations were complete. I kicked up a massive fuss, and on my final phonecall(One of around ten), they agreed to credit my money back to me there and then.

Literally ten minutes, and I do mean literally, there was a knock at the door. A courier with a brand new Ipod.

I remember thinking "**** john Lewis..."

Anyone who displays honesty regarding consumer goods overlooks the fact that a) It will not be rewarded, and b) The company would bleed you of every penny you have if it could.


Edit: Of course, I would return anything if it looked like an individual may get in trouble because of the mistake.

wow return a better lens because it was their mistake? never. Is it stealing? yep. Will anyone personally have to pay for it? Probably not. So I wont be taking anyone's money anyway. Clear record with my guilt )))

lol

I absolutely would not return it.

I know this to be true because I ordered a 24-70L from a very large company, and they double shipped it. I sent back the one that matched the serial number on the receipt, and kept the freebie.

It's be quite funny if you ever sent it into Canon and they kept it claiming it was stolen property.

LeuceDeuce wrote in post #8798355
I absolutely would not return it.

I know this to be true because I ordered a 24-70L from a very large company, and they double shipped it. I sent back the one that matched the serial number on the receipt, and kept the freebie.

What's the number on the one you kept - I think you got my lens.

mrkgoo wrote in post #8796747
businesses can be insured agains these kinds of errors.

I don't think there is insurance a company can purchase for this type of mistake. I would think the company would have internal controls in place to prevent this and if a mistake occurs, the company eats it.

I would like to think I'd return it, but I really don't know. The internet has created a very impersonal buying experience and I don't have the emotional attachment to an "Add to Cart" and box at my door sale. If a sales rep at a camera store brought out the wrong lens and handed it to me, there is no doubt I'd mention it at the point of purchase.

Well, for the record, the 17-40f4l I ordered arrived and in the box was ... An ef17-40f4l. I appreciate the people being honest about telling us they were dishonest. To be honest, if this happened to me I wouldn't say a thing.

ed rader wrote in post #8796722
i'll bet they knew or at least suspected that you were at fault. i'm sure many of their repairs really don't qualify for warranty and they figure the cost of customer dishonesty into the cost of doing business, which just raises prices for everyone. so if you think you got one over on sigma i really doubt it .

ed rader

Well I don't think I was dishonest or that I got one over Sigma. They didn't ask and I didn't tell .

If the error was insignificant in either direction, I would probably ignore it since it would cost me and/or the supplier a lot of money to correct the problem. If the error was more than probably $10-$20 in either direction, I would call them. Shopping locally, where corrections are more or less instant, I would react to an error larger than $1 in either direction. Possibly all the way down to the smallest possible error in the local currency.

If someone gives me $100 I would be happy. If someone accidentally gives me $100 I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. If someone takes $100 from me, I would be angry. If someone takes $5 from me, I would be irritated but probably ignore it.

In some situations, it can be quite hard/expensive to bother. What to do if buying something in a shop, and the price is $10 off. I don't notice the error until I'm home, and it costs more than $10 to drive back to the store? If they charged me too much or supplied the wrong article (or a broken one), then by local law I can also require them to pay my costs for correcting the error. If they charged me too little, I would have to pay the extra costs for solving the problem unless they gave me a better product than I requested. I don't like to correct errors if one part would have to pay as much just for correcting the error. But I may call the supplier and telling them that they shipped a $10 more/less expensive item but that I'm not interested in a one-hour car drive to get it switched. At least, that would allow them to correct any pricing/marking errors they have so the same thing doesn't affect other customers too.

CountryBoy wrote in post #8798506
Well I don't think I was dishonest or that I got one over Sigma. They didn't ask and I didn't tell .

If it's good enough for government, eh ?

This actually happened to me, but it was with a compact camera. The model I got was worth about $100 more than the one I ordered. I called customer service and was told just to keep it and sorry for the "trouble". I imagine for $100, the administrative overhead and shipping costs of processing the return would barely be worth it for them.

Now if it was $1000, I am sure the company would want to know. I also would feel like the lens was not really mine and I stole it in some way. All it would take was a phone call and I would be on the hook for the full price of the lens. I think it would ruin the enjoyment of the lens.

fly my pretties wrote in post #8797903
Without a shadow of doubt, if it was from a large company, I would keep it.

Anyone who displays honesty regarding consumer goods overlooks the fact that a) It will not be rewarded, and b) The company would bleed you of every penny you have if it could.


Edit: Of course, I would return anything if it looked like an individual may get in trouble because of the mistake.

I agree as well. If I ordered a 50mm f/1.8 from Henry's and a 50 f/1.2L came to my door I would enjoy my shiney new lens!
If it was the local camera shop across the street and was worth some significant amount, I would likely return the item.

I assure you, I am being totally honest!