Good Bargain or a "Steal"?

[ChildOfTheLight]

I was shopping today, and found and the lady running the store saw me looking at a certain item marked 20$. She told me some were ringing in cheaper and found me one that rung in 3$. I asked her why it was so cheap and she said it was probably the age of the item (this particular model of the item was a couple years old, she said), but that wasn’t the price it said on the tag.

I had her permission to have it for that price, but she didn’t seem to know which the cheaper ones were until she rang them in. I worry something may have been wrong with the scanner and I walked out paying over $15 dollars less than I should have.

What do you think?
A) Good deal
B) Something wrong with the scanner but store gave the okay
C) Something wrong and I should contact store to pay difference

I feel like it was probably A or B, as I did have the permission of worker in the store to buy it cheap and she did give a reason for the price (though I can’t verify it ), but I remember reading a post where someone was under/not-charged for an item and advised to pay, and I wouldn’t like to take advantage of a faulty scanner.

 

[Cristiano]

Great deal! This is the price that you were given, scanners do not make that kind of mistakes. It is not the first time or the last one that some older batches of products get marked at a much lower price. Two years of store shelving can make quite a bit of difference for some products.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Not only a good deal but a very kind manager.

 

[Catholic1954]

I was shopping today, and found and the lady running the store saw me looking at a certain item marked 20$. She told me some were ringing in cheaper and found me one that rung in 3$. I asked her why it was so cheap and she said it was probably the age of the item (this particular model of the item was a couple years old, she said), but that wasn’t the price it said on the tag.

I had her permission to have it for that price, but she didn’t seem to know which the cheaper ones were until she rang them in. I worry something may have been wrong with the scanner and I walked out paying over $15 dollars less than I should have.

What do you think?
A) Good deal
B) Something wrong with the scanner but store gave the okay
C) Something wrong and I should contact store to pay difference

I feel like it was probably A or B, as I did have the permission of worker in the store to buy it cheap and she did give a reason for the price (though I can’t verify it ), but I remember reading a post where someone was under/not-charged for an item and advised to pay, and I wouldn’t like to take advantage of a faulty scanner.

This kind lady went out of her way to find you an even better bargain. Thank her very much and leave it at that.

 

[Dale_M]

Great deal! This is the price that you were given, scanners do not make that kind of mistakes.

The scanner may not make that kind of mistake, but the scanner checks a database of prices. The person who keyed the price into the database may have made a mistake. Or maybe not. We simply do not have enough information.

As for the OP’s moral obligation, I guess it comes down to what role the employee has. Was she the store manager or simply the only clerk in the store? If she was the manager, then I think the OP is in the clear. If she was simply an employee, it might be a good idea to contact the manager and alert him or her to the problem. From the description of the situation, the employee wasn’t attempting to fix the problem (and didn’t fully understand what was wrong.)

 

[Cristiano]

The scanner may not make that kind of mistake, but the scanner checks a database of prices. The person who keyed the price into the database may have made a mistake. Or maybe not. We simply do not have enough information.

As for the OP’s moral obligation, I guess it comes down to what role the employee has. Was she the store manager or simply the only clerk in the store? If she was the manager, then I think the OP is in the clear. If she was simply an employee, it might be a good idea to contact the manager and alert him or her to the problem. From the description of the situation, the employee wasn’t attempting to fix the problem (and didn’t fully understand what was wrong.)

I understand what you are saying but I think that your points are moot. First it is obvious that it is not an hardware error but it is due to human decision. Companies change prices all the time and often people end up paying higher prices than advertised because the database has not been upgraded. This case appears to be the opposite.
I have been in the same scenario of the OP for different products and I have been offered the lower cost product because it looks like a good deal from the company, it frees inventory and it kills the idea of purchasing the newer item at the same price of the older one. The sooner you kill the memory of the older price the better it is, if you do not do that people will look for the older price on newer items at competitor stores. What happened makes sens from a business point of view.
A customer usually does not have the moral responsibility to fix an employee error, if management cannot handle those employees then the company should be out of business. What if the manager does not fix the problem and cannot understand it either? What do you do? Do you go up in the chain of command until the problem is fixed?

 

[Dale_M]

I understand what you are saying but I think that your points are moot. First it is obvious that it is not an hardware error but it is due to human decision.

I think it is unclear whether the radical price difference is due to human decision or due to human error. And while it is true that the person at the sales register was encouraging the product with the lower price, she may not have had authority to set prices.

A customer usually does not have the moral responsibility to fix an employee error, if management cannot handle those employees then the company should be out of business. What if the manager does not fix the problem and cannot understand it either? What do you do? Do you go up in the chain of command until the problem is fixed?

If my merchandise were being inadvertently sold for only 15% of the normal price, I would want to be notified. I think bringing the matter to the attention of the store management, someone who is accountable for the merchandise, is a basic application of the Golden Rule.

 

[Cristiano]

I think it is unclear whether the radical price difference is due to human decision or due to human error. And while it is true that the person at the sales register was encouraging the product with the lower price, she may not have had authority to set prices…

Correct, she might not have the authority to set prices and so she should stick to what the reader says.

…If my merchandise were being inadvertently sold for only 15% of the normal price, I would want to be notified. I think bringing the matter to the attention of the store management, someone who is accountable for the merchandise, is a basic application of the Golden Rule.

Considering that usually in retail you double the price every time that you add a middle man a 15% variation in cost is nothing. Every employee in a business is accountable for the merchandise and if management does not stress that out they should be out of business. You still have not answered my question about what to do if the manager does not know or is not responsive? How much to escalate?

Here the OP made it clear that there was a reasonable explanation for the difference in price. These price differential are not uncommon on discounted items, just look at the discount/clearance section of a lot of online stores. You have been given an explanation of why businesses allow for such large price variations. Are you still saying that the employee should not be trusted with the explanation? Is it possible that the employee is not allowed to discuss specifics but only to offer the discounted items?

 

[Dale_M]

Correct, she might not have the authority to set prices and so she should stick to what the reader says.

Indeed. I don’t think that is in dispute.

Considering that usually in retail you double the price every time that you add a middle man a 15% variation in cost is nothing.

I think you misunderstand the price difference being described. The item being sold was given an 85% markdown, with no apparent notice of a discount or clearance sale.

Every employee in a business is accountable for the merchandise and if management does not stress that out they should be out of business. You still have not answered my question about what to do if the manager does not know or is not responsive? How much to escalate?

The store manager is the person who is accountable for the loss and profits of the store. That is the person who needs to be notified. It seems reasonable to assume that some kind of error is taking place. Either the item was falsely marked down, or the store isn’t isn’t publicizing with a sign or price sticker that a discount is being offered.

This is a situation where the responsible thing to do is to let the store manager know about the situation so s/he can act on it.

 

[Cristiano]

Indeed. I don’t think that is in dispute.

I think you misunderstand the price difference being described. The item being sold was given an 85% markdown, with no apparent notice of a discount or clearance sale.

The store manager is the person who is accountable for the loss and profits of the store. That is the person who needs to be notified. It seems reasonable to assume that some kind of error is taking place. Either the item was falsely marked down, or the store isn’t isn’t publicizing with a sign or price sticker that a discount is being offered.

This is a situation where the responsible thing to do is to let the store manager know about the situation so s/he can act on it.

I guess that here we just disagree on what the business fundamentals are and so we reach different conclusions. Using your assumptions I can see why you say what you are saying and it makes sense to me. I simply disagree with your assumptions and that brings us back to the original definition of a moral action.
The action must by the right one, because of the right intentions, and under the right circumstances. The bottom line is that here we are arguing about the circumstances because it is obvious that action itself is not intrinsically immoral, either way it could be fine, and the intent of the person is the right one.