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Ethics: Is it OK to take advantage of someone who doesn't do their due dillegence

beancounter said:
What I seem to be reading from a number of you is that as long as you suffer no personal consequences from taking advantage of someone else, then it's OK?

I left the question more open ended than I intended.

So, if there is no zero-sum issue involved, would do you believe it's OK to represent yourself or your organization as something it's not, and be able to fool another person (who didn't do sufficient due diligence) into giving you money?

Is buyer beware all that matters? If you can cheat another person, it's too bad so sad sucker? And that's ok?
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I have two parallel scenarios that I think fit your question...

1) You're at a garage sale. You see an antique. It has a price tag of $5. You know it's worth $750. Do you warn the seller, or do you pay the $5 and laugh all the way home?

2) You're having a garage sale. You have a 'knock-off' that is worth $5. You claim it's an antique worth $750, and someone believes you and wants to pay full price. Do you go through with it?
 
Lutherf said:
My client had their return done by someone else. That someone else made a number of errors and failed to report a rather significant transaction. I can't say for sure that it was intentional but my client went with it at the time and likely knew something was off. The auditor was focused on one particular issue and I was able to show that it was actually legitimate. After that the auditor never looked at the other issues that weren't legit.
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Got'cha.
 
beancounter said:
A simple question.

Do you believe that if person A doesn't do the due diligence, is it ethically justifiable for person B to take advantage of person A?

Yes or No. If you think it's OK, then please provide your reasoning.

I'm firmly in the "no" camp.
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sounds like classic victim blaming to me. If you know full well you're giving someone else a ****ty deal, and you do it anyway it doesn't really matter what they "should" have done to protect themselves. Essentially you're saying it's their own fault for trusting you. If you're not trustworthy, and you're comfortable with that then you're a ****ty person.
 
radcen said:
I have two parallel scenarios that I think fit your question...

1) You're at a garage sale. You see an antique. It has a price tag of $5. You know it's worth $750. Do you warn the seller, or do you pay the $5 and laugh all the way home?

2) You're having a garage sale. You have a 'knock-off' that is worth $5. You claim it's an antique worth $750, and someone believes you and wants to pay full price. Do you go through with it?
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#2 Definitely wrong, imo. #1 is a little tougher to answer. Personally, I'd talk to the seller about the item first without mentioning anything yet. It would all depend on the conversation.
 
beancounter said:
A simple question.

Do you believe that if person A doesn't do the due diligence, is it ethically justifiable for person B to take advantage of person A?

Yes or No. If you think it's OK, then please provide your reasoning.

I'm firmly in the "no" camp.
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That depends upon what "take advantage of" consists of. Situational ethics play for most of us.
 
Thoreau72 said:
That depends upon what "take advantage of" consists of. Situational ethics play for most of us.
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there is an old adage...."buyer beware"

i think for the most part, that is what i believe in....you should do your homework when purchasing stuff, and make sure you are okay with the price and the value

i dont believe in ripping people off....i wouldnt sell a $ 5 piece of junk for $ 750 making it appear as an antique....wouldnt want it to happen to me.....so i wouldnt do it to others
 
gdgyva said:
there is an old adage...."buyer beware"

i think for the most part, that is what i believe in....you should do your homework when purchasing stuff, and make sure you are okay with the price and the value

i dont believe in ripping people off....i wouldnt sell a $ 5 piece of junk for $ 750 making it appear as an antique....wouldnt want it to happen to me.....so i wouldnt do it to others
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You could never get a job in Big Pharma! ;)
 
radcen said:
I have two parallel scenarios that I think fit your question...

1) You're at a garage sale. You see an antique. It has a price tag of $5. You know it's worth $750. Do you warn the seller, or do you pay the $5 and laugh all the way home?

2) You're having a garage sale. You have a 'knock-off' that is worth $5. You claim it's an antique worth $750, and someone believes you and wants to pay full price. Do you go through with it?
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My OP is from the perspective of the seller, knowingly misrepresenting his product or service, so scenario 1 doesn't really apply. Scenario 2 is definitely wrong.

However, to answer scenario 1 - My decision would be based on my perception of the seller's financial situation. If he looks like he needs the money, I would tell him. Otherwise, I wouldn't. But either way, the seller isn't being harmed because his expectation is to receive $5. You can't lose money that you don't have.
 
radcen said:
I have two parallel scenarios that I think fit your question...

1) You're at a garage sale. You see an antique. It has a price tag of $5. You know it's worth $750. Do you warn the seller, or do you pay the $5 and laugh all the way home?

2) You're having a garage sale. You have a 'knock-off' that is worth $5. You claim it's an antique worth $750, and someone believes you and wants to pay full price. Do you go through with it?
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The answer to #1, pay the 5 dollars and go home. One mans junk is another man's treasure.
The answer to #2, let the buyer pay what they want to, you aren't forcing them to do anything and it's their money to do with as they please.
 
beancounter said:
A simple question.

Do you believe that if person A doesn't do the due diligence, is it ethically justifiable for person B to take advantage of person A?

Yes or No. If you think it's OK, then please provide your reasoning.

I'm firmly in the "no" camp.
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Not enough info because it depends on the circumstances

For example, if I own an electronics store and I sell a certain model of calculator for $24 and someone comes in and buy one, am I acting unethically by not telling him there is a store down the street that sells the same exact calculator for $17?
 
I have a scenario.

Next month, or even later this month, the new 2019 Ram trucks will be on sale.

How far do you take ethics?

Should a salesman tell a potential customer that it would be better for him to wait until the 2019 models are out or should the salesman sell him the 2018 model.

Obviously it would be best for the buyer to buy the newer model but it would be disasterous for the dealership.
 
Caveat Emptor
 
Depends on the circumstances. I think it's a lot more acceptable when someone has the time and ability to do their due diligence and simply doesn't bother to, than in circumstances where people don't really have the ability to do so, or when the deck is stacked in one party's favor and doing your due diligence is meaningless because it's not like you have the opportunity to change things anyway.
 
beancounter said:
A simple question.

Do you believe that if person A doesn't do the due diligence, is it ethically justifiable for person B to take advantage of person A?

Yes or No. If you think it's OK, then please provide your reasoning.

I'm firmly in the "no" camp.
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Of course; it happens every day: it's called "business".
 
Depends

If someone is willing to pay $30 000 for my car that might be worth $20 000, not an issue.

If a person with mental issues (say like senility ) is wanting to sell an old dresser that happens to be worth $30 000 and will take what a shop says it worth at $300, no it is not ethical

Taking advantage of someone who is not of sound mind is not ethical. But if someone or some organization is capable and fails to do it, then yes it is ethnical
 
beancounter said:
A simple question.

Do you believe that if person A doesn't do the due diligence, is it ethically justifiable for person B to take advantage of person A?

Yes or No. If you think it's OK, then please provide your reasoning.

I'm firmly in the "no" camp.
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I would agree: no.

But the person who did not do their due diligence should know that there are many, many unethical people in the world.
 
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