ethics question

Marlow · #1 11-16-2005, 08:46 PM

I bought an MP3 player and it does not work. Unfortunately I had a 2 month lag-time between when I bought it and when I tried it out, so the 1 month guarantee ran out. I wrote to the company and they are basically unresponsive.

Would it be unethical to do the following:
-buy the same MP3 player
-bring it home and put the broken one in the new one's box (forgot to mention that wife tossed old package)
-bring broken one back with receipt and get my money back

The way I see it, I'm doing nothing wrong aside from circumventing a stupid company policy. The end result is essentially the same as if I returned it to begin with and just got one that worked.

Scotch78 · #2 11-16-2005, 08:49 PM

This is like stressing over whether you should have checked the flop with a royal flush because everyone folded. Just do it.

Scott

Dan Rutter · #3 11-16-2005, 09:12 PM

I would say if you did that it would be slightly unethical. It is not the company's fault you did not check to see if the MP3 player worked until two months after you purchased it. The warranty is figured into the price of the MP3 somewhere, and you used the warranty up during the first month after purchase. So you got that service, you just never used it.

Bring it into the store and see if they will help you, if they continue to be unresponsive to your letter.

#4 11-16-2005, 09:45 PM

Almost everything electronic has a 1 year parts & labor warranty. If it doesn't, then the company must think it's product is low quality or something. What brand/model is this? I'd do the switcheroo.

#5 11-17-2005, 05:40 PM

You have my ok so I guess that means you should do it. After all, who is better left to decide your ethical decisions than I, some random stranger over the internet?

Peter666 · #6 11-17-2005, 05:54 PM

Well they didn't answer you so f*ck-em and do the switch.

hmkpoker · #7 11-17-2005, 06:29 PM

Most MP3 players have serial or other ID numbers on both them and the packaging. This could lead to a flaw in your plan, and I guess there's an argument about reverse implied odds.

Why on earth would you buy an MP3 player without an extended warranty?

Marlow · #8 11-17-2005, 09:15 PM

About 3 hours after I posted this, the company returned my email. So while I have very little faith in them overall, I'm going to try the str8 and narrow path first. Not that I think swapping is exactly unethical (still on the fence about this).

Thanks for all your responses.

Oh, and the company is iRiver.