Ethical or Not?

[disneysteve]

I swear our society has this throw away mentality.

You should have been there at playoff/championship season.

For example, Superbowl shirts would be printed and ready to go for both teams. Team A wins and the shirts get put out for sale. Team B loses and those shirts all get destroyed.

[rennigade]

You should have been there at playoff/championship season.

For example, Superbowl shirts would be printed and ready to go for both teams. Team A wins and the shirts get put out for sale. Team B loses and those shirts all get destroyed.

Oh wow...thats sad. That also goes to show how much of a markup there is. For them to print 100 of each (200 total) for example...and already know half of them will be destroyed...they must cost pennies to make.

[rennigade]

In an effort to not start another thread on ethics...heres one that I was part of years ago but probably applies to a lot of people.

Do you remove coupons from items in stores even if you do not plan on buying the item at that very moment?

Years ago there was a massive deal at target on shampoo and candles. Each had coupons that you had to take and stock up on. Not all bottles/candles had the coupons...so it was a free for all. I remember going to a target and saw 3 other people hunting for the coupons on the pantene bottles. Long story short I ended up with around 90 bottles of shampoo...and target paid me over $100 in gift cards to take...it was buy 3 get a $5 gift card...after coupon 3 bottles cost $0.15 (5 cents a bottle.) Ill see if I can find the pic of all the bottles.

This was a day or 2 haul when I worked close to a target. I would go 3 times a day and buy a bunch at a time. Theres only 49 in this picture but I know there were more.

[disneysteve]

Do you remove coupons from items in stores even if you do not plan on buying the item at that very moment?

I'd say that is definitely unethical and amounts to petty theft. That coupon is clearly intended as a perk for buying the product. If you aren't buying the product it is attached to, you aren't entitled to the coupon.

[rennigade]

^ this I agree with. I havent taken coupons from products I do not buy anymore. I used to grab them all the time though.

[StormRichards]

Do you remove coupons from items in stores even if you do not plan on buying the item at that very moment?

I'd say that is definitely unethical and amounts to petty theft. That coupon is clearly intended as a perk for buying the product. If you aren't buying the product it is attached to, you aren't entitled to the coupon.

I have removed coupons from stores but not coupons attached to an item. If there is a tearpad with coupons for an item I buy, I will take one to use at a later date unless the item is also at a great sale price that day. I would say the coupon I probably have done this with the most is M&Ms.

[~bs]

^

tearpads are different.

Unless if the computer system had an error that didnt' prevent you from use multiple tearpads per item, so you use 100 tearpads at one time to get 30 bags of m&ms for free. lol

[Nutria]

You should have been there at playoff/championship season.

For example, Superbowl shirts would be printed and ready to go for both teams. Team A wins and the shirts get put out for sale. Team B loses and those shirts all get destroyed.

I thought they were shipped to Haiti and Africa...

[StormRichards]

^

tearpads are different.

Unless if the computer system had an error that didnt' prevent you from use multiple tearpads per item, so you use 100 tearpads at one time to get 30 bags of m&ms for free. lol

I do enjoy M&Ms but have always used coupons properly.

Just not willing to pay $3.99 for an 11oz bag, which is a typical non-sale price at the drugstores.

Although I have stated I have taken tearpad coupons before, I honestly don't recall the last time I have even seen one. Not sure if I grabbed a single coupon in 2016.

I know there are people out there that will just take the entire tearpad of coupons, and happily gloat about it on slickdeals. Those are people I want to choke.

[~bs]

That's ridiculous. It's not like they're going to use the entire pad either since it's normally 1 coupon per item per customer per day or some restriction like that.

[disneysteve]

I thought they were shipped to Haiti and Africa...

Actually, that stuff might have been. But there were definitely other times when stuff just got destroyed. They had to physically destroy the items to prevent anyone from trashpicking them and then document the destruction - all for perfectly good merchandise.

[StormRichards]

That's ridiculous. It's not like they're going to use the entire pad either since it's normally 1 coupon per item per customer per day or some restriction like that.

Oh, they use them. Or they sell them.

[disneysteve]

I know there are people out there that will just take the entire tearpad of coupons, and happily gloat about it on slickdeals. Those are people I want to choke.

Greed never leads anywhere good. I'm all for taking advantage of a good deal but it's easy to cross the line and go overboard.

[TexasHusker]

I used to work at a large hospital system. A colleague of mine ("Ted") temporarily took over the administrative functions for the radiology department.

Apparently, there was some sort of waste related to imaging (maybe radioactive or film stuff - I can't recall - maybe Steve will know). Anyway, the hospital hired a company to come and get the waste. Apparently, the company said there was some sort of a rebate for the waste, and they asked where to send the checks. Ted told them to send them to his home address.

Dude got regular checks in the mail for years, until he got canned for something else and the new powers-that-be figured it out.

That was all ethical, too.

[disneysteve]

Apparently, the company said there was some sort of a rebate for the waste, and they asked where to send the checks. Ted told them to send them to his home address.

Some things are much more clearly unethical - and often illegal - than others.