So Maniac and I recently went out to purchase our first piece of real furniture. By real I mean not from IKEA, not made of particle board, and not a hand me down. (Note: antiques do not count as hand-me-downs, and are therefore "real") We needed a dining room table and chairs and wanted something that would last us a few years and would be of good quality, but contemporary and functional. We decided to go with a set from a place I'll call East Oak. We opted to buy 6 chairs even though it would be a tight fit around our small table, but it was necessary that we be able to entertain without having 2 tables. Because who wants to be designated to the "kids table"? The short, often inferior, substitute for a real table. As you hunch over your plate, eyeing your glass lest it splash over the side when one of the substantial chairs at the "adult table" is pushed back, and forlorningly listening to the raucous laughter and poignant conversation j-u-s-t out of reach of actually joining in...{shudder}
Any how, being the frugal Red that I am, I didn't want to pay shipping charges so we agreed to make several trips to the store for the various pieces (6 chairs, one table top, one table base). The first day we were able to only fit 3 chairs into my shiny new Civic.
Day 2, Maniac took his Celica and was able to fit 6 chairs into it.
wait..6 chairs you say?
Yes. The schmo at the loading dock on Day 1, never marked on our pick up list that we had left with 3 chairs. So Maniac took all 6 chairs, the little thief that he is. "I didn't realize". huh.
But wait, its not over.
Day 3. Maniac runs on his lunch break to pick up the table base (they agree to ship the table top for free, since it won't fit in our cars), and the new schmo at the loading dock says (according to Maniac) "Do you want an extra chair?" "Why yes I do", Maniac answers.
So now we have 4 extra chairs (which we really have no room for)
Q: Do we take the chairs back and explain their mistake? Or sell them ourselves and make a profit of about $500+
Friday, October 05, 2007
Ethical Dilemna
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3 comments:
Kudos on furniture ownership!! All I can say regarding your ethical question is that I want a place to sit when I come to visit that does not involve the lap of a husband....or a wife!
I can see the dilemma but at the same time I find it amusing and entertaining! Hypothetically, If you truly don't have room for the furniture you could do something altruistic and give them to friends--it's charitable--or you could sell them at a discounted price, therefore some profit is made. I feel that the mistake is that of the store employees thus you are not to blame. Enjoy and good luck finding a solution to the problem of excess seating!
Congrats on the incredible surplus of chairs! I do not at all share rachel's sentiment of charity. It is youre moral imperative to turn a profit off this landfall. I also encourage you to keep buying furniture from this establishment and use the pick-up-through-the course-of-the-week method as this seems to gain you more furniture since the people working the loading docks, and the salesman in the fancy suit inside are not on the same page. clearly. see if you can get a set of end tables. cant use 'em?
YARD sale! 100% profit.
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