Re: Ethics question. What would you do?
- From: "James L. Hankins" <jhankins5@xxxxxxx[no spam]>
- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2006 12:43:42 -0500
"Perry Friedman" <friedman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e31ov9$qpk$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <MPG.1ebe10694db48ce989691@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
ADB Jester <jeff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <d4W4g.12767$TK1.4690@fed1read06>, davoicergp@xxxxxxx says...
You are a "platinum" player at a casino (regular, medium-high roller).
You
play in a free slot tourney and win $150. You take the ticket to the
cage
and the cashier mistakenly pays you $1500 instead of the $150 you are
entitled to. The casino realizes the mistake and immediately begins
paging
you (within 2 minutes) and calls you at home (more than once a day for a
few
days). What do you do?
B. Point out the mistake to the cashier immediately
I *never* would keep money that didn't belong to me. Ever. I'd go way
out of my way, despite any inconvenience or hardship, to do the right
thing.
C. Return the money when you realize later (for whatever reason) the
mistake
I can't fathom how anyone could even get away from the cashier cage
without noticing this and IMMEDIATELY pointing it out. Stipulated that
said person never even looked at the money (was not watching the cashier
count it out, etc), and didn't realize it until they got home, said
person should get back in the car the instant he noticed it, and make
things right with the casino.
I've done that at the grocery store over a bottle of water that
accidently missed being rung up (tucked next to my son in the child seat
of the shopping cart -- I spent more in gas going back to pay for it
than the item was worth, but I *owed* that money to the store), and I'd
do the same for any sum of money, or any item regardless of the price.
Whatever the monetary value in question, my integrity and honor are
worth vastly more to me. Apparently, that's not the case in most of the
world today, because that grocery clerk looked at me like I was stark
raving mad when I returned to pay for that water.
I suspect, though, that you know what's right here yourself... or you
wouldn't be asking the question.
In response to some other responses, I have to said I'm somewhat
disappointed in RGP. You don't do the right thing to avoid "karma being
a bitch", to gain a comp (you shouldn't need to be bribed to do the
right thing), to avoid the dunning phone calls at home, or even "because
it isn't worth ruining some clerk's life who would be fired or have to
make up the difference from pay" (sorry, Perry). You do the right thing
because its *right*. Period. It's not your money, and you have no
right to it whatsoever, regardless of who screwed up.
To Brian S. Slick, and to "Randy".... I would be proud to associate with
you or do business with you any day. Well said.
Jester
But what makes it the right thing?
It's the right thing because you are entitled to $150, you know it, and the
cashier obviously made a mistake and gave you too much. You were enriched
unfairly by the cashier's clerical mistake and received money you neither
earned, risked, or to which you otherwise morally entitled. Telling the
clerk about the mistake is the right thing to do whether it's at a casino, a
bank, or a convenience store.
Suppose you find a defective slot
machine that pays out far more often than it should? Do you play it or
do you report it?
Play it. Taking advantage of that situation is not unfair because the
casino sets up the rules, you put your money in, and you get the money out.
Of course, I wouldn't do it because I'm pretty sure there are rules from the
Gaming Commission that void bets in this situation, particularly if it hit a
jackpot of some sort. So, you would probably be wasting your time.
Suppose you get overpaid by $100 from a slot machine?
Do you take the extra money or do you turn it in and report the machine?
You report it and return the money. The slot machine is the same as a
cashier. It's more tempting to not report it because no human being will
likely suffer direct consequences, but no difference in principle from a
cashier giving you back more money than you were entitlted. (I assume you
mean that the pay line indicates you won 100 coins but the machine spits out
150 coins or some such).
Suppose the casino had an automated machine to cash in your tickets from
video poker and sometimes it pays out extra money and the casino knows
but doesn't care?
You keep the money and stand in line with the other degenerates until the
machine breaks down. There is nothing unfair to the casino if you keep the
money if they are on notice and don't care. Again, taking advantage of
situations is not in and of itself unfair or immoral. In fact, that is the
*goal* when you play poker.
Suppose you find a roulette wheel that comes up on 23 once out of every
20 spins? Do you take advantage or report it?
Take advantage. The casino put the equipment out on the floor for the
purpose of using it to gamble with. If you are astute enough to know this
anomaly you are just a good gambler. You put your money up and you get your
bet if you win. This is taking advantage of a casino "mistake" but I don't
see anything wrong or unfair about it. You are getting the money to which
are entitled under the rules of the game using the quipment provided by the
casino. You are entitled to the money because you risked it under the rules
provided by the casino (contrast this with the cashier situation in which
you were never entitled to the extra money).
Suppose you find a blackjack dealer who keeps exposing his hole cards
to the table?
Is he doing it intentionally or unintentionally? Either way you tell him to
stop (as painful as that sounds). It's cheating and an unfair advantage you
are given. This example is probably the most tempting of all because the
dealer is an agent of the casino and you could say that the casino cannot
cheat itself. But this is a clear violation of the rules of the game and I
would consider an unfair advantage.
Of course, the main reason to tell someone is that you want to avoid being
arrested in an ugly scene inside the casino when they finally catch the
dealer doing it and then arrest you for being in collusion with the dealer
to commit felony gambling fraud.
Suppose you get home from grocery shopping and find out that one of the
items you bought was not on the receipt or you were undercharged by $1
for it?
Same with the casino cashier, you tell the check-out girl right then. If
you don't notice it until you get home, you go to bed and don't give it a
single thought.
Suppose you get the check from a restaurant and the soft drinks don't
appear on the bill?
You leave the money for the soft drinks as a tip for the waitress.
I am not saying what is "right" or "wrong" in any of these situations.
Perry
BTW, I actually found money (about $600) sitting in one of those ticket
machines, and I walked over to the cashier (leaving the money in the
machine, which was in plain site) and told them about it. The money was
supposedly claimed later, but I think it's possible, if unlikely, that
the cashier kept it..
You don't report this sort of thing primarily for the benefit of the casino
or the cashier; you do it for yourself.
.
- References:
- Ethics question. What would you do?
- From: DaVoice
- Re: Ethics question. What would you do?
- From: ADB Jester
- Re: Ethics question. What would you do?
- From: Perry Friedman
- Ethics question. What would you do?
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