What Would An Argentine Do? An Ethical/moral Dilema...

[tangueraintrepida]

Carrefour had their usual buy one, get one half-off sale on liquor today, so my boyfriend decided to stock up on Jameson's. After getting home, we realized the cashier neglected to scan the second bottle. Both our instincts told us to go back and pay for the second bottle, however, we started to consider whether this error would jeapardize the cashier's job.

So my first question: Does the union protect the worker from errors like this, or is it possible she'd get canned? We still want to do the honest thing, but not to the detriment of someone's livelihood.

My boyfriend asked, "What would an Argentine do?" Our theory is that no porteño would ever go back to a chain store to right a situation like this, but they may let their mom-and-pop grocer know depending on how friendly they are with them. Any Argentine's want to weigh in?

Adding to this discussion, we started speculating on what other people may do in this situation and what impacts their decision. For instance, my moral/ethical compass comes from my dead, Catholic, mid-western-raised mother whom I can hear tsking in the back of my mind when crap like this happens. (Oh, the guilt, will it never go away??)

So what would you do and why?

 

[sivan]

I consider myself to be a fairly honest person but honestly I wouldn't go back just because of the hassle. Enjoy it and drink a toast to Carrefour!

 

[glasgowjohn]

Do the honest thing!

Drink it before anyone finds out........... do you need any help ?

 

[Yogur griego]

My equally stringent protestant moral compass would have forced me to bring it back in the case of a small store, run by a family or something.

However, in the case of Carrefour, I am just as indifferent as the people above me.

 

[ArgentinianGirl]

[font="Arial""]Actually, in Argentina there isn’t a union for supermarket employees, at least not a strong one. So the cashier may get fired for that stupid mistake, not only that, if she has been at the job for less than three month she won't get any compensation. Take it as a 2x1 promotion instead of a 50% off in the second unit. Going back to explain the situation it is not worth it, you may actually do more harm than good, plus they will think you are trying to pull out some kind of con or something like that, so they aren’t going to be super understanding at first. You will take valuable time from the supervisor, security guy and the cashier, then the cashier is going to get reprimanded and you will spend up to $300 worth of employees’ time to give $5 back. And probably next time that you go there they will stare at you and comment, don’t waste anyone’s time and enjoy.[/font]

 

[Iznogud]

Screw Carrefour and raise your glass at the cashier's honest mistake. Time is invaluable, finite, irreplaceable and the ultimate unknown. Don't waste it in getting people in trouble. The company covers its loses.

Enjoy your booze.

- An argie.

 

[Chicaargentina]

Drink and toast

 

[tangueraintrepida]

Actually, in Argentina there isn’t a union for supermarket employees, at least not a strong one. So the cashier may get fired for that stupid mistake, not only that, if she has been at the job for less than three month she won't get any compensation. Take it as a 2x1 promotion instead of a 50% off in the second unit. Going back to explain the situation it is not worth it, you may actually do more harm than good, plus they will think you are trying to pull out some kind of con or something like that, so they aren’t going to be super understanding at first. You will take valuable time from the supervisor, security guy and the cashier, then the cashier is going to get reprimanded and you will spend up to $300 worth of employees’ time to give $5 back. And probably next time that you go there they will stare at you and comment, don’t waste anyone’s time and enjoy.

Thank you for the reponses everyone and especially Argentinian Girl! We will take the advice and toast our good fortune. We were also concerned about everyone being suspicious, and not being able to explain ourselves very well. (Our Castellano is passable, but not great.) We considered the possibility of causing more of a problem than doing a good deed. And I certainly don't want the poor woman to lose her job or be reprimanded for an honest mistake. She obviously got distracted struggling to get the damned security tags off the bottles. She is also one of the friendlier cashiers and we certainly can't afford to lose any of the nice ones.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Again, which cashier was she? (no, just kidding).

Like others said, do the right thing ... and drink a toast to your good fortune. I can bet you you've been short-changed on occasion and didn't catch it. It all washes out in the end.

If your compass is freaking out so much that you can't sleep then figure the amount of your "overage" and give the same to a church or needy family of your choice. However, I don't think God works that way. You should probably be giving to the extent that you've been blessed anyway, even if you didn't get free liquor. :)

 

[RichardP]

A similar thing happened to me once and I got chewed out by the cashier for creating a hassle in thinking I was doing the right thing. Being honest here is not always considered a virtue and you will look like a gil in their eyes for being a goody two shoes. In a small business it would be appreciated though.