ethics

(Wayne Gunn)

Amazon Named Most Reputable Large American Company, Freddie Mac The Least
By Phil Villarreal on April 7, 2011 4:30 PM   59 Comments
According to the consulting firm Reputation Institute, Amazon is the most reputable company in the United States and Freddie Mac is the least. More »

(edoardocosta)

Landlord Offers $50 Off Rent To Tenants For Leaving Positive Ratings
By Ben Popken on March 28, 2011 5:00 PM   113 Comments
Luke got an intriguing email from his landlord. It was an offer for $50 off his April rent - hooray! - but he had to something unsavory first. His landlord wanted him to go to apartmentratings.com and give the apartment complex 5-star ratings across the board. More »

(balmes)

Three Worst Company In America Nominees Make "Most Ethical" List
By Phil Villarreal on March 17, 2011 1:30 PM   38 Comments
In a de facto antidote to our Worst Company in America competition, Forbes released a list of the most ethical companies in the world. More »

(So Cal Metro)

Employee: Borders Is Making Us Push Loyalty Cards That May Be Worthless If Company Declares Bankruptcy
By Phil Villarreal on January 14, 2011 3:30 PM   111 Comments
Borders has struggled to pay publishers and may be facing bankruptcy. As a result, one employee is alleging the bookseller is getting desperate, ordering employees to encourage customers to buy loyalty cards that could lose all value if the company files Chapter 11. More »

(Great Beyond)

How Far Should I Go To Let Macy's Know It Accidentally Gave Me Refund?
By Phil Villarreal on December 7, 2010 1:30 PM   88 Comments
Steve received an early, accidental Christmas present from Macy's, which mistakenly issued a refund for a jacket he ordered online. Being paragons of moral virtue, Consumerist readers will no doubt tell him to let the retailer know about the goof and offer to pay for the jacket. But the question isn't so much whether or not to tell Macy's, but how much effort he's morally obligated to exert in order to give Macy's the chance to correct the error. Is an email to customer service enough? Does he need to follow it up until he receives a response? More »

(madmolecule)

Paying The Foreclosure Lawyer With A Second Mortgage
By Ben Popken on November 10, 2010 10:38 AM   33 Comments
Ever the hotbed of innovation, a new innovation in foreclosure defense is emerging in Florida. Until now, the big question for foreclosure lawyers is "how do we get paid?" If their client can't afford to pay the bank, how are they going to pay for legal services? One firm has figured out a way. After the original mortgage is nullified or reduced, the client takes out a new mortgage for 40% of the savings, and pays it to the lawyer. More »

(rjivani)

What Do You Do When A Site Fails To Charge Your Credit Card?
By Phil Villarreal on August 5, 2010 3:30 PM   116 Comments
Sarah seems partly jubilant and partly terrified that a travel website failed to make her pay for a round trip flight to Alaska. She wants to protect herself and know whether or not she has to do anything more. More »

(smittenkittenorig)

Gift Card Error In Your Favor: When Do You Tell The Hotel?
By Chris Walters on August 3, 2010 11:30 AM   92 Comments
A reader emailed us to ask what he should do about an accounting mistake he discovered with some gift cards. He suspects the different parts of the hotel don't update the card balance in real time, but it could also be that the hotel's employees aren't processing the card correctly. Now he's wondering whether he should have said something. More »

(*Sally M*)

PepsiCo Buys Its Way Onto Science Blog Network As A Food Nutrition Expert
By Chris Walters on July 7, 2010 10:45 AM   25 Comments
Update #2: On Thursday morning, July 8th, ScienceBlogs contributor PZ Myers posted that the founder and CEO of Seed Media (which owns the blog network) has announced that the PepsiCo sponsored blog has been removed—although as of this update (10:44 am EST July 8th) it's still online. More »

(Barb McMahon)

Is It Okay To Download A Pirated Copy Of A Book You Already Own?
By Chris Walters on April 6, 2010 10:47 AM   203 Comments
Yesterday we wrote about someone who downloaded a pirated copy of a game after he couldn't gain access to the copy he'd already paid for. In that case, which most of our commenters supported, it was clear that the consumer was trying to resolve a problem created by the DRM. But what about if you own a printed copy of a book and you simply want to read the ebook version? Should you have to pay for a second copy? Randy Cohen, who writes the The Ethicist column for the New York Times, says downloading a copy you find online is ethical. More »

(jaycoxfilm)

TechCrunch Intern Fired For Trading Reviews For Gadgets
By Phil Villarreal on February 8, 2010 8:00 AM   48 Comments
TechCrunch canned a teen intern for asking for a MacBook Air in order to do a post about a Startup, Inquisitr reports, pointing out the site's founder and co-editor Michael Arrington throws the kid under the bus, hardly acknowledging the lack of managerial oversight that made the practice possible. More »

(Photo: Dazzie D)

Go Ahead, Strategically Default On Your Underwater Mortgage
By Chris Walters on December 2, 2009 5:14 PM   190 Comments
"Homeowners should be walking away in droves. But they aren't. And it's not because the financial costs of foreclosure outweigh the benefits. One can have a good credit rating again—meaning above 660—within two years after a foreclosure." That's the conclusion reached by a law professor who's written a paper about strategic default, which is when you elect to walk away from an underwater mortgage because you stand to lose more money trying to keep it than if you cut your losses immediately. The problem is, lots of people think it's the wrong thing to do, because individuals are supposed to play by different rules than the companies they do business with. More »

If Best Buy Gave You A Free Xbox 360 By Accident, Would You Give It Back?
By Phil Villarreal on October 19, 2009 2:45 PM   190 Comments

—>Ian wants your permission to keep the Xbox 360 Best Buy gave him by accident.  More »

Where Saving Money and Ethics Collide
By consumerist.com on August 26, 2009 6:10 PM   116 Comments

—>The Mighty Bargain Hunter blog presents us with a money-related ethical dilemma: what do (should) you do when someone has priced an item way too low? He shares several stories that illustrate how this quandary can occur, and the response alternatives primarily boil down to two options:  More »

Reader Wants To Convert Retailer's Billing Mistake Into Charitable Act
By Chris Walters on August 19, 2009 6:43 PM   64 Comments

—>Here's a good rule of thumb for determining whether something is a charitable act: if you have to steal money to do it, and you're not Robin Hood, it's probably not gonna count as a good deed.  More »

Don't Try To Use Your Blog To Extort A Pair Of Crocs
By Meg Marco on July 28, 2009 6:27 PM   78 Comments

—>Here's a story that will teach you a little something about how not to behave. According to George Smith, who does online marketing for Crocs, a blogger at the BlogHer conference in Chicago tried to extort him out of some shoes. This is not a good idea.  More »

RadioShack Will Say Anything To Upsell Extended Warranties
By Carey Alexander on July 19, 2009 12:00 PM   90 Comments

—>An anonymous RadioShack employee sent us what he considers unethical talking points distributed by the corporate office to help employees upsell the RadioShack Replacement Service Plan. According to our tipster, "each example encourages lying." Read the deceptive talking points, inside...  More »

Did Washington Mutual Just Give Me $500?!
By Carey Alexander on July 11, 2009 4:00 PM   239 Comments

—>Daniel filled out a Washington Mutual deposit slip listing several checks and $500 in cash, but "forgot" to hand over the cash. He normally isn't a fan of "shady business," but now that he has a bank statement crediting him for the $500 hiding in his wallet, he's suddenly not sure what to do...  More »

Best Buy, Nike Make List Of 99 Top Ethical Companies. Wait, What?
By Alex Chasick on April 13, 2009 6:27 PM   58 Comments

—>A business ethics institute named Ethisphere has released its annual list of the 99 "World's Most Ethical Companies." We have to take exception to some of their choices.  More »

Best Buy Not Honoring Price Match Guarantee
By Chris Walters on March 18, 2009 1:18 AM   86 Comments

—>Not to be outdone by all the negative publicity Office Depot is getting over their "not in stock" lies, Best Buy stores in the New York area have been uncovered refusing to price match TV prices in accordance with their official policy. When pressed, the sales associates said that the TVs weren't covered due to imaginary exclusions that aren't included in the official policy language. An employee at one of the stores gave in, but then made up a new imaginary policy that said free delivery would cost $100.   More »

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