Is this ethical? - Page 3

ruthie · 07-29-2008, 09:58 AM

I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

No worst than me going to MacDonald's and ordering a happy meal for me!

Department stores have a huge markup on most of their stuff anyway. Even their 50 and 75 percent off sales, they are still making money.

badbaby_87 · 07-29-2008, 10:36 AM

Quote:

I'm going to be the bad guy. (ducking) I think it is absolutely fine if your parent is paying for the item to be given to you as a gift. I think it crosses the ethics line if they purchase it with the discount and you pay them back. If that is what the stores had intended, they would have advertised 10% off to everyone on that day. Stores do this specifically for seniors who are often living on fixed incomes. Sorry. I hate being the bad guy.

i agree completely. i see this happen all the time. a mom and her mom come shopping. the mom pays with her card. then i ring her mom up, who's paying separately, and her mom pays with her own cash, so she gets the discount. then i have the first lady asking where her discount is(?!!!). the way i see it, a customer should be glad they're not a senior citizen.
imo, it doesn't matter how much markup the store has. they are out there to make a profit. it's really not fair to other young customers who don't have a senior citizen to shop with.

Pianolady · 07-29-2008, 10:44 AM

No, it's fine. In fact, the stores probably love it because they've got two people coming through their doors instead of one. More people, more sales.

ruthie · 07-29-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badbaby_87

i agree completely. i see this happen all the time. a mom and her mom come shopping. the mom pays with her card. then i ring her mom up, who's paying separately, and her mom pays with her own cash, so she gets the discount. then i have the first lady asking where her discount is(?!!!). the way i see it, a customer should be glad they're not a senior citizen.
imo, it doesn't matter how much markup the store has. they are out there to make a profit. it's really not fair to other young customers who don't have a senior citizen to shop with.

Why should a customer be glad that they're not a senior citizen????

I am enjoying getting older and it had nothing to do with getting a senior discount!

badbaby_87 · 07-29-2008, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Why should a customer be glad that they're not a senior citizen????

lol. that came across wrong. i'm not saying it's bad to be getting older. i'm thinking of a lot of the older people i know who have health problems, and many with little or no retirement money. i meant that you should enjoy your youth while you have it.

i wasn't knocking senior citizens. i can't imagine someone saying " i wish i was 62, then i'd have all the luck.". but that's what it feels like when someone wants the senior discount and they've got plenty of years to go.

skimommy · 07-29-2008, 12:32 PM

I say go for it!

My MIL offers to shop with me so I can get FILs Target discount but it isn't worth the hassle.

freebiemom · 07-29-2008, 12:51 PM

The only way I would feel right doing it is if the store advertises the discount for the seniors and their family & friends. I think the discount is for the seniors to help them out and the stores have enough sales going on all the time that we can get the same discount in other ways.

momma2jillian · 07-29-2008, 05:10 PM

I don't think its unethical. My grandmother takes me sometimes on the senior days and will occasionally take me to the military commisary (although my dad was military too I just haven't got my card renewed).

As far as the out of state ID, we used to live in Wyoming, an hour away from Montana where they don't have sales tax and we never had to show our state IDs so we got free sales tax.

ember15 · 07-29-2008, 06:37 PM

Nope not unethical. Its a store discount they are doing what was set out to do and that is get people in and shopping. My mom turns 60 tomorrow I will have to try it.

Now the Tax thing is a whole different ball game. I have lived in Washington state my whole life. I have gone over to oregon many times to save sales tax. My Grandma pulled the Oregon ID thing for years after she moved to Washington. The store where I bought all my bridesmaid dresses even offered to use my cousin's oregon ID on things. It gets me when its not legit and when the size of it it is not small. I have heard of people Registering there vehicals in other states to not pay thousands of dollars in sales tax.
Yet what gets me is if you work in Oregon you still pay income tax and yet do not have any legal representation of where the tax money is spent.
People cheet the system when they can not ethical but if it saves them them they will do it.

LawDawg · 07-29-2008, 08:49 PM

I don't really have all that big a problem with the ethics of this issue. I KNOW in the strictest sense of the word the discount at Khol's is NOT for me it is for my Mom -- I think it started at 50 or 55 there. (Who makes WAY more than most people I know by the way -- but that is irrelevant.)

Usually what I would do is buy her lunch in exchange for buying me something at Khols because she won't take my money anyway. She doesn't care if I pay her back or not, but I like to be generous in return.

I am honest to a fault when it comes to paying taxes, not using coupons I don't have, trying to get a deal that doesn't apply to me, or generally saving money at the expense of the truth.

Perhaps I will rethink letting my Mom buy me anything with her discount if I intend to pay her back -- then again I wonder if Khol's would rather get 90% or nothing?