Ethical crisis

[dolo amber]

Poll question: Ethical crisis

Ok, maybe it's not *that* much of a crisis...but input would still be appreciated. :)

I work for a small computer repair business. People call in all day asking for advice on how to fix things; of course, a big part of my job is NOT giving that advice, but telling them to bring it in so we can fix it.

Today, an older lady called in, saying she'd gotten *a friend* to upgrade her pc to Windows 2000. She said after the friend installed it, she went to get on the pc and it asked her for a password. Well, naturally, she didn't know it as she hadn't set one. She called the friend who told her "Hmmm...that's weird. It worked fine for me. I didn't need a password." :eyes:

So, clearly now the lady is upset. She can't get into her system at all. I tried to suggest she bring it in...but I just couldn't. Especially after she informed me that the pc had been a gift from her church...purchased at the Salvation Army for $75. She said all she wanted to do was post her cleaning business on some sites and look up scriptures for church. :cry:

Here's the dillema: We have caller ID at work. Her name and # came up. I'm sure it would take minimal time and effort for me to call her and ask if I might come there and sort some kind of solution for her. She's clearly not going to bring it in to our shop, so it's not like I'm stealing business from my company. Still though, something about it feels wrong.

WWDUD?

[GOPisEvil]

1. Fix it for her for free.

She'll tell her friends that the nice lady from (your company) fixed it - free advertising! Maybe her whole church will be customers.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Hubby does that sort of thing as a PC guy..... I think you can call

her and offer to help her out. Tell her you are donating your time to the church, since she will be using it for scripture research.

But if you still aren't sure, clear it w/ your boss.

[Book Lover]

3. As someone who has worked in corporate IT

I would fix it and be done with it. That said, I have never worked for a retail place that does this kind of work, so I can't say if you're screwing your company or not. Then again, maybe this is the opening for your freelance consulting practice...

[Richard Steele]

4. Word-of-mouth is worth more than a $$$ full-page ad!

Give her a handful of your business cards to hand out, and reset her password already.

[ikojo]

8. This is true...if she is active in her church and if it's a sizeable

congregation maybe she could take a business card and get it put in the church bulletin.

[amazona]

10. trust me, you don't WANT this word-of-mouth

Once you give it away free to one little old lady, then you've got to give it away free to all.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

It would be stupid enough if it were her own business. It is out-and-out theft to do this to an employer.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[brainshrub]

5. If I lived in Milwaukee, you'd have just won all my business.

You are exactly the kind of person I would want to fix my computer.

You have a heart of gold.

[RetroLounge]

6. Go ahead and fix it...

Maybe she'll leave you a ton of money someday, or maybe she'll join DU and become a frequent poster in the lounge?

RL

[Deja Q]

7. Choice one. Aptly colored red because it's the commie pinko answer...

You know, like me! :7

And I say that only in a POSITIVE light. I am somewhat socialist. It's an evolved form of lifestyle.

[amazona]

9. Sorry your first loyalty is to your employer

It is completely unethical for you to go around fixing people's computers for free when you only know of their existence because they called...the company that writes your pay check.

There are lots of social engineers out there, and trust me, some of them get older and become "sweet" little old ladies. But they haven't forgotten how to sing a sad song. This one laid it on way too thick for my taste. She already got a free computer out of her church, probably by sharing another sad tale of woe. I'm all too familiar with people who "game" various churches for freebies, but maybe I'm unsympathetic from the get-go, but come on.

It cannot be right to give away what your employer is paying you to sell. This would be a firing offense if I was your employer.

If you don't do anything, she'll cry to the church and they'll give her the money to fix the computer anyway.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[librechik]

11. some advice from an old hippy

you always regret WAY MORE the nice things you could have done, but chose not to, than the stupid things you did do, however destructive.


also

What goes around comes around. That's one thing you can count on, when everything else crumbles.

:smoke:

[dolo amber]

12. Thanks you guys

:)

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. It's a mitzvah to help her out.

Plus, a little pro bono work is good for the company and the community.