In: Operations Management
You place an order for 1 box of granola bars off of Amazon, the shipment comes and there are 10 boxes of the granola bars. What are your obligations to the items you recieved?
The obligation here would be to inform the delivery person that I have ordered only for one box of granola bars and there must be a mistake when the product was shipped. I would ask the delivery person how I can return the 9 boxes to the company. If I have already paid online for 1 box of granola bars then I would ask the company to send a representative to come and collect the remaining 9 boxes. If I have to make the payment on delivery then I would inform Amazon what has happened by calling the customer care and then pay only for one box. It will not be ethical to keep all the 10 boxes of granola bars when I have paid or paying only for one box. I would have got someone else's order and that person would have received just one box of granola bars. So it is always right to return the product that does not belong to me. Amazon might appreciate my honesty and ask me to keep another box of it but I am obligated to inform them about the situation and return the extra 9 boxes.