Question

3–3. Consumer Rights. Best Buy, a national electronics retailer, offered a credit card that allowed users to earn “reward points” that could be redeemed for discounts on Best Buy goods. After reading a newspaper advertisement for the card, Gary Davis applied for, and was given, a credit card. As part of the application process, he visited a Web page containing Frequently Asked Questions as well as terms and conditions for the card. He clicked on a button affirming that he understood the terms and conditions. When Davis received his card, it came with seven brochures about the card and the reward point program. As he read the brochures, he discovered that a $59 annual fee would be charged for the card. Davis went back to the Web pages he had visited and found a statement that the card “may” have an annual fee. Davis sued, claiming that the company did not adequately disclose the fee. Is it unethical for companies to put terms and conditions, especially terms that may cost the consumer money, in an electronic document that is too long to read on one screen? Why or why not? Assuming that the Best Buy credit-card materials were legally sufficient, discuss the ethical aspects of businesses strictly following the language of the law as opposed to following the intent of the law.

4–1. Standing. Jack and Maggie Turton bought a house in Jefferson County, Idaho, located directly across the street from a gravel pit. A few years later, the county converted the pit to a landfill. The landfill accepted many kinds of trash that cause harm to the environment, including major appliances, animal carcasses, containers with hazardous content warnings, leaking car batteries, and waste oil. The Turtons complained to the county, but the county did nothing. The Turtons then filed a lawsuit against the county alleging violations of federal environmental laws pertaining to groundwater contamination and other pollution. Do the Turtons have standing to sue? Why or why not?

Answer 1

1. At the outset,there does not seem to be any ethics violation, as Davis himself has agreed, that the web document suggests that there is the possibility for an annual fee. Even, if the electronic document is too long to read & understand in one go--the same is the case with written hard-copies also--where we come across share applications , which run to pages in minute prints. It is common prudence for a person applying for such as these, to know where to look for , for gathering certain informations--so as not to miss out on any monetary numbers--that may arise at a future date , before signing. That too with frequent check-boxes in all such online-deals, the purchaser can stay alert , before finally accepting. As all the terms of the contract are enlisted in the web-available page of the company,the issuing company can take legal -correctness-rescue by citing their impression that the customer had not come up with any query--so he has agreed to all that had been printed on the web-page. That said, the web-designed page , for establishing a contract, is no diffferent from signing a hard-copy---as they are also going to honor your credit payments , on on-line basis only-- without waiting for any written & signed document from you.

2. Yes, Idaho is a place in United States where Jack and Maggie have bought a house; it is across the gravel pit. Gravel pit is a hole on the ground in general which has lots of gravels and is open for water to collect in the same. The county of the place converted it into a landfill which means open to the people to fill the same and hence it was being used in a bad manner and all the thrash and dirt was being thrown in their which was creating a ban environment for them and the others around. The Turtons have standing to sue. Because the Turtons have a sufficient stake in acontroversy, and they have suffered from the environment caused by thelandfill. Also thetrash not only affects the environment but also influence the health of the people livedaround. The controversy is real and substantial as well. So the Turtons have standing to sue.