Talk about an ethics problem
Normally I love to see events professionals quoted in the newspaper, but I cringed when I read this article in yesterday’s Boston Globe about people who buy something, use it, then return it–essentially, getting free rental on stuff. Particularly galling, to me, was quotes from an event coordinator named Jimmy Deignan, who likes to buy LCD projectors to use for meetings, then return them and get his money back, rather than actually rent the things. He actually doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with it (and was the only one who let the writer use his last name–at least the others seemed to feel some shame attached to the practice since they didn’t want to admit to it in public under their full names). From the article:
In November, rather than spending $600 to rent a LCD projector for a business presentation, the Holden resident purchased one at Staples, then returned it a few days later and got his money back.
The way Deignan sees it, he is just a smart shopper: He gets the things he needs, uses them for as long as he wants, and saves money. But to retailers, this is wardrobing, a practice they say is unethical, damaging to their bottom line, and increasingly common…
“There’s lots of times when I buy stuff that someone’s bought before. When I rent something, I’m taking good care of it,” said Deignan, who works as an event coordinator. “And, it made me look good when I saved my company $600 in rental fees for the projector.”
I know rental fees for AV equipment can be ridiculous, but this does not speak well for the profession, IMHO.
Related Topics: Business stuff
February 19th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
well, his math must not be very good–either that or his labor isn’t worth much: how often does he go to staples, buy something and then return it? how many hours of his time does that take up? it’s not smart; it’s cheap, and there’s a big difference.
this isn’t really the worst i’ve heard. as long as everyone’s clear on the subject, it’s fine to get kick-backs from the hotel but not disclosing that you as a planner are making $$ on each hotel booking is a bit underhanded.
well, maybe that’s a matter of perspective?
February 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
This left me feeling embarrassed for our industry as a whole. Some people seem to have their ‘True North’ skewed and no matter how you slice it, to me, this is nothing short of theft. The store can no longer sell the item as ‘new’, hence, they lose profit. I wonder how he is also selling this particiular ‘rental item’ to his client in his contractual agreement. He may be levying a fee on one end, and getting a refund on the other, which means it is all ‘pure profit’ for him, and costing Staples on their bottom line.
Staples, are you out there reading this?
February 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
It is seldom that I am at a loss for words but the incredible nerve of this guy is beyond belief!
If I were his company, I would be very wary of him. A dishonest person is a dishonest person. If he can do this to Staples, he can do this to his employer as well.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:40 am
How sad. “It made me look good to save my company $” - what kind of a statement is that? If he does this at work, what does he do at home? What is this teaching others? I’m all for being creative and saving the company money but this crosses the line. For shame.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
A friend way back from high school would tell me this about one of her friends. The person would do this with clothes and actually do this at restaurants to get an expensive meal, eat some and then return it saying she didn’t like it. I would be so embarrassed to even think of something like that. After the chef came to the table when she tried that for the first time and said she does it all the time, my friend said she would never go out with her to restaurants again!
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