Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfCrash
We see things differently. This is an expensive device. I would turn the device into lost and found or the police or call the company that made the device and see if they have a method for returning it to the person who lost it. That is the ethical thing to do. If someone will not do the right thing, then I will deprive them of the full use of the item that I paid for.
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I think there are different contexts involved.
I don't think I have any obligation to take care of other people's property.
One context is when I find something. Suppose I see a K3 lying on the sidewalk. I can just leave it lying on the sidewalk if I want. I have no responsibility to deal with it.
But if I pick it up, I have assumed the duty to return it to its owner. That duty is normally to turn it over to the the lost & found, or the merchant in whose shop I found it. Maybe giving it to the police. That's not as easy as one might think. The nearest cop may not take it.
Or I can return it to Amazon.
But if I don't want to assume the duty, I don't pick it up.
But buying things presents a different context. The rules we have about buying property evolved in a time when it was easy to know or find out if the person selling something actually owned it. So it was reasonable to put the burden of determining ownership on the buyer.
But these days, it's not so easy. The question is, in these days of eBay, what do we think is reasonable? And you have to take into account that we own much more stuff than people used to own. Ten times, a hundred times, maybe even a thousand times more stuff.
The question is, who should bear the burden of the loss? In the context of eBay or Craigslist, I think eBay or Craigslist should bear that burden as part of the cost of doing business. But in the context of a face to face sale, it makes sense to me that the buyer should continue to bear the burden.
In the context of the OP, she knew the seller, namely, her sister. It seems obvious that she should go back to the sister, return the device, get her money back, & tell her sister to contact Amazon.