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Mail Order Business Responsibility
Matt wrote regarding my comment to Dave that any mail order business worth
its salt better take responsibility for getting its product to the customer:
"That's the key here. The biggest mail order company in the world doesn't
need to worry about things like a smaller company does, let alone a single
individual. Sure, Amazon doesn't lose much if an immoral customer gets the
book, puts it on his shelf, and calls them and says "I never got it, can you
send me another?", and subsequently stocks everyone in his family with a
copy, all at the company's expense. They deal in such huge quantities, it's
almost no skin off their nose if this happens sometimes. Dave is a much
smaller company (assumably) than Amazon. If this happens enough to him, it
can ruin his business. It's not his fault if the shipping company screws
things up, or if someone rips it off from the buyer's porch. That's an
enormous load of crap."
What I forgot to write the other day was the flip side of the coin which I'm
sure you'll accept on the basis of your argument. How would mail order
folks feel about the customers applying the "Mail Box Rule" which states
that a bill is in fact legally paid when the customer drops a correctly
addressed letter with proper postage in a US mail box. Never mind whether
the check ever arrives and is cashed! The bill was paid when it hit the
mail box! While the law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, unless
modified by a written agreement, your customer's obligation to pay you ends
at the mail box. No need to place a stop order and write another check at
all. The bill was paid!
I guess what's good for the goose is good for the gander! :-) Good business
is rarely about fault. And Amazon is still losing money hand over fist.
They replace items not received because it's good business!
Steve Dixon in San Francisco