Unethical?

[scubagirl15]

What do you guys think of this:

A PADI instructor for a dive store orders gear directly from a manufacturer at dealer pricing BUT arranges to have the purchase billed directly to his personal credit card and to have the goods delivered directly to his home.

The store owner discovered the situation because the manufactuer's rep was kind enough to call the store owner to ask if it was OK.

You probably don't need me to tell you the store owner's reaction: angry would be putting it mildly.

If you were the store owner, what would you do?

 

[Walter]

Seems a tad odd that a question of this nature would be someone's very first post.

Ethics of this situation would depend on the agreements between the instructor and the shop. When I've worked for shops, I always purchased gear at cost, so there would be no advantage of ordering directly. Some gear I was able to get at key man pricing which is actually below dealer cost. In those cases, it would be to my advantage to go through the shop owner.

Unless the shop owner is marking up gear he sells to his employees, I can't see the shop owner having a problem with the situation. If he's doing that, I wouldn't consider the instructor to be the primary violator of ethics.

Why mention he was a PADI instructor? His agency affiliation is totally unrelated.

 

[FFMDiver]

Souldnt all faithfull employees get an equipment bonus??
The mfgr. made money. The worker would have gotten it cheaper online - this way he improves the relationship between the shop & the mfgr. everybody wins!

 

[scubagirl15]

Walter once bubbled...
Seems a tad odd that a question of this nature would be someone's very first post.

I learn so much from reading everyone's posts, it only underscored my igorance to myself...didn't feel I even had $0.02 to add to most discussions!

Why mention he was a PADI instructor? His agency affiliation is totally unrelated.

My ignorance at play again I'm afraid. Didn't know if it made a difference or not.

Just wanted to put out a feeler on the situation to help myself understand it. I'm not a dive professional...still a relatively new diver learning about the business. Thanks for the input.

 

[ColdH20diving]

I think the employee should have discussed the matter with the shop owner first. If the owner had a problem, then I would have purchased the gear elsewhere. It seems to me that instructors are offered key man discounts on various items, usually at prices below dealer cost. Why didn't he pursue that route?

 

[ReefGuy]

Unless he's ordering this gear and selling it to other people, which is how I took the post.

 

[scubagirl15]

Oops...my mistake, that made it look like part of my response was actually Walter's words.

All I meant to say was: Walter, you thought it a tad odd this was my first post. I just never felt I had much to add to most of the discussions: I learn a lot from reading everyone's posts, mostly that I've got a lot to learn!

 

[Walter]

Not a problem. Feel free to jump into any discussion. I learn from everyone.

 

[scubagirl15]

ColdH20diving once bubbled...
I think the employee should have discussed the matter with the shop owner first. If the owner had a problem, then I would have purchased the gear elsewhere. It seems to me that instructors are offered key man discounts on various items, usually at prices below dealer cost. Why didn't he pursue that route?

That's what I thought. Maybe these were items the store didn't offer to its instructors at key man prices??

 

[MikeFerrara]

Walter once bubbled...
Seems a tad odd that a question of this nature would be someone's very first post.

Ethics of this situation would depend on the agreements between the instructor and the shop. When I've worked for shops, I always purchased gear at cost, so there would be no advantage of ordering directly. Some gear I was able to get at key man pricing which is actually below dealer cost. In those cases, it would be to my advantage to go through the shop owner.

Unless the shop owner is marking up gear he sells to his employees, I can't see the shop owner having a problem with the situation. If he's doing that, I wouldn't consider the instructor to be the primary violator of ethics.

Why mention he was a PADI instructor? His agency affiliation is totally unrelated.

Well the one instructor I had work for me wasn't a shop employee and I did put a little markup on her gear. I paid her for teaching classes and she agreed to teach for that compensation so didn't figure I owed her anything else. Any discount I gave was just a bonus.

The dealership is mine. In order to be able to buy directly from the manufacturer cost me a lot of money. Anything being purchased is being done under my name and because I and my store met the manufacturers requirements. To me this is like using some one elses credit card or drivers license. It looks like theft to me. This isn't something that I would have taken very well.