Racjonalny wybór - Studia przypadków 2

Rational Choice - Case studies 2

The case studies presented in this article may seem very familiar. They were selected carefully to make you think about situations which we frequently encounter. Sometimes, when confronted with dilemmas similar to those presented below, we do not know what to do. Eventually, we let it go without doing anything or we take a spontaneous decision and then struggle to deal with its consequences. The rational choice theory may come in handy if we want to determine what is the right thing to do.

The Cashier’s Error

Imagine that you visit an electronics shop because you need to buy a few rather expensive items. One of them is a camera that costs L300. When you return home and look at the receipt you realize that the cashier, by mistake, did not charge you for the camera. What do you do about it? Is it acceptable to let it go and feel happy about saving some money? Hopefully, most people would be inclined to say that it is an absolute must to pay for the product. The reason for this seems to be pretty simple. You have a sales contract. When you picked the camera from the shelf and went through the till with it, you made an agreement to pay the shop L300 in exchange for the camera. Those who would not be so eager to return and pay for it, might argue that there is no camera listed on the receipt. They might say that the camera is a gift. The receipt, however is not a contract and a gift has to be intentional. Not charging you for the camera is just a mistake on their part. In order to honour the terms of the contract you need to go back and pay.