Ethics 101

With great power comes great responsibility.
But in many cases, "comes great responsibility" is apparently optional. Before I go any further, allow me to arrogantly flatter myself. I am an honest person. I feel as though I minimize my negative karma as much as possible, when I do things like pick up the piece of trash that missed the trash can, apologize for hurting somebody's feelings, or do what in most situations is called "right". Let's not lie- I'm not perfect at all, and I mess up all the time. But at the very least, I am an honest man.
Any other honest folks out there have, like me, realized that there is an instant gratification to doing something right. A clearer conscience, a better world, a safe puppy... whatever. But in a log of cases, when your clear-conscious comes with having to trust that somebody else will ALSO help you better the world, we find that it actually ends up getting you completely SCREWED. In my case: I do a good deed, and am done in by the very people that I went oh-so-far out of my way to help and protect.
Let's start from the beginning. Spring break. I'm chillin' in my apartment one day, just got out of the shower, feet up on my desk listenin' to some tunes, and contemplating my not-so-promising future. It occurs to me, quite all of a sudden, that for that future, I should at least be a failure in style- that is, with a laptop. Now, I have some money, I won't lie. I don't have a ton, but I do, from time to time, have a few extra bucks lying around that I could spend if need be. So I decided to Craigslist-it-up and see what I couldn't dig out of the proverbial community rummage bin. After a short search, I find one with pretty good specs that's going for 270 with a case. I do of course think to myself, the specs are a bit good for the price, but I immediately forget it, telling myself that it's probably old, too. After contacting the fellow (who seems to be in a hurry), we decide to meet and make real business happen: money, laptop.
I am told to meet him at the 7/11 on Alabama street. Sketchy enough, but I got my motorcycle in pretty much the same fashion, so I wasn't too worried. However, when I arrive, the fellow is not inside the 7/11, but rather inside his big, white van. Hmm.
Well, I'm already here, so I decide to buy the laptop anyways. After refusing his constant attempts to sell me a few other nice gadgets (a new zune, some memory chips, the van itself), I concluded that he was most likely a crook. As he drives away, I quickly glance at his liscence plate telling myself that "if there were ever a time in your life that you shouldn't forget a number, it's now." That turns out to be a good choice. When I get home and inspect the laptop further, it turns out being way, way too nice for the price that I got it for. Obviously stolen. So after a bit of detective work, I luckily (or rather, not so luckily) find a screen name in the "Yahoo! Messenger" folder. When I email the screen name, asking if the person had had a laptop stolen recently, I get a phone call from a man named Rich Wiley within a half hour.
It turns out that the laptop is actually property of Resultstel, with whom Rich Wiley is an employee. Resultstel is an international phone routing company that is designed to work with customer support for a variety of different companies (like medicaid), much like the overly-cheery folks you would talk to were you to have a problem with your computer or cell phone. I relax quite a bit, seeing as how it's an international company and so therefore I shouldn't have any problem having them reimburse me for returning their laptop. After being passed on from Mr. Wiley to the Vice President of the company Ian Gunn, they call the police and I spend 2 days going to the police department here in Bellingham (alone, mind you) to work out the issue. The police then decide that it is necessary to take the laptop from me as evidence, and in return give me:
Nothing.
So now I'm sitting here thinking, O.K., what do I do? The officer I am working with very solemnly apologizes for the fact that in a situation such as this, I cannot be reimbursed by Bellingham's police department, which honestly only makes sense. The only way to get my money back would be to explain to the original owner of the laptop (a huge, multinational company) that I am a poor, dying college student that can't survive unless I get my money back. I don't find that idea too mind-boggling, seeing as how I also am the reason that they caught the guy (and oh yes, they caught him)- I gave them liscence plates, vehicle descriptions, physical descriptions... the works.
Perhaps I'm the only one in the world who thinks that it's really not too much to ask that Resultstel gives me my money back, or perhaps not. After all, I was informed that they were going to have their laptop returned to them after the trial ended. Which means that instead of having to buy a new one, they just pay me the finders fee and we happily go our separate ways. Is that the case?
I think not. Read on.
So, within the first two or three days of buying the laptop, I receive about 15 phone calls from a pair of different people from Resultstel. The calls are intended to explain what happened and how I am going to return the laptop to them, but also in passing I'm lauded for being a good citizen and for going out on a limb even when I'm not sure what will happen with a large sum of money that was the equivalent of almost 2 of my paychecks (obviously I don't work a lot, but I'm a student too. You get the point). However, the most surprising (and simultaneously not surprising) part of it all, is that the second that I turn the laptop in to the police, I stop receiving phone calls from the people with whom I had been working within the Resultstel company whatsoever. I spend about a week calling, asking if they are going to follow up on their promises that they would "love to reimburse me for doing such a good thing". But when it really comes down to it, they had lied straight through their teeth. I ever so patiently wait a full week for a return call, and receive nothing despite all of my efforts to contact them.
What, then, would my next step be? I decide to pull out the big guns. Go above their heads! Call the corporate office! And, oh so boldly, I do! I get myself in contact with Michael Shine, the secretary of the corporate office (whose phone number happens to be (954)-921-2400, extension 132). Imagine his reaction when a poor, stupid college boy calls begging for funding because one of their branches brushed him aside and hid in selfish shame in the face of true honesty and righteousness over a meager 270 dollars. He is shocked! Appalled! I am told that the company owner will be made aware of this immediately, and something will be done.
Yay! My mind spins in excitement and wonder! Gleeful thoughts race through my head, like "I can turn my heater back on!" or "I can eat again!" I celebrate with a beer. But day after day, I start realizing that maybe I was yet again lied to. That perhaps spending my 5 dollars on that celebratory beer was a bad idea, because now I have to eat my cereal dry. I very painfully wait several days, and yet again am not contacted. I try again. I again, Mr. Shine tells me the same thing. But this time: no sir. I don't believe what I am told.
Instead, I try to contact somebody else within the local branch that I have just served oh so willingly. I call the head of the Human Resources department in the Bellingham branch, Shawna. Shawna tells me the textbook response (not unlike that of the Corporate office), and also informs me that she'll get back to me. Over the next few days, I get phone calls from my girlfriend, two telemarketers, my mother, and a few buddies. But not a single one from Resultstel, inc. What a surprise.
It's time for a new, more wrathful plan. A demonstration of my might as a do-gooding citizen, a show of the fact that I won't be trampled upon by mindless, selfish people who in the very recent past have been shown a huge courtesy in the name of good. I decide to make a cameo appearance at the Resultstel: Bellingham location. A quick google search gives me all the information I need: their address (which happens to be 4204 Meridian St. Suite 211, Bellingham Washington 98225), and their phone number (which happens to be (360)671-0467). I putter over there on my bike and plop down (albeit a bit angrily) in a chair, taking a look around. It reminds me very much of the false, smiley atmosphere that is probably very similar to the ticking clockwork behind many-a-giant, corporate machine (such as Walmart or I H8 U, Inc.- that's a skateboarding company, I think). And I sit. And I sit. And I sit.
I draw quite a bit of attention. People are confused as to why I am there, even though I assure them that I only want to talk to the HR manager, Shawna. The lovely lady who, like many others in this big, tangly, confusing company, seemingly enjoys blowing people off. Shawna exits her meeting and I sit there, feeling quite insulted, watching her walk back and forth (fully aware of who I am and why I am there), pretending to have too much to do to talk to me in spite of the fact that she's not actually doing anything (take note, corporate office!). After about a half hour, she calls me into her office. In reality, what was said in the office was not much different from what was said on the phone, other than the fact that I expressed my personal hurt for what was going on, in a very respectful manner. What did she tell me? You already know.
I leave again. I wait again. I am not called. Again.
My last resort: call the man it all started with, Ian Gunn. So I do. And he, finally, tells me that after speaking with the owner of the company, he was told that because Resultstel is getting their laptop back, they won't be getting insurance money for it (which would cover the cost of getting a new one), and therefore they don't find it fair to have to pay me back. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be aggressive or anything but...
WHAT THE HELL!?
I'm sorry for being dense, but have I somehow inconvenienced you by returning your laptop? Did I ruin your plans for upgrading your equipment via having it stolen and getting new technology for free instead of paying for it? Well, as is often the case, I suppose that my personal well-being IS an acceptable sacrifice for the upgrade of Resultstel Technologies' equipment. It really makes sense, if you think about it. Give up the well-being of one for the good of many, right? I guess I should just shut up, and remember the old phrase, "all for one, one for all!".
All of this has been over the span of a month. Since the day that I turned in the laptop that was owned by Resultstel, Inc, I have not received one phone call. Why waste time blowing me off by phone when you could just ignore me until I shut my mouth? Well heres one for you:
I will not shut my mouth. I've been all over the globe and I have seen injustice at it's finest. And I have always sworn that were I to become the victim of some unjust act such as this, I would not lie down for it. I would fight. And, though I cannot legally do anything, I can at the very least let everyone else know that the company Resultstel, Inc. is an extremely non-ethical, uncaring group of people out for self betterment at any cost. This was demonstrated to me by their blatant disregard for their own equipment (as it was stolen to begin with), and then the lack of common respect to either call and thank me (and reimburse me, no less), or at the very least to BLOW ME OFF.
So to anyone who finds themselves bored enough to have read this entire, blabby, whiney article, I urge you: never work with this company, and inform anyone you know of their unprofessional, rude and inconsiderate nature as an entity. My interaction with them was something that made me an ally to them, and they STILL didn't "scratch my back"- imagine if you work with them and you were considered neutral? You would more than likely be screwed over far worse, due to an excess of indifference and disregard.
This isn't Craigslist's fault, and I'd almost go as far as to say that it's not the criminal's fault. The truth is that there are people out there who, even though they are the victim of one crime, still commit crimes of their own that are overlooked every day. I suppose you just have to look a little closer to see what and who they are. Oh, and did I mention that it's all student loans? I suppose, then, that in the meantime I'll be back on Craigslist, looking for another place to deposit 270 dollars of cold, hard cash that as before, still isn't mine.