Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 9 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 23 years, 3 months ago by
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I work in a bookstore and frequently see Indian or Pakistani people return computer books for their money back. Why is that? Do they read them and then return them primarily to get their money back? Do they genuinely, repeatedly not like the books? I see other people/races return books primarily because of duplication on their part or damaged goods. It gets to the point where our store conceivably needs to have a ‘no return’ policy on computer books for just this reason.
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Name : Troy24910, Gender : M, City : Normal, State : IL, Country : United States,I do not think it is necessary to pick on any one nationality, because I don’t think it’s a nationality issue. It sounds to me like word has gotten around within their community that you have computer books they need, and that you have a liberal return policy. Like most immigrants to a new country (my wife was an immigrant), they have to make every dollar count, they need the knowledge contained in the books, so they read them quickly, take notes on the information they need to retain, and return them. If they take good care of them and return them in resellable condition, they’re not really doing anything unethical or illegal, they’re just taking advantage of a good situation. Sounds to me like you’re going to have to adopt a ‘final sale’ policy on computer books, and if anyone asks why, tell them that some customers have abused your normal policy (i.e., ruined it for everybody).
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Name : Augustine23621, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 41, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I work in a university library, and a lot of the Pakistani and Indian students I encounter are studying computer science. A lot of them are also here to get their degree and then return home. It seems to me that if you’re stay is temporary, you’d want to minimize the amount of possessions you are responsible for. In addition to being huge, computer books are expensive. Money is a problem for many students. Also, many books are bundled with software, and buying the book is sometimes cheaper than buying the program itself.
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Name : Kevin26315, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 21, City : Ypsilanti, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarians Assistant, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,From what I’ve seen, people of all ilks take advantage of lax return policies. When I was in collegem, I used to buy photography books, scan the pictures for projects and return them, as did everyone else in my class. It doesn’t make it right, but you get my point. A good friend of mine heads up the IT devision at a major company here in New York, and he told me that Indians and Pakistanis make up the vast majority of his applicants and talent pool, and have for the past few years. Hence your problem. You might want to reconsider your return policy as a whole.
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Name : Ed-S, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 29, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The two occupations that I have held through out my life were in a library and a major bookstore. Working in the library I had seen many Indian/Pakistanis making copies of their computer books, and working as a cashier in the bookstore Indian/Pakistanis were notorious for returning them. Unfortunately for us, the majority of them did not bring back a receipt, took off the price tag, and then asked for all their money back in cash. For one, this was against store policy, and two, computer books become obsolete. Books stores want customers to return computer books as much as they want tattered used magazines.
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Name : Seymour, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I face the same situation in the office supply store I work in. We get returns on all types of items, but typically the only people who return computer books are Indian or Pakastani. I’ve had the same thoughts as you: do they read the whole book and then want their money back, or do they just go to the section that they need and not need it anymore? Either way, it’s in bad taste, as we don’t rent books.
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Name : Ben, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 25, City : Morgantown, State : WV, Country : United States, Occupation : salesperson, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Maybe it’s because they need the money for terrorism after learning as much as they can in the books!
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Name : DC31827, City : Omaha, State : NE, Country : United States,I recently graduated from law school and returned almost every book that I had bought during school. One reason is that I needed the money for the books more than I needed the books themselves. Another reason is that lugging 800 pounds of books across the country just seemed stupid, particularly if the books focused on subjects that I don’t intend to practice in. I also hoped that other students might be able to use my ‘used’ books and buy them for cheaper prices than I had to pay when I bought them initially.
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Name : Tubbs, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 28, City : Silver Spring, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : between jobs, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,This is a strange habit you’ve touched on, and as a Pakistani I have never done this, but I think I can tell you the reason for it. In Pakistan and India, the system of merchant/customer relations is a very tricky one. Basically, their prices are not regulated, and it’s you vs. him. He wants to make the most money off you as possible, and you want to get the product as cheaply as you can. It’s buyer beware and seller defend yourself. When some Pakistanis and Indians come to the United States, they still carry that mentality. They have never been taught any regulations in buying, as there really are no shopping ethics in their home countries.
Also, a good majority of the type who do buy, read and return books are young students who have limited funds and are simply here to get a decent education. In education, people from the Sub-continent usually put forth their greatest effort, so if they’re strapped for cash, some would rather buy a book, Xerox what they need and return it. It doesn’t seem wrong to them because they’re not damaging the book and probably take great pains to make sure it’s kept in good shape so it can be sellable. Having the book is a matter of passing and failing sometimes, and if their parents have sold the family car, house and jewelry to get them to the United States for an education, they’re not about to let the matter of money stop them from fulfilling that obligation.
It’s a matter of culture and circumstances. You won’t find all Pakistanis and Indians doing this, and chances are it will be forgotten by the next generation that brings their children up in the West. Please have patience with them. The United States is a whole other world for us, and we have so much to learn on arrival that things like this fall through the cracks while we focus on more important things, like the language, idioms, social norms and what-not.
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Name : Hayat R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Caucasian/Asian mix, Religion : Muslim, Age : 20, City : Islamabad, State : NA, Country : Pakistan, Occupation : Journalist, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Zarina, your post was very helpful. As a matter of fact, someone at my place of employment wondered if the ‘barter’ system had something to do with this mentality a few weeks back. As for your second point, most of the customers are not college students, but professional businessmen and women, so I do not think the lack of money is part of the equation.
Excellent post all around…I will be sharing your responses with my co-workers.
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Name : Troy24911, Gender : M, City : Normal, State : IL, Country : United States,
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