Posting an ethical question

[pulzcul]

OK you buy a cue[a really great cue!] then you find out its stolen. The guy you got it from is your friend and he knew the guy he got it from well enought to trust him. You have no idea who stole from who. You called the maker of the cue after you got it to get a COA and in the process the maker recognizes the cue as reported stolen to him. He didn't say who had told him. So, do you go the the ends of the earth to find the guy or can you justify keeping it?

 

[manwon]

OK you buy a cue[a really great cue!] then you find out its stolen. The guy you got it from is your friend and he knew the guy he got it from well enought to trust him. You have no idea who stole from who. You called the maker of the cue after you got it to get a COA and in the process the maker recognizes the cue as reported stolen to him. He didn't say who had told him. So, do you go the the ends of the earth to find the guy or can you justify keeping it?

You answered the question in your Title to this thread, it is all about Ethics which means you do what is Ethical or you don't.

Morally it is wrong to keep a cue that you know is Stolen. In most cases some one attains Stolen property they get for much less than it's actual value, so because something is such a great deal they jump on it, without thinking why it was such a great deal.

So in my opinion the right thing to do would be to contact the cue maker you spoke of and offer to surrender the cue to the rightful owner. He may give you back what you paid or you may lose it, but Ethically and Morally that is the only right thing to do, anything else is Unethical!!

JIMO

 

[Klink]

Yep you wouldn't be asking if you didn't already know what had to be done.

It may be hard but it always feels good!

 

[JoeW]

Aside from the fact that receiving stolen property is a crime and the cue maker knows who has it, you gotta give it back. It is the right thing to do. Hopefully you will get a reward or some sort of compensation for doing the right thing.

 

[ibuycues]

If you were the person who had the cue stolen from him, how would you answer your question?

Yep. Years will go by, and you will be very glad you did it.

Will Prout

 

[gunzby]

Do your best to get your money back and give it to the owner. You can pull the "if you don't give me my money back we can involve the real owner and the police if you like."

It is one thing to own a stolen cue and not know it. It is an entirely different thing to own one and know it is stolen. The point is that no matter what you know it is stolen and that is something I wouldn't want on my conscience.

 

[LWW]

Aside from the fact that receiving stolen property is a crime and the cue maker knows who has it, you gotta give it back.

Knowledge that it is stolen property is the key in a criminal case, which is difficult to prove and stated to not be the case here.

That being said ... I would return the cue. I would also have some face time with the person I bought it from and let them know that I was reporting it to the PD for them to work their way back to the original thief.

LWW

 

[12310bch]

no crime

Aside from the fact that receiving stolen property is a crime and the cue maker knows who has it, you gotta give it back. It is the right thing to do. Hopefully you will get a reward or some sort of compensation for doing the right thing.

There probably is no crime here as OP is probably an innocent ,third party purchaser and has a legal right to the stick. So, this becomes, truly, an ethical/moral dilemma. But ,that being as it may be, he should do the right thing and search for the real owner.

 

[maha]

i do not know of any place that makes the third party purchaser of stolen property become the legal owner. it always gets returned to the original owner as each person that buy s anything is responsible for making sure it is a legal purchase.

 

[JasonS]

Aside from the fact that receiving stolen property is a crime and the cue maker knows who has it, you gotta give it back.

Of course being law-abiding is not a question of being moral or ethical its simply CYA (covering your ass), and if you want to not feel like you could get into trouble for accepting stolen property you'd then want to give it back. The ethical thing in my opinion would also be giving it back (to who, I dont know... who would one return a stolen cue to if you dont know who it belonged to?).

 

[gunzby]

There probably is no crime here as OP is probably an innocent ,third party purchaser and has a legal right to the stick. So, this becomes, truly, an ethical/moral dilemma. But ,that being as it may be, he should do the right thing and search for the real owner.

It would make me sick to my stomach to own a cue that I knew was stolen. For some reason or another I am not sure I would feel the same way about something else which makes me feel weird.

 

[12310bch]

bona fide third party purchaser

i do not know of any place that makes the third party purchaser of stolen property become the legal owner. it always gets returned to the original owner as each person that buy s anything is responsible for making sure it is a legal purchase.

s.23 exception in the Sale of Goods Act (SGA) 1979. It is stated in s. 23 that when the seller of goods holds a voidable title, but this title has not been voided at the time of the sale, the buyer acquires good title to the goods, provided that the buyer buys them in good faith and without notice of the seller’s defect of title.

There are many defenses to this exception , the most common being if the purchase price was not close to market value. But I did say," probably."

 

[Gmanpoke]

I don't mean to be the skeptic in the group but the first thing to do is verify this is stolen property. Not saying anyone is pulling a fast one but what simply scam. Hey that's stolen, here let me get it to the rightful owner.

After you have determined it is stolen property, return it to the rightful owner. My hope is the owner would help you in any way to get your money back.

Steven

 

[cookie man]

I think between the friend you bought it from, the guy you return it too, and possibly the cue maker offering you a good deal on a replacement, you won't lose anything. You gain integrity, respect, and peace of mind.

 

[TX Poolnut]

Aside from the fact that receiving stolen property is a crime and the cue maker knows who has it, you gotta give it back. It is the right thing to do. Hopefully you will get a reward or some sort of compensation for doing the right thing.

JoeW hit it out of the park. Well stated JoeW. :smile:

 

[poolpro]

Yep, you got to give it back, no question!

I would expect the guy who sold it to me to at least share in the loss. If he is really your friend and did not know it was stolen, he should at least offer to refund half of what you paid. Nobody's fault, but it reduces the burden so you are not out all of the $$.

If he isn't a friend, then you can't be certain how much he knew, and I would be wanting a refund and cooperating fully with the police about where I got it from.

Get a letter from the cuemaker stating the fact that he can verify it is indeed stolen and that you returned it to him. He may offer to build or sell you a new cue at a good price for being cooperative and help to further offset your loss.


The whole thing sucks, but it has to be done.


I saw a very nice custom cue in a pawnshop. I recognized the cue from working in the pool hall. I did not know the owner, but would recognize him. I only met him twice, but I remember the day he came in with the cue brand new and was showing it around.

I wanted to buy the cue, but before I did, I went outside and made a few phone calls to see if this guy was missing his cue. If it was stolen and found its way to the pawnshop, I was going to make sure he got it back. It turns out that the original owner had been selling off all his cues recently and got out of town. I felt much better and went in and bought it with a clear conscience!


Jw

 

[Tramp Steamer]

You turn it in to the authorities. Case closed.

 

[pulzcul]

Guess i already knew what the word would be and I concur. I guess the only one I don't agree with would be turning it in to the 'authorities'. This can be taken care of without their interference. Thanks gentleman. If the outcome to this dilemna turns out to be interesting and I'm allowed to post I'll let you know.

 

[Nostroke]

There probably is no crime here as OP is probably an innocent ,third party purchaser and has a legal right to the stick. So, this becomes, truly, an ethical/moral dilemma. But ,that being as it may be, he should do the right thing and search for the real owner.

From my experience, you can never acquire legal title to a stolen item no matter what you paid or what you were told. It still belongs to the rightful owner.

 

[12310bch]

bona fide innocent third party purchaser

From my experience, you can never acquire legal title to a stolen item no matter what you paid or what you were told. It still belongs to the rightful owner.

s.23 exception in the Sale of Goods Act (SGA) 1979. It is stated in s. 23 that when the seller of goods holds a voidable title, but this title has not been voided at the time of the sale, the buyer acquires good title to the goods, provided that the buyer buys them in good faith and without notice of the seller’s defect of title.

There are many defenses to this exception , the most common being if the purchase price was not close to market value. But I did say," probably."