Sep5 Written by:Kayle
9/5/2008 11:18 PM
I find that one is constantly bombarded with making ethical decisions here. The latest one was when trying to use DHL. I sold a bit of the old Zimbabwean currency on ebay and was trying to ship them out from South Africa a few weeks ago. I used DHL, but the next day I was contacted that the item had been scanned and money was found inside so it had to be returned. Even though this money isn't worth anything and was being shipped out as a souvenier or keepsake instead of anything with monetary value, I had to find another means to send it.
Well a few weeks later, I needed to ship some more of this money out from Zimbabwe. So I thought I would try my luck at DHL again, but this time in Zimbabwe. Apparently this office doesn't have a scanner, so my package got through just fine.
Today I went to ship more of the same items and as I was filling out the paperwork to send stuff internationally, a man was next to me trying to send something internally to a different city in the country. The DHL agent said, "I'm going to have to open this parcel as people have been trying to send money to their families in Zimbabwe. So now we are opening all packages sent internally in Zimbabwe." She opened his package an indeed there was the new local currency and some foreign currency too. She laughed and said, "I'm sorry but we can't ship money through DHL." DHL can't send money because if people know money is being sent, they will steal or open the packages, making DHL utterly a worthless/untrustworthy company. I'm trying to keep a straight face as I know I'm trying to send the old currency out. I continued to fill out the paperwork and shipped out my items lableling them as "souveniers", keeping my mouth shut. International packages aren't being checked as most people aren't trying to send this worthless money to their families overseas.
Did I do something wrong? Was this unethical? If I were trying to send US dollars I can see where it would be wrong. But since this old currency is worth fractions of a penny and is being bought by ebayers not for its monetary value, but as a memoribilia, then is it wrong to send it out? In the end, I decided it wasn't since the spirit of the law seems to be to deter sending money that may be stolen and spent, not sending souveniers in the mail.
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