Vandalism

Submitted by Yusuf Smith (United Kingdom), May 22, 2005 at 17:20

Mr Pipes, you state that "Used books buyers do not normally expect vendors to clean their purchases of markings by former owners", and that Muslims should accept insults to their religion in the same way Christians accept "art" which insults theirs. The difference is that this "art" is not disguised as a product being sold to these Christians.

A bookseller may not be obliged to screen books for material added by previous owners. However, surely it is against good business ethics to knowingly sell a defaced copy of a product to a customer without telling them? If I received a computer book on which someone had written some obscene remark about my choice of product, I would be pretty annoyed. I am sure Amazon do not want defaced books being sold through their website as if they were in good condition.

Then again, I am wondering why this lady ordered a used copy of the Qur'an from Pennsylvania through Amazon when she could have gone to any Islamic store, particularly if she lived in a city.

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