Responsibility

No I wouldn't lie to the customer/client. After all they are really the ones paying you even if it is through your boss. I would be looking for another job real soon if my boss ask me to lie for him. after all integrity is everything. I wouldn't want my customer/client to distrust me and that is who would pay in the long run.

I don't think so. I would rather work for someone with integrity than lie for them. But lots of people do tell lies in business. If there is honesty from the outset them there should be no reason to lie.

It would depend how serious the lie is... If I were asked to sell a defective product which would cause the client to lose money... I would not do it. And if my boss wanted to fire me for refusing to do so... I would take him into court... and I would win. It comes down to your own set of values and morality. How far are you prepare to go to earn money? Does everything go? Keep also in mind that if you go along with your boss on this... and your boss is eventually caught and charged for fraud... you could be charged as well.

If you are lying to the client, it means that you are probably doing something to empty his pockets and line your bosses. Lying to the client would be way wrong. I would not do it. I would talk to the boss and see if I really understood him properly did he want me to lie or did I misunderstand his reason for what he said.

SV, Theoritically, I would go by the directions of my boss, because it is he who is my employer. I am supposed to be loyal to him, not to the customers, who may come once in a life time. I am paid by my boss, so I am supposed to follow his instructions, whether good or bad. Displeasing my boss will lend me in trouble, on the other hand if I displease a customer, another will follow him. So please do not expect salesman at a shop that he/she would show loyality to you as a customer, until and unless he/she some grude against his/her boss.....LOL!

i think i would try to figure out a way of not lying but of course i dont know what kind of circumstances there are but i try to never lie but i would hope there would be a good reason for a boss to ask you that.. who knows.

What a difficult situation! No customer would ultimately be a repeat customer if he is goingto be presented with false promises.After all, they will be found out some day and it would be detrimental to the company. Convinnce your boss about this and you be truthful to the job that you have undertaken. You will have to avoid the situation and let the boss do the lying if he wants to.

I would go Mata Hari. I would wire myself for sound and tape the boss telling me to lie And then I would go to the Better Business Bureau and my local news channel and I would rat my boss and the company out.I am not getting paid enough to lie to a customer. Thankfully in my work you Must tell the truth and there is no benefit to lying.

My loyalty would be to the client, especially since the boss is asking me to outright lie to the customer. First, I couldn't live with the guilt of lying to the client, especially if it caused them a great hardship. Second, if the client found out about the lie, it would come back on me, causing me to lose my job with that corporation altogether. Because I feel that if a boss is asking me to lie, they wouldn't own up to that fact once the consequences came back around. If I were in that situation, I would go above the boss' head and let some higher-up know what that boss was trying to get me to do. If that wasn't possible, say in a small business where the boss is the head of the corporation, I would start looking for a new job. There's no telling what other unscrupulous things are going on if the boss is asking you to lie to clients.

It depends on the situation. If the lie is just a peccadillo or trivial, I may do that probably especially if that's for the good of two parties involved. But if the lie will incur a bigger sin and impact, I won't do it. I really have to say no.

This is a very difficult situation... and i experienced this when i was still working abroad... my boss wanted me to lie about certain data that will make the operation of our sector appear a lot better than it should... and i had to do it otherwise it will be termination for me... and i had to pay for my own ticket to go back home... i hated it and this is partially one reason why i did not renew my contract after it expired...

if i lie and it will effect the company's reputation in the long run.. i will tell the truth. if i lie and it will cause the customer to spend unnecessarily and i know he cant afford to.. i will tell the truth. i dont think anything good will come from telling a lie.. once you tell a lie.. it become easier also.. to tell the next one.. rather not make a habit of it... most probably i would just tell the boss to tell the customer himself, or get him to assign someone to lie 'for the company'...

Legally and morally, lying to a customer is wrong, though it is acceptable to withhold non vital info. If my boss was asking me to lie to customers, I would be going straight the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or the Department of Fair Trading and ratting my boss out (I live in Australia and these are the 2 major organisations that help to keep busninesses honest). I wouldn't care if I lost my job over it either, because at least I would not be dragged into the courts being sued for knowingly lying to a customer about a product or service I had sold them.

I think that I would not be able to lie to someone for my boss. If he were that concerned about his employees, he would not ask them to lie in the first place.

AS a customer I would hate to be lied too they boss should ask it of you. I kno I would be very mad if I was lied too.

It all depends really. Firstly, is it a flat out lie? Or am I stretching the truth so to speak to buy some time or to save face? Secodnly, what are the consequences of me being less than truthful here? If my reputation is possibly at stake or there are serious consequences to being caught out then there is no way I would do it and I am certainly not going to be a scapegoat for any boss! There are so many variables to this that could make this acceptable in my opinion! For example, if you are a Real Estate Agent and you say to a client that a house has an offer of 500 thousand on it already so if they wish to buy it they will need to come in with more money; is this a lie? Or is this smart sales tactics to get a better price, higher commissions and to please your boss? The other example as a bad one is if your boss told you to say to a client that no, the house basement does not flood, yet you know it does! This in my opinion us unacceptable and very dishonest and you run a very real risk of losing your reputation over it. There are always variables!

hi sviswan! well, it depends on what kind of lie my boss would want me to tell and the circumstances and the kind of client we are dealing with. i have lied for my boss regarding her whereabouts when a pesky client called for her. the client was a demanding one and really pesky who were calling every hour which gave us (my boss's staff) the impression that he doesn't trust us. and my boss had already answered his questions and queries and we just don't have any idea what more did he want of our boss. and we were getting really annoyed so it was easier for us to lie about our boss's whereabouts. sometimes, there are clients who are unreasonable too. and it makes it more understandable when when my boss or other heads of divisions would tell things that are not exactly the truth or hide things that are not necessarily needed to be shared.

I would try find another job if so. There has to be a certain understanding in the workplace. Lying to customers breaches ethics. Unless you are comfortable with it then... fine.

I would not compromise my integrity for job security; I would rather disobey his orders and quit working under him as soon as possible, if he hasn't fired me just yet. I think it is only under such difficult circumstances that our real character gets tested and approved, for even a thief would be a principled man if it is not for the "helpless" circumstances of his life to make him forgo his ideals (if any). So, if we have to prove ourselves any different from crooks, thieves, murderers etc, this is the time.

The boss is ALWAYS RIGHT..... SO YOU SEE