Help needed regarding goods not ordered

rupsingh

today i arrived home to fina two packages had been left with my neighbour!
it turns out they are from a well known online reatiler and their contents sre worth £2500

I HAVE NOT ORDERED THESE, OR EVEN ENQUIRED ABOUT THESE PRODUCTS OR PAID FOR THEM, BUT THEY ARE IN MY NAME!

i need help with regards to the ownership of these. from what i have found i quote below

'Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971, (as amended) it is an offence to demand payment for goods known to be unsolicited, in other words, they were sent to a person without any prior request made by them or on their behalf.

Someone who receives goods in these circumstances may retain them as an unconditional gift, and does not have to pay for or return any unwanted goods. Anyone who receives a demand for payment for unsolicited goods should report the matter to their local Trading Standards Department, whose details can be located from http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/.'

From what this says, the goods are mine and i they try to charge me they are breaking the law!

is this correct and does anyone have any previous experience and or advice of this happening

Many thanks

Rupsingh

NEWBIE_SHOPPAHOLIC

ANOTHER worry would be if someone had set up an account in my name ie identity fraud, if I were you I'd contact experian/equifax to make sure whoever sent the goods in your name has'nt set up any dodgy a/c's or spending in your name.

IvanOpinion

I could be wrong here, and maybe the law has changed, but I thought that you were obliged to inform the proper owner of the mistake and give them the opportunity to collect them (at a time of your convenience). During that period you are responsible for ensuring the goods are kept safe and in unused condition (note that if anything happens to them then you can be held liable for the full costs). If however they have not been collected after a reasonable time (not sure what that means - 6 months(?)) then you are entitled to treat them as a gift.


If this was not the case then anybody could order goods from a company that offers credit and then claim they were unsolicited and are therefore a gift. It would be unworkable.

Ivan

rupsingh

No you couldnt do this on credit, because you have to order the goods first!
i have not ordered or heard of the goods or the company before yesterday

CIS

The 1971 unsolicited goods act (ammended) states that

"Someone who receives goods in these circumstances may retain them as an unconditional gift, and does not have to pay for or return any unwanted goods. Anyone who receives a demand for payment for unsolicited goods should report the matter to their local Trading Standards Department, whose details can be located from http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/."

"However, in the case of unsolicited goods received before 1 November 2000, the recipient is required to give notice to the sender to collect them within 30 days, or otherwise to wait for 6 months, before being able to treat the goods as their own property."

shellsuit

Interesting.....

My Mum lives opposite me (with my step dad) and a couple of months ago, a courier van turned up at their house with 2 large heavy parcels and asked my step dad if he could take them in for their neighbour.

He said Yes and signed for them. About 10 minutes later a there was a knock at the door and there was a middle aged woman stood there. She said she was neighbours friend and was there for the parcels. He handed them over, not thinking and didn't think of it again until....

Neighbour knocks at Mums house, asks if there has been a parcel left there for her, but cannot understand what it is because she doesn't 'do' mail order or online shopping.

He explains he has handed them to her friend and, well, you get the picture (What friend, yada yada?)

Neighbour doesn't think much of it until she receives an invoice through the post from a well known company. One of the items was a lap-top, the others I'm not sure. the neighbour had never ever shopped with this company yet her details were all over the invoice.

Police came and took statements from everyone and they were told by Police there had been a few incidents like this in the area, amounting to indentity fraud.

The neighbour had been billed for these goods and like the OP, had not paid for them.

It looks like someone has paid for them using a stolen CC (or the likes) and has chosen a name and address (of who they know the details) to take receipt of them.

If I were you OP, I would contact the company and see what's happened and if you get no joy, contact the Police.

If you keep the items, they are under your name and address, so any non payment for them will fall on you and will buggar up your credit rating.

Good Luck!

CIS

Just a thought, if the goods are known or thought to be obtained illegally, I would guess that the unsolicited goods act probably wouldn't apply as they had been or possibly been obtained illegally,

Bossyboots

Does anyone know if this applies to business as well as domestic goods.

A certain book supplier we use keeps "creating" orders. I always ring them and have a go and tell them to collect the goods. They have tried saying that they will not collect small parcels but will give us a label to post them back but this means someone going to the Post Office just for that so I refuse and insist they are collected. There is a parcel sitting there now which has been waiting three weeks for collection, for which we have received an invoice, a statement and a reminder. Shortly will come the telephone call and I want to be sure of my ground before I quote this about unsolicited goods.

madscientist_3

I placed an order from a company and it's arrived. They've since informed me they might have sent several copies of the order. Would these goods fall under the unsolicited goods legislation?

Wig

I doubt this would impact on the OP's credit rating, as they have been paid for prior to dispatch, paid for by someone unknown.

If the goods were bought using a fraudulently used credit card, it is my understanding that the retailer will still get paid by the credit card company. So the retailer probably won't care. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I was also surprised to read the unsolicited goods act 1971, as I too thought you had to make them available for collection, and if they didn't collect then they were yours. And then someone posted the "ammended" version which made it clear that the collection rule only applies to prior to year 2000. Which means the OP can keep the goods (maybe).

It says to contact trading standards if there is a demand for payment.....There has been no demand for payment. and if I was OP I'd be checking my credit card company if there have been any unauthorised use recently on all my credit/debit cards and bank accounts.

There is a good point above that as these goods were delivered probably as the result of a crime then the unsolicited goods act may not apply and they will have to be returned to their rightful owner (the credit card company).

We are all just grasping in the dark here, and if I was the OP I'd wait leave them unopened for atleast 6 months and in the mean time (straight away) I'd be looking to get more professional advice on whether I can keep them or should report them to the company as unsolicited. And the same questions if they are delivered as a result of a fraudulent use of a credit card. i.e. does it make any difference?


Oh and a lesson learned above is, if you take a parcel for your neighbour, don't give it to anyone BUT your neighbour.

I have always wondered about taking and signing for goods for someone else (which I do a lot) are there any risks involved?

Bossyboots

I know someone who signed for their neighbour's parcel in good faith. Unfortunately it turned out to be part of a two part delivery and the other one split at the sorting office. The contents caused alarm and when the addressee was questioned and said they did not have the parcel the neighbour was questioned. Fortunately in this instance the police accepted that the neighbour had only been doing a good turn but the initial suspicion was that they had had the parcels addressed to the addressee, intending to intercept them at delivery.

I would take in parcels for my neighbours that I actually know, but the family two doors away are Jamaican and they won't take anything in for anyone. The parcels referred to in my first paragraph here came from Jamaica (but did not involve my neighbours).

I am still waiting for the books relating to my first post above to be collected and have now had three demands for payment.