What should I do...

lindshster

Hi,
I lost my phone at the weekend and my phone provider has sent me a new phone, and charged me the 25 quid excess.
I have had the new phone delivered this am, but they have also sent a Dell Streak, which appears to be a brand new-on-the-market, IPad wannabe..


I spoke to O2 and they had no record of sending it, I was transferred to the insurance department who were quite rude and said I must send it back and they are posting me out a jiffy bag, I asked what happened if I kept it and they said I would be charged the full cost of it (£400)


I searched the interent and found this on consumer direct:

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 state that unsolicited goods which have not been ordered and are sent ‘out of the blue’ can be treated as an unconditional gift; in other words, you can keep them or dispose of them as you wish. The Regulations make it a criminal offence to demand payment or threaten legal action to obtain payment for unsolicited goods or services.
However, it is advisable that you write to the trader, obtaining proof of postage, stating that you have received an unsolicited item that you are aware that you are entitled to keep this item as a gift, but that you are giving the trader the opportunity to arrange collection within 14 days at his/her expense. Although you do not have to do

this, we recommend it in order to avoid future attempts to secure payment.


I have emailled this information to the company and an online person came on to chat to me. When I mentioned the Unseen Goods Act and what it meant they just kept saying, you need to send it to them. From what the original person said, 02 would have not known about it until I rang. Indeed he said there is no proof it was sent by them, it could be a coicidence it arrived the same day as my phone.


I have spoken to my friend who is a corporate lawyer, and she maintains I can keep it. What should I do?

Thanks

Exhortation

It would probably come down to a point of law as to whether the item was either sent to you in error or was, in fact, unsolicited goods. I think if you took it that far you would most likely lose.

As far as I'm aware, O2 are the only suppliers of the Dell Streak in the UK. For one of their employees to state that there is no proof it was even sent by them just goes to show how little their own staff know about their products and services.

Jon_01

The unsolicited goods issue is where something appears without any other factors. In this case it's a simple despatch error and isn't covered under that legislation.

You need to return it or they will bill you for it.