Real Life MMD: Should we keep the wine?

dinosaur7

gunslinger13401 wrote: »

In law you are talking absolute rubbish. You didnt order it but they delivered it.
Check with a lawyer

I teach Criminal law, and this certainly looks like 'property received by mistake' under the Theft Act 1968. I am not very familiar with the unsolicited goods legislation (Consumer law not Crim!) but I would be very wary of relying on this without checking very carefully first. I have attempted to find the relevant legislation and, although it's not 100% clear, my concern would be that this only applies in situations where the company has knowlingly sent the unsolicited items with a view to obtaining payment - for example the charity Christmas cards that are sometimes sent out at this time of year.
In the case of Tescos, they certainly didn't send the goods in the hope of forcing payment, it was a simple mistake, so I'm not at all sure that this legislation would apply - it's certainly not the situation that the legislation was designed to deal with.
....Of course, if you do take expert advice (try Trading Standards) and conclude that the situation is covered by these regulations and you are entitled to keep the goods.....then, under s2(1)(a) TA 1968, you would not be 'dishonest' (and therefore not commit an offence) because you would have a belief in your legal right to deprive!:) Until then, I would be wary of making the assumption.

gchappell123

May I suggest that you write to the Tesco M. D. personally explaining all the circumstances and how you were kept waiting on hold to report their mistake. I am sure you will be given the wine and maybe some other free goodies.
Gary

Nictopus

Reality123 wrote: »

I find it almost laughable that one person posting claims he/she spots 20p errors in the supermarket bill. That sounds like a complete exaggeration to me and devalues their opinion to worthlessness.

Well 'Reality123' the reality of it is that many of us are not high flying executives like you probably are - to some of us 20p of our hard earned money counts for a lot. Not only that it's the principle.

If saving 20p isn't of importance what the hell are you doing on this site.

To answer the original query - keep the wine. You tried, spent 30 mins of your own time trying to do the 'right thing'. I'd say draw the line there rather than waste another 30 mins. Enjoy, you lucky !!!!!!!:beer:

Idiophreak

Reality123 wrote: »

As for watching the pennies, I do not denigrate people who need to or wish to, I just feel it warrants an answer-back when people claim hyperbole about "it happening all the time" and then use that to justifying an immoral and illegal position.

You don't go in for watching the pennies, so how can you possibly claim "it happening all the time" is hyperbole?

As someone who *does* watch the pennies, I assure you *it happens all the time*.

jgriggle

Slightly off-topic but...

I've noticed a few people on here who go through their receipts with a fine toothcomb and claim their 20p or whatever back if the supermarket's made a mistake and overcharged them, as they feel there's a principal involved.

Can I ask if any of these people would offer to repay the supermarket if they found they'd been undercharged? Or do principals not matter when the mistake works in their favour?

I don't wish to start an argument - just curious.

katespencer

Whatever happened to good old fashioned honesty??
Shame on you having to ask what you should do. If
you keep it who do you think ends up paying for it
in the long run?
Customers of course!!
Do the right thing and give it back to the Driver next
time and get him to sign for it.
:(:(

Mouse69

No you should not this is neither a gift or your due or something the supermarket will never miss.
Really surprised at the amount of postings supporting that you keep it.What's happened to common decency and honesty?
What happens if the driver gets the money taken out of his wages or is accused of theft?
Try again at a less busier time. All the comments as to the business will just write it off , all those write offs have to be paid for by someone and usually end up working it's way back to the customer.

Toreador

Mouse69 wrote: »

What happens if the driver gets the money taken out of his wages or is accused of theft?

People keep suggesting this, but I don't believe it could happen. They can't tell whether the mistake was by the person who packed the bags, the person who loaded the van, or the driver.

boudicca10

CutTheJargon wrote: »

How do you work that out? Just because they spot an error means their opinion is worthless?
Well, I spotted that Lidl had overcharged me by 28p for an item and I got it refunded. As a newbie to this site, you will no doubt learn that a lot of us are decreasing our debts or increasing our savings by being extra vigilant. And that is no exaggeration! :rudolf:

I had this happen to me a couple of times, they always say to keep the items, and yes, if I am overcharged, I will ask for a refund, it's odd that you would think otherwise!

Idiophreak

jgriggle wrote: »

I've noticed a few people on here who go through their receipts with a fine toothcomb and claim their 20p or whatever back if the supermarket's made a mistake and overcharged them, as they feel there's a principal involved.

Can I ask if any of these people would offer to repay the supermarket if they found they'd been undercharged? Or do principals not matter when the mistake works in their favour?

Of course there's a principal involved. I can't remember my contract law so good these days, but my simpleton's version is:

You see a price on an item. You agree to pay that price.

If I notice that I've been undercharged for an item, I'll let them know - in practice, I've never been asked to pay the difference, so I don't see why I wouldn't - it helps them out. If they're missing promotional material, correct labels and so on, it could cause them not to sell all the stock they get in and end up throwing stuff away. Which will probably cause higher prices in the future. Everyone loses.

I will say, though, that instances of being undercharged seem to be around 5-10 times less common than instances of being overcharged. No idea why.

Oh, I kinda love your inference, btw, that people who count pennies also have no morals. Nice.