Unsolicited goods

gyzmo

Last week I received found a Parcelforce card asking me to collect a parcel. Got the parcel home (no details on it as to who it was from), opened it and found that my catalogue company had sent me a duplicate of an item I had ordered some weeks ago (and received).

Phoned catalogue to tell them and a rather abrupt person answered. Here's the conversation in it's entirety (after confirming details etc)
Me: "I ordered x item thre weeks ago and received it, but you have sent me another one that I didn't ask for. I was...."
Operator (Huffily) : Well you'd better send it back or we'll charge you for it. The address is on the parcel we sent, and we need it sending back by recorded delivery".

Now I was going to say that they can collect the item (at their expense), but after that comment (after which I put the phone down in disgust), they can whistle for it.

Worse still, I got an email from the catalogue reminding me that unless the item is returned, they will charge my account, so I have sent a rather pleasant email back to remind them of the law on unsolicited goods, and told them that Trading Standards will be involved if I get any more demands.

I don't want to say what the item is or which catalogue company it is yet (in case things get nasty), but I know the item would be very much appreciated by a local charity shop, so hopefuly someone will benefit from all this.

in the meantime, I await to see what dunderheaded response comes back. Update events I shall!

Astaroth

I guess they can also remind you on the laws of theft

Certainly you should be out of pocket for it.... when errors like this occured when I worked in mail order we would, depending on the item, arrange collection, send out a prepaid envelope for return or ask the customer to return it and we refund their postage.

I personally would find it a hell of a lot more inconvenient waiting in all day for someone to come and collect it than to be out of pocket a few quid waiting for a refund of my postage to come through

gyzmo

Unsolicited Goods and Services Act (1971) (amended) makes it a criminal offence to ask for payment.

I might have sentit back, but given their attitude, I won't. As far as the Act is concerned, unsolicited goods can be treated as unconditional gifts. That is what I intend to do.

Astaroth

My understanding of the act however (which may be incorrect) is that there has to be an intent involved. If it is a simple error the act doesnt apply and whilst there has to be some reasonableness in timescales etc for the person to return them failure to do so would be theft (I know the mail order company I worked for did successfully sue at least 1 customer for goods mistakenly sent out which they refused to return or pay for - I do not know if they quoted the unsolicited goods act in their defence)

gyzmo

This is the wording of the Act:
A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business makes a demand for payment, or asserts a present or prospective right to payment, for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent (after the commencement of this Act) to another person with a view to his acquiring them [for the purposes of his trade or business], shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [level 4 on the standard scale].
(s. 2(1) of the Act)

The obvious point mentioned is the mens rea element of "reasonably knowing". Given that the goods were not even ordered, I cannot see how the catalogue company could say that they had reasonable cause to a right of payment.

if I am incorrect, I would welcome any correction, but one of my lecturers (a solicitor specialising in consumer law) has stated, crudely, that "they haven't got a cat's chance in hell".

Sponge

There is no way I would waste any of my time or money to send it back. Keep the item safe (you have to take reasonable care of it) and tell them they can come and collect it at a time convenient to you (you have to make the goods available for collection if you don't send them back yourself). Give them a set time to do it within, say 14 days, just to speed the matter up.

You have the right to retain or dispose of unsolicited goods as you see fit. You could add that to any correspondance.

gyzmo

Sponge wrote:

There is no way I would waste any of my time or money to send it back. Keep the item safe, you have to take reasonable care of it, and tell them they can come and collect it at a time convenient to you. Give them a set time to do it within, say 14 days.

If I was inclined to do so, they would only get an hour's timeslot!
I don't believe that many people are aware of this Act or it's revision since 2000, when you had to give notice and allow 6 months (I think). Now - as soon as it is received it's effectively yours.

DjP

I was buying some chairs 6 or 7 months ago.

One of the companies I was dealing with - sent me a chair (a demo one?). That I never asked them to send. I had phoned up to get the dimensions. They said they'd check and then get back to me. Later that day they told me they'd sent one to me.

I was annoyed as I didn't want to wait in for a chair (I did tell them this - but was told it was already sent) - all I had wanted was the dimesnions. Next day I waited in. It came (after 5pm grrr). It was far to large (w and h fine - depth was stupidly large for the type of chair they were selling me - I think this is why they didn't want to tell me the dimensions over the phone). I emailed it was too large. They didn't respond for two weeks. Then I got an email asking me how I liked the chair. I emailed to tell them, that I'd already told them it was too large. Nothing again for two weeks. Then I ordered 80 chairs from another company. After which the 'demo' chair company sent me an email saying they could make the chair with a smaller depth. Hmmm ... 4 or 5 weeks after I'd told them it was too big.


A few weeks later I got an invoice from them - saying "Demo chair" and amount I owe them "£0.00"


A month or so later I got another invoice from them. Handwritten on the top was "Please ignore last invoice" - this time it said I owed them £28. Hmmm.

I just ignored it.

I get a letter from them once every five to six weeks.

I never asked for the chair.

I presumed the law was on my side. You can't send out an item without the customer asking for it - or agreeing to buy or pay for it. Then demand money?

If they want it they can pay me for the storage. I've never used it - but am not going to send it back. As I had to wait in. I never asked for it. They should pay me money for my time/looking after their chair.


Anyway .... grrrr.

While I'm here - anyone want to buy a conference chair? Preferably someone with a big bottom? Would suit an american.


x

Butlers1982

Have you been charged for the item?
do you hav a delivery note?

if not, keep it, i would

gyzmo

Just on DjP's post, and to correct my earlier post, It is the Distance Selling Regs that cover unsolicited goods and services.

The regs are quite clear on what is unsolicited (defined in Regulation 24). The only way that can be got out of it is by the sender having "reasonable cause to expect payment". How that would work i don't know - maybe if you asked for 2 items on the phone and it was misheard by the caller as 3 items? Maybe if a cancellation notice was not received? Otherwise they simply cannot ask for money (or for it to be sent back).

gyzmo

Well, after a flurry of emails, statement from the catalogue company tah they have "proof" as an order had been placed (not that it was me who ordered it, or that an operator just put in details without so much as an order being placed mind).

End result, they came to their senses, caved in and money is being refunded. They even said that I didn't have to return the goods to them. the point that started all of this in the first place!