Royal Mail Unwanted Small Package - Can you do this?

frothy-coffee_2

A guy in the pub told me this, so don't blame me!

If you mail order something and between the date of the order and it's arrival you change your mind. Instead of paying to send it back. Don't open it, and just scrawl on it 'return to sender' and drop it in the post box.

Is this okay?

vuvuzela

I've found drunks in pubs always give the best and most accurate advice to enable you to live a complication-free life.

frothy-coffee_2

Mmmmm, yes I've had advice from many a bar room lawyer over the years ;-)

custardy

frothy-coffee wrote: »

A guy in the pub told me this, so don't blame me!

If you mail order something and between the date of the order and it's arrival you change your mind. Instead of paying to send it back. Don't open it, and just scrawl on it 'return to sender' and drop it in the post box.

Is this okay?

and how would you prove you returned it?

pendulum

custardy wrote: »

and how would you prove you returned it?

If it's arrived without the OP being in, how would they prove they delivered it?
If it arrives whilst the OP is in, the OP can just reject it on the doorstep and get refunded under Distance Selling Regs, provided the item they bought isn't exempt.

custardy

pendulum wrote: »

If it's arrived without the OP being in, how would they prove they delivered it?
If it arrives whilst the OP is in, the OP can just reject it on the doorstep and get refunded under Distance Selling Regs, provided the item they bought isn't exempt.

Except thats not the scenaio the OP has proposed.
Do you now know the item hasnt been delivered by a tracked method?
you know its coming by Royal Mail?

ThumbRemote

frothy-coffee wrote: »

A guy in the pub told me this, so don't blame me!

If you mail order something and between the date of the order and it's arrival you change your mind. Instead of paying to send it back. Don't open it, and just scrawl on it 'return to sender' and drop it in the post box.

Is this okay?

In theory, you might get away with it as a return under the Distance Selling Regulations. To guarantee this you'd have to tell the retailer that you were cancelling under the DSRs as well. And, as others have said, how do you prove it's been returned.

zaax

The same way the seller knows its been delivered – they don’t, unless it’s tracked. So the bloke down the pub is partially right – put the item back in the post and tell the seller you are returning it, if the seller says its not turned up he can charge you for it, which is why you use tracked post & then you can blaim the carrier if it goes missing.

fluffnutter

Under the DSR, you have to notify the seller that you're returning the items. One could argue that simply returning them is notification but you possibly fall foul of a number of things...

1) The items might not reach the seller within 7 working days. As the return of items is masquerading as notification of return, you'll have failed to fulfil this part of the regulations.

2) How does the seller know that these have been returned deliberately by you and not merely sent back because they failed to reach you? What's to stop them trying to send them again (and again, and again)? After all, you've not told them you don't actually want them.

TBH, this is a really rubbish way of dealing with the problem.

frothy-coffee_2

I just realised there's a flaw in my cunning plan. And that is that I signed to say I'd received it!

unholyangel

For future reference as above, you can cancel under DSRs by notifying the company in a durable form (ie letter, fax, email) that you wish to cancel and then refuse to accept delivery and the company cannot treat it as breach of contract.