Item delivered by mistake, can I keep them?

tim30577

I just received a 20" LCD TV and some children's toys delivered from Woolworths. I did not order them and have never used the Woolworths Website before. The items were addressed to me and all the paperwork is legitimate. I checked with neighbors to see if there was a mistake but none of them had ordered the goods. I was not at home when these items were delivered so could not refuse them (Parcel Force tried delivering the week before so I signed the delivery slip stating they could leave the items outside, although I had no idea what the items were!). I have checked my bank accounts but no unauthorized payments have been made. I searched for any possible scams but found nothing.

I might add the TV is a 20” refurbished LCD TV. Is not new. I have not tested or opened it. I do not have kids so the toys are no use to me.

I am sure I could flog the lot on a certain auctioneering website.

So, do I try and find out what the hell happened directly with Woolworths or sell the items?

Where do I stand?

Thanks

Poppycat

It would be nice to keep them but I doubt that there could be described as unsolcited goods. I would contact Woolworth and inform them, and let them at there expense come and pick the goods up.

IainBUK

Hello Tim

Give Woolworths a ring - The delivery phone number should be on the paperwork - Seems very odd - I used to work for Woolworths and had often ordered things of the website and found their call centre staff to be really friendly

dmg24

tim,

It is inevitable that Woolworths will catch up with you eventually. Give them a call, before they contact you?

ruthyjo

I'd be really concerned to receive unsolicited goods complete with all my details.

This has happened to my sister before and was due to a fraudster at her previous address having stolen her identity. She got some goods at her new address (she thinks because she advised the company concerned which she did shop with of her new address in between the fraudster making an order and it being dispatched) and also had to repeatedly prove to debt xollection agencies over the next few years that she did not live at the property at the time of several big next directory orders etc.

I would be straight on the phone to Woolies anxious to get to the bottom of where these goods have come from. A refurb tv is definitely not worth the hassle you might be in for.

MINCER_2

As per Ruthyjo - double check with your card company(s) to make sure you haven't been charged. I don't think you can order on credit from Woolworths - but worth double checking.

If you are in the clear, then in theory you can keep the goods.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/unsolicited/index.html

In practice - if they ask for them back, hand them over, it won't be worth the hassle.

Edit: Once happened to me with Dell - ordered one TFT screen and got two - different deliveries, different days. Kept my gob shut for a few weeks then flogged the spare one.

urban_spirit

If your ccards have not been charged, and no family members have ordered them, it might be worthwhile to check your credit file with a credit reference agency (eg. experian) to check the credit on it. Identities do get stolen/cloned - though that's necessarily whats happened here, but I would want to check.

What's a little worrying is they were addressed to you. Have you ever provided woolies with your name and address in the past for something that they could have accidentally attached to these goods?

As for whether you should keep them - legally I haven't got a clue what the law says in these circumstances, but i'm sure another poster will.
Morally - ultimately people do what they want, so that's a choice for yourself. Other posters will say yes or no, but it's what you're happy with that you'll do.

tim30577

Hi,

It turned out that I was victim to credit card fraud.

I checked my credit card statement over the phone last night and found there had been some unauthorised payments. Luckily not a lot. In total £375 of which £204 arrived at my front door!! I canceled the card immediately. I found the bank to be very good, they explained I would not have to pay anything.

My credit card has always been registered at my parents address. Whoever used my card only had access to my home address and not my parents address.

I was able to log into the Woolworths Online account to find a new requested delivery address and phone number. I also found an email message from Woolworths after I logged in that questioned why the card number and address did not match. But they still decided to ship the items anyway?!!!! Luckily they were sent to me and not the unauthorised user!! A matter I have yet to speak to Woolworths about!!

Anyway, I am certain the only company that have my home address linked to my credit card are my car insurers. So I am sure that's where this all started. I can't prove it, but needless to say I have passed all this information on to the relevant people.

Nobody seems concerned that I have a TV and toys at my house though!! Who knows what will happen to them!

Thanks to all that replied.

dmg24

Nightmare, but glad you are getting it sorted.

I would be interested to know the opinion of those who told you just to keep the goods would react now. Would they say that you should keep the goods and have to pay the credit card bill?!!

Edit: Please ignore me, I got confused with another thread! x

ohdearme_2

dmg24 wrote: »

I would be interested to know the opinion of those who told you just to keep the goods would react now.

If you read the thread, no-one said to just keep the goods.

dmg24

Big apologies guys,

I got the wrong thread!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=415117

Amazing how two threads in the same timeframe can create such different responses!

Sorry! x