Can I keep goods which I haven't ordered?

Pere_Ubu

Take delivery of them. Then contact the company (in writing) and explain you didin't request them. Give them a reasonable time to arrange to collect them (say 7 days), and if they do not collect them in that time tell them you will be "treating them as a gift" then they will be yours!! simple.

Wickedkitten

ah yes, that will prolly be the £2k whirlpool spa you ordered whilst drunk at 2am one morning j/k

Anya

Here's a new question. I have just ordered a small item from Amazon marketplace. Money has already gone out of the bank for it. Parcel arrives today, it is not what I ordered but something alot more substantial. As I have already paid for it, does this mean I get to keep it or can they ask for it back? I want to keep it if I can!!!!!

Xbigman

In what way is it more substantial? I've found that when Amazon doesn't list something some sellers will try to stick what they are selling onto something similar. It could be you have bought what was being sold and not what you wanted!

If its too disimilar to be that then its a mistake. I'd keep it and shut up. The Amazon market place has a few sharp operators in it and when I complained about a video I bought (ok 99p was a bit too cheap) I was told 'tough' (by the seller, not Amazon). I reckon it all evens out.
Regards



X

Anya

Its definitely a mistake. Obviously I want to keep schtum - would make an excellent Christmas present for my little boy. Really I wanted to know whether I was within my rights to keep it seeing as though money has been exchanged. If they were to come back and want it back, what are my rights?

Anya

Today, I have now received what I originally ordered!!! I think I read that if they send you goods which you didn't order, it is illegal for them to ask for any money for it - is this correct. I did sign for the mistake parcel that they sent as it was in a plain box, and I signed for the correct item when it arrived today. I'm pretty sure that I am within my rights to keep it. I haven't heard anything from the seller. If anybody knows any more, please let me know! Otherwise I'm a Christmas presie up!!!

Queenie

Anya - "I think I read that if they send you goods which you didn't order, it is illegal for them to ask for any money for it " - that refers to companies whom you have never heard of and never signed up with In the old days, unscrupulous companies would send someone on their mailing list something which they didn't want, had never heard of and then, when the goods were not returned, would charge them for it anyway! Their mailing lists could have been compiled simply through going through a phone directory!!!!! The law you are referring to, was put in place to prevent such unscrupulous, aggressive "advertisers" (for want of a polite term!) from doing this. This would not appear to be so in your case!

"I did sign for the mistake parcel that they sent as it was in a plain box" - at that moment, you didn't know what was IN the box, so you didn't *know* you were signing for a mistaken order. However, once you have opened it, you now know it IS a mistake and NOT the order you had committed to! What steps have you taken to rectify this mistake? Any?

"I'm pretty sure that I am within my rights to keep it" - I am not as sure!! A genuine mistake has taken place (yes, people and machine's *do* make honest mistakes!) You are aware a mistake has been made. You are obliged to make the company aware that the mistake has occured. It is then their choice what happens. After all, you have X amount of time to return goods if you are not "satisfied" with them, equally, you could have emailed/telephoned/written and pointed out that you had been sent the wrong item - ie: different to what you had ordered!

If you keep the item - do not be at all surprised if, once they discover their mistake, you are billed for the item. You won't be able to plead ignorance, you've signed for it! At a traceable address.

Receiving "unsolicited" mail is one thing - keeping something from the company you ordered from when you *knew* it's a genuine mistake is quite another.

What you do, is entirely up to you, of course! Legally? It could come back and bite you

Anya

I am sure that they are definitely not entitled to take the money from my account without first gaining my permission.

" Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971, (as amended) it is an offence to demand payment for goods known to be unsolicited, in other words, they were sent to a person without any prior request made by them or on their behalf.

Someone who receives goods in these circumstances may retain them as an unconditional gift, and does not have to pay for or return any unwanted goods. Anyone who receives a demand for payment for unsolicited goods should report the matter to their local Trading Standards Department, whose details can be located from http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/."

After reading that, I thought that would mean that I can keep the item in question. They have sent me something which I did not order - it is unsolicited. If they do contact me then I'll have to look it up in more detail. But the opportunity was there when they sent me the correct item today and nothing was mentioned. I think that they probably know that there is nothing they can do about it, otherwise I would have heard by now.

Queenie

Anya wrote:

I am sure that they are definitely not entitled to take the money from my account without first gaining my permission.

I agree. Nor did I say otherwise.

Anya wrote:

" Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971, (as amended) it is an offence to demand payment for goods known to be unsolicited, in other words, they were sent to a person without any prior request made by them or on their behalf.

But you've already admitted here ...

Anya wrote:

Its definitely a mistake. Obviously I want to keep schtum

So, are you then "obtaining goods by deception" ? (Theft Act - another interesting one to look up ) Have you alerted Amazon that a mistake has been made? People/companies/computers MAKE MISTAKES! You have made an order with Amazon, it IS possible that a genuine mistake has occurred - it happens!

Anya - I did not wish, nor set out, to offend you. You asked, on a public forum

Anya wrote:

If anybody knows any more, please let me know!

I merely replied. You do not have to like my answer; you may choose to ignore it entirely! That is your choice. Please do not *jump* on me because I have given you an answer you did not like. I have explained why the Unsolicited goods act was established. I do not believe it stands up in *your* particular circumstance. That's my opinion! If you want professional paid for legal advice then I suggest you go to a practising solicitor

Let me give you something else to think about ... you're walking down the street, you see a diamond ring in the gutter. Can you keep it? The answer is NO! There is a law under the heading: "Theft by finding". You have an obligation to take all reasonable steps to return the ring to it's owner.

In the circumstances *you* describe: you put in an order with Amazon; in the expected timescale, you received a parcel. It wasn't what you ordered. You have kept it. Plus, the original order. You have kept it *knowing* it to be a mistake. It isn't strictly speaking "unsolicited goods".

Now, if you want to keep it - that's entirely up to you and your conscience! Clearly, that's none of my business. But I stand by my comments: It MAY come back to bite you.

Freebie_Hunter_2

Unsolicited Goods

"Unsolicited goods are those that have been sent to you 'out-of-the-blue', that you haven't ordered. The Distance Selling Regulations now say that you can treat these goods as an 'unconditional gift', in other words, you can keep them or give them away, sell them or use them or destroy them, and the trader cannot expect you to have to pay for them."

Read the above CAREFULLY.
If you order a DVD and they send you a box set of the same title, technically you have ordered this item. It may be that they have sent this to you as an alternative (which they are allowed to do as long as the value matches or exceeds what you have paid) or simply a mistake.
A duplicate order can be said as the same.

This regulation as pointed out by another user above is to stop companies you've never heard of from sending you goods and then demanding payment.
A similar thing happens with my husband at work who works in a college. He has people ringing him up and saying he has ordered advertising in a charity book and can they send him the proof. He says no he didn't agree to it but they send him the proof anyway and bill him!
Of course, he contests this but unsolicited goods and services are a real problem and this is the first step to knocking it on the head.
(I do hope I get this trading standards officer job at the council!!)