company demanding payment for unsolicited goods

brettcta

a chum recently placed an order with company X. the company made a town halls of the order and they cancelled the order and refunded.

they then sent out the item that was ordered. m'chum contacted said company on a number of occasions and said they're welcome to pick the item up.

aforementioned chum has received a court summons from company X who are demanding payment for the item that was sent after they cancelled the order, after receiving 2 previous invoices from them.

they have now offered to either send a courier or pay 'reasonable' costs for the return of the item. if my chum pays for the return of the item, can they claim back P&P plus the time taken to package it and take it to the post office? alternatively, if said chum has to take time off work to wait for the courier, can they invoice the company for the time off work given that the mistake is all down to the company?

(i have to be vague as possible as the company use a web crawler to find their name if you post it and they're a bit trigger happy with the threats of legal action)

JReacher1

Are they unsolicited? Your chum ordered them then cancelled them and by mistake the company still sent them out. It's obviously a mistake on the companies side but I wouldn't class them as unsolicited goods.

brettcta

no, the company cancelled the order and then dispatched it regardless and are now demanding that the order be paid for.

tinkerbell28

The aren't unsolicited goods. Read my thread on it to see the deep legalities of it. Someone explained as you've made an order. They are covered by some law covering errors. So you have to notify them and give them a chance to collect the goods.

Yes he can claim back return costs if that is more convenient.

brettcta

tinkerbell28 wrote: »

The aren't unsolicited goods. Read my thread on it to see the deep legalities of it. Someone explained as you've made an order. They are covered by some law covering errors. So you have to notify them and give them a chance to collect the goods.

Yes he can claim back return costs if that is more convenient.

if they've been offered this opportunity twice and are still pursuing legal action, what happens then?

tinkerbell28

brettcta wrote: »

if they've been offered this opportunity twice and are still pursuing legal action, what happens then?

I guess he would have to prove it via written responses. Then the court case would get chucked out.

Can he prove what he says?

brettcta

there's a full paper trail of emails sent, yea

tinkerbell28

brettcta wrote: »

there's a full paper trail of emails sent, yea

Well it all depends how long it's been going on. How long ago they asked for pick up, how it was worded. If they ignored the 2 invoices in the hope they'd get away with it? They've now said return or pay before court. I'd return as the court could well and probably will rule in their favour.

brettcta

it's been going on for a couple of months.

i would have ignored the invoices (i.e. not paid), especially if i'd have emailed them on numerous occasions asking them to collect the item. i still don't see why he should be hauled up to court for someone else's error.

i might start this with my ebay shop. receive an order, cancel it, send the item anyway and then start taking people to court

peachyprice

brettcta wrote: »

if said chum has to take time off work to wait for the courier, can they invoice the company for the time off work given that the mistake is all down to the company?

Would it not be easier all round to arrange the courier to collect the item from your chum at work? If that's possible at his workplace.

I agree though, they aren't unsolicited, your chum having previously ordered them. They were received error.

tinkerbell28

brettcta wrote: »

it's been going on for a couple of months.

i would have ignored the invoices (i.e. not paid), especially if i'd have emailed them on numerous occasions asking them to collect the item. i still don't see why he should be hauled up to court for someone else's error.

i might start this with my ebay shop. receive an order, cancel it, send the item anyway and then start taking people to court

Ahh now it is becoming clear. What did he actually say in his emails?

The invoice could easily be seen as a response, which you admit he ignored twice. Why did he ignore them and not phone them directly at this point and make a formal dispute of the invoice?

I think you're getting a half story.

I would just tell him to return it before he finds himself with costs and charges on top.