I've received Two phones without ordering them

RickD_2

Hi Guys,

I wondered if anyone could shed any light on this situation.

A While ago i checked my email on a Saturday morning, to find out i had ordered a £1400 digital camera from Pixmania through Amazon marketplace. Apparently i had also changed my email address to [EMAIL="slims01@alumni.com"]slims01@alumni.com[/EMAIL].

My account on amazon.co.uk had obviously been compromised, despite me not using it for over a year.
I searched round the web for a contact number for Amazon and gave them a ring. They immediately stopped my account and had the order cancelled. And judging by the guy on the other end of the phones reaction, other accounts had been compromised by this [EMAIL="slims01@alumni.com"]slims01@alumni.com[/EMAIL].

The credit card on the account had already expired, and i haven't used the current credit card on the web at all. I also had my debit card changed just in case.

anyway, i heard nothing more.

Then a few weeks later I got a card through my door to say i had a parcel to pick up from the post office. I hadn't been expecting anything, so i was a bit confused as to what it could be.

Turns out it was a package with two prada phones in it. No documentation to say where it had come from. It had my name and address on and I actually had to phone parcel force up and ask them where abouts it had come from.
It turned out to be fotovista (Pixmanias parent company). I have never shopped with pixmania.

So, I phone Pixmania up (0870!). After explaining my situation to the girl on the other end, she says they have been paid for. But don't have my details on the system. Now, i can't remember if she said i had to return them, or that i could if i wanted to. But she gave me a shipping address in France, and expected me to pay for the shipping. Then they would refund me the postage :rotfl:. The address is in france, and its a two phones fully boxed. Im not going to pay for them to be returned as they need an order number and my details to refund me! which i don't have because i never sodding ordered the things in the first place :mad:.

I did send them the following email this afternoon:

I am writing to inform you that I received two KE850 phones approximately a month ago. I have never signed up to your site, yet the order was addressed to me at my address.

I rang your customer service number, but was told they had been paid for, but if I want to return them to do so at my expense.

I am not prepared to do this. If you want the phones back then you will have to provide a collection at your expense within 14 days. If they are not collected in the next 14 days I will dispose of them as i see fit.

I would also like your postal address so i can send a copy of this email by post.

I can be contacted at this email address @

My Mobile number is

My postal address where the items have been sent is:
my address

I await your response
Regards
Richard


Anyway, What are peoples opinions of this situation? Can i keep the phones i guess is what im asking? I really don't want the hassle of sending anything back more than anything.

Cheers,
Rick.

Baby_J_2

Wow...better check all your credit card and debit card bank statements first and make sure no money has been debited off of anything. If Pixmania aren't willing to pick them up and are saying you paid for them then I am guessing they are yours? Maybe someone else can correct me if I am wrong though.

RickD_2

Thats the thing. Nothing has been debited. All the details that could have been compromised are out of date.

I had been checking just in case.

real1314

hmm, strikes me that it's likely to be the same situation as the amazon stuff.

they've taken an order via Credit card that will probably "bounce" and then they'll approach you for payment, possibly via debt collectors. At this point you can produce your email, but I'm not sure if the 14 days will be sufficient as there may be a dispute about whether they are unsolicited or not (not suggesting anything other than they will say they were ordered). I'd suggest a reminder email after 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. I'd also extend your storage time to 28 days without charge, then charge at £1 per day until a further 28 days has elapsed, at which point you will dispose of as you see fit.
I'm not suggesting that this is lawful, just that if it came to court, I *think* most people would see it as a reasonable course of action.

maybe search the forums for advice on unsolicited goods?

MINCER_2

Your credit cards may not have been used but what if the fraudster has opened another account with your name and details. Time to talk to your Bank or see if any of your credit card accounts has identitiy theft protection on them.

RickD_2

MINCER wrote: »

Your credit cards may not have been used but what if the fraudster has opened another account with your name and details. Time to talk to your Bank or see if any of your credit card accounts has identitiy theft protection on them.

Opened what sort of account? The Only details they will have is my name and address

Hectic_3

I could be something similar to what happened to me a couple of years back only I wasnt fortunate enough to receive any of the goods - basically some little scrote took my name and address and someone elses bank details and used them to go on a bit of a credit spree - phone contracts, tv etc - all I knew was when I got the letters!

In your case it could be that they have your address and someone elses details and stupidly bought something that was delivered to your address?

PS as a result of this fraud its neigh on impossible for me to get credit now

RickD_2

Hectic wrote: »

In your case it could be that they have your address and someone elses details and stupidly bought something that was delivered to your address?

That's what i'm thinking.

Its been about 2 months now, and i haven't received any suspicious letters or anything. The phone thing was around a month after the original Amazon issue.

I would love to know how they gained access to my account in the first place. I've been through at least two system reformats, i run two firewalls, anti virus software which checks nightly, anti spyware software, all my emails are read in plain text and the account has a strong password on it (Numbers letters and characters). I also never stored the details anywhere.

Its a bit of a pain in the !!!! really when you do all you can do, but still have to rely on a company to keep your details safe. I now never deal with any online company i can't speak to directly and never store any details online i don't have to - like payment information. Amazon are a pain in the neck to deal with - and i've never even heard anything back from the "fraud department".

Amazon and Pixmania are aware of this guy, I let my bank know about it. At the end of the day im on the electoral role, its not as if people can't find out where i live and what my name is.

LesD

RickD wrote: »

Anyway, What are peoples opinions of this situation? Can i keep the phones i guess is what im asking? I really don't want the hassle of sending anything back more than anything.

Cheers,
Rick.

Hi Rick,

As you didn't order the phones, there's probably no way you can legally claim them as your own! However, your correspondance seems perfect. What you could also do if they don't respond, is start charging them storage and handling costs!!!

When you've clocked up a few quid on those, if they don't cough up, you could take them to the small claims court for payment!

Great fun if you've got the time.

custardy

IIRC once you have notified the company they have 6 months to claim them.
after that they are yours.

wait for full legal conformation before you ebay them though!

PasturesNew

As I understood it years ago, if you receive goods you have not asked for, these are considered "unsolicited gifts".

And, if you inform the company and keep them available for them to collect, then if they're not collected within 6 months, they're yours to keep.

Of course, I will accept that yours is a slightly different set of events as you do have a clue why they arrived. And the law may have changed. But certainly on skimming through, I just thought of that phrase "unsolicited goods" along with having to make them available for collection and the 6 months cut off.