Unsolicited Delivery

gabyjane

Hi i ws quite interested to see this as i have recieved something.
Basically to cut a long story short i ordered an item and had terrible trouble getting it, it got delivered by a different courier than stated when ordering and my partner took it, they didnt request a signature.
Then a couple of days later another of the same item turned up but from the original delivery company..i went down and collected the item and again no signature...SO what do i/should i do with the other item? I have not contacted them as i don't see why i should waste my time and effort on them after the nightmare i had to begin with..it's sat in my cupboard..

dmg24

JohalaReewi wrote: »

As from 1 November 2000, you can treat items received but not ordered as an unconditional gift. Checkout the DTI website...

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.

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

It is not as simple as it seems. If it is a genuine mistake, a judge would be unlikely to apply the above, as it would result in an absurdity. Sometimes common sense can prevail!

dmg24

gabyjane wrote: »

Hi i ws quite interested to see this as i have recieved something.
Basically to cut a long story short i ordered an item and had terrible trouble getting it, it got delivered by a different courier than stated when ordering and my partner took it, they didnt request a signature.
Then a couple of days later another of the same item turned up but from the original delivery company..i went down and collected the item and again no signature...SO what do i/should i do with the other item? I have not contacted them as i don't see why i should waste my time and effort on them after the nightmare i had to begin with..it's sat in my cupboard..

Give the retailer the opportunity to take it back, at their expense and when it is convenient for you. As above, the law will not be applied where it causes an absurdity x

HugoSP

dmg24 wrote: »

Could we ask who the company is? It would give an indication of whether it is a genuine solicited goods situation or just an error?

I suspect it was a genuine error, as the company concerned have really given me the run around over the last few months.

Consumer Direct have advised me to write to the company at their head office recorded delivery. I have in fact done this via the POs Signed For service this morning.

Apparently if it is an error and not deliberate, then the items have not been sent unsolicited.

dmg24

HugoSP wrote: »

I suspect it was a genuine error, as the company concerned have really given me the run around over the last few months.

Consumer Direct have advised me to write to the company at their head office recorded delivery. I have in fact done this via the POs Signed For service this morning.

Apparently if it is an error and not deliberate, then the items have not been sent unsolicited.

I think you are doing the right thing.

Too many people go into this situation saying 'Why can't I keep it' etc etc, but at the very least I think that is unethical. Let us know how you get on, maybe they will give you some vouchers for your honesty?! x

HugoSP

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

Why should you have to do ANYTHING at all?

I hope you're charging them £10 per day for storage?

As much as I really dont like the company involved, and I reckon their profits would not notice the disappearence of this item, as someone who sells on e bay I would not be happy if the law protected accidental recipients.

Suppose if an e bay seller sent an item to the wrong buyer by mistake. They would have an agrieved buyer who was demanding a refund plus someone who would not return the goods under the misunderstanding that they are entitled to keep them.

It's not a situation I would be happy with as a seller.

You're right though, I will be invoicing for storage, which is a problem at the moment as we are renovating and also may have to up our home insurance to cover the extra value of the goods.

HugoSP

Well, the company were told via e mail on the day they arrived, and they were also sent a signed for letter.

No reply as yet, and I thought they would have replied via return post.

mountainofdebt

I don't wish to alarm you but something similar happened to my boss recently although not for goods worth that amount.

Basically goods arrived from a catalogue company unasked for so he rang them up and asked why they had been sent.

Apparently a common scam is to set up an account in using a person's name and address and order goods worth only a few pounds. Then once the order is placed the scammer rings up the company enquiiring where the goods are as they are concerned as they are moving.

Goods then worth alot more are ordered and then the scammer disappears.

HugoSP

mountainofdebt wrote: »

I don't wish to alarm you but something similar happened to my boss recently although not for goods worth that amount........

I don't think that this is the case as the item was addressed to my business. There are specific reasons why it is unlikely that someone got hold of my address and the business name for this purpose.

Your bosses experience would mean that the goods he received were definitely NOT unsolicited, either in the legal sense so far as the 1971 act is concerned, or in reality. Someone did solicit the delivery of the goods, so the company had every right to assume that they were wanted and would be paid for. It just goes to show that not every undexpected delivery is unsolicited.

HugoSP

To summarise as follows.

1) Item received and signed for by my 14 year old DD, now over a month ago
2) We know which company sent the item but we don't know which part of this company sent it
3) We don't appear to have been charged for it - we have no credit arrangement or account with the company in question.
4) We have sent 2 recorded delivery letters to the company in question FAO their CEO informing them that this item is in our possession. Neither appear to have been signed for. However it is unlikely that neither of them have been received. They have certainly not been returned to me. The last was sent 2 weeks ago. The first was sent over 4 weeks ago.

We understand that the goods may not legally fall into the scope of unsolicited but we have had no reply from the company in question.

We have phoned Consumer Direct but have been getting conflicting advice.

I am after some informed answers please.

1)How long should I allow the company to respond before disposing of the goods
2)What storage charge could I levy - even if it were simply to offset against the value of the goods if they made a claim?
3) At what point must I draw the conclusion that the goods are infact unsolicited, as despite my 2 RD letters and 1 e mail to a senior manager, they have not even contacted me regarding their return?

Thanks