Money Moral Dilemma: I was sent free beer by mistake - should I keep it?

MSE_Sarah

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

I ordered a case of beer online and, though the courier emailed to say it was delivered, it didn't actually arrive. I asked the beer firm to send another, but when that arrived, the original did as well. While it seems the beer firm wasn't at fault, if I explain and I'm asked to return one case, it's going to be a hassle to send back such a heavy item, and that seems unfair as I'm not at fault either.

Unfortunately the MSE team can't always answer money moral dilemma questions as contributions are often emailed in or suggested in person. They are intended to be a point of debate and discussed at face value. 

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[Deleted User]

They won't expect you to carry it round to them yourself.

They'll send a courier or if not, tell you to keep it.

Grumpy_chap

Offer it back to them - I doubt they'll want it back.  Then drink up and be merry 😊

Grumpy_chap

Is this in the correct forum?  What has it got to do with coronavirus?

[Deleted User]

The beer is mostly Corona...

gettingtheresometime

Why is it so hard to pick up a phone and actually ask the company how they would like to pick the case up?
I recently had an order go missing and the company sent me a replacement....and yes you've guessed it the original purchase turned up the same day as the replacement. So I just bagged up one of the deliveries, with a note saying what had happened and dropped it off at the post office.

dunstonh

Greed at someone else's expense.

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

The beer is mostly Corona...

😂😂😂😂😂😂

tripled

The honest thing to do is report it to the company selling it. Couriers will usually avoid paying out for glass or liquids and will even argue over losses, not just breakages, so the loss will likely have come directly out of the business' pocket.

I run a site selling craft drinks and unless it was particularly high value I would probably tell you to keep it as, once I've paid for the return postage (and risk of it being lost/damaged/etc. again) it wouldn't be worth messing a customer around. On a case of 12 x 500ml bottles the P&P can be as much as half the cost of replacing the stock.

ToxicWomble

Wrong forum

lifeadminavoider

tripled said:

The honest thing to do is report it to the company selling it. Couriers will usually avoid paying out for glass or liquids and will even argue over losses, not just breakages, so the loss will likely have come directly out of the business' pocket.

I run a site selling craft drinks and unless it was particularly high value I would probably tell you to keep it as, once I've paid for the return postage (and risk of it being lost/damaged/etc. again) it wouldn't be worth messing a customer around. On a case of 12 x 500ml bottles the P&P can be as much as half the cost of replacing the stock.

This is what I would expect and I'm also in the industry, we brew and sell our beer and have had an absolute nightmare with couriers during the Coronavirus lockdown - the customer complains to the courier, the courier tells them the parcel never existed and to contact us, the customer then contacts our sales team who tell them the parcel did exist and when it left, and then our sales team raise a new goodwill order and send out a replacement because the last thing we want is people to go without beer.  I would just pass the karma around and give your next door neighbour a couple if it really concerns you in that way!