Additional items delivered on order. Do I legally have to look after them until collected?

Nataliedge

Ordered a large corner sofa, table and chairs. When I paid in store 4 weeks ago the order was wrong and had to be cancelled, refunded and reordered. End result was the paid order was just the sofa as they had gone out of stock. All of this was done in person. Today the order arrives and I have received the original order that was cancelled and the new one! Morally happy to advise and send back but I haven’t the space to keep hold of the wrong items. A corner sofa isn’t small. What are my rights and the sellers rights on this. If I say collect by Monday am I being unreasonable? However after Monday I have no space to store them and they will have to be on the drive, on a main road and I can’t guarantee their safety.

ToxicWomble

Why did you even accept the order in the first place 
You have a duty of care to store the items now 
Why do you have the space today but not on Monday ?

Spank

Asking them to collect by Monday is not reasonable & if the items get damaged or stolen by leaving outside will leave you open to being charged for the items.

Nataliedge

I have builders in who are working to a contract. So over the weekend I can store this but then they need the space to work. The order was 21 items so it wasn’t until they brought in half that I realised (flat packed stuff so not like they brought in two identifiable sofas). At this point I mentioned this was too much and they actually told me to keep it and ‘flog it’ on eBay. Hence why I have no room to store from Monday! The company aren’t answering calls although open 7 days a week...

Aylesbury_Duck

Have you got a garage or shed they could be stored in temporarily?

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, you shouldn't put them at risk of damage from theft by storing them on your drive.  If you do, you would be liable for any costs arising.

One option is to hire a man and van and have them put in storage temporarily.  You can of course reclaim those costs from the retailer.

cymruchris

The first thing I'd do would be to contact the retailer and see what options they offer. You can explain the fact that you don't have the space to store it - so a quick uplift is important - and see what they say. They may also say sell it on eBay (although it's unlikely they would). 

unholyangel

Nataliedge said:

I have builders in who are working to a contract. So over the weekend I can store this but then they need the space to work. The order was 21 items so it wasn’t until they brought in half that I realised (flat packed stuff so not like they brought in two identifiable sofas). At this point I mentioned this was too much and they actually told me to keep it and ‘flog it’ on eBay. Hence why I have no room to store from Monday! The company aren’t answering calls although open 7 days a week...

Since you accepted possession of the goods, you have a duty of care to take reasonable care of the goods and make them available for collection. Normally to discharge yourself from this duty you'd need to send two written notices to them with certain information (your details, detail of goods, what you plan to do with them, reasonable time limit for collection). I would suggest given current circumstances (covid) that whats reasonable may be longer than normal. 

I would also caution that if you get it wrong (ie a court later decided you didn't give long enough to discharge your duty of care) then you'd potentially be liable for the value of the items.