Can I keep this item?

Jennym254

LightFlare said:

OP - just out of curiosity, what is it ?

It’s a Mood Bear.  The company is a nightmare to deal with, hence me cancelling the order in the first place.

Jennym254

timmy963 said:

OP just trying to justify theft for something they ordered.

I'm sure you would be up in arms if you paid for an item and they sent you an empty box.

I ordered it, I cancelled the order, they refunded the money.  I’m not trying to justify theft, just trying to work out how it’s MY fault they sent the item and why I should be inconvenienced for their stupidity.

GrumpyDil

Jennym254 said:

timmy963 said:

OP just trying to justify theft for something they ordered.

I'm sure you would be up in arms if you paid for an item and they sent you an empty box.

I ordered it, I cancelled the order, they refunded the money.  I’m not trying to justify theft, just trying to work out how it’s MY fault they sent the item and why I should be inconvenienced for their stupidity.

Mistakes happen. How difficult is it to send a message saying I have an item I haven't paid for, how do you want to arrange its' return? 

Jennym254

JetpackVelociraptor said:

It's not about whether you have a contract with the seller, it's about whether you have a relationship with the seller. If some random company you've never talked to before sends you goods and then demands payment, you can keep the goods and tell them where to go. If a company you've dealt with before accidentally sends you twenty items instead of two, or posts out an order that you've previously cancelled, it's not unsolicited goods. The goods they send don't belong to you, and they have up to 6 years from their arrival to reclaim either the goods or their cash value from you.

The easiest way for you to deal with this is to refuse delivery if possible, or inform the company on arrival of the goods that you have their stuff and they need to collect it. You could threaten to charge them a reasonable amount for the storage of the goods beyond a certain date, but bear in mind it needs to be reasonable - I doubt you could charge much if anything if the goods are of a size that you could stick the item in a drawer and forget about it, for example. Even if you give them 14 days to collect and hear nothing back for 21 days, you still owe them the goods or the money. This isn't a finders keepers situation. Instead, you've become an "involuntary bailee" which means you are legally responsible for taking care of their stuff, ensuring you get fair market value for it if you sell it, ensuring that the goods or cash value of same is provided to the owner, ensuring that they're kept safe etc etc. It's a pain, and best avoided.

Thank you, your reply is really helpful and to the point which is more than I can say for some of the other replies.  The seller is currently not responding to emails and messaging them through Facebook gets me a - send an email because this box is unmonitored.  I have also taken a screenshot of their website where they state that once goods have left their warehouse they aren’t responsible for them any more.  I know that’s incorrect and rightly or wrongly I’d rather put them to the trouble of correcting their mistake by arranging collection.

Jennym254

GrumpyDil said:

Jennym254 said:

timmy963 said:

OP just trying to justify theft for something they ordered.

I'm sure you would be up in arms if you paid for an item and they sent you an empty box.

I ordered it, I cancelled the order, they refunded the money.  I’m not trying to justify theft, just trying to work out how it’s MY fault they sent the item and why I should be inconvenienced for their stupidity.

Mistakes happen. How difficult is it to send a message saying I have an item I haven't paid for, how do you want to arrange its' return? 

I sent them a message as soon as I got the email saying they were despatching it. They ignored the email and continued to despatch the item.  How difficult is it to read an email?

Brie

Jennym254 said:

GrumpyDil said:

Jennym254 said:

timmy963 said:

OP just trying to justify theft for something they ordered.

I'm sure you would be up in arms if you paid for an item and they sent you an empty box.

I ordered it, I cancelled the order, they refunded the money.  I’m not trying to justify theft, just trying to work out how it’s MY fault they sent the item and why I should be inconvenienced for their stupidity.

Mistakes happen. How difficult is it to send a message saying I have an item I haven't paid for, how do you want to arrange its' return? 

I sent them a message as soon as I got the email saying they were despatching it. They ignored the email and continued to despatch the item.  How difficult is it to read an email?

Right so the point now is to send them another email and say "oops! you made a mistake!!  what do you want me to do to help you correct this?  If you send me a postage paid label I'll pop it back in the post to you." 

Then having done the right thing you can sit back and not worry about it.  Pop the item in the cupboard and should they reply within the next 6 years you will know what to do.  If they don't reply in the next 6 years you can donate it to charity.

Jennym254

Brie said:

Jennym254 said:

GrumpyDil said:

Jennym254 said:

timmy963 said:

OP just trying to justify theft for something they ordered.

I'm sure you would be up in arms if you paid for an item and they sent you an empty box.

I ordered it, I cancelled the order, they refunded the money.  I’m not trying to justify theft, just trying to work out how it’s MY fault they sent the item and why I should be inconvenienced for their stupidity.

Mistakes happen. How difficult is it to send a message saying I have an item I haven't paid for, how do you want to arrange its' return? 

I sent them a message as soon as I got the email saying they were despatching it. They ignored the email and continued to despatch the item.  How difficult is it to read an email?

Right so the point now is to send them another email and say "oops! you made a mistake!!  what do you want me to do to help you correct this?  If you send me a postage paid label I'll pop it back in the post to you." 

Then having done the right thing you can sit back and not worry about it.  Pop the item in the cupboard and should they reply within the next 6 years you will know what to do.  If they don't reply in the next 6 years you can donate it to charity.

I’m not an American, I’ve emailed them as soon as I got the shipping update.  No response. I’ve since emailed them and messaged them telling them to arrange collection.  They haven’t responded.  Nothing more am I prepared to do.  The delivery was supposed to happen in August - I’m really glad I cancelled the order.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

A lot of online places state a contract is formed upon dispatch, if that's the case in this situation you've become an involuntary bailee.

You would have an obligation to take care of the goods and notify the owner (the seller) you have their goods for them to collect. It's recommended to notify them twice, they should have provided a physical address to which you can write an old fashioned letter.  

If after this they don't collect you may sell the goods for a fair market value, deduct any selling costs and then if the seller ever came looking you'd instead pass them the money. As more time passes the likelihood of them appearing obviously reduces, 6 years and you are home free due to the statute of limitations. 

If a contract was formed upon payment this would fall under standard cancellation regulations where you would return the goods (unless the seller has offered to collect them). If the seller wishes for you to pay the cost of return they'd have to advise you of this via a durable medium (email, paper with the goods, etc) as part of the required information. 

If you are involuntary bailee it is a thankless experience that sadly offers nothing but inconvenience.  

Edited to add, you can't claim any storage costs as suggested above, unless it's something like a hot tub and you have to pay to put it in storage because you simply can't store it  

Jennym254

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

A lot of online places state a contract is formed upon dispatch, if that's the case in this situation you've become an involuntary bailee.

You would have an obligation to take care of he goods and notify the owner (the seller) you have their goods for then to collect. It's recommended to notify them twice, they should have provided a physical address to which you can write an old fashioned letter.  

If after this they don't collect you may sell the goods for a fair market value, deduct any selling costs and then if the seller ever came looking you'd instead pass them the money. As more time passes the likelihood of them appearing obviously reduces. 

If a contract was formed upon payment this would fall under standard cancellation regulations where you would return the goods (unless the seller has offered to collect them). If the sellre wishes for you to pay the cost of return they'd have to advise you of this via a durable medium (email, paper with the goods, etc) as part of the required information. 

If you are involuntary bailee it is a thankless experience that sadly offers nothing but inconvenience.  

Edited to add, you can't claim any storage costs as suggested above, unless it's something like a hot tub and you have to pay to put it in storage because you simply can't store it  

Thank you, another good response.  Sadly no physical address on their website, no phone number either.  I’ve done what I can to contact them and advise that they need to collect.  So far no response. Trustpilot may be the next way of trying to get their attention. Shockingly this company is backed by all five of the dragons on Dragons Den (I actually saw the programme) so I would have expected better.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Jennym254 said:

I’m really glad I cancelled the order.

if you hadn't cancelled you wouldn't now be in a quandary.