Unsolicited Goods? / Wrong address scam

merc_22

New forum user here - I'm trying to work out if the situation I'm in means I have unsolicited goods or not and what my rights are.

Recently a package arrived at my address completely out of the blue. I did not order anything from the company who sent it. From the codes on the box I can see it's a household appliance with a value of around £300. I told the courier driver it was not mine but they quite stubbornly made me take it because it was my address on the parcel despite the name on the parcel not being mine. We'll call that name "Customer X".

I checked the tracking and about 20 minutes after it was 'out for delivery' at the local depot the customer requested a change of delivery address to mine.

I'm almost certain this is a scam where somebody's card details have been stolen and the scammers can't use their own address, so they pick one they can access. What's probably meant to happen is that a scammer turns up at my door dressed as the courier and I'm meant to hand over their stolen product, or somebody pretending to be Customer X, my "hapless neighbour" will turn up. The second part of the scam then is the person who's address is used gets invoices and threatening letters sent by the company once they're trying to chase the money because they think that I am liable to pay it. Again, it's not my name on the parcel, but that doesn't stop them from writing, "to the occupier of" my address.

I won't hand over the parcel to anybody without thoroughly checking for proof of who they are.

I've requested with the courier several times that it be collected but they have not done so and the company who sent the parcel have virtually non existent customer service, a lot of negative reviews and no phone number.

I'm am fairly sure that this counts as unsolicited goods if I never ordered anything. I can't prove for sure that Customer X is a fake name but their telephone number on the shipping label is not real and there is nobody in my area showing up with this particular name and spelling after some heavy googling. As of now, nobody has showed up to try and retrieve it, courier, scammer or otherwise.

There is a whatconsumer.co.uk page about being sent stuff you've never ordered which mentions unsolicited goods where they have arrived as a result of "deliberate scams". Why else would the address be changed at the last minute? If there is a real customer wanting their £300 appliance I'd expect them to be round in a flash to get it. They can see my address and a photo of my front door on the tracking.

I will likely speak to Citizens Advice with this but wanted to see what people thought on here too.

If I get letters in the post from the company can I rest assured that this would be a criminal offence from them? I may try to write to them and give them a deadline to collect the parcel but do I have to? Am I not already in possession of an "unconditional gift" that I can dispose of, use or sell as I please?

Thank you

user1977

People chatting about "unsolicited goods" are talking about the long-outlawed practice of "inertia marketing" where you get sent something out of the blue followed by an invoice. This is just stuff which isn't intended for you turning up at your address with nobody asking you to pay for it. It doesn't become your property, if you want a legal concept to Google try "involuntary bailee".

born_again

In the end you need to keep trying the company, as they are their goods. No matter how bad the reviews.

Who are the company, as others maybe able to help om contacting them.

merc_22

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981760#Comment_81981760

Nobody has asked me to pay for it yet. I am trying to consider what might happen.

From the link I mentioned:

"What Are Unsolicited Goods? - Unsolicited goods are items sent to you without your consent or prior agreement. These could result from administrative errors, deliberate scams, or even aggressive marketing campaigns. Regardless of the cause, receiving unsolicited items can create confusion about your rights and obligations as a consumer. Under UK law, unsolicited goods are treated differently from items you actively order, and this distinction is important for protecting consumers from being unfairly charged."

I don't know if it is just for outlawed aggressive marketing.

If nobody ever comes to retrieve it, even if I write to the company with a deadline for this like the template letter on the CAB website then what do I do?

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981806#Comment_81981806

You could of course argue that this is a form of inertia selling but you would need to prove the conditions have been fulfilled if the supplier decided to initiate legal proceedings for the recovery of it. Since 6 April this year, inertia selling now falls under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 under s236 (link) and paragraph 31 of Schedule 20 (link). Until one of the 3 conditions have been met in para. 31, there is no inertia selling.

If nobody ever comes to retrieve it, even if I write to the company with a deadline for this like the template letter on the CAB website then what do I do?

As mentioned by another poster, you are at this stage an involuntary bailee. The Torts (interference with goods) Act 1977 can assist you here because you can write to the retailer and give them formal notice that you are in possession of their goods that has your address listed with an the name of an individual who doesn't live there and which you never ordered. The package is available for collection and they should contact you within X days (14 minimum or 28 if you're generous) to arrange collection at their cost. If they don't respond then you will sell the goods.

Few points to note:

1. When you give notice there's a minimum amount of information you need to give for it to be considered a valid notice under the Act. Google "Torts notice template" and you should find examples. Suggest you send by post and email.
2. Under the notice, you can't just dispose of the goods if they are in a saleable condition. You should try to achieve the best price for it but doesn't have to be full retail value e.g. if the value is £300 new, £200-£250 would be reasonable. You need to account for the proceeds and offer to give that back to the retailer. Retailer has 6 years to claim the money from being notified, otherwise any claim would be out of time.

You of course don't need to go down this path, you could claim that the goods have been abandoned and you can do what you please with the goods, but you run the risk of being liable if there hasn't been a reasonable attempt to bring the matter to the retailer's attention and a serious amount of time has passed. For this, I would at least make various attempts to make the retailer aware e.g. letter by post, email, social media etc.

How long a period is hard to gauge but I'd probably say that if you've made numerous attempts over a 3 month period then it could be argued the goods have been abandoned, but your final correspondence should explicitly state that you are treating the goods as abandoned if not collected.

TELLIT01

As the OP has information which would support the belief this could be a scam or attempted fraud, should they contact the police for advice?

dumpster_fire2025

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981806#Comment_81981806

The goods weren't sent to you though, they were sent to someone else (although in actuality they appear to have been sent to someone else at some other address and then redirected to you for some unknown reason.)

Ectophile

Just because something is (a) goods, and (b) unsolicited, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Unsolicited Goods Act applies.

In many cases it will be the Torts (Interference With Goods) Act.

The Unsolicited Goods Act deals with goods that are sent to you, followed by a bill if you don't return them. It's not for things sent in error.

boobyd

I checked the tracking and about 20 minutes after it was 'out for delivery' at the local depot the customer requested a change of delivery address to mine.

How would you have tracking if you didn't order anything or "out of the blue" a package arrived?

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985272#Comment_81985272

Are you the OP (given different user name?)

Could be that someone simply got the address wrong on the change.

Best way to deal is contact retailer & let them sort.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985305#Comment_81985305

No, that was a partial quote from the OP's first post in the thread, third paragraph.

Unfortunately, the quoting system does not allow for partial quotes to be properly entered.

boobyd was then asking, how did the OP check the tracking if the OP was not expecting a delivery? It is a valid point for clarification. I am not sure whether the labels on the package give enough information to check the tracking.