How would you have handled this?

AprilSun

AprilSun

Senior Member
I had placed an order recently online and when I received it, I had more items than I had ordered and paid for. Everything that I ordered, I received but I also received 3 large items I didn't order. Two of them were toys and the other was a child's comforter for their bed. I wasn't charged for them but I didn't feel right by keeping them either when I knew I had not paid for them. I took them back to the store I had ordered them from. I have had several people tell me I should have kept them. In fact, one of the store clerks said to me, "Do you know how many people would have kept these?" I told her, "I wouldn't doubt it but that's not me. I couldn't do it." How would you have handled this? Would you have kept them or took them back?
 

I would be tempted to keep them, but my conscience would win over my greed.

I once ordered cat food online from Walmart, and instead I got TWO car seats for toddlers. I checked the address, assuming they delivered to wrong address, but it was my address. I emailed Walmart and told them about the mixup, I bet the other people got my cat food. The rep told me to keep them and they would send me my cat food. I thought of selling them on eBay, but don't have the patience for that. I gave them to my granddaughter who was expecting in a few months.
 
If I am not mistaken, by law if you receive things you did not order, they are yours to keep. But you did what you felt you should have done. My husband placed an order for outside lights - they sent him one extra.. he end up keeping it. Sending it back may have been a hassle.

In my opinion, when it comes to something such as this, there is no right or wrong way to handle it - you do what you feel is best. Now, if I am in the store and the clerk give me too much money back, I will tell her. Or if I get a delivery that has someone else name on it.. I will send it back.

Just the other day, an order that I placed was sent to my neighbor that lived down the street from me. She was honest and brought it to me... I would have done the same.
 

I'm sure that the law varies from country to country, but I believe in the UK, the case is...
If you simply receive goods that you did not order, you are entitled to keep them.

If you receive goods in addition to the goods you ordered or they were meant for someone else, the situation is different. The extra goods still belong to the sender. You should advise them of this and give them the opportunity to collect them within a reasonable time. If they decline to collect the goods, then you can keep them.
 
Capt Lightning said:
I'm sure that the law varies from country to country, but I believe in the UK, the case is...
If you simply receive goods that you did not order, you are entitled to keep them.

If you receive goods in addition to the goods you ordered or they were meant for someone else, the situation is different. The extra goods still belong to the sender. You should advise them of this and give them the opportunity to collect them within a reasonable time. If they decline to collect the goods, then you can keep them.
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Exactly.
 
PVC said:
I would be tempted to keep them, but my conscience would win over my greed.

I once ordered cat food online from Walmart, and instead I got TWO car seats for toddlers. I checked the address, assuming they delivered to wrong address, but it was my address. I emailed Walmart and told them about the mixup, I bet the other people got my cat food. The rep told me to keep them and they would send me my cat food. I thought of selling them on eBay, but don't have the patience for that. I gave them to my granddaughter who was expecting in a few months.
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This was Walmart that sent me these extras. I'm guessing it was someone's order for Christmas. Some people looked at me like I was crazy for bringing them back but I don't care. I'm the one that has to live with myself and my decision, not them. I carried my order number with me so that they could check it if they needed to. She looked over that order and read the item aloud but she couldn't find the extras either which I knew she wouldn't. I told them I had logged in to my account and checked the items but I wasn't charged for these extras. Either she didn't believe me or she was just doing her job and making sure I wasn't due a refund.
 
Well, I found someone's cell phone in a shopping cart. It had the owner's address on the back & it was only 6 miles from me, so I knocked on their door & said, "Hi." The guy was really grateful; he'd been looking for it for a whole day.
Several years ago, I received an interesting item on my porch: Someone's expensive gun. Whomever shipped it really screwed up & could have gotten himself in trouble, since I'm not a Federally-Licensed dealer. Since I'm a gun person, I knew it was worth $1,600.00. I found the gunsmith who repaired it & he quickly came by & personally picked it up....he realized the bad things that could have happened if someone else received it.....
I also get my neighbor's packages; no problem walking next door to return them. Also my address has "Ave." & another same address number a few blocks away has "Place" in it. Same situation.
 
I just remembered a funny one from 48 years ago (when I was 19). A doctor lived at an address with my same street number, but "Place" instead of "Ave." He must have been a connoisseur of cheese, because someone delivered a huge wheel of cheese in my driveway. I mean HUGE; it was the size of a truck tire. Of course the address said "Place" on it, so I knew it was his - we also frequently got his mail.

I just got a new car a few weeks before - a 1971 Toyota Corolla. It had a really small 1200cc engine & had trouble getting up hills. I thought it would be fun to deliver it myself. I got some help loading it into my trunk; it was really heavy & when we got it into the trunk, the whole car sank several inches.
His house was on a hill. It took a LONG time for my car to get up the hill - in first gear. When I got to his house, we both had a good laugh.
 
win231 said:
someone delivered a huge wheel of cheese in my driveway. I mean HUGE; it was the size of a truck tire.
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I wish someone would send me this for Christmas. Any volunteers?

190901145747-costco-900-dollar-cheese-exlarge-169.jpg
 
AprilSun said:
" I told her, "I wouldn't doubt it but that's not me. I couldn't do it."
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Me, too. I would have returned that stuff.

I once got checked out of Walmart with a bunch of stuff including two bed pillows, got to the car, looked at the receipt and saw I hadn't paid for them. I took them right back and paid for them. I have earned enough money to pay for the things I want without having to take them without paying.
 
One time the delivery driver delivered a pair of tires my son ordered to the house next door. He delivered a set of speakers there before that too. We went out looking for them ourselves. Online tracking said the items were delivered so they were somewhere. The address on the items was correct so the driver was the one who messed up. No one called to say, Hey we have your stuff either time. Guess they figured the universe was giving them gifts.
 
I bought a great stainless steel pot from my favorite international foods grocer, along with many produce and grocery items. I got home to find that I hadn't been charged for the pot, a $30 item. I took it back. When I got there, the owner's son took a look at it, and my receipt, and smiled at me. "Keep it, it's yours, now." I kept it. That grocer has my undying loyalty, to this day.

When I organized a reunion with seven of my best buddies, male and female, from elementary school, we got into talking about shop lifting. Every single one of them had taken things, some pricey, from stores. I was shocked. I guess some parents stress honesty, as mine did, some don't. Maybe some do, but their kids cave to peer pressure. I never did, thankfully.
 
treeguy64 said:
When I got there, the owner's son took a look at it, and my receipt, and smiled at me. "Keep it, it's yours, now." I kept it. That grocer has my undying loyalty, to this day.
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He probably figured you could have gotten away with it and kept it, but since you were honest enough to return it, you deserved to keep it. I bet HE felt good that he met an honest person. You made his day as much as he made your day.
 
treeguy64 said:
I bought a great stainless steel pot from my favorite international foods grocer, along with many produce and grocery items. I got home to find that I hadn't been charged for the pot, a $30 item. I took it back. When I got there, the owner's son took a look at it, and my receipt, and smiled at me. "Keep it, it's yours, now." I kept it. That grocer has my undying loyalty, to this day.
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On a practical business standpoint, that $30 (his cost, $10-$15) was cheap advertising.
But, yeah, a feel good for sure.
 
I buy a lot of things on-line and there have been a few occasions when I have received items I didn't order. I contacted the firm and told them, and they arranged for the extra items to be collected.
It's a sad reflection on human nature that so many people are prepared to keep something which is not theirs.
 
treeguy64 said:
I guess some parents stress honesty, as mine did, some don't.
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Grew up rural -- way out in the sticks from a small town where my parents did their shopping. At the grocery, there was an elderly employee who would always give every kid a penny piece of bubble gum. He was out one day when I was appx 6-7 years old, so I took a piece of gum. We were nearly home when my mom realized I was chewing gum and asked where I got it. When I told her, she turned around, drove back to the town, gave me a penny and made me go in the store and give it to a clerk. That was a powerful lesson.
 

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