Sent additional item by mistake! Legal (and moral) obligations?

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#3091899 19-Jun-2023 10:24

Surely it comes down to doing the right thing, as well covered already by all the replies.

The flip side to this is the expense, time and effort on your part made to try and return something. You should only be required to make the minimum of effort, proportionate to the value of your potential gain before it becomes their loss.

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#3091900 19-Jun-2023 10:24

A returns label is on its way from MightyApe!

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3091905 19-Jun-2023 10:32

RunningMan:

It's reasonably obvious the extra wasn't intended for you as you didn't pay for it, and you would likely have known if the company was running a 2 for 1 or similar promotion at the time of ordering.

Conversely, the item was intended for you because it was sent to you.

That particular law primarily relates to business models where they send you goods and ask for you to either pay for the items or return them at your expense. I don't think it necessarily applies in this instance as the retailer would technically be in breach of S21A(2) of the Fair Trading Act 1986, requiring them to notify the recipient of their rights and obligations under S21A(1).

If we accept the recipient is the intended recipient, the other question would be if S21A(5)(b)(ii) applies, where "the sender had no right to send or deliver, or arrange for the delivery of, those goods to the recipient." Even if the person who physically sent the items did so in error, they are acting on behalf of the business, and the business does have a right to send the goods to you. The fact that it was done in error doesn't seem to matter.

Silvrav

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#3091953 19-Jun-2023 12:06

I had a case once we I never received an item. Complained and they sent another one. eventually, both got delivered a week apart. On the second delivery, I made contact and informed them they delivered 2 items. I dont know if the logistics team read the first part of the ticket only about not receiving the item, but 2 weeks later I received another one the same item, so now I had 3 🤣 I made contact again and I Sh*t you not a week later I got another one. I ended up taking 3 back as one of their branches was next to my office, but never ordered from there again.

networkn

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#3091990 19-Jun-2023 13:31

A few years back, HP shipped me 20 desktops on a Pallet by mistake. Literally nothing in terms of paperwork, wasn't required to sign for it, in fact I wasn't even aware it had been delivered as it was left outside our office.

I contacted HP a few times, and never heard back, but felt someone was gonna be in trouble at some stage.

Ended up contacting the NZ CEO directly and was then contacted back by someone who said they had no record of it in their system, but were very grateful I had been so persistent. They said if I had said nothing, they never would have known about it.

I got a nice gift basket from someone at HP, but mostly I was just happy to have done the right thing.

Rikkitic

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#3092111 19-Jun-2023 16:54

I bought a terrabyte external drive when they were still very expensive. I received a bigger and costlier one than the one I ordered. Nice to have but I informed them and got a very nice reply saying I could just keep it! Big smile that day. Also warm glow from knowing I had done the right thing. Always better to do the right thing.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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#3092993 21-Jun-2023 12:58

Senecio:

I've had this one before. Ordered something and after 3 weeks I got back in touch with the supplier and said it never arrived. They dispatched another and about 3 days later both items turned up in the same courier van. I tried to tell the courier driver to take one of them back but he insisted that he had to deliver it. I got back in touch again and they sent a courier around to collect the second item. It was the same driver who delivered it two days earlier.

I had something similar happen with a large and bulky item, two arrived within two days.

The courier driver insisted he had to deliver the second one and couldn't take it back. We called the shop (a big chain) and they insisted their system, which said they had sent only one item, was correct.

They never picked it up or contacted us again.

Canuckabroad

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#3092999 21-Jun-2023 13:04

It's worth repeating, that from the standpoint of a courier, their customer is the shipper and not the receiver. If the shipper has paid them to deliver 2 packages, they aren't going to change because somebody else suggested the shipper made an error. The courier driver is on a schedule and won't be interested in debating - even if we're trying to do right by the shipper.

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#3093093 21-Jun-2023 16:27

Technically speaking, if you take possession of something that you don't have a 'claim of right' to, it is quite simply theft (section 219 Crimes Act).

It would be a good counter legal argument though.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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#3093095 21-Jun-2023 16:28

Returning it seems more difficult than I thought - still working through it with the agent!

Jase2985

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#3093100 21-Jun-2023 16:37

Item:

Returning it seems more difficult than I thought - still working through it with the agent!

its not your problem to return it

you have to make it avaliable for them to collect within the time frame specified.

https://communitylaw.org.nz/community-law-manual/chapter-25-consumer-protection/when-sellers-approach-you-uninvited/unsolicited-goods-and-services/

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#3093102 21-Jun-2023 16:39

Jase2985:

Item:

Returning it seems more difficult than I thought - still working through it with the agent!

its not your problem to return it

you have to make it avaliable for them to collect within the time frame specified.

Yup agreed here, but I was expecting the label to be sent and they have subsequently come back with a (not entirely unreasonable) misunderstanding of the situation which I am clarifying with them!

mattwnz

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#3093105 21-Jun-2023 16:42

networkn:

A few years back, HP shipped me 20 desktops on a Pallet by mistake. Literally nothing in terms of paperwork, wasn't required to sign for it, in fact I wasn't even aware it had been delivered as it was left outside our office.

I contacted HP a few times, and never heard back, but felt someone was gonna be in trouble at some stage.

Ended up contacting the NZ CEO directly and was then contacted back by someone who said they had no record of it in their system, but were very grateful I had been so persistent. They said if I had said nothing, they never would have known about it.

I got a nice gift basket from someone at HP, but mostly I was just happy to have done the right thing.

The thing is that someone would have likely eventually picked up the error anyway. Often errors like this do eventually get picked up, even if months down the track.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3093109 21-Jun-2023 16:49

scuwp: Technically speaking, if you take possession of something that you don't have a 'claim of right' to, it is quite simply theft (section 219 Crimes Act).

A claim of right is only a belief that you have a right to possession. E.g. If you believe that the Unsolicited Goods laws apply, but they actually don't.

219(3) and 219(4) may also make theft difficult to prove. The recipient arguably didn't 'take' or 'move' anything.

Canuckabroad

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#3093114 21-Jun-2023 16:54

If someone takes possession of something, contacts the seller and makes them aware of a potential error (as is required under the act) and they aren't informed that the seller wishes to retrieve it, then it is reasonable that they believe they are allowed to keep it. One could only make arguments of holding improperly if there is no effort made to rectify the situation.

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