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

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#305992 19-Jun-2023 08:00

So I ordered and paid for 1 x Thing from Big Corporate Company.

I received 2 x Thing in one box instead. Thing is worth NZ$270 each.

Yes, I know the Right Thing to do is to inform them etc, but curious to know what my legal obligations are.

I am pretty sure that I need to make the item available to them for collection if requested, but am I obligated to even tell them in the first place or is it up to them to discover the mistake?

I hasten to add, if this was a smaller/independent/locally owned/single seller then I would have no hesitation in telling them and sending back immediately, but it isn't. And the additional item is useful. Hence my questions...

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#3091847 19-Jun-2023 08:31

I think you should, someone's job could be on the line

Wombat1

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#3091848 19-Jun-2023 08:34

What happens if they only discover the mistake in a few weeks and you have started to use the item? Or if you break it? Do they have the right to ask for it back and to expect it back in the same condition?

If your bank accidentally transfers money into your account will you not say anything too? They have the right to debit that amount when they do discover their mistake. Not sure it’s the same for items accidentally sent.

Anyway if you asking about a moral obligation then the right thing to do is to let them know. Why should it matter if it’s a big corporation or not? Somebody in the big corporation may be in trouble, maybe somebody loses their job for the mistake?

Canuckabroad

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#3091850 19-Jun-2023 08:38

If you accept it's a moral obligation to inform them of the error then I don't think it should matter if it's a big or small company which made the error. Let them know, and they can decide if they send someone to retrieve it or not. Legally I believe as you said you only have to return it when requested, but doing the right thing even when nobody else knows is what helps make us have a better society.

kiwiharry

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#3091852 19-Jun-2023 08:42

I tend to follow my own moral obligations so I can sleep comfortably and know that sometime in the future such circumstances aren't going to catch up with me and bite me in the bum.

I've had 49 Ring Chime units delivered to me in the past when I was only after 1 replacement https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=222596&page_no=5#2252382

Sorry don't know what the legal obligations are in this instance.

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Andib

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#3091854 19-Jun-2023 08:43

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

Covers your legal obligation.

TLDR: You need to make them available for them to collect (tell them they sent an extra item). If they don't collect within 10 working days they become yours for free.

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MadEngineer

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#3091865 19-Jun-2023 08:54

riahon:
I think you should, someone's job could be on the line

Or you might help expedite the process of exiting someone useless who didn’t correctly despatch the goods.

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#3091867 19-Jun-2023 09:04

Yeah, you need to contact them.

I had similar last year, ordered 4x 12TB drives and 1x NAS.

4x 12TB drives and 2x NAS arrived :D

Informed PB Tech after a week (waiting to see if they realized their mistake), and they came picked up the 2nd one :)

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#3091868 19-Jun-2023 09:05

I had a kinda similar experience with PBTech, though in my case they sent me two separate orders of the same product (AudioEngine speakers, so about $650 in value). I let them know via email, but didn't get any reply at the time. Stuck the box in a cupboard and had to wait weeks for them to realize the mistake and get back in contact with me. I may have tried harder to return them if the whole order hadn't been a disaster from the get go - that said, there's no way I'd have kept them, but didn't feel any obligation to go beyond ensuring they were notified and leaving the rest to them.

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#3091873 19-Jun-2023 09:18

Canuckabroad:

If you accept it's a moral obligation to inform them of the error then I don't think it should matter if it's a big or small company which made the error. Let them know, and they can decide if they send someone to retrieve it or not. Legally I believe as you said you only have to return it when requested, but doing the right thing even when nobody else knows is what helps make us have a better society.

On reflection, this is probably the most succinctly correct answer.

Handsomedan

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#3091875 19-Jun-2023 09:18

We had a situation a couple of years ago where we received two of an item we ordered from a large retailer.

Reached out to them and let them know that we had received a double up. Never received a response to that email. Kept the item for a week and guilt made me reach out again, so I could sleep at night (it was only a couple of hundred dollars of value). They replied shortly after the second email and said they would get back on next steps. They never did.

I decided that we had all done what we needed to do to find a resolution and I ended up keeping the second item, which turned out to be a good thing as the first one actually failed, so I just used the second item as a warranty item in the end.

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RunningMan

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#3091877 19-Jun-2023 09:24

Andib:

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

Covers your legal obligation.

TLDR: You need to make them available for them to collect (tell them they sent an extra item). If they don't collect within 10 working days they become yours for free.

That's not quite the full story, particularly in this case. From the same page:

However, the goods won’t belong to you if you failed, without any reasonable excuse, to let the sender collect the goods within the 10 working days, or if you knew or should reasonably have known that the goods weren’t intended for you or that the sender didn’t have the right to send or deliver them to you

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.

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#3091882 19-Jun-2023 09:38

There are 3 simple questions I apply here:

How would I want this dealt with in the reverse situation?

If I told my kids about how I'd acted in this situation, would that make them proud?

Is it the behaviour I want them to mimic?

IMO there is no question you contact the company in writing once and advise them you have been sent a second item, and if they send you a self-addressed courier ticket or arrange pickup, you'll get the item ready to collect.

Mehrts

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#3091885 19-Jun-2023 09:54

I've had double-ups in the past by big companies, and I've let them know what happened. Items costing between $100-$300.

Every time they've just said "Don't worry about it, just keep it".

I guess the hassle vs cost savings just isn't worth it to them, but always at least bring it to their attention first.

Handsomedan

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#3091891 19-Jun-2023 10:05

I've also wondered about misdirected parcels - I had an item not turn up a few years ago - contacted the retailer, got a new one sent with an apology and weeks later received the original that was clearly misdelivered and a neighbour finally got around to dropping it on my doorstep. At that point, does the 10 days thing (referenced by Andib) really count?

I contacted the seller and the person I spoke to (a young dude with clearly very few S4!ts to give) said, "Bonus!" and said to keep it. Still feels wrong, even today.

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Senecio

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#3091898 19-Jun-2023 10:22

Handsomedan:

I've also wondered about misdirected parcels - I had an item not turn up a few years ago - contacted the retailer, got a new one sent with an apology and weeks later received the original that was clearly misdelivered and a neighbour finally got around to dropping it on my doorstep. At that point, does the 10 days thing (referenced by Andib) really count?

I contacted the seller and the person I spoke to (a young dude with clearly very few S4!ts to give) said, "Bonus!" and said to keep it. Still feels wrong, even today.

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.

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