holger

Dvdsoon sent me the wrong films, after a couple of week with mailing and faxing I got the correct order delivered on friday. But they have not asked me to return the other films. Its value is approx cad 250. It have asked them in a fax and a mail what to do with the surpluse order but they have not answered me. Actually they just shipped the replacement order without sending me any mail. I thought if I wait for a couple of weeks and if they have not replied within that time I just sell them. Do anyone know how long I have to wait according to consumer rights ( etc).

Eric F

As you live in Norway you should check with your local Consumer's Protection Agency or whatever equivalent organization exists in your country.

Here in the US, if you are mailed a shipment unsolicited, adressed to you specifically, you are under no legal obligation to return or pay for it. Such a thing happened to me in the past from a now defunct CD webstore, where I received about $150 worth of CDs clearly meant for someone else. I contacted them about it, and they wanted me to pay for return shipping.

I sold them all on Ebay.

maineiac

I assume, however, that you are not suggesting that had they provided you with the a free return shipping process (eg. UPS pick up at your door) that you would have been able to keep the merchandise without paying them for it...any more than you can keep money that has been mistakenly deposited into your bank account.

ChrisJackson

I don't think he is obliged to send it back even if they offer it at their cost. It was sent to him mistakenly, he had no part of it being sent there (now if it was done misleadingly, friend and him scam CH for a free enrollment, that is a far different story). However, he didn't. If I was sent the CDs I would have done the same excat thing.

rich-y

You are semi-correct with you statement above. Your statement is completely correct if you add that the recipient can not "Benefit" from the unsolicited shipment. If you receive a "benefit" from the shipment, you are obligated to pay for it. This is one of the first things they teach you in "Contract Law 101".

The easiest way to expain is like this: A unsolicited magazine subscription comes to your house. You decide to keep (and read) it, but make no effort to contact the publisher to alert them to the fact you did not order it. Any lawyer would tell you that you are legally obligated to pay for it since you did not attempt to contact the shipper and you benefited from the magazine by reading it monthly.

In your DVD example, had you had NOT contacted the shipper about the misshipped DVDs and then sold them on Ebay, you would have been held liable in court for the cost of the DVDs! Luckily, you contacted the shipper -- who did not want to pay for a pick up -- which puts you in the free and clear.

Remember: You must contact the shipper, but you do not have to pay for return shipment. It is the obligation of the shipper to pay for the return shipment. Many companies will simply tell you to keep a mismailed item because it would cost too much for them to pick it up from you.

Also, contacting the company can be as simple as sending an email to them explaining the situation. You don't have to spend a lot of time doing it, but you should always keep a printed copy of your email for backup.

ChrisJackson

Awesome post. The trick is to eMail them, and make them not want the merchandise back. =P I wonder if a simple eMail not detailing contents or simply stating that you have no topened it yet would be okay.

Abob Teff

Agreed, but one thing to add (and a story of course). You must make an effort to notify the sender. I would recommend putting in this correspondence a SET TIME FRAME (has to be resonable). For example, I would say: "I have received a shipment that I did not order/was not intended for me (whatever). You have 30 days to make arrangements to have the merchandise returned at your expense." Make sure that you have PROOF of them receiving the notification (recommend Certified Mail), just to CYA. E-mail and phone calls are NOT easily provable.

I heard this one on the radio: A lady received a very expensive home theater set-up (big screen TV and all) that she did not order. The host said to do the following: Write the company a letter explaining that their merchandise was at her house and they needed to arrange to get it back. Make 12 copies of the letter and mail one every month for a year (the long time frame was due to the significant value of the merchandise). At the end of the year, which was more than a reasonable amount of time, it was obvious that the company had no interest in recovering the merchandise and it was hers.

Eric F

Well, I would have contacted the company regardless of whether I knew that rule or not because that's the kind of guy I am.
You're right, they can't make you pay for anything, even the return shipping. Once they tried to do that, it was mine.

But, I almost guarantee you if you get something meant for someone else, they're probably not going to realize the mistake. At least the company that sent me the CDs didn't, which probably is part of the reason why they don't exist anymore.

holger

I have both sent them email and faxed but they have not responded to these besides sent me the correct order. How long should I wait until I can resell the items? I don't mind returning the items since I want a good relationship with them but they can't really expect me to sit on the goods forever.

ChrisJackson

They are lazy with all their emails (anyone who has contacted their customer service department should know). I'd email them again, just to CYA. I know email isn't very provable, so I'd try to find a way to prove it (i.e video tape of you sending it).

rich-y

1) Email the company again

2) Note in the Subject Line the number of previous emails you have sent. Example: "3rd and Final Attempt to Correct Misdelivery"

2) Tell them they have 30 days to pick up the item (or provide you with the materials to return the item at no expense to you).

3) Tell them that at the end of 30 days the items will be destroyed, thrown away, or given to charity (take your pick).

4) Print out a copy for your records.

holger

It's no problem documenting that they know about the wrong shipment, they sent me the correct one after I faxed them. Also I got a mail where they asked for the titles. Since then I have sent them two mails enquiring what to do about the missent items. I guess I'll fax them tomorrow with a humble ultimatum of what to do with the items. Seems they have a lot to do, have not shipped a couple of my order from 2908.