Parcel delivered what to do?

[curlymom]

Hello, so today a courier called through gate that he had left a parcel on front drive and off he went. I went to check thinking my husband must have ordered something and it was a large tent or something with my address and an unknown name on it. Courier long gone so i messaged the Company it came from and explained. So they get the situation and told me to either take it back to nearest store ( 40 miles away) or post back at my own expense and then try to get money back from them.
I want this gone now as someone is clearly up to something ( no neighbours with this name). Any ideas?

Tell them you will store it securely at a cost of £25 per day until they collect it. You will expect payment in full on collection.
Looks like you’ve gained a free tent!

I'd keep it for a short amount of time , if nobody comes for it then dispose of it.

So they get the situation and told me to either take it back to nearest store ( 40 miles away) or post back at my own expense and then try to get money back from them

This is not your responsibility. I believe you can give them a period of time* to collect it from you at your convenience then it becomes yours if they don't.

*not sure of time frame

It certainly is not up to you to take it anywhere or pay to have it sent back!

Its not necessarily someone up to something. I took part in a book secret santa and the person sending it put the wrong house number. The people in that house refused the parcel but it still showed up as having been delivered. When I let the delivery company know, the parcel mysteriously appeared back at the depot!

You shouldn't end up out of pocket due to their error though. I'd get back in touch and say they can either arrange to get someone to collect it or you will dispose of it. Or maybe get a quote for the delivery and get them to pay upfront?

Some one has probably selected the wrong address with an online order. I'd just hold onto it until it becomes clear. I had this with a mountain bike once. It was for our address but a different name. I called the company and they weren't helpful but I left my details. A few days later someone realised their error and I had a call from the company. They passed on the correct owners number who came to pick it up. They had put in a slightly wrong postcode and their house number and didn't realise til they were told it had been delivered.
I doubt it's something sinister.

Could you post it on a local social media page without giving the full description? Could ask for proof of purchase which will show your delivery address on it. I certainly would not go 40 miles out of my way or post it back at my expense!

Have you searched the persons name on FB? It’s usually pretty easy to tell if they are local or not?

Why do you think they're up to something @curlymom? Is it from one of the home shopping direct companies and bought using credit?

I reckon someone has done "a drop down find your address " option on the order and clicked your house number not their own. Easily done . They will get an email saying their tent has been delivered, check with the company as to where it has been sent and hot foot it round to yours to claim their tent. Put it somewhere out of sight and secure and don't bother with the company , suggesting you make all the effort to return the tent shows them up for being the other side of helpful.

Thanks for your replies. The address is perfect with out post code perfect and I have searched the name online. There is no one on my road with that name and I can’t find anyone in my town either. I will keep it here for a while but what I really don’t want is the actual person knocking on my door.

@curlymom

Thanks for your replies. The address is perfect with out post code perfect and I have searched the name online. There is no one on my road with that name and I can’t find anyone in my town either. I will keep it here for a while but what I really don’t want is the actual person knocking on my door.

Why don't you want the person knocking on the door, I get that it's really annoying being stuck with this when it's nothing to do with you but surely you do want the person to come and collect it?

If your area is anything like mine the correct way to sort out any courier delivery issue is to post the problem on local facebook groups and almost without fail parcels are re-united with their rightful owners..

I should say though I don't live in the MN world where everyone has weird views about parcels and helping others out, in my real world people seem to love the challenge of a delivery mystery

@curlymom

Thanks for your replies. The address is perfect with out post code perfect and I have searched the name online. There is no one on my road with that name and I can’t find anyone in my town either. I will keep it here for a while but what I really don’t want is the actual person knocking on my door.

If they used a drop down menu the address would be perfect because it includes all the addresses within that postcode.

Why don't you want them knocking on your door? They would only be coming to collect their tent, not spying out where you keep your valuables! Poor people probably have a camp site booked for a holiday and now haven't got a tent to sleep in.

PS if you searched my name on google you wouldn't find me, and I'm not on Facebook either. Not everyone is.

I had this once with a Land Rover bumper . It was leaning on the front door when I came home from work with no sender's details.

I kept it safely for three weeks until the person it was meant to be for turned up. He gave me a load of abuse for taking it in even though it was my address on the packaging and I had no way of contacting him, so I can understand why you might be wary of a stranger turning up.

Not sure what I'd do next time, but in your situation I think I'd contact the vendor again and say that you are not going to be left out of pocket - they can either contact the buyer or collect it (give them a deadline and ask for details of where you can email the details of what has been agreed).

Be thankful that worst case scenario, you have a new tent and something you can use or sell on, rather than a bit of a car!

It's not up to you to get the t back to them. I got sent something worth £200, I emailed the company to collect it, they didn't so I sold it on eBay!

Our local area always has posts on the community Facebook page saying a parcel has turned up at their address but is for someone else! If you're on Facebook just post a message saying you've had a parcel delievered for xyz, does anyone know them? I once had some flowers delievered to my house, was all excited until I opened the card and realised they weren't for me, a girl down the streets boyfriend had sent them to her, but got the wrong number house! Nothing sinister!

If the company sent it to your address in error, the law puts the responsibility to collect it on them if they want it back. However, you also have a responsibility to take care of it until they do.

Write/email the company it was sent from and tell them that they need to arrange and pay for collection at your convenience in the next 14 days or you will dispose of it.

I wouldn't hand it over to anyone other than a courier sent by the company at this point unless the company tells you to. If you give it to someone claiming to be the rightful owner (even if they are), if they aren't or if they say they haven't received it, the company may hold you responsible as you have a duty to take care of the goods.

Someone is bound to come on and say it is "unsolicited goods" so you can keep it. You can't, it wasn't addressed to you, so it is clearly a mistake, not the company sending you unsolicited goods.

This happened to me once with a foldable bike of all things

It turned out that the bloke who'd ordered it live at 46 and we lived at 64 with same post code etc. He didn't show up when I tried searching for him either. It took the company a week to sort it out while his bike sat in my hallway and he eventually he turned up one evening with a bottle of wine which he offered to swap for his bike

the company had phoned me in advance and told me to expect him - I don't randomly part with other people's parcels as soon as i see wine!

what I really don’t want is the actual person knocking on my door

Why on earth not?

Id post on your local FB page. There's things like that posted regularly on ours. All you need to do is say does anyone know the person named on the parcel as something has been delivered to you by mistake. Youll probably find the person is located in no time at all. Theyve probably got a 'parcel delivered" notification and are wondering where the hell it is

Youll probably find the person is located in no time at all. Theyve probably got a 'parcel delivered" notification and are wondering where the hell it is

If you're really lucky, the intended recipient will already be on Facebook asking if anyone has their parcel!

If you want it to be gone someone is going to have to come knocking on your door for it at some point surely?

Hi thanks, the company have asked for it to be sent back and not passed to anyone else. WhI hope is quite annoying as they Have left me responsible. I don’t want anyone to collect as the company are expecting it back. I’m starting to wish I just left it on the driveway!

Just tell them they are welcome to collect within 7 days or you will dispose of it. End of story. Don't spend money or put yourself out it's not your responsibility.

Send an email "I understand that you wish to have this delivery returned to the store and not collected by the intended recipient. It will be available for collection at X times (weekday evenings after 6pm for instance). Alternatively at your request and at your own risk I can leave it on the driveway where it was originally delivered for collection at your convenience. If it's not collected within one week I will assume that it is no longer required and will dispose of it."