Who (if anybody) is being unreasonable here?

[DuvetDayEveryday]

Person A ordered an item worth £100 which went to the wrong address and was therefore lost. The company sent another one, and then typically the original one was located. So she has two items.

Her sister asked if she could have the spare one. She was told she could have it for £50. She declined, saying that it was wrong of her sister to be profiting from the mistake and unless she was happy to give it away for free she should send it back to the company.

Who IBU?

I am neither of the people involved but do have an opinion. I was interested to see if it's the majority opinion.

I have a £100 Brabantia bin - it's fab. I bought it online. If I had received two and the company said to keep the spare, I would have given one to my sister, no question. Sister A is mean.

You really have to ask this question? What is wrong with you? The item should be returned to the company forthwith, at once, immediately!

I can't stand thieves!

Well, aren't you posting on a lot of threads this morning without bothering to read them properly, Bridget?

Person A bought the bin for £100 and presumably was happy with that price.
She then unexpectedly received two items rather than one, and the company's told her to keep the extra item.
Why does she want to make money from the company's mistake, given that she was happy to pay that £100 in the first place?
So IMO it's Person A who's unreasonable here. (Though of course she could give the bonus bin away to anyone - not necessarily to her sister.)

I don't see why family means you should give them something for free. My family are hard work, sometimes selfish and often self absorbed - what of those qualities make them a deserving case?
It's completely up to sister A what she does, now company has said she can keep it. Selling it, keeping it or giving it away all are reasonable and sister B should be looking at it as an opportunity for a bargain not that she's not getting a gift.

"Why does she want to make money from the company's mistake, given that she was happy to pay that £100 in the first place?"

Well, why shouldn't she? B also wants to "make money" from the mistake with a free bin. Presumably B would pay something for a bin from Argos - £20 or whatever - so why should A, who had the hassle of reordering, chasing the company up etc, get nothing?

Both are unreasonable
I bought an item for DD birthday which was slightly damaged
I rang the company who were very helpful. They sent another for next day delivery so it was there for her birthday. They actually sent 2 so I ended up with 3 items
I returned one of the perfect ones. They told me to keep the damaged one so I gave the damaged one to a friend for her DD and she replaced the damaged part

Keeping it is theft

I had something delivered to me in error, it cost about £100 more than what I'd actually ordered. I could have reordered what I wanted and sold the other thing on to someone else, but didn't because I'm not a scumbag, I contacted the company and they sent out what I wanted, and collected the incorrect item.

The other month I ordered something for £15, didn't turn up for weeks, was sent another one, original item turned up the following day after I'd recieved its replacement, I still contacted the company and offered to pay for the 2nd item, and they said keep it for free for the inconvieniance.

Why do people post when they don't even read the OP's posts?

@ ImperialBlether different way of interacting with mn, I think.
You and I started when mn was smaller. We read threads as a conversation. We were 'trained' in our interactions at a time when you were likely to get to know peoe and build relationships.
I think the site is now at it's 'modernist' phase: more atomised; more random and chance encounters; more contingency: consequently more of a pressing need to assert individuality in face of a feeling of being lost in a crowd.
So peoe read the opening statement and offer an opinion and move on.

I think that's part of it.

Can be funny, though. I've loved seeing how the duvet misunderstanding has grown and developed.

Isn't the default customise to colour OP's posts? I've deregged and reregged and OP and my posts are always highlighted. Dunno how so many posters miss them!

As sister B doesn't need the bin, she is BU. Sister A could probably easily sell a brand new £100 bun for £50 (or more) online and save herself some money.
If SisB needed a bin, then SisA would BU to not give it for a much lower price or free, as she was already willing to spend the full £100

Bin* not bun

I don't follow that, Hagrid.

If sister A had got a gift voucher free with purchase for a shop she didn't like much, would she be obliged to give it to B if she had a way to get half the face value or more in cash (from eBay or a friend, say)?

I mean, it would be nice if A gave B £50 randomly to help out, but it's not obligatory, is it?

@thecatfromjapan, I love your analysis!

The person shouldn't profit from her sister if she has a good relationship with her sister she should give it to her for free.

What colour is the duvet?

I'm not sure about giving it away or not. Logically they should both get a bin for the equivalent of £50, but I think I'd probably give my non wealthy sister it if I had a good relationship with her. If she felt entitled to it, I'm not so sure.

" If she felt entitled to it, I'm not so sure."

I think that might be the crux of it!

Well our mother has now stepped in a given the bin to sister B (it was delivered to her house so she had possession of it). Sister A is furious as she wanted to eBay it.

I'm staying well out of it. I have a very nice bin of my own so have no need of this one.

Definitely, definitely stay out of it!

L @ 'I have a very nice bin of my own.'

If I were sister A I'd be furious too. I wouldn't be trusting my mother with anything anytime soon either.

Oh dear.

Well, it seems your mum got some of the hassle (did both bins go to her originally?)

Mother is out of order! It's not hers to give away!

That's a bit shit of your mum. She should have stayed out of it. Sister B doesn't deserve the bin on the basis that sister A has more money than she has.