Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To keep this or am I thief?

461 replies

hattyho · 21/11/2018 19:48

So I ordered a purse online from a well known brand.
I paid £12 so cheap and cheerful.
The parcel arrived today and it was well packaged in a nice box and wrapped etc.
I opened it and it was a different purse (loved it ) and I checked online and it is selling on the site for £100 Shock
Moral dilemma ...keep or return ?
Would you tell them ?

OP posts:
OliviaStabler · 22/11/2018 07:02

Call and tell them as they will tell you to keep it. It will cost too much in time and money to collect it and no major retailer will ask you to send it back, bad customer relations.

lovesugarfreejelly63 · 22/11/2018 07:03

Yes I would tell them, then I could sleep at night without worrying about it. Should imagine they will let you keep it anyway, might even thank you for your honesty!

BrightStarrySky · 22/11/2018 07:07

Do the right thing and tell them.

JustMarriedAndLovingIt · 22/11/2018 07:09

Keep it definitely! I once got sent 4 x 75cl bottles of bailey’s when I had ordered 4 litres (they were on special) They said keep the smaller ones and they sent out the bigger ones free of charge! 7 litres of bailey’s for £40!

user1471426142 · 22/11/2018 07:25

A lot of retailers (mainly the large ones) can’t be arsed to arrange collection. We had a double delivery of an expensive sound system. We contacted the retailer and they never got round to collecting it so we eventually sold it on after waiting for about 6 months. I’ve had retailers telling me to keep doubles/extra items before, particularly if it’s a cheaper item. It can often cost them more to deal with admin, delivery fees etc. We’ve only had a collection once and it was from a smaller company that probably would have noticed the difference.

QuitMoaning · 22/11/2018 07:26

I have a GCSE in law (I really do) but didn’t go any higher.
I think it is theft. Especially after reading the legislation which actually allows for this exact situation.

Would I keep it if it happened to me?
Probably but mainly be cause it is a pain to return and a large retailer. With a small independent, I would have to try and return it.

CaMePlaitPas · 22/11/2018 07:33

Personally I'm a bad person so I would keep it.

Bellatrix14 · 22/11/2018 07:46

Seen a couple of posts on here saying “Well would you ring them and complain if you’d ordered the £100 purse and been sent the £12 one?”
Well yes, you would, because the company’s error would then be inconveniencing you, and effectively depriving you of the extra £88. In this instance the company’s error is inconveniencing the company, so it's not really a comparable situation. I will always tell someone in a shop/restaurant if I know they have made an error (for example leaving something off of a bill) as I wouldn’t want them to get in to trouble, but I think this situation is quite different. I’d still email them and hope they let me keep the purse, but I don’t think it’s hideously immoral to just keep it...

You could always have kept it wrapped up for a few weeks and see if you hear anything from them, and then if they do tell them it was a little Christmas gift for someone so you’ve not taken it out of the box yet. Then feign innocence Wink

Cthulwho · 22/11/2018 07:50

I ordered a £40 pair of boots from John Lewis a few years back. When I collected the parcel from store I thought it was a bit of a weird shape, so opened it in the car before leaving and it was a Macbook Air Shock I took it straight back and they were very confused in store how it could have happened.

DayManChampionOfTheSun · 22/11/2018 07:56

I would let them know. However, being honest with shops is sometimes a pain in the arse.
I had a random pair of jeans delivered with a very order. I called them to arrange a return and they acted really put out. Kept saying 'we can't refund, you didn't order that product'. I didn't want a bloody refund, I hadn't spent the money! In the end I just put them in the post with the return lable from my actual order.
Shops are a pain too, in the Range, they over changed me by £5. I was back at the car when I realised, walked back in and tried to give it back. The woman started tutting at me, said 'oh you will have to wait for me to cash the till up to check the error', I was like 'dude, I'm just trying to give back the money you gave me in error, I'm not asking you to give me anything!' in the end, I left the note on her desk and said, when you cash up, if I'm wrong, chuck it in the charity pot.

But yeah I would still call them, it is the right thing to do.

Ingles2 · 22/11/2018 07:58

I once ordered an expensive anglepoise lamp from John Lewis click and collect .. got there to an enormous box and turned out they had sent the whole packing box of 6 lamps. Returned them and got a £25 voucher .. phone them, then if they say you can keep it, you’ll be guilt free

YearOfYouRemember · 22/11/2018 08:04

How sad to see so many morally corrupt posters. So much better to phone and tell them and be able to keep, if they offer with a clear conscience ,

I had John Lewis and Lakeland both send me something that wasn't suitable. I rang to tell them and was told to keep both items as it would have been more cost and hassle to collect than it was worth.

Original poster
hattyho · 22/11/2018 08:05

Ordered this one in grey
Got sent that one instead

To keep this or am I thief?
To keep this or am I thief?
OP posts:
Notatallobvious · 22/11/2018 08:09

I had two items delivered separately by a large online retailer by mistake...I emailed them to let them know and they said they would arrange collection. They didn't arrange anything and it's still stuck in my garage in the box! This was last December.

CoraPirbright · 22/11/2018 08:12

I would def tell them otherwise would suffer the most horrendous guilt! However, I would not be inconvenienced in any way by their mistake and would only return in a manner convenient to me. They would have to wait.

UnicornPug · 22/11/2018 08:13

I'd tell them. It's not what you ordered- what they do next is up to them!

I ordered one ukulele and got 2. Told them, they said they'd collect it and never did. I gave it to my brother.

Just this week I had a MASSIVE delivery of something that I would have found very useful. £300+ worth of stuff. It was from a company that I have used before, but I had not ordered this time! I rang them and they eventually worked out where it should have gone and came and picked it up. Reading the links up thread- as I hadn't ordered it at all but it came addressed to me, would I have been within my rights to keep it? The error was totally theirs. I have a business with a place name in it. The order was for a completely different business which also has the same place name in it. It's a moot point anyway- as I said, it's gone back. I'm just wondering!

AllyMcBeagle · 22/11/2018 08:24

I'm going to agree with all the other lawyers on this thread that this is definitely theft.

@Nicknacky the swapping labels case (R v Morris, Anderton v Burnside [1984] AC 320) is relevant because it was held in that case that 'appropriation' occurrs if the thief treats the property as if they were the owner. You seem to be thinking that it's not relevant because the label swapping is more obviously dishonest - but that's not the point that was being made. It's relevant for the appropriation element rather than the dishonesty element and you would have understood that if you were a lawyer.

As for the dishonesty, IMO it would clearly count as dishonesty as the Courts should now use an objective test (Ivey v Genting [2017] UKSC 67).

The OP realises after opening the package that she has been sent a more expensive item. She decides that she will keep the item and not tell the company of their mistake. At that point there is dishonest appropriation. This is not a case of truly unsolicited goods being sent - the OP has ordered other goods from the company and it's really obvious that this more expensive item has been sent by mistake rather than as a deliberate freebie.

Honestly nickynacky please stop giving your opinion on whether something is or is not legal because you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

Original poster
hattyho · 22/11/2018 11:08

I'm sorry this has caused so much aggravation 🙈
I've woken up this morning and don't even feel guilty ..maybe I'm a bad person ConfusedGrin

OP posts:
Flynnshine · 22/11/2018 11:21

grabs popcorn
This is a VERY entertaining thread!

We're talking about a purse here people, the OP is hardly a hardcore criminal!

I would probably call them and try and work out what the mistake was, it's likely they'll tell you to keep it but maybe it will put your mind at rest and you won't be directed straight to hell like some people on here are suggesting!

Flynnshine · 22/11/2018 11:23

....and you are not a bad person!
I expect this company is shuffling their money around to prevent them from paying the taxes they owe and - and if they are I bet they all sleep at night without a problem!

ErickBroch · 22/11/2018 11:43

LMFAO this thread!! Just bloody keep it they will have no idea it's the wrong one, do you know how much stock retailers 'lose' every week?! They will assume it was pinched in a store and do nothing.

Please ignore all the "lawyers" on here and just enjoy your new purse :D

Mamadothehump · 22/11/2018 11:43

Nice!!! I'd keep it too Blush

SilentIsla · 22/11/2018 11:48

Return it. Why would you even think of doing anything. I think threads like this show those posters who have the moral fibre of assorted fleas.

SilentIsla · 22/11/2018 11:48

...doing anything else?

SilentIsla · 22/11/2018 11:48

Thief.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread