WWYD - is it stealing?

[AlizeeEasy]

I order quite a lot on Amazon. (I know it’s a terrible corporation)

I woke up to an email from Amazon to say they have received my items back and have issued a refund. I did not request a refund and the items are in my home and very much wanted and used.

In total the value of the refund is £50, which I know is nothing to Amazon but is quite useful for me.

so my WWYD - would you tell Amazon of their mistake?

YABU - You should tell amazon
YANBU - Take the money and run

I wouldn't worry about it, it's obviously an admin error but as far as Amazon are concerned your order was returned. Says so on your account, they're not going to go hunting round the warehouse to check it arrived.

Personal experience, Amazon delivered approximately £60 of clothing to me that was intended for someone with a similar address but on the other side of the city. I contacted Amazon and they said they would just send out a replacement to the original buyer as it wasn't worth the cost to process and return the clothing and I should just keep it with their blessing. I guess I'm answering based on that experience but I don't think it's theft.

Good point. I guess it is a case of trying to justify something clearly unethical, it’s something I shall need to ruminate on, first things first I need to actually receive the money before a decision ultimately needs to be made

Legally, I’d class this as unjustified enrichment, not theft, on the basis of a three-part test. You’ve been enriched, at Amazons expense, and there is no legal basis to justify your retention of the money. They’d have a legal case to get it back. When this sort of thing happens in the banking system, people say you ‘must’ or ‘have to’ return it, not because you’ve stolen it but because the bank is definitely going to want it back when they notice the error. Amazon, perhaps not so much. There’s little risk that you’d be unable to pay if they came after you in the future, as it’s only £50. Had it been a large sum, it would be unwise to spend it lest you be unable to find a spare grand should you be asked for it back.

I've told them before when something arrived very late that they had refunded. They said to keep it. So I was able to keep the money AND the moral high ground. Just tell them and they may leave it.

When a delivery driver persistently delivered to the farm up the road instead of me ('left by the tractor' - I immediately message back 'I HAVE NO TRACTOR' which he ignored) they apologised and refunded everything then told me I could keep it all when I eventually retrieved it (neighbour, being a farmer, wasn't always available, and I was fully expecting squashed/chewed boxes!)

Now I'm on some kind of bad list for a bit, as when a mobile phone case only had half of the case, despite being only 4 quid, they had me send it back (previously, the few little things like that they'd said just to dispose of myself)

So OP, it's up to you how much effort you're prepared to put into telling them - honestly, getting hold of someone at Amazon does need semi-heroic measures (finding exactly the right link that gets you through to a chat, rather than the 'help centre')

Back when well known household brand first started doing on the day delivery we ordered a shelving unit. It was delivered to a different flat somewhere in the local area and they couldn’t tell us where otherwise we would have gone to collect it. They sent a replacement.

A day or two later a lovely couple drove round to us and delivered the wrongly delivered item.

Im mortified about anything like this and am one of those people who walks round shops worrying that the security guard will accuse me of nicking my own items I’ve walked in with, 😅 so rang up and told them the missing item had been found. They literally couldn’t have been less bothered about getting it back and let us keep it.

Check that the money has been refunded to your credit card, rather than just showing on your account.

Email customer service and tell them, they may not take it back as it would be so much hassle. I've also gotten refunds for late arrivals as poster above.

It is theft, or a type of theft because you know you aren't entitled to it really. I would put this in the same bracket as knowing a restaurant or shop has undercharged me, but I choose not to say anything.

Would I do anything about the refund? Small sum, probably not as I could afford to pay it back later if they came asking for it and a small sum could get overlooked in bank account. Larger sum, then I probably would want to sort it out.

Even if you let them know it's very unlikely that they'd make you repay it. I ordered an item a couple of weeks ago and they sent the wrong one. When I contacted them they sent the new one out and told me to keep the other (worth £50).

Personally, I’d contact them and offer to return the money - keeping it wouldn’t sit well with my conscience.