£400 item delivered to my Dad by mistake

[ForMellowPanda]

Last week my Dad received a parcel with his correct name and address on the packaging, however inside was a brand new item which costs around £300 to £400 to buy. The wrong parcel had been delivered, the item my Dad ordered costs around £15. No signature was required but a photo was taken with parcel on doorstep as nobody was in the house at the time of delivery. The tracking number is the same number as what it would have been if the correct parcel has been delivered.

The item delivered if something my Dad would love to have and use but I know morally it is the wrong thing to do. Can I ask what you would do in this situation? My Dad has not used the item at all since it was delivered last week.

I would keep and use it happily. Clearly i'm not a very moral person...

Any chance it's Amazon - they might let him keep it

I think I might keep and use it but I’d feel bad!

If your Dad makes all reasonable steps to contact the supplier that sent it… rather than the shipping company. Then that’s all he can do

I'd contact the company I ordered from and tell them about the mix-up. I'd do that as soon as I was aware of the mistake.

He needs to contact the shipping company.

Call the company that sent it and explain. If he’s out and about a lot and it won’t be easy to arrange collection they may let him keep it!

This is the right thing to do.

Contact the seller.
I'd love to keep an item like that too, but the seller is out £400. That could be a massive blow to a small business. I couldn't enjoy something that wasn't meant to be mine, knowing that.

I would email them and tell them to pick it up if they want it back.

Then keep it when they don't

Wait for the sender to request it and just keep it until then and see what happens. It's up to them to chase their error, not your dad.

Yes, tell them to come get it if they want it. They probably won't. I wouldn't be queueing up to post it back to them or anything.

John Lewis sent DH four laptops instead of one once. We did send them back. I’d be careful about keeping something that might have a serial number or code like a phone or iPad. Not sure I could enjoy keeping such an expensive thing that was sent in error tbh.

Just keep it. He didn't sign for it, the courier will be insured and they shouldn't leave things on doorsteps anyway.

This is irrelevant. It's nothing to do with the courier!

I'd contact the seller but would expect them to make all the effort to get the item returned to them.

The right thing to do would me to tell the seller but i would not - id keep it,

Of course it is. No company sends a 400 pounds item uninsured. If an individual sends an item of that value uninsured they are an idiot. If the courier lost it, or it was stolen from the doorstep of the intended recipient, what do you think would happen in those situations?

Id ask the company who sent it to come & collect it 9 times out 10 they drop it altogether

If you just tell them whats happened they'll want you to send it back to them potentially reimbursing shipping but specifically asking them for a currier might make them back down

Let the company know but most places will not collect, especially if they are a big company. Not cost effective.

I would contact the company and tell them.
I would feel guilty about keeping it

That's theft.

Dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive them of it.

Also think of the fact there's someone out there who's ordered a £400 item that's not received it, it could well be someone's Christmas gift.

contact the supplier and give it back

For me it would depend entirely on who had sold the item. If it was an individual on eBay then I would try to contact the seller, but if it was a big company like Amazon, I would put it to one size for a couple of weeks to see if they contacted me, and would then thoroughly enjoy using it.

the right thing to do is fess up and return it (at cost of the company), obviously.

my actual actions would it would depend on my opinion on the traceability - if I would be constantly worried about being caught. And how 'big' the company is, small business I wouldn't dream of keeping it, but a large one I wouldn't feel guilty. I would probably keep it properly packaged for about a month or so in case they ask for it back, then after then fair game.