£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.

It's so sad that we live in a world where so many of you would keep it. God help the kids of the future if this our morals are so rock bottom now.

Another of these moral conundrum questions from a new poster who doesn't return ...

Right? And so close to Christmas too. I don’t know how people justify it to themselves.

There’s been times at Christmas where I have had the opposite happen to me. I ordered a £300 coat and got a £50 item instead, other times it’s been less value but still completely wrong. They’ve likely muddled up while packing and I suspect someone will be frustrated that their £400 item is awol.

Contact the supplier and act like a grown up

Basically yes to your first question. Clearly you have a different moral stance but I'm perfectly comfortable with mine.

The person sat at home can call Amazon or whoever and send them a photo of the parcel that arrived, and will get what they ordered. I don't see how they could make the connection with OP's dad's order and in any case it wouldn't be worth the time and hassle for them.

@Andoutcomethewolves they could easily find out.

At the end of the day, it's not okay to steal, no matter who from. Especially not a luxury item.

Have you contacted your bank? I had my card stolen and whoever stole it managed to run up about £100 over the course of several hours in KFC 🤣. I'd already cancelled the card but when those transactions showed yp on online banking I called my bank (HSBC) and explained (plus told them to feel free to look back over past transactions as I have never in my life been in a KFC!) and they just refunded it.

I think everyone who has said they'd keep it has qualified that with stating that they wouldn't if it was from an individual seller/independent shop - only if it was the likes of Amazon etc. So your example is pretty different as that affects you personally.

This happened to my DB. He ordered nappies from amazon and they sent him a tele! He contacted them and they told him to keep it.

Yes I have and they have refunded as of today, but that’s not the point about theft is it? I don’t think it is different, you are literally keeping something that cost someone else money, whether you physically spent it or not.

i had a wedding centerpiece delivered to me in error, I contacted the seller, asked them to collect it or ask their customer to collect it. They were grateful, but asked me to post it back and get a receipt. It was a great big hassle as all post offices in my area have closed down, had to queue for ages at a postal counter. They then reimbursed me the postage - in vouchers for their wedding favour shop! I have no intention of getting married and wished I’d never bothered with the parcel return.

Long story but your dad should keep
the item. Happy Xmas.

How could they find out? Genuine question.

Having worked as an order picker in various distribution centres as a student I don't see how this could be tracked. And having worked in a professional role for companies like (but not!) Amazon, I stand by my view on keeping the item.

I had a similar thing happen - ordered a £20 lego in an online sale and had a £500 one delivered.

I contacted the company as it is illegal to keep it. The company in question were insistent it got returned asap which is fair enough but then they asked me to drop it to some place miles away at my own expense when I didn’t have a car at the time and when I said no they wanted me to stay in waiting for a courier giving a window that he could come on a weekday between 8am and 10pm and wanting me to print a label when I didn’t have a printer. They acted like I was unreasonable not missing work for their courier and would not use a company with a shorter collection window or Saturday collection. It took ages to sort the return and the whole time I was treated like it was my fault this item turned up on my door. The icing on the cake was they didn’t want to resend the lego I had bought during a half price sale but instead wanted to refund me and make me pay full price lol.

People always assume that it’s a big store that can afford to write it off but I keep seeing businesses posting their struggles when customers try to shaft them over modestly priced items by saying they didn’t arrive or they send things back used and dirty.

They can’t all afford to absorb £100s worth of stock.

@Andoutcomethewolves the tracking number will show what address it was delivered to, surely?

It's not okay to steal. From anyone.

I bought something from Dunelm, a package from Shien arrived, with my name and Dunelm label on it. Some numpty at Evri has done this, I got a refund from Dunelm but I have this random collection of junk from Shien. I've chat, emailed Evri several times, I has somebody else's stuff, it's just sitting in a bag and Evri have shown no interest. Some poor bugger is probably contacting evri or shein asking for their delivery and I have it taking up space. Not much more I can do. What to do?

Contact Shein? They have the contract with evri

As I once ordered a laptop and received a box of plasters (amazon) - I would definitely keep and use the item, with no feelings of guilt.

I got sent some sunglasses from an online outlet. One pair I ordered and paid for the other just inexplicably sent in the same box. I emailed customer services to see what they wanted me to do but never got any kind of response. So I kept them.

Bear in mind the company has seven years to come back at you for payment for their error. As he's actually ordered something from the company this isn't unsolicited. A good audit could well flag up the wrong item sent, or even the recipient of the item your Dad ordered if they've been swapped.

Best to be honest about it now.

But that is totally irrelevant. None of those things happened! The courier has nothing to do with the fact that the company sent the wrong thing.

In your dad's shoes I'd fess up to be honest.
He might even get to keep the item after all.

People always manage to justify theft from large corporations like this, but all it does is increase prices for everyone else.

I would definitely contact the seller. If it’s Amazon they’ll probably let you keep it anyway and then you won’t have the guilt because you’ve offered them the chance to have it back. For a smaller business, they’ll be so grateful for your honesty as £400 is a lot of money. You know what you need to do 🤷‍♀️

Why does it matter? Such a nonsense justification for being scummy.