What would you HONESTLY do in this situation?

[Friends1996]

Say you ordered a few items from a big online shop (clothing), then successfully cancelled the order, and was refunded.

A few days later, you ordered a single item of clothing from the same place. Today that item was delivered, however they had also sent the items you had cancelled and was refunded for (probably around £120 worth of stuff).

Would you contact them about it or would you keep quiet, see if they emailed you about it and if you didn’t hear anything say 3-4 weeks down the line, just keep the items as normal? This is a place you regularly order from, spending between £300-400 a month.

What would you HONESTLY do?

If you would expect them to believe you if you tell them if there is an item missing from your order, despite it being on the delivery note, which I have experienced, then yes you should contact them if you have received something you haven’t paid for.
I’ve twice been refunded items “ lost in transit” that then turned up both times I contacted the company, one company said keep it the other asked for it back sent me a prepaid note to stick on parcel and I dropped it off at the Post Office the next time I was passing.

Nope.

I have had a similar situation. Towards the end of last year I ordered a Christmas present. When it came the box was much bigger than I expected so I assumed they had put in lots of padding. However when I opened it I found the thing I had ordered plus a large expensive toy I definitely hadn't ordered.

I rang the company to see what was going on and they admitted it was a mistake and asked if I could return it if they emailed me a return label. I did and a few days later I got an email of thanks plus a voucher for 10% off a future purpose. I was actually able to use this voucher against another Christmas purchase so honesty paid off.

How did you return them previously?

Same happened to me but very big bottle of expensive conditioner from a smallish company which was on a really good offer. Never turned up within a couple of weeks. Sent me a new one. Original one arrived a bit later and I let them know and offered to buy it off them at the offer price, save me sending it back. They said to keep it. Honesty pays :)

I’ve never returned anything to them, the order was cancelled and refunded before it was dispatched

I would and I admit it. I also have kept duplicate items twice before that I'd bought from M&S and which didn't arrive on time as they insist on using Evri. When the original order didn't turn up I contacted M&S and complained and they sent out a replacement. Few weeks later he original ones arrived so kept them. In my view it's their own stupid fault for using a useless courier like Evri.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a large business or a small business, stealing is stealing and if you keep the clothes you’re a thief. Does that sit well with you, because it wouldn’t sit well with me. So to answer your question honestly, I’d contact the seller and let them know about their error.

The two situations you’ve compared are not the same, not getting in touch and letting the company know is not the same as not receiving an order and the company not responding to your emails, it’s the same as not receiving an order and not contacting the company but then being upset it didn’t arrive. Your scenario is more like if the company notice their mistake and the OP then ignores their emails, obviously in that case if the company notice their mistake and get in touch the OP should respond and work with them to rectify it, but it’s fine for the OP not to actively work to rectify it just as in the scenario you’ve outlined you’re putting the onus on the customer to chase up their order. It’s up to the company to sort out their mistake here.

If it was an issue that I couldn’t get to a post office or store, I would insist on a prompt collection.

When I feel torn between two courses of action, I ask myself how I would hope someone respond to me. Eg, if it was my business - would I hope that the recipient of my mistake would be honest?

If you can honestly answer that question with a “no”, then keep them. As that is what you would honestly want your customers to do.

I would contact them. It happened to me and when I did they said keep them but if they dont I would return but ask them to pay for the postage.

Twice I’ve been sent items by mistake and informed the company. One time they said they’d arrange a courier to pick up but never did, so I sold the item on eBay a year later. The other time they wanted me to cart the large item to a post office which I wasn’t able to do so they told me to keep it.
I would be inclined to let them know.

I would keep them for sure if it was a big company.
My brother had a garden furniture set sent twice and kept it!

I’d contact them, check the original refund had been actioned and then explain they’d sent the original order with the new item and ask what you should do.

We all pay indirectly for theft (by increased prices) and anyway if you keep them you might be charged for them at a later date. Honesty is the best policy here.

Honestly? I'd keep it.

This happened to my friend she contacted them and they told her to keep the other items 😊

I'd contact them, secretly hoping they'd tell me to keep them, but tell them they'll will have to arrange collection at my convenience. If I didn't tell them I'd be worried that they would invoice me at a later date.

Similar situations have happened to me and I contacted them. Mostly I've been told to keep the items. Once they said they would send a courier to pick it up, but they never did. It wasn't something I wanted (someone else's delivery had been delivered to me) so I gave it to a charity shop.

When this happened to me I contacted them and said they'd have to send someone to collect at a specific time on a certain day, after some back and forth of them asking if i could post (nope) they obviously decided it was too faffy and told me to keep them 😃

Somewhere like M&S, Next, ASOS etc I have had duplicate items sent or received items despite getting refunds. I have 100% kept them or sold them.

Yes I would contact them and be honest.

It's obvious you're going to steal them, so just crack on with it. You don't need validation from us. They'll probably let you keep them anyway.

I would tell them 100%
It’s the right thing to do.
Hopefully they will say you can keep it.

Still? do you need 4 new items of clothing a month?

Amazon sent me items in error, they told me to keep them. I did tell them though.

I’d contact them and arrange to send it back.

Same as I did when Next delivered a large order to our address but with a random name. The person had checked out as guest checkout, and obviously just put the wrong address, but Next couldn’t tell where it was supposed to be for as it was logged as our address.

You are stealing. Doesn't matter if the business is small or amazon