AIBU to sell works laptop?

[sweetttooth]

I left my last job back in March. I took voluntary redundancy after the company merged. My manager and whole team left, but I stayed for another year. I really didn’t like it and asked for voluntary redundancy when they announced more layoffs.

I kept asking how they were going to pick up my laptop (I worked from home) but no one ever replied. I reached out to my manager, the HR manager and colleague. They all ignored me and never arranged a pickup. I refused to drop it off myself because the nearest office was 2 hours away and I knew they wouldn’t reimburse me for the trip. So, it’s just been sitting in my cupboard since then because I don’t use it.

Would it be unreasonable for me to wipe it and sell it? Or considered theft? I don’t want it anymore, and I think I’ve given them more than enough time to come and get it. Boyfriend works in IT so could do it for me.

Call the IT department and tell them you have their property. Ask what they want you to do with it.

you don’t need to talk to your manager.

do not sell the laptop. Stick it in the back of a cupboard and let it become obsolete. The little bit of money you would get for it is not worth the risk.

Lol at 'doing all the chasing here'.

It's a telephone call.

This is what I mean by excuses.

Okay. If it’s just telephone call then why haven’t they called me to arrange delivery? Bit confused by this.

If this were my place of work then the onus is on the departing employee to return the laptop (& other ancillary wfh things like monitors). Being 2 hours away is no excuse.

You can't be serious.

You probably will not be able to wipe it properly. The police seem to get information from wiped laptops.
My husband had a works laptop for ages. They eventually got round to asking for it back.

But I don’t work for your company, and it isn’t my responsibility to deliver it.

Because you can't be arsed to phone them and speak to someone to arrange it.

You're the one whose left with the laptop, so you're the one who needs to arrange collection.

It's really not the huge job you're making it out to be.

You just want to sell it.

Good to know, thanks

You’re absolutely right, I can’t be arsed to call them. Why would I want to? It’s their property and they haven’t bothered to ring me either, so why should I put in the effort? I’ve already sent 3 emails, which granted isn’t hard work, but it’s way more than they’ve done. I don’t owe them any favours 😂 I’ll just leave it in the cupboard.

Did you call/ email your IT dept? Id give that a go. It being a multi national company I'm surprised that your licence hasn't been cancelled and the machine locked down.

When you were given the laptop were you required to sign any kind of receipt/agreement stating that it was the company’s property, that you would take good care of it and return it on request? If so you should bear this in mind.

No to be fair I didn’t, not sure if I have their details to hand but will have a look. They probably have shut it down, I haven’t used it since I left.

Then the legal route is to send them a formal email giving them 14 days to send a prepaid return postage label.

Then state that if they do not send the postage label, the laptop will be wiped and sold, then you will send them a cheque or bank transfer for the money obtained, less a £50 admin fee to cover your time wiping, advertising and selling it.

That way you have covered your bum.

No. There are rules concerning the disposal of goods you don't actually own

My ex left an iPad at my house he used for work 6 years ago I used it for candy crush until recently then recycled it at currys I asked him frequently to collect it he ignored me 🤷‍♀️

Why is your chosen option to sell it? Laptops don't take up a lot of room, as you already know having lived with it in your home for months.
If you can't arrange to give it back stick it in a drawer/on top of a wardrobe/under the bed and forget about it. Don't sell something that doesn't belong to you, however much you try to justify it, that's wrong

So you still have a work phone? Which they are paying the monthly bill for? That seems strange. They might not want the phone back, but would have thought they would terminate the contract

It’s not, but I've had the thing for 6 months now. I don't live in a big house and only have one small storage cupboard, so yeah, it definitely takes up some space.

They probably have cancelled it. This was back in March before I left. I haven’t used the phone or laptop since then, they’re in the cupboard.

You know the OP doesn't have to do what you say, right? She has asked for advice; that doesn't mean she has to follow it. You are coming across like a frigging bully here.

You know I don't give a shit what you think, right?

You're coming across as frigging strange here.

You said earlier that you had used your work phone to send whatts apps to colleagues after you left to query collection of the laptop?