Refund Given but now order has been delivered.

[Windmillsofmybehind]

I bought a Christmas pressie worth £300 from a well enough known, large company. The tracking had just stalled, nothing after dispatch and after about 11 days I contacted them which was really difficult because it was like trying to get in contact with the pope.

Anyway, they said that the courier had lost the parcel and issued me a refund. The next day the item appeared and the tracking was updated to say delivered. At this time (last Friday) my refund had not come through my bank. It came through last night. Please also note that on their Facebook page there were a lot of people complaining about missing orders.

My question is this. I had an idea to donate the £300 to a local food bank charity since I now have the product AND the money. The company will not miss it and the charity would be delighted.

Then the other half of my brain is saying...this is theft, contact the company ASAP and tell them the order was delivered. They will know anyway because tracking has been updated and they will come looking for you Robin Hood!

Help me out here.

YABU... That money is not yours or the food banks, do the right thing and give it back

YANBU.... The food bank will definitely benefit from it and the company will not cop it and send the police to your door.

Thanks in advance.

Also you're not an arsehole for thinking about it. I am sure lots of people would have just kept it and kept the money themselves.

I get it but honestly they may well notice.

I had a TV go missing which was due from Amazon, they refunded me and a month later out of the blue it arrived.

DS took delivery of it as I was at work. Got home to the bloody thing in my hallway.

Honestly Amazon were in touch within 24hrs, I sent it back.

Nope, you've seen the sense of what others have posted and are going to return the money, so you're not an arsehole or a thief. 🤗

If you want to give money to a good cause, give your own, not someone else's. "They won’t miss it" is what all the shoplifters say.

Sometimes they don't want stuff back anyway as it's too much hassle so I would let them know and you may end up with it anyway.

I had an amazing box of fresh fish delivered once - meant for the person who used to live at my house. It was a meal for two kit - crab starter, sea bass main, some cheesecake and a nice bottle of wine. I called the company and they apologised and asked me to please dispose of it which I very much enjoyed doing!

Oh also I once ordered a click and collect from Marks and collected it. They then emailed me saying they had refunded the payment as I hadn't picked it up. I emailed customer services with all the details and saying to please take payment again but they never did. I drew the line at chasing them up by the way - I let them know once and then it's on them.

I agree they’ll realise at some point and come back to you wanting the money

They may tell you to keep the item, at which point you could donate it.

But yes, good call to contact them.

It's not your money to donate. Donate from your own money if you're feeling generous sparing £300 today.
The money belong to the business who delivered the goods and refunded you at the same time.
Up to them if they feel like donating anything to anyone.
Just contact them and see what they say. They might take a while to reply.
Keep the £300 safe in case they do some sort of automatic charge on your card. The £300 will always belong to the business from the moment you received the goods after they refunded you, until the end of time. Unless they specifically say otherwise.

£300 is a larger sum but when Laithwaites messed up my Christmas wine order by the New Year I had 2 cases and they then called me to say, very apologetically, my order was on its way! When I told them about the 2 cases their view was it was easier for me to keep the second one than have to do the paperwork needed to have it collected! That was over 20 years ago though.

You could just contact them to advise that the item has turned up and ask if they are going to charge? You could then say if they agree to write it off, you will make a donation to your local food bank, but if they do charge, perhaps they could consider making a donation to your local food bank in lieu of compensation for all the running around?

Do the above and you stay honest, but you also hopefully win something for the local charity.

You had a good thought but I think you should return it (at their expense!) It isn't like the situation a few months ago on here where the same thing happened but with a supermarket food order. In that case, there was no way that the food could have been sold again so there was no point in letting the supermarket know.

I’ve had this happen with a few smaller items and been told to just keep it. I’d assume for £300 they’d want either the item or the money, though. You aren’t an arsehole for contemplating it, but you’ve made the right decision. As others have said though - it’s not your error. Tell them once, by email or what ere method is simplest and leave it to them to sort it out. If they don’t, well, that’s a different story and you can do what you like with both money and item (but give it a good few months as they’ll be busy with Christmas just now).

Yes, I just got some shoes delivered from an eBay business, but it was the wrong item sent. They were only £12 but the seller is sending a prepaid label for me to return them

I have filled in a contact form letting them know on their website. I very stupidly didn't take a screenshot of it but there is no option to email.
The money is there to take back so I am not worried about that but would have preferred to have a record that I contacted them.

I just want to say thanks to you all for not being mean and for making me see sense.

You’re not an arsehole at all. Just contact them and ask what they want you to do about it, it’s no sweat.

A similar thing happened to me -item chucked in neighbour’s garden bin. I got a refund, only for neighbour to find it some months later. I phoned the company, who thanked me for y honesty but to me to keep it. Better to phone than potentially get into a pickle down the line.

For gods' sake! As if you need telling what the RIGHT thing is to do? I'm not your mam!

I had a similar fandangle when the courier unexpectedly went into my back garden and put the parcel in one of my outdoor storage boxes. He would have had to unwind the plastic coated wire I had holding it shut (instead of padlock), place the parcel in it, then wind the wire back up again.

Naturally I had no idea he'd done that and the so-called "delivered" parcel was AWOL for a couple of months before I had reason to go into the Keter box. When I found it I emailed the company immediately and they sent postage label for me to return it to them. I had half expected them to say Just Keep It but they didn't! Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, but you always have to let them know their property has turned up and will be returned to them if they require. (My parcel was about £25 worth, so much less than yours! Great that it turned up after all if it was needed for Christmas)

Tell the company. This has happened to me and both times I was told to keep the item and the refund but I'm glad I checked.

You can't justify it by saying "but it is a food bank! But the company get the chance to be charitable!" They couldn't care less if it's gone to a food bank or your personal new shoe fund. You are still keeping money you are not authorised to keep. I think you need to return it.

And right there is the problem

Perhaps you need a namechange?

Pardon??? What it shows is a complete LACK of morals!

As several posters have pointed out OP has already suffered considerable inconvenience and the cost/duration of phoning the company. I would send an email or text to their customer support explaining the problem and giving them a set date to collect the goods at their expense. Say 3 months, Once this date has expired the customer will be free to dispose of the goods. This is what landlords do when tenants depart leaving goods in the property.

Keep a copy of the email or text. There is no proof of a phone call.

If the company subsequently fails to collect the goods and attempts to recover the money by small claims court action the OP will be able to show that she was willing to surrender the goods but the company failed to collect their property. It is unlikely that the company will initiate court action for £300,

I would do nothing. Keep the money and the product (just in case the company realises and insists on a refund.)

This has happened to before (once a company refunded me twice and another time they accidentally sent me two of an item.)

I said nothing.