moral dilemma - wwyd?

[elportodelgato]

Not to give too many details...

DH & I have just spent £150.00 on an item for the family which we bought online. It has just arrived today and the company have instead sent us a completely different item which is worth considerably more (around £600.00) but which we don't want or need.

My first instinct is just to call them, tell them they have made a mistake and arrange for them to take the expensive thing away and give us the thing we actually want, even though this will be a major hassle for me, sitting around waiting for a courier with a rather active 10mo in our little flat.

My DH thinks maybe instead we should keep quiet, sell the expensive item on ebay and then buy the item we actually want again. Would this be totally morally reprehensible? It is the company's fault that they have sent us the wrong thing so we're wondering if we could do this, although this makes me feel a bit ill - and surely someone would find out??

WWYD?

The right thing to do would be to return it. I can't say that would be my first instict though, however, I think due to the huge price discrepancy I probably would, because I wouldn't want to be taken to court or charged for it.

I'd phone them up to tell them they'd delivered a different model, but not to worry, I'm happy keeping this one. And hope they said 'oh, all right then'.

Margot, I do agree with you. Morality and theft make an interesting interplay. I was only referring to this kind of situation which arises again and again on MN. The accidental appropriation of goods from supermarkets/delivery companies. I wouldn't deign to proffer an opinion on a situation involving actual motivation beyond a desire to keep something that isn't your own.

this happened to us - we rang the company and asked very nicely if they could possibly compensate us for waiting for the courier and we got a nice discount on our original order. It can't hurt to ask.

John Lewis once delivered four lamps instead of the one I'd ordered. I asked them to send a courier twice, and it never showed up, so I took the lamps back to the shop and tried to return them. The fuss they made was extraordinary - they got the department manager, who kept telling me I couldn't return them without a receipt. I kept saying I didn't have a receipt, I didn't want the lamps, I didn't want money, I just wanted to give them back. In the end I just left them on the counter and walked away leaving them arguing about how to deal with them.

The same thing happened to me last year. I ordered a trampoline worth £119 and got sent a much bigger trampoline that was more than twice the price.

I rang the company straight away to point out the mistake, and was told I could keep it, as they said it wasn't worth their while having it back. I insisted that they collect it, as the bloody thing was far too big for our garden anyway and it the item was way to heavy and bulky for us to ebay.

Anyway, tis wrong to keep it.