Item delivered accidentally to address without being ordered

pilatus

Hi, a friend of mine received a package from a courier addressed to them with their name, address and phone number on the package. They did not order the package at all. Legally what is the situation with the goods? Are they allowed to keep them since they were addressed to them? There is some law in the UK that says voluntary delivery of unordered goods constitutes an unconditional gift. Is there any similar law in Ireland? Thanks

hullaballoo

What's the rest of the story?

Sleeper12

What company sent out the goods?

Has their card been charged?

odyssey06

Hmm your friend might actually be getting set up for a scam...
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warning-over-new-mobile-phone-18996929

pilatus

hullaballoo wrote: »

What's the rest of the story?

That is all the story.

pilatus

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What company sent out the goods?

Has their card been charged?

To be honest I'm not sure, they told me about it over the phone briefly. No money has been taken from their account either. I suggested that they make contact with the company and request more information just to cover themselves.

elperello

You friend should definitely contact the company and they will arrange for a courier to collect the goods.

paska

If it's not yours then it's not yours. Send it back. Karma is real, what goes around come around.

Peregrinus

pilatus wrote: »

Hi, a friend of mine received a package from a courier addressed to them with their name, address and phone number on the package. They did not order the package at all. Legally what is the situation with the goods? Are they allowed to keep them since they were addressed to them? There is some law in the UK that says voluntary delivery of unordered goods constitutes an unconditional gift. Is there any similar law in Ireland? Thanks

From the facts given, the obvious explanation is that someone has sent them a gift. Yet you don't even consider this possiblity. Is there some other fact that indicates that this is not a gift that you have not mentioned? And, if so, are there yet other facts that you also have not mentioned? Like, who is this package from?

Victor

Isn't this scenario covered by one of the sales of goods acts? The recipient had to notify sender to collect of they keep / dispose of the item.

tuxy

Victor wrote: »

Isn't this scenario covered by one of the sales of goods acts? The recipient had to notify sender to collect of they keep / dispose of the item.

I think so but I'm not sure of the exact legislation.
You can contact them to come collect the goods at a time that is convenient to you. You can even give them a reasonable deadline(14 days)
You can also do the same if they contact you first.

You do not own the goods and could be taken to court if you refuse to return them.
However, in reality I can't see that happening unless the goods are very valuable.

So really it becomes a question of morals.

Irish_peppa

I bought a small desk from the Uk. It was 85 euro , reason i bought from UK it was a specific size, I couldnt source here. 2 weeks later I got a second desk delivered. I emailed them telling them of the duplication. They said they would collect but that was 8 months ago. In the mean time I emailed them twice more. I presume its more expensive for them to collect

tuxy

Irish_peppa wrote: »

I bought a small desk from the Uk. It was 85 euro , reason i bought from UK it was a specific size, I couldnt source here. 2 weeks later I got a second desk delivered. I emailed them telling them of the duplication. They said they would collect but that was 8 months ago. In the mean time I emailed them twice more. I presume its more expensive for them to collect

Not just the expense but it's just an inconvenience that is worse than the loss of one inexpensive item.
You can consider it yours at this stage.
Like I said, two weeks is a reasonable length of time for the item to be collected.

TuringBot47

odyssey06 wrote: »

Hmm your friend might actually be getting set up for a scam...
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warning-over-new-mobile-phone-18996929

Good to know about that one

GM228

Victor wrote: »

Isn't this scenario covered by one of the sales of goods acts? The recipient had to notify sender to collect of they keep / dispose of the item.

tuxy wrote: »

I think so but I'm not sure of the exact legislation.
You can contact them to come collect the goods at a time that is convenient to you. You can even give them a reasonable deadline(14 days)
You can also do the same if they contact you first.

You do not own the goods and could be taken to court if you refuse to return them.
However, in reality I can't see that happening unless the goods are very valuable.

So really it becomes a question of morals.

S47 of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 as amended.

When unsolicited goods or services are supplied by a trader to a consumer there is an automatic exemption from consideration on the consumers part, they are not required to make any notification to the sender and are legally treated as an unconditional gift.

Only when an item is not one sent on the trader-consumer basis does the make reasonable contact etc and 6 month limit apply before being treated as an unconditional gift.

The_Mac

odyssey06 wrote: »

Hmm your friend might actually be getting set up for a scam...
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warning-over-new-mobile-phone-18996929

Imagine actually believing anything wrote in that rag. This sounds so long-winded and expensive that I cannot imagine anyone trying to pull it off. I'm shocked that the article didn't end by also saying the scam could give you cancer :pac:

OP, it's probably a gift. Stop being paranoid and open it up, Christ.

odyssey06

The_Mac wrote: »

Imagine actually believing anything wrote in that rag. This sounds so long-winded and expensive that I cannot imagine anyone trying to pull it off. I'm shocked that the article didn't end by also saying the scam could give you cancer :pac:

It's also on the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49450485

I would certainly be suspicious if I received an item from a company, named and addressed to me, especially one I had not had any previous dealings with.

El Tarangu

odyssey06 wrote: »

Hmm your friend might actually be getting set up for a scam...
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warning-over-new-mobile-phone-18996929

The_Mac wrote: »

This sounds so long-winded and expensive that I cannot imagine anyone trying to pull it off.

I thought similar; so, they order the phone, and then stake out your house waiting for the courier to deliver it(?)

Sounds like an enormous outlay in terms of time and expense for a scam with limited chance of success; I'm sure that there are more time-efficient methods of defrauding people of their money.

GerardKeating

El Tarangu wrote: »

I thought similar; so, they order the phone, and then stake out your house waiting for the courier to deliver it(?)

Sounds like an enormous outlay in terms of time and expense for a scam with limited chance of success; I'm sure that there are more time-efficient methods of defrauding people of their money.

Well, with some phone costing a grand or more, a parcel with two of them would be a good score...

odyssey06

El Tarangu wrote: »

I thought similar; so, they order the phone, and then stake out your house waiting for the courier to deliver it(?)
Sounds like an enormous outlay in terms of time and expense for a scam with limited chance of success; I'm sure that there are more time-efficient methods of defrauding people of their money.

They could use the online tracking with a delivery receipt and would know almost immediately when item delivered/

I'm not saying it's the most likely explanation, but I think you should be suspicious of such gift horses.

How does the company (a) get the person's details and (b) make a mistake like that?
Maybe if it's near the OP's birthday someone bought a gift for them and the gift message was lost; or if the OP recently ordered from the company there was a mistake in the labelling.

What's your explanation for someone receiving an item they didn't order that has their name on it?

The_Mac

odyssey06 wrote: »

It's also on the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49450485

I would certainly be suspicious if I received an item from a company, named and addressed to me, especially one I had not had any previous dealings with.

I've read the article and it seems the same as the Mirror. Maybe I've missed something but nobody explains how exactly this scam works? You take the package, then give the item (ordered by the scammers) to the scammers? I can understand if maybe they're hoping you've entered your Google/Facebook account to the new phone, and haven't factory reset it before handing it over but it seems there's no mention of that.

odyssey06 wrote: »

They could use the online tracking with a delivery receipt and would know almost immediately when item delivered/

I'm not saying it's the most likely explanation, but I think you should be suspicious of such gift horses.

How does the company (a) get the person's details and (b) make a mistake like that?
Maybe if it's near the OP's birthday someone bought a gift for them and the gift message was lost; or if the OP recently ordered from the company there was a mistake in the labelling.

What's your explanation for someone receiving an item they didn't order that has their name on it?

It's incredibly easy to get people's full details. Signing up to dodgy apps/websites that sell your personal information, or personal information being stolen when a website that doesn't secure their customer's sensitive data is compromised.

odyssey06

The_Mac wrote: »

It's incredibly easy to get people's full details. Signing up to dodgy apps/websites that sell your personal information, or personal information being stolen when a website that doesn't secure their customer's sensitive data is compromised.

Right so they steal or buy your information, then send an item. Then what?
I am not hearing a coherent explanation here at all from you.

El Tarangu

odyssey06 wrote: »

How does the company (a) get the person's details and (b) make a mistake like that?
...

What's your explanation for someone receiving an item they didn't order that has their name on it?

I'm not discounting that there could be something iffy going on, just that the scam as described in the linked article seems a bit convoluted.

The scammers order the phone (and pay for it; stolen credit card, maybe?). It's delivered to the patsy's house. The scammer comes to the house, and asks for the phone pretending to be the courier. They now have possession of the phone... which they paid for anyway(?)

If the scammer reports that the phone never arrived in order to get a refund to the card that purchased the phone, the courier will have the signature proving that they delivered the phone. The vendor isn't going to issue a refund until they have the phone back in their possession... It's not really clear to me whom is defrauding whom in this particular scenario.

odyssey06

odyssey06 wrote: »

Hmm your friend might actually be getting set up for a scam...
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warning-over-new-mobile-phone-18996929

As above, it's not clear from that article what the actual scam is.

I order (and presumably pay for) an iPhone to your gaff
Morning of delivery, I hang around
See it being delivered
Knock back 10 mins later saying it was a wrong order
Take the phone annnnnnnnd......what?
Who's being scammed?
What are they being scammed out of?

The_Mac

The_Mac wrote: »

It's incredibly easy to get people's full details. Signing up to dodgy apps/websites that sell your personal information, or personal information being stolen when a website that doesn't secure their customer's sensitive data is compromised.

Have a look at what people leave up on Facebook, sure. You can pull someone's name, maybe their address if you've a rough idea of where they live, their date of birth if they put up pics of balloons etc, their mother's maiden name, name of the dogs/kids/other pets, what team they support and so on.

Pablo Escobar

It always strikes me how many people as questions here on behalf of a friend.

KaneToad

paska wrote: »

If it's not yours then it's not yours. Send it back. Karma is real, what goes around come around.

I disagree, Karma is not real. Terrible things happen to good people all time. Likewise great things happen to terrible people.

seamus

Deleted User wrote: »

As above, it's not clear from that article what the actual scam is.

Most likely the payment had been made by stolen card. Either yours or someone else's.

When the card is reported stolen and the chargeback attempted, there'll be a convoluted argument over the fact that the item was apparently delivered and signed for by someone at your address.

If it wasn't your card that was stolen, then you might have to make a police statement. If it was your card that was stolen, then the card company/bank could dig their heels in.

With high-value goods companies are increasingly refusing to deliver them to "unnamed" addresses, e.g. warehouses and P.O. boxes, and in some cases insist that they can only be delivered to the billing address.

The authorisation check on payment cards includes a verification that the billing address matches the one on the card.

I agree that overall it seems convoluted, but a massive amount of credit fraud is carried out in person, not using something stolen from a website.

The_Mac

odyssey06 wrote: »

Right so they steal or buy your information, then send an item. Then what?
I am not hearing a coherent explanation here at all from you.

I don't have one. You posted the article about the scam which gives no information as to how it works. It sounds as some other posters have said that stuff is being delivered off a stolen credit card to a drop address. However it doesn't seem like the drop address person is being scammed at all. Besides if it was this scam a shady character would have already appeared.

Like I said before, open it up and see what it is OP. More than likely a late delivery of a Christmas gift from someone to you

Wheety

Deleted User wrote: »

As above, it's not clear from that article what the actual scam is.

I order (and presumably pay for) an iPhone to your gaff
Morning of delivery, I hang around
See it being delivered
Knock back 10 mins later saying it was a wrong order
Take the phone annnnnnnnd......what?
Who's being scammed?
What are they being scammed out of?

I had presumed it was a bill phone, ordered in your name. Possibly the highest tariff so the phone is free. Scammer collects phone and a month later you're charged €65 or whatever the monthly rate is.

Victor

The_Mac wrote: »

However it doesn't seem like the drop address person is being scammed at all.

They are if it is their stolen credit card. Read the BBC article.

Apt8

It's a brushing scam. Very common on Amazon, they get your details somewhere, set up a new account, order something to your address, and then use the account to leave a fake review. Then they claim the item never showed up and get a refund.

Report it to whoever shipped it, get them to lodge it as an unwanted package, they may or may not want you to return it, they don't have your payment details so you're under no obligation to do so. If it's something low value like a phone case or something, not really worth the bother.