...You respond to an advertisement offering a free "trial" pair of pantyhose. To your surprise, you receive four pairs with a bill. ...You receive a pocket knife that you never ordered. Despite your objections, the company continues to send you notices demanding payment and threatening your credit rating.
What do you do when you receive merchandise that you didn’t order? According to the Federal Trade Commission, you don’t have to pay for it. Federal laws prohibit mailing unordered merchandise to consumers and then demanding payment.
Here are some questions and answers about dealing with unordered merchandise.
Q. Am I obligated to return or pay for merchandise I never ordered?
A. No. If you receive merchandise that you didn’t order, you have a legal right to keep it as a free gift.
Q. Must I notify the seller if I keep unordered merchandise without paying for it?
A. Although you have no legal obligation to notify the seller, you may write the seller and offer to return the merchandise, provided the seller pays for shipping and handling.
Q. Is there any merchandise that may be sent legally without my consent?
A. Yes. You may receive samples that are clearly marked free, and merchandise from charitable organizations asking for contributions. You may keep such shipments as free gifts.
Q. Is there any way to protect myself from shippers of unordered merchandise?
A. When you participate in sweepstakes or order goods advertised as "free," "trial," or "unusually low priced," be cautious. Read all the fine print to determine if you are joining a "club," with regular purchasing or notification obligations.Keep a copy of the advertisement or catalog that led you to place the order, too. This may make it easier to contact the company if a problem arises.
Q. Where can I go for help in dealing with unordered merchandise problems?
A. Always start by trying to resolve your dispute with the company. If this doesn’t work, contact your state or local consumer protection office, local U.S. Postal Inspector, or the Better Business Bureau in your area for help. The Direct Marketing Association also may be able to help you.
blackout256 on May 11st, 2020 at 00:17 UTC »
I ordered a tamagoyaki pan on eBay a few months ago and I got the pan, but then I also got about 30 other boxes all addressed to me with another 20 slated to come my way. A bunch of them were amazon boxes and I thought my girlfriend had secretly bought all the stuff in my wishlist. I opened a few and it ended up being weird shit like adult diapers, bone meal fertilizer, some southern university hitch cover, a pack of gator aid. Then I got an email from the guy I bought the pan from, he told me his order fulfillment software wigged out and sent a bunch of orders my way. He offered me 200 bucks to cart it all back to the post office to refuse delivery. He actually paid me too. It was a strange situation.
ChrisFromIT on May 10th, 2020 at 22:15 UTC »
It should be noted that this is only if the package is addressed to you. It is illegal to open someone else's mail/packages.
DBDude on May 10th, 2020 at 21:29 UTC »
About 20 years ago a company started sending barcode scanners to people to support a business model where people would scan codes in magazines and the web page would come up. People hacked these to work as free general barcode scanners. The company started to go after people saying they didn’t own the scanners, they were licensed. However, by this law the scanners fully belonged to the users.