What do I do?
I recently sent in an item for warranty repair work. They sent me the wrong item back that's worth almost six times the value of what I sent them. My problem is, I called their customer service and told them of the problem before I knew the value of the item they mistakenly sent me. Legally, do I have the right to keep it since it's their mistake? Obviously I would forget about the item I sent in for warranty repair.
Legally you are obligated to send it back. Morally is the same.
I would make every effort to contact them and get the problem rectified. It would be the right thing to do. If you aren't sure about that, perhaps think of it this way: some employee could be in real trouble for this error. What if you had made the shipping mistake - you would hope someone returned the item!
"My problem is, I called their customer service and told them of the problem before I knew the value of the item they mistakenly sent me."
so, what does the company expect? what did they say to do about it?
@moosezilla: I don't think they even have an idea of what they sent me other than it's the wrong thing. They're sending me shipping labels to send it back and only then will they send me the item I sent them. The thing is, they are sending me a new one and I think it's because they don't know what happened to the one I sent them. I think I will hold on to it and the shipping labels until they contact me again about it. They sold me a defective item in the first place and their customer service is crap. I wouldn't feel one bit guilty about keeping it.
@extremefacepalming: Well then there's something wrong if you don't feel guilty about keeping something that's worth six times what you should have. I don't care how bad the customer service is, there's not one justifiable excuse for someone doing that.
I agree with the other folks. Legally and, more importantly, you are obliged to return it. Unfortunately, a good company would have told you to keep it. Since they didn't do that, you should return it. Corny as it sounds, "do unto other..." applies here.
I know it's really hard, but since they did send you the shipping labels, go ahead and return it. If you are really annoyed at how this is playing out, you should call them and talk to them and you might say hey, I've got this ready to ship back to you but because of all of the hassle that this is causing me, do you think that you could give me a refund of "x%" or upgrade me to "the next best thing of whatever you bought." If they are a good company, they probably will! I've done this a couple of times when I've had a bit of a headache of an experience and each time, they've always done something extra for me. Just keep a calm voice. People respond well to that.
This has been driving me crazy ever since I found out what it's worth. I wish I didn't. I am a believer in karma and one could read into this both ways. This could be payback for me helping my elderly neighbor get her car started this winter or when my credit info was stolen and some punk charged $500 dollars on my credit card. Or maybe keeping this will bring my world down around me. I will send it back mostly because of the value of it being a felony if considered stolen. I do appreciate the comments and positive messages from everybody and will not purchase anything else from this company due to their incompetent customer service.
@captainsuperdawg: Ok then. Let's say you buy a Toyota and it breaks down on you in the first week of driving it. You send it in to get fixed and they give you a Lexus by mistake in return. Did you steal the Lexus? No. It was given to you by the dealership by mistake. Don't look down your nose at me for I haven't stolen anything. I asked this question to see if anybody has been in a similar situation and not to be lectured by people that state the obvious so they can feel smart and morally superior.
@extremefacepalming: It seems to me like you've already made up your mind about what to do.
@extremefacepalming: Just for my curiosity, what is the item?
@extremefacepalming: or the company?
While I understand your dilema, you are looking at it the wrong way. The company sent you the wrong item. It doesn't matter if it is worth more/less than the original. It doesn't belong to you. You did not pay for this product. If the product was worth less, you would be griping that they are trying to cheat you. You owe it to them to send it back.
As for karma, if you truly believed in it, this would not be an issue.
@extremefacepalming: That wasn't a lecture. That was barely a paragraph. And yes, I would consider it stealing if I kept something that wasn't mine just because some guy mistakenly gave it to me. It seems like you're only asking this question for justification to do whatever the hell you please and when you find out that nobody's siding with you, you turn hostile.
@extremefacepalming: You were fine in returning the item until you found out how much it is worth? That seems pretty petty to me. I ordered an ipod touch 8gb for my son for Christmas. Christmas morning he opened it up and in the excitement neither of us looked into the details on the packaging. We set it up, loaded all our music, added 30 apps. After all that work, we discovered that the ipod was actually the 32 gb version. I double checked the receipt and packing slip and they both showed the 8 gb model which is worth $100 less. To teach him a life lesson, I called the company to ask them what they'd like to do. They were glad that I called but told me returning the ipod wouldn't be necessary because if there were to take it back, they'd have to sell it for a reduced price because it would need to be refurbished. They said, "Our loss is your gain!"
@coolphilip04: I don't think he's LEGALLY required to send it back, particularly at his own expense. Now if they send shipping label, and arrange for pickup, AND send me the correct item FIRST, I'd return it. Considering the original poster's inconvenience at this point, I think he should keep it until the correct item is in his hands.
Not sure if this law applies or not http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro15.shtm
UPDATE They sent me a PDF file for the shipping label and the label states that the item I'll be shipping back weighs 2 pounds. The original label on the package says 7 pounds. So now I have to use my printer ink and paper to fix their mistake on top of having to call them back so they can fix the shipping label. I'm annoyed as all hell right now. Not that I care but this shouldn't cost me a thing but a little of my time. I decided to send the item back but now this is turning into a big inconvenience. I want to keep it out of spite now! FYI The item I shipped them in the first place was $300 and they sent me a $2000 item. Would you really want to send it back people?
@extremefacepalming: Are you really complaining over a piece of paper and about a pennies worth of ink? Just keep the item if you are worried about less than 5 cents of supplies.
@jsoko: This is a multi million dollar company. All they have to do is fix this the right way and not take such a cheap way out to fix their mistake. If I use this label it will cost me an additional 5 pounds of shipping and the 5 cents. IT SHOULDN'T COST ME A DAMN THING in the first place.
@jsoko: I won't say for the fact that there seems to be a lot of people on this forum that would go straight to the company and tell them about this post. And does it really matter?
@extremefacepalming: If anything you send out the item: A: It comes back to you, or B: Company receives it with postage due. Either way you don't lose anything but your minimal paper and ink.
For my curiosity, what was the item they wrongfully sent you?
I agree it shouldn't cost you but in the interest of time, for you to get your real item... isn't it better for a PDF verses waiting another week for a label in the mail.
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