Delivered to the wrong address - where do we stand?

[Dymo King]

One of our parcels, sent by one of the main UK couriers, recently got delivered to the wrong address. Neither we nor the courier have any idea how it happened (at least until we get the package back and they can look at the barcode/address label).

Initially, we had no idea where it had gone, but we were then contacted by someone who had received our parcel. Apparently, it had her name and (work) address on the address label. However, her name/address is not in any of our records (and is absolutely nothing like the actual name and address of our customer) so we can only assume that somehow an incorrect label has been applied to our parcel somewhere along the line. Perhaps a label fell off another parcel and it got stuck to ours. I don't know.

The point is that the package is worth about £400, and the customer wants us to collect it from her home address on Saturday. We explained earlier in the week that the couriers don't collect on Saturday and provided to other options, such as collecting from her work address during the week. She replied to say it was a heavy package and she commutes by tube, so wasn't going to drag it (back) to work.

We suggested collecting from her home address next week during the holidays. She replied today to say "pick it up this Saturday or it will be destroyed".

I've emailed back to re-iterate that the couriers simply will not collect on Saturdays and asking about next week or leaving it with a neighbour etc, and am waiting for a reply.

I realise this isn't really her problem, and am being as helpful as I can, but if the worst comes to the worst I'm wondering where we stand legally?

She has received a parcel addressed to her, opened it, found it is clearly intended for someone else (invoice and packing note), and we the sender have been in contact with her. So legally what happens if she destroys it? Do we have a legal case to pursue her in the small claims court for the cost?

 

[Vectis]

One of our parcels, sent by one of the main UK couriers, recently got delivered to the wrong address. Neither we nor the courier have any idea how it happened (at least until we get the package back and they can look at the barcode/address label).

Initially, we had no idea where it had gone, but we were then contacted by someone who had received our parcel. Apparently, it had her name and (work) address on the address label. However, her name/address is not in any of our records (and is absolutely nothing like the actual name and address of our customer) so we can only assume that somehow an incorrect label has been applied to our parcel somewhere along the line. Perhaps a label fell off another parcel and it got stuck to ours. I don't know.

The point is that the package is worth about £400, and the customer wants us to collect it from her home address on Saturday. We explained earlier in the week that the couriers don't collect on Saturday and provided to other options, such as collecting from her work address during the week. She replied to say it was a heavy package and she commutes by tube, so wasn't going to drag it (back) to work.

We suggested collecting from her home address next week during the holidays. She replied today to say "pick it up this Saturday or it will be destroyed".

I've emailed back to re-iterate that the couriers simply will not collect on Saturdays and asking about next week or leaving it with a neighbour etc, and am waiting for a reply.

I realise this isn't really her problem, and am being as helpful as I can, but if the worst comes to the worst I'm wondering where we stand legally?

She has received a parcel addressed to her, opened it, found it is clearly intended for someone else (invoice and packing note), and we the sender have been in contact with her. So legally what happens if she destroys it? Do we have a legal case to pursue her in the small claims court for the cost?

Why should she put herself out because you sent a parcel to the wrong address? It's up to you to sort it, not her. She doesn't need to do anything with the parcel, you need to arrange collection at a time to suit her - or write it off. If you can't arrange a collection, what do you expect her to do, hang onto it forever or get rid of it? As for suing her, forget it. It's your problem not hers.

 

[MASSEY]

Hmmmm, interesting situation. Logically i would think that considering she has tried to resolve the matter amicably and you have not been able to accomodate her wish, she will be in a position to claim it is destroyed (when really she is using it or selling it ) and you'll get nuffink. Maybe email her with claims about it being theft if she does that. Say something like that even if she destroys it she has to pay the postage of returning it back to you as evidence it was destroyed and not stolen or what ever BS you can think of.

 

[MikeJ]

In general, the word "reasonable" is used here. What could you reasonably ask her to do? What could she reasonable expect you to do?

If it's huge, then she could reasonably want it out quickly. If it's not that big, then you could reasonably ask her to hang on to it until you can get it collected.

Have you looked in her local papers for a "man and a van" type company, that could call round and collect it. You could then pick it up from them.

 

[GraemeL]

Where is this lady - if you give the town you might find someone on UKBF could collect it for you - I would if it was near Cambridge.

G

 

[SolutionLab]

I was in a similar position when opening a letter that had my name on it but was from Goldman Sachs to a hedge fund that is actually close to where I live. Given the parties involved and the fact that it involved millions I duly notified them and delivered the letter myself, recording the whole drop off on my mobile just in case and all but not begging for forgiveness.


But legally, I doubt you could claim much against her. I mean, English courts as so lenient on this stuff that you'd basically spends months litigating without much results. However, may I ask where she lives, more or less ? You can probably find a forum member willing to help out or if not, there's an app for micro tasks that allows you to hire someone for an hour or so in your particular location. I'm at a loss to remember the name but I'll dig it up.

 

[Billmccallum]

Where is this lady - if you give the town you might find someone on UKBF could collect it for you - I would if it was near Cambridge.

G

Ditto what Graeme said, where is the parcel?????

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Why should she put herself out because you sent a parcel to the wrong address? It's up to you to sort it, not her. She doesn't need to do anything with the parcel, you need to arrange collection at a time to suit her - or write it off. If you can't arrange a collection, what do you expect her to do, hang onto it forever or get rid of it? As for suing her, forget it. It's your problem not hers.

I have to agree with this.

It is your problem. Not hers. She obviously doesn't want to put herself out of her way in any shape or form due to a mistake which has nothing to do with her, so she won't want to carry it to work or leave it lying around in her home. To be honest, it was a bit cheeky to ask if the courier could collect it from her work place. If someone accidentally delivered a parcel to me at the wrong address, I'd think they were taking the mick if they asked me to carry it to work and wait for a courier to get it.

You need to sort the issue even if it involves paying extra costs which you have to absorb. Pay extra for a courier to collect on a Saturday or even pay her a fee to keep the parcel until you can collect it.

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

Why not jump in your car and go get it? If it's worth £400 and you were going to pay a courier then it must be worth it surely? You can always reclaim back the costs once you prove they made the mistake.

Another odd thing is it getting delivered to someone at their workplace. You might think this happened when a wrong postcode got entered and it happened to pick up her work address as a result - but their name at their place of work as well? Sounds odd.... though not impossible I suppose.

I think she is also trying it on so that she has grounds to keep it if you don't meet her demands. I'm sure the Law is that as long as you ask for it back, she does need to return it, and can't make such demands as to be specific to one day of collection. Put another way, if someone delivered a car and put the keys through her postbox in an envelope with her name on it....would she be legally allowed to keep it if she demanded they collect it on Saturday or lose it? Really? No.

 

[Dymo King]

Why should she put herself out because you sent a parcel to the wrong address? It's up to you to sort it, not her. She doesn't need to do anything with the parcel, you need to arrange collection at a time to suit her - or write it off.

Yes, it was sent to the wrong address (by the courier); yes it's not her problem; yes, it's up to us to sort it out - you're not telling me anything I don't already know and didn't already say in my post. We are trying to sort it out - politely, apologetically, and as helpfully as we can, as we recognise the inconvenience etc.

If you can't arrange a collection, what do you expect her to do, hang onto it forever or get rid of it?

I can arrange a collection, just not on Saturdays. I don't expect her to "hang on to it forever", I just expect an attempt to be reasonable. I've suggested collecting it during the xmas week, and if she's not home then possibly leave it with a neighbour amongst other things. To just turn round (having already been told that we can't collect Saturdays) and say "pick it up this Saturday or I'll destroy it" isn't being reasonable.

As for suing her, forget it. It's your problem not hers

Is that your opinion, or what the law says? I posted this in the legal section because I wanted to know where I stand legally not to ask for peoples (non-professional) opinions on what they thought of the matter and who was to blame etc. I just want to know if the parcel is wilfully destroyed or she makes it impossible to collect, can we do anything about it?

To the more helpful people, the parcel is in Croydon. However, she's emailed back with a slightly improved offer of "it'll be on the doorstep on Monday". So I'll send the courier around and hope it's not been stolen / chucking it down with rain / or forgotten to be left out. Thanks.

 

[Dymo King]

To be honest, it was a bit cheeky to ask if the courier could collect it from her work place. .

Why? It was delivered to her workplace in the first place, and as she said it could only be collected from her home on Saturdays I assumed it was because she was working during the week so it made sense to suggest collecting it from the work address to make it more convenient. It seems like a perfectly helpful suggestion to me? I didn't know at that point that she got the tube to work.

Pay extra for a courier to collect on a Saturday or even pay her a fee to keep the parcel until you can collect it.

The courier doesn't collect on Saturdays, that is the problem.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Why? It was delivered to her workplace in the first place, and as she said it could only be collected from her home on Saturdays I assumed it was because she was working during the week so it made sense to suggest collecting it from the work address to make it more convenient. It seems like a perfectly helpful suggestion to me? I didn't know at that point that she got the tube to work.

The courier doesn't collect on Saturdays, that is the problem.

It's fair enough if you asked without knowing that she had taken it home. I thought at first that you knew she had taken it home and wanted her to take it back to work.

You say "the courier" but I'm sure there are couriers out there who do Saturday collections for an extra charge. This may simply be an extra cost you have to absorb.

Some people may have went the extra mile to help you get the product back, but to me, she's well within her right to take this approach if she doesn't want to keep a random package lying around in her home and doesn't want to be disrupted by couriers knocking on her door during the festive period. This problem is made worse when families are often in and out of their homes during Christmas and New Year, so you may even have to take the gamble of the person being in the house on the day and time the courier arrives, as you certainly can't expect them to tailor their daily routine or family visits around the collection of your parcel.

 

[Dymo King]

Some people may have went the extra mile to help you get the product back, but to me, she's well within her right to take this approach

Well within her legal rights, or well within your opinion of what you think her rights should be?

 

[Spongebob]

Why not jump in your car and go get it? If it's worth £400 and you were going to pay a courier then it must be worth it surely? You can always reclaim back the costs once you prove they made the mistake.

That was my first thought.

You're in Letchworth - she's in Croydon

I'd drive a hundred mile round-trip for £400.

Also, if I'd been the person who received the parcel in error I'd have binned it by now, given your attitude.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Well within her legal rights, or well within your opinion of what you think her rights should be?

I don't know her legal rights, but I suspect that it isn't so open ended that you can pick and choose when to pick the parcel back up, and that she is required to keep the parcel during this time and tailor her schedule around it.

It also depends on whether you want to stick to the letter of the law or consider the moral implications of it. Even though the parcel has nothing to do with her and isn't her problem, do you really expect her to store it in her home and tailor her Christmas schedule to the courier's pick-up day and time? Further still, would you legally chase her for damages if she failed to do this for you?

If you want her to store a parcel for you in her home, then offer her money, just like any other method of storage would require. If you don't want to do that, then pay the extra cost for Saturday courier collection or drive there yourself.

She's already taken it upon herself to contact you about the parcel, been willing to return it and even corresponded with you back and forwards in e-mails. That's a lot more than what many others would do.

 

[MASSEY]

Just doing a very, very simple google i have found this, so it would seem that the op's intentions of taking her to court are...... illegal..

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 state that unsolicited goods which have not been ordered and are sent ‘out of the blue’ can be treated as an unconditional gift; in other words, you can keep them or dispose of them as you wish. The Regulations make it a criminal offence to demand payment or threaten legal action to obtain payment for unsolicited goods or services.

However, it is advisable that you write to the trader, obtaining proof of postage, stating that you have received an unsolicited item that you are aware that you are entitled to keep this item as a gift, but that you are giving the trader the opportunity to arrange collection within 14 days at his/her expense. Although you do not have to do this, we recommend it in order to avoid future attempts to secure payment.

She's been more than fair with the op and he can't pick it up on Saturday, or should that be won't pick it up on Saturday because he doesn't want to have to pay a different courier

 

[MBE1]

As above, although she is not giving much time, in reality since she never ordered the goods she can simply keep them or throw them away if she wishes.

 

[monaghan]

Surely the courier should be dealing with all this for you? You entrusted (and paid them) to deliver the parcel, they failed so their insurance should be picking this up and resolving the issues or refunding you your costs?

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

I didn't realise it was only a 100 mile return trip. I can't imagine you would rather she left a £400 item out on the doorstep rather than spend £20 in fuel and go get it today. What if she says she put it in the doorstep and it gets stolen first, then what?

 

[Dymo King]

do you really expect her to store it in her home and tailor her Christmas schedule to the courier's pick-up day and time?

No. I'm not telling her when the collection should be, I'm giving her a choice of any day she likes as long as it's not the weekend. I don't care if it's over xmas or in January, I'm just asking for her to tell me when is a suitable day, and if she doesn't have a suitable day then leave it with a neighbour or do something else, or at least communicate to try and resolve the situation.

Further still, would you legally chase her for damages if she failed to do this for you?

If she deliberately destroyed this property, knowing that I was making all reasonable attempts to retrieve it (ie. I would consider emailing me on a Friday afternoon and saying "pick it up tomorrow or I'll destroy it" unreasonable), then I may consider legal action if I was legally in the right - something which I am currently trying to establish.

As above, although she is not giving much time, in reality since she never ordered the goods she can simply keep them or throw them away if she wishes.

Again, is that your legal opinion (if so based on what law?) or just another unasked for personal opinion?

I'd drive a hundred mile round-trip for £400.
Also, if I'd been the person who received the parcel in error I'd have binned it by now, given your attitude.

Firstly, I work on Saturdays so that's not an option, secondly my attitude towards this person has been professional, helpful, apologetic, and as accommodating as I can given that the courier will not collect on a Saturday.

My "attitude" on this forum is just for people like you that give your unwanted and un-asked for personal opinions when I came to this - the LEGAL forum - and specifically asked for a LEGAL opinion, and a LEGAL opinion only. I'm already aware of the position she's in and I'm trying to resolve it.

I realise that a lot of people come to this board just to have a go at people for whatever reason, but this is supposed to be a place where business people can come and discuss things and ask questions in a professional environment, without having their threads hijacked by people who don't answer the question but prefer to divert it into a "here's my opinion", "so and so is right" and "so and so is wrong" argument.

So thanks to those that suggested collecting the parcel myself or using a man with a van or whatever, but to those that don't having a useful suggestion or have an opinion that is not a legal one please keep it to yourself.

 

[Dymo King]

Just doing a very, very simple google i have found this, so it would seem that the op's intentions of taking her to court are...... illegal..

Firstly, I didn't say I had any intention of taking her to court or threatening her with court, I simply want to understand where I stand legally should things go wrong and she destroys the package.

Secondly, thank you for answering my question and providing a source. I'm not sure if this counts though? The quoted text was put in place to stop unscrupulous traders deliberately sending goods to people and demanding payment for them in the hope people would pay rather than go to the hassle of sending them back. In this case the goods were delivered accidently, and I'm not asking the person to pay for them - I want them back. Also, the DSR covers the selling of goods (or in the case of the quoted text, the attempted selling of goods). In this case it is simply a case of the goods being delivered to the wrong person, so I would think this was more to do with laws related to something like the handling of incorrect mail or maybe lost property?

I'm pretty sure if this was delivered by the Royal Mail it would be different - isn't there some law about keeping/destroying mail intended for someone else?

 

[Dymo King]

I didn't realise it was only a 100 mile return trip. I can't imagine you would rather she left a £400 item out on the doorstep rather than spend £20 in fuel and go get it today. What if she says she put it in the doorstep and it gets stolen first, then what?

I work Saturdays. If it gets stolen then what? I don't know, that's what I'm asking. I didn't ask her to do that or agree to it. That just seems to be what she's going to do and there's no negotiating, so I need to try and do my best to get it collected on Monday.

ps. Now I really do have to go to work. I'll come back here Monday with an update.

 

[Jeff FV]

It is unsolicited mail - she did not ask you to send her the item. That, think we can agree, is an established fact. Therefore her obligations to you are nil.

You might find this page useful:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nirel...services_you_didnt_ask_for_distance_sales.htm

A couple of key quotes from it:

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations say you have a right to keep goods delivered to you that you didn’t ask for. These are known as unsolicited goods. But if goods are sent to you by mistake, you need to contact whoever sent them to let them know and ask them to collect the goods.

What she can't do is treat them as an "unconditional gift"

However:

You have no obligation to return unsolicited goods to the trader or allow the trader to collect the goods. However, it would be reasonable for you to contact the trader to explain what has happened and give them a chance to collect the goods from you.

(my bold for emphasis)

So I think any legal action against the recipient will not work and cost you a lot of money.

Is there a local shop she would be happy taking it to and you can then arrange weekday collection from there, perhaps bunging her & the shopkeeper a tenner each for their help?

J

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

According to CAB website she doesn't even legally have to let you collect the item or give it back to you. Couldn't you arrange for family or friends to go get it for you?

 

[MikeJ]

He doesn't want practical advice.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

She has a legal responsibility to take car of the item and is unable to destroy it or say just leave it outside for anyone to steal

Your courier has a duty of care if they put a new lable on it otherwise if you miss labled it its you responsibility to act fast to resolve the problem

You could say arrange a taxi local to her by paying by credit card to pick it up and deliver to you nearest courier depot for delivery back to you

 

[MBE1]

Again, is that your legal opinion (if so based on what law?) or just another unasked for personal opinion?

Massey has already posted the correct information on the legal standpoint, so yes, however much you might dislike it that is the legal situation. You have delivered goods where they were not ordered or asked for, however it happened, they are unsolicited goods.

I didn't repeat the law quoted by Massey since I credited you with enough intelligence to read his post above mine.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

But if she has signed for the delivery then does that then not make her liable for the goods, she could have just refused them

 

[Newchodge]

But if she has signed for the delivery then does that then not make her liable for the goods, she could have just refused them

The parcel was addressed to her. How was she supposed to know what was in the parcel without signing for it and opening it.

However they got to her, they are unsolicited goods - ie, goods addressed to her that she had not requested. The fact the address was a mistake is a problem for the supplier and/or carrier. It does not affect the legal fact that they are unsolicited goods.

If the parcel had been addressed to someone else and she agreed to sign for it, she would then be responsible.

 

[HorseLatitudes]

No. I'm not telling her when the collection should be, I'm giving her a choice of any day she likes as long as it's not the weekend. I don't care if it's over xmas or in January, I'm just asking for her to tell me when is a suitable day, and if she doesn't have a suitable day then leave it with a neighbour or do something else, or at least communicate to try and resolve the situation.
If she deliberately destroyed this property, knowing that I was making all reasonable attempts to retrieve it (ie. I would consider emailing me on a Friday afternoon and saying "pick it up tomorrow or I'll destroy it" unreasonable), then I may consider legal action if I was legally in the right - something which I am currently trying to establish.
Again, is that your legal opinion (if so based on what law?) or just another unasked for personal opinion?

Firstly, I work on Saturdays so that's not an option, secondly my attitude towards this person has been professional, helpful, apologetic, and as accommodating as I can given that the courier will not collect on a Saturday.

My "attitude" on this forum is just for people like you that give your unwanted and un-asked for personal opinions when I came to this - the LEGAL forum - and specifically asked for a LEGAL opinion, and a LEGAL opinion only. I'm already aware of the position she's in and I'm trying to resolve it.

I realise that a lot of people come to this board just to have a go at people for whatever reason, but this is supposed to be a place where business people can come and discuss things and ask questions in a professional environment, without having their threads hijacked by people who don't answer the question but prefer to divert it into a "here's my opinion", "so and so is right" and "so and so is wrong" argument.

So thanks to those that suggested collecting the parcel myself or using a man with a van or whatever, but to those that don't having a useful suggestion or have an opinion that is not a legal one please keep it to yourself.

Well I'm no legal eagle* but I'd guess that while you're attitude isn't against the law it's certainly not going to gain you much help on here.

*for the purpose of clarity, I must clearly state that I am in no way qualified to give out legal advice and this post is nothing more than opinion.

 

[Spongebob]

The OP's attitude to both the situation he is asking about and the advice he has received is ludicrous.

An explanation of the dry legal position might be a starting point in any dispute, but practical advice on how actually to proceed toward a beneficial conclusion is far more useful, and what any good lawyer will focus on.

He has been given plenty of such advice, most of it concurring, but he doesn't want to listen.

 

[Vectis]

What's the point of this? The OP only wants to hear a particular answer not what everyone else is telling him.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

To me, this is more to do with stubbornness than anything else. It would have certainly been possible to pick up the parcel on Saturday if you had been willing to put in enough money or time to fix a problem which has nothing to do with this person.

1). Drive there and back (I know you're at work, but I'm sure you don't work every hour of Saturday).

2). Pay extra for Saturday courier pick-up, which is available.

3). Get a friend to drive there and pay them.

4). Even give some money to the woman as a gesture in exchange for her keeping it. I'm sure she would be CONSIDERABLY more responsive even if you offered £20 for her to keep it until next week.

It basically seems like you don't want to take any action which requires you to make any additional effort or pay any additional expense, even though it's your problem, not hers, and even though all of this correspondence and any subsequent court action will take up far more time and effort on your part than any of the four options mentioned above.

Spongebob is correct. Advice on this matter isn't just for the benefit of the recipient involved in this matter, but also for you benefit as well. There are far simpler ways of approaching this and resolving it amicably.

 

[titanicuk]

Can you ask her to take it to any collect+ shop or postoffice, you can request the label and send it over to her. Or find a local removal company (Man and a Van £10per hour) pick it up and drop off in collect+ shop or postoffice, just pay them for the time and postage.

 

[SwindonSteve]

Jesus. Call her local taxi co and get them to pick it up and post it to you. Job done.

 

[roydmoorian]

If as you say the label as applied to the parcel at your premises did not have her address on it then the most likely scenario is that a couple of labels came unstuck from random parcels and got re applied to the incorrect parcels - this situation can be avoided by writing the consignment number in permanent marker directly on to the package EVERY time. No good on this occasion but could save much hassle in the future.

A member of www.thenca.co.uk/ would sort the problem for you.

 

[HorseLatitudes]

Any update on this?