02-23-2004, 03:38 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Moral Question: When Companies Ship Unordered / Extra Items.
Ok, I've been having a rash of odd shipping stories in the past month, and I'm curious what everyone else thinks.
Recently I ordered a GPS receiver, waited 3 weeks for the company to ship it (called a few times, was generally annoyed at the long wait) and it finally arrived on a tuesday. The following Friday, UPS dropped off another package with the exact same receiver & invoice. The invoice clearly shows I only ordered one, but now have 2.
Last week I ordered a null-modem adapter (yes, I actually needed one for the first time in 5 years) and instead of shipping me 1`adapter, they accidentally shipped me the box that THEY purchased the adapters in (which had the same barcode as the individual bags with the adapters) - so now I have 15 of them.
Now obviously, I have parts I don't need, and it raises a moral question: Should I ship them back to their owners?
The Case Against:
* I'm busy, and why should I have to spend my time correcting mistakes of others?
* It would be at my expense, probably would never even receive a thank you from the companies.
* According to the FTC (as stated in a report on Snopes.com , companies are not required to pay for unordered merchandise, and any unordered merchandise (which I'm assuming covers extra items) can be treated as a gift.
The Case For:
* It would make me feel warm and fuzzy, while slightly annoyed that I had to send back some free, expensive stuff.
To further muck things up, about 3 years ago, a company that I ordered some bare-bones computer parts from sent me, on accident, a brand new IBM thinkpad. I was firm in my desire to send it back until they kept me on hold for 50 minutes, and when I finally got through, they had no idea what I was talking about. Finally I told them that they had shipped me the wrong parts, but were parts I could use and if they didn't mind, we could just cancel the order and the subject was closed. They quickly agreed and took a loss of $1500.
Anyone have similar experiences? Advice?
Jon.
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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02-23-2004, 03:49 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,213
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For the GPS, they'd probably pay to have the extra unit returned. For the extra cables, they probably don't care since cables just aren't worth very much and isn't worth your or the company's time or money to ship them. If it were me, I would make an honest effort to return the GPS because it's the right thing to do in my opinion.
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Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
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02-23-2004, 04:03 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 485
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When this has happened to me I simply asked the company what they wanted to do about it. Generally they didn't want the item(s) back, but if they did, they provided some means of doing so at their expense. I certainly wouldn't pay to ship an incorrect item back.
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02-23-2004, 04:06 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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I'd suggest sending the company an email asking them what you should do. If they do ask for you to ship them back, they should provider a courier account # - you certainly shouldn't have to pay. Your only time invested would be to fill out the courier form, which is a small price to pay for doing the right thing. :wink:
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02-23-2004, 04:06 PM
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Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6,878
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I would probably call both and ask them what they want to do. But hey, that's just me! :wink:
Steve
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"My eyes are rolling back in my head so far I can see my grey matter bubbling and frothing from reading this thread....bleh." JD
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02-23-2004, 04:08 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 372
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Well, you weighed it out perfectly. Free expensive stuff vs. Warm fuzzy feeling. Whatever you feel yourself more in need of, side with that. The only thing that's "right" to do is what will make you feel better. "Right"-ness is purely subjective, as its definition has been changing for thousands of years, and opinions of it have always widely differed.
But I have a third option you'll probably like more:
Send me the GPS receiver!
You'll be doing a poor student a favour, and you'll get a more intense warm, fuzzy feeling, because I'll appreciate it more than the rich company.
Whaddaya say?
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02-23-2004, 06:04 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 16
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by sublime
The only thing that's "right" to do is what will make you feel better. "Right"-ness is purely subjective,
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What will make feel better is me taking your PDA. According to your definition, that would be the right thing for me to do. You cant tell me that it is wrong as "rightness" is purely subjective. It might be wrong to you but it is right to me and you surely wouldnt deny me the ability to do what is right, would you? You cant force you views of wrongness on me and deny me my right to do what is right...
that being said, I would appreciate it if you would leave your pda on your kitchen counter. I am going to do what is right to me and I will be by tonight to get it. Thanks!
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02-23-2004, 06:18 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 405
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On one of my replacement Axim's, Dell sent me instead of just a PDA sans battery: The whole shipping box including battery, backup battery, charger, CD, manual, and sync cable. I called them and asked them what to do with the stuff and if they wanted to me to send it back on the RMA airbill or if they wanted to send me a second return airbill label. The shipping insert only included the replacement PDA serial number and none of the other items. They were really only concerned about getting the bad PDA back and basically left it up to me whether to send them back or not. Since I had just picked up a car charger from moonlight technologies, I had no need for and extra charger (and I already had an extra battery). I sent them back.
I can see where the desire to keep the stuff would be great (especially if like me you'd gone through three Axim's before getting a keeper), but ethically it's a no-brainer.
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02-23-2004, 06:22 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by sublime
The only thing that's "right" to do is what will make you feel better. "Right"-ness is purely subjective, as its definition has been changing for thousands of years, and opinions of it have always widely differed.
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Oh please... :roll: If I came over to your house and burned it to the ground because I thought it was the "right thing to do", I seriously doubt you'd agree with me. Relative truth is an inane concept that shatters in the face of reality.
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02-23-2004, 06:27 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,162
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I would contact them and let them know.
They should definitely pay for the shipping. I wouldn't send it back if they didn't pay for it.
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