I received a package that I did not order. The shop has asked me to ship it back - which I’m willing to do - but not at *my *expense. To cut to the chase: my understanding is, if I didn’t order it I don’t have any obligations. I would like to see the postal code pertaining to this.
I would just write “Wrong address - return to sender” on it and drop it off at the post office.
Tell them to send you a pre-paid mailing label?
I have always heard that legally you don’t have to send it back. But the law may have changed. Is this a store that you ordered stuff from in the past?
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/3009.shtml
and see, eg : http://www.ag.state.nd.us/cpat/pdffiles/unordered.pdf
In the U.K., this is covered by the Unsolicited Goods & Services Act.
The rule in the U.K. is that it’s actually an offence to send unsolicited goods. Cite. Further, on receipt, the goods are now yours free and clear - cite - if they’re sent to a home address; a business is slightly diferent.
Under common law, you were never under obligation to pay to return something you didn’t order. However, if you used it, you could be charged for it. This allowed various record clubs to make a bundle sending unsolicited records to people, then bill them unless they returned them unused.
My father understood then, and when CBS Record Club started sending him records, he simply stored them. When they finally threatened to sue him if he didn’t pay for them, he turned around and billed them for storage. In the end, the CBS Record Club said it was their mistake, and he could keep the records for free.
However, in the 1960s, a federal law changed the common law. That law stated that if an unsolicited item was sent through the mails, the recipient was free to keep it. I don’t know if this applies to orders sent to the wrong recipient or just orders that were never solicited.
Getting back to your problem, you definitely don’t have to pay shipping to have it sent back. If you didn’t order it, and you’re willing to send it back, you can ask for the original shipper to pay for its return. They made the mistake, they have to pay for it.
Here, this seems to be the link I wanted. Actually, apparently I needed the Federal Trade Commission, and not the Postal Codes.
Under common law, you were never under obligation to pay to return something you didn’t order. However, if you used it, you could be charged for it. This allowed various record clubs to make a bundle sending unsolicited records to people, then bill them unless they returned them unused.
My father understood then, and when CBS Record Club started sending him records, he simply stored them. When they finally threatened to sue him if he didn’t pay for them, he turned around and billed them for storage. In the end, the CBS Record Club said it was their mistake, and he could keep the records for free.
However, in the 1960s, a federal law changed the common law. That law stated that if an unsolicited item was sent through the mails, the recipient was free to keep it. I don’t know if this applies to orders sent to the wrong recipient or just orders that were never solicited.
Getting back to your problem, you definitely don’t have to pay shipping to have it sent back. If you didn’t order it, and you’re willing to send it back, you can ask for the original shipper to pay for its return. They made the mistake, they have to pay for it.
If the package and it’s attached items are unopened, all you have to do is write “refused” on it and put it into a drop box, give it to your carrier, or take it to the post office. This will only work if NOTHING has been opened.