# mulch dumped in wrong driveway..is it mine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810 "2009-05-09T01:19:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/41 "2009-05-12T16:52:36Z")
A nice story with a nice ending, for an obviously nice couple of people. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/42 "2009-05-12T17:00:41Z")
**imfloating** , you should have. Do you have any idea what elderly stretcher women fetch on today’s market? ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/43 "2009-05-12T17:16:10Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > For folks’ future reference, any un-ordered delivery is considered a gift. You are under no legal obligation to return it or pay for it. > > [Cite](http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/fraud/bus24.shtm): How does this work inthe case of third parties delivering merchandise to the wrong house? For example, if UPS accidentally delivered a computer, or even better, let’s say they delivered, by mistake, a list of telephone numbers of all of their customers…could I consider that my property? Could I sell that list off to some telemarketers? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/44 "2009-05-12T17:53:42Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > **imfloating** , you should have. Do you have any idea what elderly stretcher women fetch on today’s market? YMMV, it depends how much meat’s on the bones. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/45 "2009-05-12T18:57:23Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Presumably because most people wouldn’t know that they weren’t obligated to do so. Then a sensible law would say that any request for return must include the explanation that the receiving person is not obliged to help, nor to incur any expense. Saying it’s illegal even to request minor no-cost help in fixing a shipping mistake seems absurd. And it appears that UPS doesn’t know about this: Last year I received a package intended for a neighbor (tulip bulbs, I think). Before I’d opened it I had a call from UPS explaining the error and asking me to set the package outside so they could pick it up. I instead took it to my neighbor, which made everyone happy. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/46 "2009-05-12T19:09:23Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > How does this work inthe case of third parties delivering merchandise to the wrong house? For example, if UPS accidentally delivered a computer, or even better, let’s say they delivered, by mistake, a list of telephone numbers of all of their customers…could I consider that my property? Could I sell that list off to some telemarketers? A wrong delivery means you can’t keep it if they want it back. An unsolicited delivery intended for you means they used a way to get money that you have no obligation to work with them resolving into a payment or return of goods. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/47 "2009-05-12T19:24:10Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > YMMV, it depends how much meat’s on the bones. No, no, it’s about how much you can wring out of them. Or aren’t you familiar with [Oil of Old Lady](http://oilofolay.com/)? > [@Xema](#): > > And it appears that UPS doesn’t know about this: Last year I received a package intended for a neighbor (tulip bulbs, I think). Before I’d opened it I had a call from UPS explaining the error and asking me to set the package outside so they could pick it up. That’s because the shipment wasn’t from UPS. If the company that sent the bulbs had addressed them to you instead of the neighbor, \*then \*you would have been entitled to keep them. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/48 "2009-05-12T20:51:53Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Eh, I think it would depend on the item in question, how much of an inconvenience its delivery was for you, whether it was an attempt at a scam, how easily you could find out who made the delivery, etc. Agreed…I was assuming they would do the work. I did receive a Columbia house music introduction package meant for someone else. I called them and told them this and they told me how to send it back. I was taken aback that this would seem to cost me money and asked them if they would be sending a pre paid envolpe for me to return. They said no (expecting me to pick up the cost). So, I kept the music. However, if they would have sent an envelope, I would have been an ass to keep them. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/49 "2009-05-12T21:32:32Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > No, no, it’s about how much you can wring out of them. Or aren’t you familiar with [Oil of Old Lady](http://oilofolay.com/)? :smack: Crap! And here I’ve just been eating them witout a thought as to rendering. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/50 "2009-05-12T21:36:05Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > If the company that sent the bulbs had addressed them to you instead of the neighbor, \*then \*you would have been entitled to keep them. But a world-class jerk if I had done so. There’s no way it makes sense to try to punish those who seek to fix the problem of shipments sent in error, when the vast majority of these are honest mistakes, and the recipients are happy to help rectify the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/51 "2009-05-12T21:51:31Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > But a world-class jerk if I had done so. > > There’s no way it makes sense to try to punish those who seek to fix the problem of shipments sent in error, when the vast majority of these are honest mistakes, and the recipients are happy to help rectify the problem. Legally entitled, I mean. I make no comment as to jerkitude of said action. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/52 "2009-05-12T21:52:49Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > For folks’ future reference, any un-ordered delivery is considered a gift. You are under no legal obligation to return it or pay for it. It’s slightly different in the UK: either you notify the sender, in which case they have one month to collect it else it becomes yours, or you don’t notify them (sometimes you cannot) in which case the sender has 6 months to collect it else it becomes yours. I can’t find the cite at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/53 "2009-05-12T21:58:13Z")
So if someone really wanted to bug you, they could send you unordered bulky shipments of things, and you’d have to store it somewhere for at least a month? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/54 "2009-05-12T22:28:40Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > So if someone really wanted to bug you, they could send you unordered bulky shipments of things, and you’d have to store it somewhere for at least a month? :dubious: Presumably you’re not obligated to bring it inside your house. You could just refuse delivery or leave it sitting on your front porch. Most places, boxes of free stuff won’t just sit out on the street for long. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810/55 "2009-05-13T14:56:43Z")
But it’s not technically “free stuff,” so the disposal depends on other people stealing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mulch-dumped-in-wrong-driveway-is-it-mine/495810.md?page=2)