Received extra goods from an online purchase - can I keep them?

[DarkTravesty]

Minnesota -

I am actually just wondering, if I ordered something and received more than what I ordered, am I required to contact the company that I ordered product from or is it their loss? I am just asking as I had heard of this happening and was wondering if that is considered theft if they kept the extra goods. The company that the person ordered from has not contacted that person at all and 6 months have now passed. Are they entitled to the goods?

 

[djohnson]

They owe for what they received. By not sending it back, they accepted that they wanted to keep it and owe the money. If I accidently run your credit card through twice can I keep the extra money since you won't know about it for atleast a month when you get your next statement?

 

[dallas702]

Entitled? Certainly not.

Will the company try to recover the money for the extra goods? Probably not unless the amount is substantial.

The only time you can just keep the goods without being responsible for paying is when it is received without you ordering it (AOL CDs, Columbia House crap, magazines, etc.) I believe the prevailing theory about "getting more than you purchased" is based on what a "prudent" person should know about the transaction. Most people would know that if they spent $100 for an item(s) and received $300 in goods, that they don't have a legal right to keep the extra goods. Banking laws have upheld this theory for at least 30 years.

Right now, you're just playing the odds that the company won't ask for recovery.

 

[djohnson]

Do a search for similar things on this site. You will see how many times the company went back and charged the CC for both items, or sent it to collections.