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UK Retailer Mistakenly Sends PS Vitas, Threatens Legal Action To Get Them Back
New submitter Retron writes "The BBC brings news that British retailer Zavvi mistakenly sent out PlayStation Vitas to people who had preordered a game called Tearaway. The company is now threatening legal action against those who have kept theirs despite a request to return them. It's unclear whether the Distance Selling Act protects consumers who have mistakenly been sent an expensive item, and forums such as Eurogamer seem divided on the issue."
Mistakes happen. They weren't expecting them so it shouldn't be too heartbreaking to return them. I'll probably get flamed for this, but you have to be one self-entitled little twerp to expect to be able to keep it. As long as Zawi pays for shipping they have every right to want them back. If you mistakenly shipped something expensive to the wrong address, would you be miffed if they refused to return it? Who wouldn't?
If the situation was reserved, say the customers received £19.99 Tearaway after ordering a £169.99 PS Vita, they would be fighting to return it.
The customers received an item that was worth more than what they paid, and are simply being greedy.
It sounds to me like the retailer would not only be out of luck on the consoles, but would still owe people their games.
If I received a Vita in the mail from a retailer, this being the Holiday season, my first assumption would be that someone gave me a Vita, not that the retailer sent it to me accidentally. At that point, I'd probably buy some games for it and start using it. If the retailer then demanded it back, not only have I spent money buying games for it, I now have to spend the extra time packaging it to return it (and possibly the money, too). I don't owe them that inconvenience just because they sent me the wrong thing, and furthermore, they still owe me a game.
The company should just admit they made a mistake and politely request a return...
They did try that first. The customer (singular, that we know of, so far) failed to respond.
[Games blog Dark Zero] published a "final notice" letter sent to one [emphasis mine] Zavvi customer who had originally ordered a copy of the platform game Tearaway.
"As you are aware, as a result of a technical error, you were not sent Tearaway (priced at approximately £19.99) and instead were sent a PS Vita (priced at approximately £169.99). This was an error on our part and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused you," it said.
Tearaway Affected customers had only expected to receive the game Tearaway
"We have tried to contact you on numerous occasions [emphasis mine] to give you the opportunity to return this item to us (at our cost and no inconvenience to yourself), but to date you have refused to do so.
At this point I'd say the company are reasonable in assuming this guy just wants to keep the Vita despite having no claim to it.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
I'd keep it.
But what is the *right* thing to do? Legal issues aside, if somebody sends me something by mistake, then asks for it back, they are getting it back because that's what I would want them to do if I sent them something by mistake.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Of course it is considered as an unasked for gift. If it wasn't, the mail order scam of sending out unrequested product would never have gone away. The companies that forced the law into existence would have just switched to offering some low value product at cost and shipping some other product with ridiculous markup. Thus, completely skirting the law.
I'm sorry Mr. Smith, we mistakenly sent you the $99.99 WHITE cheddar cheese log by mistake instead of the $6.99 YELLOW cheddar cheese log. Please return it immediately. Oh, it was eaten at your Christmas party? Just give us your credit card number and we can charge the extra $93.00 to your card.
Just be a jerk about it : Offer to return it if they pay a $50 handling fee, given they inconvenienced you and no prior contract existed. Or they can come collect it if they can catch you at home during business hours. Or whatever. They'll probably just pay up if you only ask for a reasonable sum that's less than hassling you would cost.
Exactly. I never understood people who exploit obvious bugs/mistakes and then get all indignant when a company refuses to "honor" their exploit. It's just a complete lack of some basic moral compass.
I'd imagine these sorts of people would also say "cool, I was owed $10 and accidentally got back $30 in change, my lucky day!" instead of "hey, looks like you gave me too much change, here, wouldn't want you to get in trouble!"
Then again, there is only so far one can go. I was once delivered a different dresser from one I ordered (one that cost about 3x and was much nicer in every way). I called and left two messages explaining this, but never got a response. Fine with me!
I don't have a problem with returning it. That's the spirit of the golden rule anyways.
I've had these issues before and while some actually expected me to pay for shipping, most were happy enough to provide a shipping label.
Takes 5 minutes to drop the package off the next time I'm at lunch.
Unless it really does place an undue burden upon you to return it, I don't even see how this is an ethics issue up for debate.
If it seems like an honest mistake, I send it back. I've been sent the wrong order by amazon twice, and I contact them, arrange to get paid for shipping and send it back. My personal honesty and integrity are more important than a few dollars.
If I'm sent something out of the blue I did not order with an invoice I will keep it and ignore the invoice as this is a scam.
I was shocked that people would post in public that they are dishonest - and brag about it.
Cultivate virtue for a better life, and a better world.
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Given all that, I care little for their ~540 euros loss. Had it been a smaller store, I would certainly have pointed the mistake (but even then, I might not have sent the product back, unless it was a very small shop).
See, there's your problem right there. Just because they have lots of money, doesn't mean it's okay for you to defraud them. I blame a basic misunderstanding of Robin Hood and the lessons it tried to put forward that a lot of people completely miss. You need to address your own internal biases. How would you feel if you accidentally gave a homeless man a hundred dollar bill instead of a dollar bill, and he decided to keep it because "he cares little for your $100 loss" due to him thinking you make more money than him. What if you had dropped it by accident, and he picked it up without telling you about it? These are all questions you need to ask yourself if you want to be a moral human being. Stealing is wrong, no matter how much you think the other guy deserves his possessions or not. If you can't have an absolute set of morals, then you're just an opportunistic jack ass, and what little morals you do have are worth nothing.