Obligation to return a mistakenly duplicated item?

February 6, 2006 12:43 PM

EthicistFilter: What do I do with a duplicated shipment when the money involved is insignificant, but it's their error?

This is really purely an ethics question for me because the quantities are so tiny... it seems like it could go either way. I bought an accessory for my camera for about $8. I was sent the wrong one. I coordinated the exchange, but they required that I pay the shipping on the exchange. Since it was such a small amount of money, I elected to pay the shipping to return the wrong item rather than argue with them. It cost about fifty cents. They processed the exchange and the other day I received the correct item (a month after the original order, but that's neither here nor there). Today I opened my mailbox to find the same item, again. So now I have two of them.

I'm irritated that I already had to pay for their screw-up, and I don't want to pay again for another screw-up. Having a second copy is more or less worthless to me. If it weren't for the exchange, I'd return it, but paying for shipment three times seems ludicrous. On the other hand, it's only fifty cents. What do I do?

posted by cacophony to Human Relations (28 answers total)

Contact them and ask if they want the item back. Offer to collect handling costs on top of shipping.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2006

Well, you know the strictly ethical thing to do would be to suck up the negligible shipping charge and send it back. In real life, of course, if you actually did that, the company would probably be all "WTF?" for about five minutes and then put it back on the shelf. So, which really means more to you as a person: A clear conscience and an impeccable record as a consumer (which could serve you well in future dealings with the company) or the fifty cents saved in shipping and maybe a quick five bucks from dumping it on eBay?

Speaking only for myself, I would intend to do the former, not get around to it for several weeks, decide it was too late, change my mind and intend to do the latter, not get around to it for several weeks, and ultimately end up rediscovering the thing on the floor of a closet years later.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2006

Hell, sell it on ebay. They already fucked up once and you covered their arses, why do it again?
posted by Orange Goblin at 12:56 PM on February 6, 2006

What the Porpoise said. Odds are the vendor will say forget it. If they want it back, they can pay for pickup where it's convenient for you.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:57 PM on February 6, 2006

A few years ago, my Dad bought a golf club from a mail order company. After not receiving it, and a lot of back-and-forth with them, he finally got the club. And a few days later, another. He called them and told them, and asked where he should send it (as I recall, he was willing to spend the $2-3 on return shipping). The company said, "We only sent you one". After a lot of explaining, they still didn't think they had made an error. So Dad ended up keeping the extra club - which I currently have. :) His rationale was, essentially, "I tried. If they're too stupid to see their mistake, too bad."

So ethically you are bound to make a good will effort. Beyond that, too bad.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:01 PM on February 6, 2006

Same thing happened to me- had trouble with an online beauty website charging my card and never shipping. I called after waiting forever, they cancelled my first order and put the same order through again. And what do you know, I got two shipments of the same order (all lip glosses), but only one charge. I didn't try to return it, because they were a total pain in my ass and it's not my job to keep track of their inventory.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:10 PM on February 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

From an ethical standpoint, one should always make a goodwill attempt to set the situation in order. From a practical standpoint, this really shouldn't be difficult at all. Simply stick the new package back in your mailbox with the words "delivery refused: return to sender" on it. No cost to you, no ethical dilemma.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:19 PM on February 6, 2006

You asked about ethics, not the law... but what the heck.

The Federal Trade Commission says:

"If you receive supplies or bills for services you didn't order, don't pay. Don't return the unordered merchandise, either. Treat any unordered merchandise you receive as a gift. It's illegal for a seller to send you bills or dunning notices for merchandise you didn't order or ask you to send back the merchandise — even if the seller offers to pay the shipping costs."

The discussion there is about scams, but according to the law, you don't have to pay for or return any items you didn't ask for.
posted by wryly at 1:33 PM on February 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

I'd throw it in the garbage.
posted by cribcage at 1:37 PM on February 6, 2006

Keep both. That's what I did when something similar happened to me, and I sleep fine at night.
posted by catfood at 1:40 PM on February 6, 2006

Call them. Most companies will issue a call ticket via UPS or FedEx and they'll pick it up from you on their dime. If you're not at home when they arrive, they'll leave a note (just like if they were delivering something to you) with how to arrange for them to come when you're available.
posted by macadamiaranch at 1:44 PM on February 6, 2006

It'll cost the company more than the eight bucks just to pick up the phone and talk with you about it. Toss it in the trash, you'll be saving time and effort for everyone.

My favorite nonpayment story:

I once coordinated a move through a moving company... in essence, I rented a trailer, and then hired people to pack, move, and unpack it for me.

The way it was explained to me, since they didn't know how much it was going to cost, I needed to pay for each step as it was completed. So when the movers finished packing up, the total was about $1300 (it's expensive in San Jose).

So I tried to pay them. The crew chief insisted that I didn't owe them any money. I insisted that I did. He called his office, talked with them for a couple of minutes, and told me I didn't. So I tried to insist AGAIN... and he just waved his hands at me, and said 'you don't have to pay us'... summoned his crew, and left.

I dunno what that company thought when they figured out that I really DID owe them the money. But even though they had contact info, they never came after me, so either they were completely clueless or embarassed. I don't feel guilty in the slightest, I _really_ tried to pay them.

Truly, an $8 is not a big deal. :)
posted by Malor at 1:48 PM on February 6, 2006

I think the ethically right thing to do is to return it COD.

It would be unethical of the company to expect you to pay for the third shipment. Also, the less you can do to cost the company (and yourself!!) time, the more ethical you will be.
posted by achmorrison at 1:54 PM on February 6, 2006

I'll take the other position.

They run a business. It is their responsibility to run it correctly and not overship or undercharge. Here, you haven't intentionally gamed the system to trick them into sending you an extra widget, this is just their screwup.

But it's not your job to fix their screwups -- that is the duty of some employee of the business. By taking your time to fix their screwup, you are working for that business and doing the job of an employee. You're just not getting paid for it.

I would set the extra one aside for some period of time and be willing to ship it back to them at their expense when and if they contact you. But, really, managing this sort of thing is their job and not yours. The firm decided that it was better off hiring either not enough, or not good enough, people to make sure they don't screw up like this, presumably because it's cheaper than just living with some small amount of screwups. Let them live with the consequences.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:59 PM on February 6, 2006

My family once purchased a fairly pricey item (almost $50) from Amazon and instead of receiving one, received a case (of twelve). While we made every effort to remedy this, Amazon insisted they had made no error. Someone more organized may have made a handsome profit on ebay, but we ended up sticking them in the basement and giving the extras away to friends over the course of several years.
posted by rafter at 2:32 PM on February 6, 2006

Send them an email, tell them you got the extra product, and you're perfectly willing to give it back to them, but that you're not willing to pay the shipping.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:39 PM on February 6, 2006

Considering the hassle, and the amount, I would keep it without guilt.
posted by caddis at 2:50 PM on February 6, 2006

I ordered two expensive Broadway Tickets in December from a reliable on-line ticket broker. There were some problems accepting my debit card but after a few phone calls we got it straightened out and three days later the tickets showed up in the mail. And then three days later two more tickets showed upin the mail.

I called their customer service and they told me to call another number to get an authorization to return the tickets. Nobody answered in two tries and no message machine. Having spent two plus hours trying to order the tickets in the first place, I decided that's enough and put no more energy into trying to return the tickets.

I felt a little bad because the name of the original buyer of the tickets was on the ticket sent to us. I know the seats went empty. I don't know if the owner was compensated for the 2nd set of tickets but I doubt it. I thought maybe they would bill us for the extra tickets that we didn't use, but they didn't.

The moral is "let the seller beware".
posted by Xurando at 3:11 PM on February 6, 2006

Well, of course I disagree that it's your responsibility to put effort into correcting their mistake. Plus, they already made you pay for one of their mistakes already. If they call and want to pay you to send it back, then you can do that.
posted by delmoi at 3:34 PM on February 6, 2006

You want to feel good about this, but the others in this thread are right...it'll cost the company more in time and money to accept the return than it's worth it.

But you want to feel good, right? Give it away. Don't be an ass and throw it in the garbage, because someone could use it. Post it in the freebie section on Craigslist and tell them you'll leave it outside on the sidewalk at exactly 12 noon. No hassle for you, no hassle for the company, and someone else can use it.
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:44 PM on February 6, 2006

The discussion there is about scams, but according to the law, you don't have to pay for or return any items you didn't ask for.

Would the law honestly interpret 'got sent 2 things when I only ordered 1' the same way as 'got sent something out of the blue from a company I had no relationship with'?

For such a small amount of money, and with people who'd previously been jerks, I'd probably make no more than a token effort. Call and offer to return it if they'll arrange a pick-up at their expense. That'd make my conscious nice and clear, and probably cost the jerks more than the $4 bucks the thing actually cost them wholesale.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:45 PM on February 6, 2006

I'll echo IRFH: repackage it in the original package and send it back as refused. It's easy to do and you'll sleep at night.
posted by deborah at 3:47 PM on February 6, 2006

You cared enough to ask the question. Send them an email with details.
Ordered part#xxx ,
Incorrect Part# yyy shipped on invoice #1111.
Returned yyy at my cost of $1.00,
correct part #xxx received Jan10
Duplicate shipment of part #xxx rec'd Jan15
Please advise.

They'll likely tell you to keep it, or not bother to respond. If they tell you to ship it back, ask for the postage, plus the postage to return the incorrect item.
posted by theora55 at 3:48 PM on February 6, 2006

Ethics questions involving amounts under $10 really need to take into consideration the cost of the time involved to deal with them.

For example, you've already consumed way more than $8 worth of assorted people's time in getting answers to this question.

Unless you're making some kind of living out of benefiting from $8 screwups, don't sweat it.

If you don't want the item, you can have fun playing social games with it. Think of somebody you know who might have more use for your new widget than you do, and give it to them, with instructions to pass it on under the same terms if they can't use it themselves. According to the six degrees of separation principle, it ought to end up where it belongs fairly promptly :)
posted by flabdablet at 4:03 PM on February 6, 2006

Don't worry flabdablet - I'm a grad student, my time ain't worth a couple of wormy beans.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 4:32 PM on February 6, 2006

My family once purchased a fairly pricey item (almost $50) from Amazon and instead of receiving one, received a case (of twelve)

Amazon is fairly notorious for this. I've had this happen to two seperate people I know. The first time -- the funniest -- he ordered two large clamps used for woodworking and got two "walk and waddle" ducks. He called Amazon, they reshipped th clamps, and told him they'd issue a call tag for the ducks, which they never did. He still has the ducks.

The other time, a friend ordered a (fairly expensive, but sub $100) book from Amazon, and got a shiny new Playstation instead. He called Amazon, they were sure they'd shipped the book, and basically refused to believe he'd gotten a playstation. He elected to keep the playstation and re-ordered the book. A happy man!

So, to answer: This is fairly common. Contact the company, tell them you're willing to send the item back if they can issue a call tag and get it back to you. Hold onto the item for a decent period of time (say, a month). If they don't arrange for pickup, keep it without guilt.
posted by anastasiav at 5:11 PM on February 6, 2006

I have a friend at work who had a similar problem with books ordered on Amazon -- only she got three. She gave the extras to the public library, which was overjoyed at the gift. So if there's an public organization that would benefit from a gift of your widge, you might consider them.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 9:42 PM on February 6, 2006

Honestly, it probably costs them more to even issue a call tag through UPS than they would make on the item. I work for a mail order company - we would probably tell you to keep it or try to get you to mail it back and promise to credit you the postage. Of course, if we had messed up twice, I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that. For an item that small, they'll probably just tell you to keep it; but ask.
posted by SoftRain at 9:46 PM on February 6, 2006