If a package arrives at your house by mistake, you can keep it.. OR NOT.

[Logwyn]

This case is stealing. If they had sent the guy a 19inch TV he'd been all up in arms about it wanting to sue, wanting his money back, a free tv to compensation, etc.

I'm sure that the part about the shipping company reaching out and contacting him to resolve the issue was left out before the law was called and showed up.
Should have done the ethical and right thing and gotten the right TV and had the other one picked up.


According to Clark Howard if something shows up at your door with your name on it unsolicited then it's yours free of charge. But I'm not a lawyer.

[schwarzkopf]

For anyone feels they should be able to take ownership of anything sent to their address, let me follow up by mistakenly sending a few kg of illegal drugs to their house and then notifying the police.

Yes sire officer, I take ownership of that stuff - after all it was sent to my address.

[Kumorii]

it's not theft. the sender is responsible for the delivery until it reaches the client, which it never did. basically from the clients perspective the store/sender is in breach of contract. the sender either has to suck it up if they made a mistake, or get the damages from the carrier if they made a mistake.

would be very lucrative if you could go after people for "mistakenly" sending them stuff.

Depends from situation to situation. If someone sends you something expensive and try to contact you to resolve the issue and you ignore it then yeah, I would say that's theft. You seem to ignore the fact that the person in question did just that, ignoring and denying others rectifying a mistake.

Not sure how anyone would be able to go after you since you are in control of your actions. Remember we are not talking about a random letter going to the wrong place. Context is relevant.

Also willing to bet that if you send something expensive and realised it was the wrong adress, contact them and they said "nah, your mistake, it's mine now" you would go "gosh, you are right, hf with it".

[therealbowser]

I had a moderately-sized (but light) package delivered to my house by mistake once. I went and gave it to the people it was supposed to have been sent to (though they seemed to be confused, they were pretty old and didn't seem to fully realize that I was giving them a package that was mistakenly delivered to my house and not delivering it myself). I would do this regardless of what the package contained, however, the item I received was probably not anything valuable to be fair. (That said, if the package was especially large, I would have contacted someone to deliver it for me.)

I'm neither greedy nor desperate when it comes to things like this, and I'd like to think I am above this kind of thing. It may not be literally stealing, but it feels like petty theft all the same; not much better than convenient porch-pirating. Just my opinion.

It's kind of sad that people don't try to return packages that are mistakenly delivered (I occasionally get mail intended for my neighbors and I always return it unopened), but to each their own, I guess. All of this said, the guy getting arrested seems a bit harsh. Maybe they assumed he was saying it was 'delievered' to his house, but actually stole it off a porch? I mean, I don't know the context but I wouldn't be surprised...

Edit: It looks like it was the wrong TV shipped to the wrong person. In that case, I think arrest is a bit harsh (if it's punishment past taking the TV back) but all the same the TV wasn't his and he damn well knew it. So whatever. Ultimately the company shipping them screwed up, and they screwed up pretty hilariously badly.

[avitush]

Personally, I would've immediately contacted Amazon to find out what the hell happened once I realized I got something I didn't pay for. If it's just some deal where they substituted a bigger TV because the one I bought is no longer available, great. If it's something where I got someone else's TV, I'd have it sent back (although that better be at no cost to me, since the fuckup wasn't my fault).

It sounds to me like this guy knew all along it was someone else's TV. The fact that the cops were contacting him about it should've been a hint there. If he knew all along and chose to keep it anyway, he should be in some kind of trouble.

The shipping company claims that Memmo signed for the incorrect delivery, which Memmo disputes. He also says that he never informed them he was someone he is not.

I'd like to know which side is telling the truth here. I'm no lawyer or cop, but wouldn't that be...a fraud charge or something if he signed for an incorrect delivery?

[Hilhen7]

Personally, I would've immediately contacted Amazon to find out what the hell happened once I realized I got something I didn't pay for. If it's just some deal where they substituted a bigger TV because the one I bought is no longer available, great. If it's something where I got someone else's TV, I'd have it sent back (although that better be at no cost to me, since the fuckup wasn't my fault).



I'd like to know which side is telling the truth here. I'm no lawyer or cop, but wouldn't that be...a fraud charge or something if he signed for an incorrect delivery?

Assuming he signed the correct name and his name was on the package wouldn't it be the shipping company's mistake?

[horbindr]

Depends from situation to situation. If someone sends you something expensive and try to contact you to resolve the issue and you ignore it then yeah, I would say that's theft. You seem to ignore the fact that the person in question did just that, ignoring and denying others rectifying a mistake.

Not sure how anyone would be able to go after you since you are in control of your actions.

the guy i quoted was talking about a delivery not intended for you.

but the guy from the article had a wrong item delivered from his order. in which case honestly, i'd still try the same thing. the sender made a mistake. the sender accepted your signature for delivery. the end. if they had noticed their mistake in time they could have contacted you before it arrived or could have cancelled the delivery at the carrier.

anything that happens after that it's up to them to prove you are in the wrong. which is going to be hard for them if you don't cooperate even if it's actually a crime. and even with that big a tv it's probably not worth to take it to civil court.

the only thing you have to consider is being put on a blacklist as a nonpayer or something.

[Doctor Amadeus]

For anyone feels they should be able to take ownership of anything sent to their address, let me follow up by mistakenly sending a few kg of illegal drugs to their house and then notifying the police.

Yes sire officer, I take ownership of that stuff - after all it was sent to my address.

Lmfao sounds like a great idea for a prank shou. But yeah lots of dishonest types would be singing a different tune.

[AcidicSyn]

Eh, depends. If I get a package, addressed to me, and the 3rd party shipping company simply screwed up and packaged the wrong item? That's not my problem. If they realize their own mistake and contact me, then I'll work with them to arrange a time, that is convenient for me and does not conflict with my work schedule, for them to come and pick up the item that they packaged and delivered by mistake at no cost to myself; presuming the correct item has already been delivered or they will be delivering said correct item at the time they pick up the mistake.

If the shoe was on the other foot they would not call me or notify me or make any effort to help me address the situation unless I contact them first and likely prove everything as well.

Now...if I receive a package that is NOT addressed to me I don't even open it to begin with. If a signature is required "That's not my name sorry, have a nice day". If it's left at my door and the correct address is a neighbor or anyone at least remotely close by Ill just deliver it myself. If it's left at my door and the correct address is NOT near me or otherwise too inconvenient for me to deliver myself; I'll attempt to contact the correct addressee by other means or; if all else fails, I'll contact the shipper once, and offer them the opportunity to return, again at a time and date that is convenient for me, and pick it up. Again at no cost to myself.

tl;dr - I struggle to have sympathy for the shipping company in these situations.

[Piglord]

I'm pretty sure there is more to this story. My guess is it may have had his address, but someone else's name. He claimed to be that person to keep the bigger TV. He was interviewed by law enforcement previous to his arrest, and even admitted to not answering questions due to self incrimination. I fully know that is his right, but he knew he was in the wrong. All this could have blown over if he told them he just didn't pay attention when he received the package, and given it back when asked to.

[Doctor Amadeus]

the guy i quoted was talking about a delivery not intended for you.

but the guy from the article had a wrong item delivered from his order. in which case honestly, i'd still try the same thing. the sender made a mistake. the sender accepted your signature for delivery. the end. if they had noticed their mistake in time they could have contacted you before it arrived or could have cancelled the delivery at the carrier.

anything that happens after that it's up to them to prove you are in the wrong. which is going to be hard for them if you don't cooperate even if it's actually a crime. and even with that big a tv it's probably not worth to take it to civil court.

The issue in the OP really isn’t that cut and dry nor are the circumstances. If you have documentation in some event where you acknowledge you received an item that wasn’t yours it’s stealing.

However if you take said item bring it inside never say a word to anyone about it. There is almost nothing that can be done about it. In some cases.

But this TV is what 15$ grand. And he knew about it. I think that’s a felony.

[avitush]

Assuming he signed the correct name and his name was on the package wouldn't it be the shipping company's mistake?

I guess what I'm wondering is if he actually signed the correct name. Wrong name but his address on it, maybe? I mean, if it had his name and everything on it, yeah, definitely the shipping company's mistake. To me, the article made it seem like the shipping company accused him of knowingly signing for an incorrect package (although he disputes that).

[horbindr]

For anyone feels they should be able to take ownership of anything sent to their address, let me follow up by mistakenly sending a few kg of illegal drugs to their house and then notifying the police.

Yes sire officer, I take ownership of that stuff - after all it was sent to my address.

if you send enough for the police to care they will also trace it back to the sender. also seems expensive. there is also the risk with them calling the police as soon as they get the package or disposing of the package, weighted against the risk of your call being a bit too convenient if it arrives moments after the package is delivered.

[Phookah]

The whole thing is completely stupid, because the correct answer for all of this was to just charge his CC for the amount of a 86'' T.V. until he returned it.

Once I ordered a comp from Newegg and they sent an entire other PC sent with it. Guess what happened? They charged me over a grand until the other pc was sent back, even though it was their mistake.

[mvaliz]

The shipping company, however, disagrees. They allegedly made numerous calls to Memmo before they finally went to police.

That, to me, right there is where the guy done fucked up.

If it was me, I'd hold onto the TV for a month before deciding upon it - just in case a scenario like that company calling him happened!

I know I would, because that happened to me in the past. Not with an 87'TV, but with something else of a substantial dollar value and I ultimately did what I believe was "the right thing".

[AcidicSyn]

I'm pretty sure there is more to this story. My guess is it may have had his address, but someone else's name. He claimed to be that person to keep the bigger TV. He was interviewed by law enforcement previous to his arrest, and even admitted to not answering questions due to self incrimination. I fully know that is his right, but he knew he was in the wrong. All this could have blown over if he told them he just didn't pay attention when he received the package, and given it back when asked to.

Also this; if people are bugging me then it's already more effort than I care to deal with. If I've already gotten my correct TV or you're bringing it with you to exchange for the one you mistakenly delivered to me then just come get it and stop bugging me. The correct item was what 74 inches? That's already a bigger tv than I would probably ever bother buying myself. An additional 12 inches on top of it loses 100% of it's value to me after the first 5 minutes wasted on a phone call.

[Hilhen7]

The whole thing is completely stupid, because the correct answer for all of this was to just charge his CC for the amount of a 86'' T.V. until he returned it.

Once I ordered a comp from Newegg and they sent an entire other PC sent with it. Guess what happened? They charged me over a grand until the other pc was sent back, even though it was their mistake.

I'm guessing the shipping company doesn't have his CC info.

[Doctor Amadeus]

The whole thing is completely stupid, because the correct answer for all of this was to just charge his CC for the amount of a 86'' T.V. until he returned it.

Once I ordered a comp from Newegg and they sent an entire other PC sent with it. Guess what happened? They charged me over a grand until the other pc was sent back, even though it was their mistake.

Uh actually that’s completely illegal. Unless you specifically signed something authorizing that payment or hold you can sue.

[Puri]

I have no idea about US laws, but here the responsibility for delivering the right item lies with the delivery company.

When they deliver the wrong item to me I cannot be held criminally responsible. But that doesn't mean I can just keep it, by civil law they can just demand it back (as long as they are certain I was the recipient of the wrong item). So worst case I have to give it back, and best case I can keep it.

Although it's rather unlikely they would deliver the wrong item (at least from the large delivery services and in that price region). They have to scan the item twice (when picking it up from the van and when I sign that I received it). So when they screw this up it's fully up to them.

[Endus]

It's unclear, because they say it was Amazon, and Amazon has always sent packages to my house with my name and address on them.

Opening a package addressed to someone else? That's illegal, and the guy should get arrested for it, especially since he should have realized it wasn't the size he'd ordered. Or at least returned it when confronted.

If, however, it were a delivery from something like a retailer, they often just have the item itself and the driver who gets you to sign for receipt. It isn't addressed to anyone. The driver is telling you this is what you've ordered. If it's not what you ordered, you could take it up with the store, but I'm [i]not[i] sure you're legally liable for receipt. The staff person said it was yours. It's the delivery person's/company's error, in this case. They're also gonna be liable for whoever gets the 76" when they ordered the 86" TV, because they're probably not going to put up with the downgrade. But again, that's down to the delivery guy, not the person receiving.

That's where I think the legal line gets drawn. If I order something from Amazon, and they send me something better, and it's addressed to me and my address, I don't think I'm liable. If it's the wrong package and it's addressed to someone else, that's a different story entirely.