From the FTC:
This!
We helped a friend move recently. She has duplicates of a number of orders sent from Walmartā¦and Iām not talking pairs of socks! Things like high end crock pots, air fryers, DVD players. She got duplicates of them and clearly didnāt need them. She chose to donate them to charityā¦new in boxā¦unopened.
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It seems different for me when a big
company screws up and sends duplicates. I think if the delivery says the package is clearly for you( your name is on it) , you can certainly keep it if you donāt want the hassle of calling the company to help them find the correct owner. I personally would still probably call the company, and have done so, to report it. But if your name is on the package, I donāt think you are obligated to do so? Many times, the company will tell you to keep it, donate, etc.
We have had packages (and pizza) misdelivered to us (transposed house number, correct house number but wrong street). We make an effort to get these things to the correct person, as I hope people might do the same for us.
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We move fairly frequently, due to spouseās employment. Weāve had a couple of instances where we received items sent to previous occupants.
#1 - an executive lived in our place while building their house in the area. When Christmas came around, we started receiving packages addressed to him. I had a phone number and called the former occupant. He told me I could bring him the items. I did once, and it was really out of the way and inconvenient, then realized the packages he was receiving were not personal - he worked in the food industry, and they were from vendors. So we kept everything after that. Think jams and jellies, gourmet hot chocolate mixes, etc. He didnāt offer to pick up the items and was quite rude about it; just expected me to go out of my way to deliver them at his convenience.
#2 - received a beautiful delivery of flowers via FedEx. Wasnāt my birthday/anniversary and I realized it was addressed to a former occupant. I looked up online and found some contact information; could not leave a phone message (voice mail was full) but tried to send a message via Facebook. I called FedEx and told them the addressee was no longer at that address. FedEx told me I could re-package the flowers and leave them on the porch and they would pick them up. It was summer and really hot outside. I packaged them up as instructed and put them outside, but knew they would not last long. Also, due to time of day, I was doubtful if FedEx would return. After a couple of hours I removed the box from the porch and brought them back inside and put them in a vase. FedEx never came. I thought it was a waste to let them shrivel inside a box.
I did receive a message back a few weeks later from the intended recipient. She appreciated my attempts to contact her, and was glad I ended up enjoying the flowers!
I will make an effort to resolve a mix-up when an item I didnāt order is delivered to me, but when it crosses the line and becomes a big imposition on my time/resources, at some point I will just keep the item.
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We just got a package in a mail with our address, but the name was someone elseāsā¦ never seen this name before (sometimes we do get letters addressed to previous owners of the house) and we live in our house for 12 years. First time see that name. I put on gloves, mask and open the packageā¦ there is a box of liver support supplements. I googled them and they are very expensiveā¦ around $70 for month supply. MitoQ. I feel bad that I canāt give it to the person who actually ordered themā¦ there was no packing slip in the box, shipped from warehouseā¦ Maybe itās a sign that I should go easy on wine?