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by pronlover723 1286 days ago
I am not a lawyer but in the USA at least, if I understand correctly, if someone sends you something didn't request it's yours to keep for free

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/business-gui...

Search for "unordered merchandise" on that page. Also see "Substitutions"

As I said, I am not a lawyer, but I've always took that to mean if I order X and receive Y then I received Y for free. The company that sent me Y still owes me X and I have zero obligation to return Y. I never asked for Y, it's unordered merchandise.

So, if I ordered a PS5 and the send me a PS4 I get to keep the PS4, they still owe me a PS5. I ordered a 256gig iPhone and they send me a 128gig iPhone they still owe me a 256gig iPhone and the 128gig iPhone is mine to keep.

Now of course if I don't return the item, at their expense, they may refuse to do business with me in the future but at least as far as I can tell the wrong item is not what I ordered, therefore it is an unordered item. They still have the obligation to provide the item ordered or refund the money, and I have zero obligaton to return the unordered item.

1 comments

The point of that law is to shut down scams where companies send you stuff without you ording anything (or, in most cases, ever having heard from them) and then demand payment.

I am also not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure it does not apply when you do order something and there is just a mistake about the details.

How do you know it was a mistake? The same incentives apply. They might be sending you the wrong thing on purpose, hoping you won't notice, so the law is there to prevent that.
Here's a post from the legal advice reddit suggesting your understanding of the law is so off point that a person can be charged with larceny for listening to you:

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/68phvf/comment...