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I can haz iPads? Why yes. Yes you can.

techs

techs

Lifer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/..._2253576.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

Best Buy Sends Extra iPads In Order, Allows Customer To Keep Them For Being Honest

The story begins when a customer ordered an iPad from Best Buy. When the box arrived, however, it contained five of the devices.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, "If you receive merchandise that you didn’t order, you have a legal right to keep it as a free gift." However, the customer felt a little guilty about keeping the extra tablets.

Laura Northrup from Consumerist contacted Best Buy's media hotline on behalf of the honest customer, and a representative responded with a surprisingly heartwarming message, which reads, in part:

First and foremost, I wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your honesty. That is so rare in this day and age and I sincerely thank you!
We, here at Best Buy, acknowledge that we obviously made a mistake, but in the spirit of the holidays, we encourage you to keep the additional iPads and give them to people in need – friends, family, a local school or charity.


Hmmm. A bit misleading. The company did not let them keep them. By law they could keep them.
 
Never in my wildest dreams would I have told them I got 4 extra iPads.

And this is from someone who has always rushed to tell people "you dropped this $20!" etc. Or told cashiers they gave me too much change.

But it's Best Buy, they're enormous, and 4 extra iPads is a pretty sweet deal. I'd ebay 2 and give 2 to friends or family.

If I somehow got them at the physical store I would probably tell them... but receiving them in the mail? Please.
 
Platypus said:
Lack of integrity is not something I'd be proud of personally.
Click to expand...

IMO, it's not about Best Buy, it's about the other customer who ordered an iPad who not have to go through the I-didn't-get-my-package-WTF rigamarole. Especially around the holidays.

Twice, I've gotten a box from Amazon with my order in it, then a packing slip and small item for somebody else too. They've been super-small items, <$5, so it's not worth my time, but if it were freaking $2k worth of iPads, you bet your ass I'd be following up with somebody. If nothing else, then to avoid being accused of theft.
 
Platypus said:
Lack of integrity is not something I'd be proud of personally.
Click to expand...

If you had the faintest idea of my track record in life you'd realize I have an absurd level of integrity.

The law itself states you can keep items in this situation, as noted in the OP.

I have situational integrity, as all people do (I admit it though.)
 
According to the Federal Trade Commission, "If you receive merchandise that you didn&#8217;t order, you have a legal right to keep it as a free gift."
Click to expand...

Wow, I didn't realize this. I always thought they could bill you if you don't return the item. Last year we received a duplicate of a child's gate, and the company basically said that they would contact UPS to pick it up, and it would be invoiced if it wasn't picked up.
 
Geosurface said:
If you had the faintest idea of my track record in life you'd realize I have an absurd level of integrity.

The law itself states you can keep items in this situation, as noted in the OP.

I have situational integrity, as all people do (I admit it though.)
Click to expand...

So that means you wouldn't tell a store they sent you 4 more of an extremely expensive item because it's the right thing to do? Color me confused. Even if the law says you can keep it, that doesn't mean it's right not to inform them.
 
Platypus said:
So that means you wouldn't tell a store they sent you 4 more of an extremely expensive item because it's the right thing to do? Color me confused. Even if the law says you can keep it, that doesn't mean it's right not to inform them.
Click to expand...

If I find a person's wallet loaded with cash I'll move heaven and Earth to get it back to them, all cash intact.

A huge multi-billion dollar corporation? Not so much.
 
Wyndru said:
Wow, I didn't realize this. I always thought they could bill you if you don't return the item. Last year we received a duplicate of a child's gate, and the company basically said that they would contact UPS to pick it up, and it would be invoiced if it wasn't picked up.
Click to expand...

This has been ruled on before. If it's an order error your are obligated to send it back.

This rule is really to keep company X from just sending out products and then billing you for it.
 
Tobolo said:
This has been ruled on before. If it's an order error your are obligated to send it back.

This rule is really to keep company X from just sending out products and then billing you for it.
Click to expand...

This is straight from the FTC website:

Q. What should I do if the unordered merchandise I received was the result of an honest shipping error?

A. Write the seller and offer to return the merchandise, provided the seller pays for postage and handling. Give the seller a specific and reasonable amount of time (say 30 days) to pick up the merchandise or arrange to have it returned at no expense to you. Tell the seller that you reserve the right to keep the merchandise or dispose of it after the specified time has passed.
Click to expand...
 
Geosurface said:
If I find a person's wallet loaded with cash I'll move heaven and Earth to get it back to them, all cash intact.

A huge multi-billion dollar corporation? Not so much.
Click to expand...

You do realize that BB has been doing so poorly that they had to close 50 stores right? That person's wallet you found is more in the black than BB is because they actually had cash in their wallet.

What's your next excuse?
 
SearchMaster said:
As I understand it, if the product is shipped via US Mail you CAN keep it without returning it. If it's a private shipper (UPS, Fedex, etc.) then you have to follow the FTC procedure. However very little is shipped via USPS any more obviously.
Click to expand...

No, you can't. The FTC rule doesn't care how it got there.

When you are shipped an item completely unsolicited (i.e. a company you never have dealt with decides to send you something out of the blue and says pay for it or return it), then you can keep it. That rule keeps companies from doing just that.

Errors in fulfilling an order are not covered by the rule. It's that simple.
 
BergeLSU said:
This is straight from the FTC website:
Click to expand...

That "rule" sounds VERY suggestiony.

"Say... 30 days?" lol. That is not structured at all like a rule, nor does it reference any sort of penalty for not doing so or any corresponding statute.

I mean yea I could be wrong but... anyway.

As for my next excuse? How about I'm just a greedy son of a bitch and a little opportunistic under the right circumstances?

In actuality I don't know that I'd really keep them... given my track record I would probably pussy out and inform Best Buy. Maybe I just would like to dream that I'd keep them.
 
What if Burger King accidentally gives me two chicken sandwiches when I only ordered and paid for one?

Am I immoral if I don't drive back and inform them, and surrender the ill gotten second sandwich?

In the grand scheme of the kind of money and product passing through Best Buy, is the amount represented by 4 extra iPads as significantly different from 1 extra sandwich at Burger King as those dollar figures seem to us as individual private citizens? No. It's negligible, and a drop in the bucket. Perhaps they should be more careful at their warehouse.

More importantly, I want some free iPads.
 
Platypus said:
So that means you wouldn't tell a store they sent you 4 more of an extremely expensive item because it's the right thing to do? Color me confused. Even if the law says you can keep it, that doesn't mean it's right not to inform them.
Click to expand...
'bout three fiddy on the Chinese black market.😛
 
I've had similar only in my paycheck. Just recently I had an extra $300 or so tacked on. I alerted the HR department and they never did anything about it, even though they acknowledged it (this has happened on many ocassions actually through different jobs).

I get to keep the money and my conscience. Conscience being more valuable. And if they take it back out, that's fine, it was theirs to begin with.
 
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