Made mistake - seeking advice

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Hello all,

I just made mistake and I would like to know what would you do in my place. I had two knives for sale and I found a buyer. He sent me the money and i received it. I packed the knives and sent them by registered mail - but to a wrong person. I did not notice my mistake first, then the first person started to ask me when the knives will arrive. I told him to wait a few weeks (international shipments might be delayed). But then I realized the packages went to a different person (with very similar name). I will of course try to get the same knives and will ship them again but I do not know how to deal with the person who got the two knives already. I know they must have been already delivered. But he did not contact me at all. I sent him two e-mails and so far have not received any reply. I left message on his answering machine (but I am not 100% sure it was the correct number - I used people search to find it - the address was 100% match). I can search for the packages (they were sent by registered mail - signature required) so I will know whether they were delivered. My question is - what if the person refuses to return them?(I would of course pay for any expenses he would have...) Is there a way I can make him return the knives? I had with him one transaction before and everything was OK. I will be in his town in about 6 weeks.... do you think it would be good idea to pay him a visit? What would you do?

David
 
Of course - pay him a visit - buy him a beer - laugh at your clumsiness, apologize - and claim your knives back.

If he keeps them - well...there is a legal term called unjust
enrichment...

But a stand up guy would not do that...

OTH, If these are a Mayo and a Snody...well...maybe he can be excused...
:)
 
I don't know how it works in your country, but here in the USA an unsolicited package is generally considered to be a "gift". Maybe send the person who received the package that was sent by mistake another email to let him know that you will be in his town in a few weeks, and would like to exchange that package for dinner or lunch would help.
 
Dann- not an expert on State side law - but the principle should probably be the same: a reasonable expectation is needed. if you receive two Spyderco Delicas - maybe - if you receive two Hossoms - ah ah....

if it was a friend to friend? maybe

if it was a dealer - to client? maybe

but to an almost total starnger? by a private person? I doubt it.
 
In Many States, Thefts get broken up into sub-classes. There is plain ole theft; the taking of the property of another with a purpose to deprive that person of his property, then theft by Deception: saying you have a Strider knife and ship a Linton, and in this case; a PERFECT example of theft of lost or mislaid property. No person may lay claim to property that has been delivered to them in error. In Civil Courts, it is "unjust enrichment", in criminal Courts it is THEFT!!!!! Gee the car dealership delivered my neighbor's Porsche to me, I get to keep it? NO NUMB-NUTTS!!!!!!

Get all the paperwork together and call the guy ASAP and make a demand for your knives. Follow this up with a certified/reciept requested letter making the same demands. GIVE SEVEN BUSINESS DAYS and if the knives do not appear, go to, NO RUN to the Police and file a criminal complaint.

AND, even if you get the knives back. PROSECUTE to teach these jerks that being unjustly enriched at someone elses exppense can and WILL get expensive!!!

E-mail me if I can help you in any way........Ira

Edited to add: I am referring to me with that term "NUMB NUTTS". I grew a pair on my shin:eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Hello,
thanks for all the info. The person who received the knives is a former customer of mine. I will give him a few more days to respond by e-mail and if he does not I wil send a registered letter with a return receipt. The knives were not that expensive (about 230.00 total) but still I think he should return them.

David
 
Ira - I always love your undertone.... Such a talent for understatement... you ought to have been born in England... :D

BTW - is you email back online?
 
GIVE SEVEN BUSINESS DAYS and if the knives do not appear, go to, NO RUN to the Police and file a criminal complaint.

That's a bit harsh isn't it.

A sensible person would sit tight and let the issue resolve itself. The only thing the shipper has proven so far is that their operation is capable of committing an error. You have no way of knowing whether the error has merely been in the delivery, perhaps they have also charged your account. Furthermore, you have absolutely no duty with respect to the shipper. It is not your responsibility to drop everything, and incur expenses, to fix their mistake.

There are other complications here. The shipment is an international one. There are customs duties and import/export regulations involved. If something crosses a border in your name there is always a possibility than an invoice from customs will pop up in your mailbox at some point. Then there always the return shipment; declare the item incorrectly and it may be confiscated or taxed at an exorbitant rate.

The only duty that would befall the receiver of such a package is to take reasonable measures to safeguard the property for a short period of time. That means that if a 6 ton elephant happens to be erroneously delivered to my doorstep, I am not going to house it, feed it, or do anything other than call the authorities to despose of it immediately. Then, I would sue the shipper for all damages and expenses incurred.

Your best bet would be to write the customer, explain the mistake, and nicely ask for their cooperation. Make them a generous offer too (something like 50% off if they want to purchase the item), but don't be surprised if you have to write it off. It may even be better to keep a turned on new customer, than to lose the knives and piss off a potentially good customer (the guy who received the stuff by mistake). For all you know the poor guy's wife signed for the package and then beat the husband over the head with them for ordering yet another darn knife.

I guess if I were a Porsche dealer in your neighborhood I could get rid of my back lot and simply store my inventory in private driveways. Heck, I could drop my inventory insurance coverage too, since property owners would be protecting my property. :eek:

n2s
 
My suggestion would be to handle it face to face with the inadvertant recipient. Since you are going to be in his town, drop by, buy him a beer or two and perhaps present some small token of appreciation for returning your knives ie: another nice knife of lesser value but good quality. Hopefully, everyone walks away happy. You will be out the cost of a gift knife and a few beers, but retain two valuable customers who will most likely make up the cost down the road with further purchases.
Best regards, I hope it comes out well.
Doc
 
I PRESUMED from the post that the knives had been recieved by the "wrong person" and have remained in his possession with the "wrong person" doing nothing to correct what the "wrong person" SHOULD HAVE presumed; that he was the "wrong person" to be getting those knives.

Enough time has passed for the "wrong person" to ask "why did you send me these knives, are they supposed to go to me OR did you ship them to the WRONG PERSON?" From the original post, several weeks have gone by.

But who knows......................and if ya park one of them por-chas in my driveway, puleeze leave the keys

:D ;)
 
Originally posted by glockman99
I don't know how it works in your country, but here in the USA an unsolicited package is generally considered to be a "gift".

Right. Thanks to the book of the month clubs, a law was passed back in the late '60s or early '70s that forbade companies to send unsolicited packages and then demand money for them.

The clubs used to send you a couple of featured books every month, with a card that you had to return by a certain date, with the books, in order to keep from being charged for them.

Way too often, you'd send the books and notice back, and the club would swear that they never received either, and try to make life miserable for you until you paid them.
 
Well I did another thing.... I located another cusomer of mine in the same area (about one mile from the person who kept the knives) and asked him for cooperation. He agreed and was able to talk to the "wrong" person on a phone. Then suddenly the person found my e-mail (I e-mailed him quite a few times) and responded. His version was that he had tried to locate me (my e-mail) unsuccessfully and when he could not reach me he sold one of the knives and gave the other one to his friend. He agreed to pay for them and I will let you know soon if he did. IMO only the fact that there was another person who lives virtually next door involved made him change his mind and contact me after all.

David
 
This is much different than getting unsolicited mail and there is simply no legal way that one could determine these knives as gifts and keep them [legally].

Just another case of someone looking for some un-earned/un-paid for enrichment. If someone recieves something of value in the mail that was delivered to them by accident or mistake, there is a Law that applies. If you keep it, that law is THEFT.

And he sold one and gave another to a friend:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
This is simply wrong. This person must have been raised the wrong way to do what he did. I mean, if I find a bag of money on the ground and there is no info as to who it belongs to, I may be inclined to keep this bag of money. However, if I see somebody drop a bag of money, I'm going to give this person their money back, as it is simply the right thing to do. This person received a package, and he knew exactly who it was from and that it was a mistake for him to receive this package. This package clearly did not belong to him, and he knew it. For him to sell one and give another item away, just blows my mind. Kind of makes me sick to know there are people like that in this world. :barf: :mad: :barf:
 
What Danbo said.

David made an honest mistake. He wasn't trying to stuff some unsuspecting customer with a product he didn't want in order to charge him for it later. I suspect that anyone who has dealt with David in the past would know this.

The person who received the knives is quite obviously an untrustworthy jerk with a serious lack of principles. Not the kind of person I would want in my community.

A few forumites mentioned that it might be worth forgiving, or overlooking his obvious lack of ethics in order to retain him as a customer.

Well exactly how valuable a customer is he? How much are your principles worth?
 
So he no longer has possession so you cannot stop by and claim your property? Next week it will be "the check's in the mail". I would mentally write it off, consider it a cost of "doing business". If you happen to get something out of it in the future, it will be a pleasant surprise. Or just for fun, you could get ahold of some official letterhead, and send a letter demanding payment, or legal action will ensue. Then send another letter with a copy of a filed police report. I worked in collections for awhile. Bluff and persistence are the name of the game.
 
Probably a loss for you.

Since this happened internationally there is not much you can do. I wonder if a police report in your country would even have any effect at all in whatever country the crook is in.

This guy is nothing but a cheat and a liar, but unless you have the time and money to really pursue this based on principal, then the knives are gone.

Hope you do find some way to get compensated for them. As for the crook, if your reading this, I hope you are proud of yourself for cheating somebody out of thier hard work.
 
Thank you all for your support. I got second e-mail from him admitting he had made mistake by selling one of the knives and giving the other away and that he is willing to pay for it. I gave him a "discount" because it was my mistake at the first place. But I still feel that only the fact I was going to be in his town and also that one of my friends gave him a call changed his mind. I do not think it is that difficult to find my e-mail on the web...

David
 
Good to see that it looks like things are going to work out. I bet you will be more careful in the future about making sure that you are sending a package to the right person.
 
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