Stealing? Received nicer item than what I ordered online, and they won't respond?

[teamjesusnumber31]

I ordered a paperback Bible from a used books website and received an imitation leather one of the same translation.

My priest said it would be best to call and tell them what happened and ask what they would like me to do, including the option of keeping it.

It has been more than 48 hours since I emailed them, and they promise a response within 24.

At this point, because I did nothing intentional, and because it is an inconvenience to me to have to ship it back, I’m wondering if I could keep it and not break the 7th commandment.

I would ask my priest but he asked me to not text and call him so often and to save my questions for our meetings. So I would like your advice. Thank you.

 

[puer.dei]

For starters, I would give them a while longer to respond. Even though they said 24 hours, a lot of businesses have people working from home, and/or are working with smaller staffs.

 

[edward_george1]

It’s not stealing. It was their mistake. If you make a reasonable effort to contact them and they don’t reply, don’t worry about it.

Many companies figure loss into their budgets to cover breakage or wrong orders. And many of them don’t want to deal with the expense and the hassle of processing a return. I’ve attempted to return items on Amazon before and was told to just keep the item because it wasn’t worth it to the seller to process the return.

Be at peace.

-Fr ACEGC

 

[CelticWarlord]

I have had similar things happen with online purchases. A double order of t-shirts arrived and I was told “bonus for you, don’t worry about it” with no request for further payment. A book which did not arrive for weeks, I was given credit for, but then it showed up some weeks after that. They told me to just keep it, no charge.

I would say just hang onto the book until you hear differently from the seller, whom you have already contacted. And while you’re waiting, you might as well use it.

 

[Irishmom2]

And it could be that it was the weekend and no one was there. I would give it a few more days, and also check your junk mail. I have had things in there that I was waiting for.

 

[LeonardoArruda]

Use the Bible but as soon as they contact you, send it back to them.

 

[StudentMI]

I had this situation recently where I ordered a 30 dollar book and received a 90 dollar one. I offered to send it back to them and they said keep it. I make donations to them when I can to make up for it.

 

[Anne1964]

If you are scrupulous, which it sounds like you may be based on your comment that your priest said not to call him so often, please save your questions for him and follow his advice.

 

[Beryllos]

and because it is an inconvenience to me to have to ship it back, I’m wondering if I could keep it and not break the 7th commandment.

As a rule when dealing with online sellers, you should never ship something back unless or until they tell you to. For a low-cost item like a used book, it’s usually not worth the shipping and they are likely to tell you to keep it.

If they haven’t replied to you yet, just be patient. Many used book sellers are very small businesses and may not be able to respond as soon as you expect. There’s no reason for you to hurry.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I’d wait a week, and if they hadn’t gotten back with you, I’d say just to keep it and enjoy it.

I don’t think they’re ever going to contact you down the road, and say “hey, we sent you a nicer book than you ordered, either send it back to us, or send us the difference in price”. I’ve never heard of a business in the world that operates like that.

The closest thing would be companies that send out “approval” stamps to stamp collectors, where you send back the ones you don’t want, and send payment for the ones you keep. When you do business with them, they’re very explicit that this is how it works.