UNORDERED GOODS

The usual scam involves goods being sent some vulnerable member of the public followed by a demand for payment which may get paid by a customer who either:

• does not have the goods to return them as they have become lost or destroyed; and/or
• is confused about his rights and pays in the belief that the goods must be returned at the customers expense which may more that cost of the goods.

Consumer protection in relation to loss or damage to unordered goods

A person who recieves unordered goods stands legally in the position of “involuntary bailee”. This means that the recipient is not under any duty of care to take care of unordered goods. If they become lost or accidentally damaged or destroyed by the recipient then the sender has no legal claim against the recipient. Only if the recipient deals with the goods as they were his own (for example by selling them) does the sender have a claim in conversion against the recipient, however providing certain conditions are satisfied unordered goods become the property of the recipient and they can be dealt with as if they were the recipient’s property without fear of any possible claim from the sender.

Consumer protection in relation to the unorderd goods

The consumer is protected against being unfairly exploited by being sent unsolicited goods at two levels:

By virtue of the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 the recipeint of unordered goods can treat them as his own upon satisfying the following conditions :

(1) the goods were sent to…[the recipeient] without any prior request made by him or on his behalf;

(2) they were delvered or sent to..[the recipient] with a view to his acquiring them;

(3) …[the recipient] he had no reasonable cause to believe that they were sent with a view to their being acquired for the purposes of a trade or business;

(4) the recipient neither agreed to acquire the goods nor agreed to return them;

(5) (a) during the period of six months begining with the date of receipt the sender did not take possession and the receipient did not unreasonably refuse to permit him to do so; or

(b) the recipient served a notice in writing on the sender, stating that the goods were unsolicited and giving the address where they could be collected, and during a period of 30 days from the giving of the notice the sender did not take possession and the recipient did not unreasonably refuse to permit him to do so.
By the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971, s.2 it is a criminal offence for a person acting in the course of a trade or business to make a demand for payment where:

(a) the goods are unsolicited and;

(b) he has no reasonable cause to believe that there is a right to payment.

It is also an offence for the sender of unsolicited goods in these circumstances to:

(a) assert a right to payment;

(b) threaten to bring legal proceedings;

(c) place or threaten to place the recipients name on a balck-list;

(d) invoke or threaten to activate any other collection procedure.