What would you have done?

Thank you for all your comments. I was so interested to read them. It does sound as though this happens frequently and yet it’s the first time it has happened to me. I realise I could have kept the wine but am still pleased that I didn’t. I just don’t feel comfortable about taking something I haven’t paid for. For some strange reason because it’s alcohol I feel even more strongly about it.

A similar thing happened to me but it was two bottles of coca cola. The driver told me to keep them so I did. I gave them to someone who had children as I wouldnt drink them.

I am rather shocked that so many of you think the OP should just have kept the wine.

No company is going to avoid mistakes if they are never told that they made them.

The driver probably does not have the standing in the firm that gives him the right to say OP should have kept them, and when the person who did order them, if such a person exists, complains that they were missing from her order, obviously the driver is not likely to say "Oh I told Mrs. N. just to keep them, as they were in her order."

Another point leaps to mind: whose account were these bottles of wine charged to?

If OP has to pay for them then she decides whether to accept and pay for them, or whether to demand that the price be deducted from her bill and the goods returned.

To me OP is right in saying it would be dishonest to keep them, which presumably means they were not on her bill. Keeping or using stolen goods is a legal offence, as is actually stealing them.

Surely you can see that if we all just kept things sent to us by mistake, the price of goods would rise, as the companies concerned are being cheated of the price of these goods?

So even if thieving or receiving stolen goods does not bother you, common sense should dictate that you don't keep something sent to you by mistake.

So even if thieving or receiving stolen goods does not bother you.

I find that remark offensive. Twice I have tried to return extra goods to Tesco and have been told, once fresh food has been delivered to you, for health and safety reasons, Tesco cannot take it back.

The time of the driver to return to pick up the goods, fuel and the admin involved cost money, so Tesco's policy is to allow the customer to keep the goods.

On one occasion, the driver did come back, because there was a large amount, destined for a customer and I insisted.

So, grandtanteJE, what do you suggest? The driver won't take the items back under these cirumstances, the company won't accept the goods back, so should the OP just bin them instead? Isn't it better that someone benefits from them rather than them just going to waste?

So even if thieving or receiving stolen goods does not bother you grandtanteJE65 That's a very offensive post. Will you not take note of those with knowledge of how supermarkets operate, who have posted that the supermarkets invariably say to keep items delivered by mistake. They cannot resell food that has left the store, it has to be binned. Anyone who finds items missing from their order, will always be refunded for those items. The driver does indeed have the authority to say keep the items. When my delivery had broken eggs in the carton he immediately authorised a refund and asked could I use the remaining 3 unbroken eggs because they would be going to landfill if he took them back.

Marydoll the driver came back and took the order but I can 100% guarantee it wasn't redelivered to its intended owner. Health and safety absolutely would forbid that. It will have been binned. (My son worked in the industry, and ran the systems for deliveries)

Rosie, there were no perishables in the order. If they had refused to take it, I would have taken it to the food bank.

grandetanteJE65 I’m another who finds your comment *thieving or receiving stolen goods” offensive.
In my case, the excess goods were mixed in with my delivery in four separate trays. I instantly realised something was wrong as I knew I hadn’t ordered enough to need four trays.
Before I could say anything, the driver told me there’d been quite a few errors made that day (new staff perhaps?) and I wasn’t the only beneficiary.
I agree that errors like these might contribute to increased prices but so would having to pay staff to correct the errors before the goods left the store and might I suppose lead to late deliveries.
I, in no way, perceive what I and others did as wrong in keeping these excess goods as we were told to by the individual drivers.

@Rosie51. I've had the same thing with Sainsbry-one egg broken in a box of 6 and they refund me and I get to keep the other 5.

"I emailed to say I had them and if they were local to me I would deliver to whoever may have been expecting the items!"
They're not allowed to give out other customer's details. I had a pack of lavender plants delivered last year, that had my address but someone else's name on it. I offered to drop them off, but they said they weren't allowed to tell me who they were for. So I got 3 free plants!

I don't think anyone would be 'robbed'. If I order something and it's not in the order, I tell the driver and he refunds me if I've been charged. If I only realise later, I tell the supermarket by phone and they refund me.

I would have grabbed it with both hands. Tesco are making giant profits. You are NOT stealing. Wish that happened to me.

Fiona44

Gabrielle56. Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971
I rarely post, due to nasty comments that appear in perfectly normal "conversations", but your sarky reply to a person trying to help prompted me to do so.

Me too. Just no need for that attitude.

The holier than thou brigade are out in force. I have been overcharged in supermarkets on many occasions (accidentally I am sure) but not enough to bother contacting them. It works both ways.