Wrong item received, help needed

[Ezdaar]

I recently ordered an Xbox 360 bundle from Frys.com and they sent me the wrong type of Xbox 360. When I told them this they shipped me a new one overnight, but did it as an RMA so they put a charge on my card for the new one and the old one. I didn't think much of it at the time since I figured they would pick up the old one soon and remove the charge. It's been about 3 weeks now since that happened and they have sent someone twice to pick it up and both times they(DHL) never showed but claimed they did and left a note. I was home both times for 4 hours each time and DHL definitely did not come by or leave a note.

Now I've ended up paying interest on the charge they put on the card as well as wasted 8 hours of my time waiting for them. What are my options here? My understanding is that if someone ships you the wrong item you have no legal obligation to pay for it or return it. I don't want to be a jackass so I'm happy to give the wrong 360 back but at this point they are causing me a lot of trouble.

My thinking is that if the manager who is supposed to call me doesn't come up with anything good I will ask my credit card company to chargeback one of the charges and tell Frys to schedule a pickup or offer to drop it off at the local Frys.

Any thoughts on this or similar experiences? I imagine I shouldn't have agreed to let them treat it as an RMA at first.

[Dirt]

Tell them that you'll do a charge back if they don't fix the problem soon.

[Houngan]

They shipped you the right item, in the sense that you ordered a 360 and received a 360. Sub-type isn't going to win the small claims court case.

Have you contact DHL to confirm the address? Asked if you can drop it off at the local DHL office? Tried to change the pickup address to work? Scheduled a DHL pickup yourself?

H.

[Ezdaar]

Well no, they shipped me the wrong item. It shouldn't matter how close the original item is to the one they shipped me, the point is I bought one item specifically and they shipped me a different item. Insert analogy here about how would you feel if you bought item X and they shipped you item Y instead.

I have not done any of the above as I don't believe this is my problem to fix. I want to give it back to them but I'm not going to go even more out of my way to fix their screwup. I did offer to drop it off at the local Frys but they refused that, apparently the retail and online arms don't mix. I will offer to contact DHL myself when I talk to the manager, that is probably the best bet.

[Euri]

Small claims court will only care about the SKU ordered. It's like buying a Mustang but they sent you an Escort. Same thing, just different subtypes right?

[Machfive]

Each model is a different UPC, so I would imagine that there's nothing wrong with his claim.

[Alan Au]

Fry's shipped you the correct item, just late and after you had to complain about it. Of course, they also sent you an item you didn't order, and then tried to charge you for it. The FTC has some recommendations: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro15.shtm


- Alan

[Houngan]

Well no, they shipped me the wrong item. It shouldn't matter how close the original item is to the one they shipped me, the point is I bought one item specifically and they shipped me a different item. Insert analogy here about how would you feel if you bought item X and they shipped you item Y instead.

I have not done any of the above as I don't believe this is my problem to fix. I want to give it back to them but I'm not going to go even more out of my way to fix their screwup. I did offer to drop it off at the local Frys but they refused that, apparently the retail and online arms don't mix. I will offer to contact DHL myself when I talk to the manager, that is probably the best bet.


I ain't telling you what should or shouldn't, I'ma tellin' you what IS. The idea that "anything shipped to me is mine OMG FINDERS KEEPERSY!" is a silly urban myth. They're working to get the item returned, which you've already requested, and as such are acting in good faith. If a ripoff artist sends you a $5,000 brick and then an invoice, you are protected, but not when they send you the wrong color of something you ordered.

So by all means, give them a call back and work out the DHL issue, keeping the 360 for free is just a quick way to a credit crash.

H.

[Ezdaar]

At no point did I state I wanted to keep the 360, I've been trying to give it back to them.

Also, see the link provided by Alan for your silly urban myth.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro15.shtm

Specifically,

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.

I'm making a good faith effort to resolve the situation and they are jerking me around and costing me money and time. My problem is that rather than be a jerk upfront and make them ship me the correct one I went along with their procedure of treating it as an RMA.

[Shadarr]

It seems to me that you should be able to drop it off at the local store. But the real problem here seems to be that DHL sucks. Which is what I've heard from my girlfriend, who deals with couriers all the time.

[Houngan]

At no point did I state I wanted to keep the 360, I've been trying to give it back to them.

Also, see the link provided by Alan for your silly urban myth.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro15.shtm

Specifically,


I'm making a good faith effort to resolve the situation and they are jerking me around and costing me money and time. My problem is that rather than be a jerk upfront and make them ship me the correct one I went along with their procedure of treating it as an RMA.

The difference is that this is something you ordered and weren't satisfied with, not something that was accidentally sent to you. Granted, you requested something slightly different, but they have an invoice (and some massive EULA that you clicked through like we all do) that says "1 xbox 360", so you're on the hook for it one way or the other. I don't mean to come off snarky, but it sounded like you thought you were entitled to keep the thing since DHL can't pull off a pickup properly.

H.

[Siren]

It sounds like a problem with DHL. You can schedule the pickup online; have you done so? Or is Frys the one that has set up the pickup?

There are also dropboxes (http://sbw.dhl-usa.com/Locations/USLocnsRslts.asp?ac=&pn=&se=&cy=Scottsdale&sa=AZ&zp=&fr=PU:DO:RC:AC:AS&nav=DropOff) for DHL in Scottsdale.

[Machfive]

I don't know why they just haven't sent you a shipping label and let you drop it off with a DHL shipper like Officemax.

[Ezdaar]

They have to set up the pickup unless I do it out of my own pocket and then ask them to reimburse me for the cost. The shipping label thing sounds like a good idea, I'll bring that up if the manager ever calls me as they promised to do within the hour, about 4 hours ago.

Also Houngan, you are still wrong. I understand where you are coming from but the quote I pasted in specifically addresses my situation. They shipped the wrong SKU, it was a simple shipping error according to them. The price difference between the two SKUs is about $50 so it's not a matter of the wrong color or something. I have no intention of keeping the item but I seem to be well within my rights to do so if I were a dick.

[Houngan]

They have to set up the pickup unless I do it out of my own pocket and then ask them to reimburse me for the cost. The shipping label thing sounds like a good idea, I'll bring that up if the manager ever calls me as they promised to do within the hour, about 4 hours ago.

Also Houngan, you are still wrong. I understand where you are coming from but the quote I pasted in specifically addresses my situation. They shipped the wrong SKU, it was a simple shipping error according to them. The price difference between the two SKUs is about $50 so it's not a matter of the wrong color or something. I have no intention of keeping the item but I seem to be well within my rights to do so if I were a dick.

Keep it, then. You're misunderstanding what "unordered" means in the FTC link. Just keep it for, let's say, six months. That should prove your point, and then you can send it back for conscience's sake. I'm sure Microsoft won't serve, sue, or slash your credit rating.

H.

[Ezdaar]

Ahh, my bad. I was using the normal definition of unordered, not the special one. I'll remember not to confuse those in the future. Thank you for the clarification.

This is a silly argument and perhaps we can just drop it here. Thank you everyone who contributed useful options, I'll go over them with the store.

[Coca Cola Zero]

Sounds like more a DHL problem than Frys problem to me too (Frys did screw up initially but it sounds like they made a good faith effort to fix it fast).

I haven't been sent anything via DHL in a long time, but where I live the UPS guy (or local office) is awesome and the FedEx guy (or local office) SUCKS. I absolutely dread times when FedEx is the only shipping option for something I wish to buy. I'm pretty sure the FedEx guy is just a lazy jerk that just decides not to deliver to certain batches of houses on certain days because I work from home so when I'm waiting for a package I'm almost always at home and more often than not the FedEx tracking system will claim two or so delivery attempts before I get my items, with no notes or anything left on my door and absolutely no knocks/doorbells/etc. Then there was another time that the FedEx guy delivered a rather large and heavy package to my neighbor instead of me despite the fact that it was clearly and correctly labelled to my address, presumably because he didn't want to carry the box the extra 100 feet or so to my door. I've called FedEx numerous times to bitch about all of this but it still keeps happening so I try to avoid them whenever possible. FedEx motherfuckers!

[Ezdaar]

Where in San Diego are you? I had horrible luck with Fedex as well in the University City area.

[RichVR]

I've had problems with all three shipping companies (DHL, FedEx and UPS) along the lines of them saying they were here and they never actually showed.

I run a computer business out of my home, a private house. They all will either drop shipments on the porch without ringing the bell at all, or just not show up. All my shipments are signature required. And they are often very expensive items. And usually time sensitive.

The last time that UPS pulled this shit, I called and got the run around. This was around 6:30PM NY time on a Friday. I told the person that I was talking to that I intended to send a registered letter to the president of the company with a long explanation of the miserable service that I was getting.

The doorbell rang at 7:30PM. It was an off duty UPS guy with my package. He was delivering it in his own car. He apologised profusely for the problems, explaining that someone new was on my route from now on.

The thing is, I live in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. So delivery people automatically assume that a package will not be accepted after sundown Friday, which is the start of the Sabbath. They look at a map, I guess, and say, "I'm just wasting my time going there. Nobody will answer the door." Which is wrong. Only businesses work that way. An Orthodox business closes before sunset. Homes will usually accept deliveries. Usually. Some might not. But the point is, they shouldn't assume anything of the sort. You still go and ring the bell. If nobody answers, you leave an Attempted Delivery Notice.

I didn't want to get anybody fired. I hope he just got transferred to a different route.

[Coca Cola Zero]

Where in San Diego are you? I had horrible luck with Fedex as well in the University City area.

Carmel Valley/Del Mar Highlands area.