Since there seems to be a lot of confusion about the legalities involved, with some people suggesting he should have just kept it and said nothing, I did some research.
In the UK, you have a legal duty to return it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/30294748/can-you-keep-... The only exception is completely unsolicited goods, which you can keep. Double shipments must be returned. This doesn’t change the fact that Nintendo was rather rude if the author’s characterization is accurate.
>Items that firms send to you, but you didn't actually order are called "unsolicited goods". You're well within your rights to keep them.
You have no obligation to send them back to the company or to pay for them. If a company demands payment, that's a criminal offence.
But this doesn't apply to items sent to you by mistake (as happened to Robert); if the order was sent to you twice; or if there's extra stuff on top of what you ordered.
If a firm has left goods with you that weren't unsolicited goods, they still belong to the trader and you should try to give them back.
Firms can take you to court to recover their goods.
The situation is different in the US, you are allowed to keep all "unordered merchandise" and have no obligation whatsoever to pay or return. No distinction is made between completely unsolicited and double shipments. A legal argument could be made that a double shipment is not "unordered merchandise." I didn't find anything on the legal databases or Google, other than newspaper columnists opining that double shipments are "unordered".
In the UK, you have a legal duty to return it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/30294748/can-you-keep-... The only exception is completely unsolicited goods, which you can keep. Double shipments must be returned. This doesn’t change the fact that Nintendo was rather rude if the author’s characterization is accurate.
>Items that firms send to you, but you didn't actually order are called "unsolicited goods". You're well within your rights to keep them. You have no obligation to send them back to the company or to pay for them. If a company demands payment, that's a criminal offence. But this doesn't apply to items sent to you by mistake (as happened to Robert); if the order was sent to you twice; or if there's extra stuff on top of what you ordered. If a firm has left goods with you that weren't unsolicited goods, they still belong to the trader and you should try to give them back. Firms can take you to court to recover their goods.
The situation is different in the US, you are allowed to keep all "unordered merchandise" and have no obligation whatsoever to pay or return. No distinction is made between completely unsolicited and double shipments. A legal argument could be made that a double shipment is not "unordered merchandise." I didn't find anything on the legal databases or Google, other than newspaper columnists opining that double shipments are "unordered".
US statute in question: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/39/3009
FTC commentary: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchan...