Yep that's what I think, it's completely incomprehensible that somebody would bin a neighbour's parcel after a night. I'm going to knock on her tomorrow and if she doesn't answer send her a snotty letter basically repeating what everyone in here has said, that it's illegal to open post that isn't for you and I expect to receive the parcel or be reimbursed.
Yep that's what I think, it's completely incomprehensible that somebody would bin a neighbour's parcel after a night. I'm going to knock on her tomorrow and if she doesn't answer send her a snotty letter basically repeating what everyone in here has said, that it's illegal to open post that isn't for you and I expect to receive the parcel or be reimbursed.
you have no proof that the parcel has been opened, so you need to be careful what accusations you throw about.
you cannot be reimbursed as you were not the sender.
any dispute about reimbursement would be between the sender, the delivering agent and the person who allegedly received it.
all you know at the moment is that a parcel was delivered to the address marked on the parcel, it was (apparently) signed for, and that person who received it contacted the sender to arrange collection and that the parcel has now been disposed of.
at the moment i don't believe any law has been broken.
any post office/royal mail regulations quoted previously in this thread don't apply as you have said it was a courier that delivered it and not the royal mail.
Your birthday card was in this package as well? But I thought it had been sent from the suppliers, hence packing slip with your mum's phone number?
I'm guessing it was from moonpig or one of those sites. I'm guessing whatever was in the parcel wasn't worth that much and just something for me to open.
you have no proof that the parcel has been opened, so you need to be careful what accusations you throw about.
you cannot be reimbursed as you were not the sender.
any dispute about reimbursement would be between the sender, the delivering agent and the person who allegedly received it.
all you know at the moment is that a parcel was delivered to the address marked on the parcel, it was (apparently) signed for, and that person who received it contacted the sender to arrange collection and that the parcel has now been disposed of.
at the moment i don't believe any law has been broken.
any post office/royal mail regulations quoted previously in this thread don't apply as you have said it was a courier that delivered it and not the royal mail.
Does the Postal Service Act only apply to the Royal Mail?
Basically this woman has signed for a parcel that wasn't for her but addressed to her house, contacted my mam to arrange to pick it up but not given any time for that to be arranged, and claimed to have thrown it out when the bin day isn't until Monday.
I'm not going to contact the police, and to be honest I doubt the present was even worth that much so I want to sort it out between the two of us.
also, before you start throwing reimbursement fees around, what if the person that received your parcel wants reimbursement for the phone call and a storage fee ?
think before you go storming anywhere. simply go to the address and say you are here to collect the parcel. don't accuse anything.
Why not just knock on her door and ask her what the hell she thinks she's playing at? Then inform her that if you don't receive the parcel that she knew was meant for you (or suitable recompense for your loss) that you'll be initiating proceedings against her.
I'm inclined to agree. Either that, or have a word with your local Police Community Support Team (they have their uses), and ask them to call round. After all, technically, this mad old bat has stolen your package. You don't know she's binned it, she may still have it.
Why did your Mum post it to you if you live close enough to go and knock on the door asking where it is? I'm a bit puzzled by the thread - few loose ends,.....
Why did your Mum post it to you if you live close enough to go and knock on the door asking where it is? I'm a bit puzzled by the thread - few loose ends,.....
I think they were talking about knocking on the neighbours door...
I don't really know how to approach my neighbour without accusing her. I KNOW she has it somewhere in her possession unless she's gone to a bin down the road to throw it out, but I guess I'll just have to see what she says when I see her face to face.
If this neighbour wanted to steal a parcel that was delivered to her door, why did she call the stranger who sent it to tell them she had it, why not just steal it not contact the sender who had thoughtfully supplied her phone number?
I don't really know how to approach my neighbour without accusing her. I KNOW she has it somewhere in her possession unless she's gone to a bin down the road to throw it out, but I guess I'll just have to see what she says when I see her face to face.
Start like this:
"Hello, I'm X, and I've just moved in down the road. I understand that you kindly took in the package that my Mum sent me the other day. Sorry I haven't been round before, but I've come to collect it."
Act like you don't know what she said to your mum. Take someone else with you if you like, preferably a large male friend who's willing to act as your partner for the occasion. If she still says she's binned the package, keep your cool and say something like:
"That was a very odd thing to do, could you explain why you did that?"
Don't threaten or get mad, but try to leave her with the impression that she can expect further action, even if you're not actually going to do anything.
Worst case scenario is that you won't get the parcel back, but at least you're now warned that she's a nutjob.
If this neighbour wanted to steal a parcel that was delivered to her door, why did she call the stranger who sent it to tell them she had it, why not just steal it not contact the sender who had thoughtfully supplied her phone number?
Did this parcel ever exist?
Yes!
I have no idea why she rang my mam, apparently the message she left was very strange in itself, she'd rang my mam and said something like 'I have something for you, come and get it if you want it,' my mam didn't realise she'd sent it to the wrong address so didn't know what the message was about so when she contacted her to find out the neighbour said 'She'd been a good samaritan by taking it in but had thrown it out now.'
Anyway, you've mostly all been very helpful, I'll take your advice Susie if she answers the door tomorrow and hopefully it'll all get sorted out. Thank you!
Try knocking on the door again a few times, if they don't answer wait until Monday when they put their bin out and empty it onto the street and get your present back.
"Hello, I'm X, and I've just moved in down the road. I understand that you kindly took in the package that my Mum sent me the other day. Sorry I haven't been round before, but I've come to collect it."
Act like you don't know what she said to your mum. Take someone else with you if you like, preferably a large male friend who's willing to act as your partner for the occasion. If she still says she's binned the package, keep your cool and say something like:
"That was a very odd thing to do, could you explain why you did that?"
Don't threaten or get mad, but try to leave her with the impression that she can expect further action, even if you're not actually going to do anything.
Worst case scenario is that you won't get the parcel back, but at least you're now warned that she's a nutjob.
Bully boy tactics and lying.... nice.
If they're going to go down that route they might as well get mad and do some threatening.
Demand to see which bin it was thrown in and take up camp in her living room until she does. Go around in the afternoon and insist on listening to the play on radio 3 or the Archers and turn it up really loud.
If you can wait till Sunday evening, there's a great play on Radio 3 called Lovers Rock which is set in Brixton around the time of the riots and explores not only the Lovers Rock genre but the lead actors problems dealing with his sexuality and the riots.
Is it not illegal to open mail or parcels not for you?
that's what i was thinking - it's an offence to intercept mail that belongs to another person WITHOUT their expressed permission..... hence why you are told, if mail that has anothers persons name on it arrives at your property, and you should put on the mail - 'Person not known at this address'
sometimes I get mail for an old couple up the road, but then it's always down to a typo on the letter in terms of the number - so I knock at their door and deliver their mail for them.....
1 and 7 get mixed up - especially with some peoples handwriting...
also, before you start throwing reimbursement fees around, what if the person that received your parcel wants reimbursement for the phone call and a storage fee ?
I'm sure the OP will be more than happy to give the crazy woman 10p to cover her phone call if she gives him his parcel back.
And as for a storage fee - don't be silly. Nobody asked her to store the item or agreed to pay for storage - she shouldn't have accepted the item as it was clearly not for her. This is a pretty basic definition of "theft":-
A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to
another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and ‘theft’ and ‘steal’
shall be construed accordingly.
If someone steals something from you, they can't charge you for storing the stolen item.
that's what i was thinking - it's an offence to intercept mail that belongs to another person WITHOUT their expressed permission..... hence why you are told, if mail that has anothers persons name on it arrives at your property, and you should put on the mail - 'Person not known at this address'
sometimes I get mail for an old couple up the road, but then it's always down to a typo on the letter in terms of the number - so I knock at their door and deliver their mail for them.....
1 and 7 get mixed up - especially with some peoples handwriting...
Aside from the fact that this was a courier delivery so it's not interception of mail in this case. Even if it had been posted, it was delivered to the address on the package. Links to the legislation were posted a few days ago in a different thread. Basically the applicability of the law that creates the offence of "interception of mail" expires once it has been delivered to the address on the package, not necessarily the addressee in person.
Misappropriation/theft would require proof that the erroneous recipient actually took the item for their own use.
If the item had been valuable enough to take things further, as far as I can see the only basis that they might have for a claim was the fact that the recipient agreed with the mother to keep the package so it could be collected. That might create a duty for them to keep it safe for a reasonable time which they might not have done depending on the timing involved.
maybe she said she threw it away so that she could keep the contents?
Duh! You don't say?
I think everybody knows that this is the case.
I'm not sure why everybody is saying that the neighbour is a thief for opening the package in the first place.
I open packages delivered to my address without first checking the name on the delivery label - if its to my address, I (perhaps wrongly) assume it is for me, and only after I have checked the contents and find that it is nothing to do with me would I then check the name on the address label.
Presumably, the neighbour accepted the parcel, opened the parcel, realised it wasn't for her (but may well have decided that she liked whatever the contents were), phoned the mother to give her the opportunity to collect it, decided - possibly because somebody else in the neighbours' household really took a shine to the contents - to then claim that the goods had been thrown away, and that's where its at at the moment.
Ok, so this woman is crazy! Caught her this morning as she was leaving for work, and as Susie suggested pretended I hadn't heard anything from my mam.
Me - Hi, sorry to bother you, did you get a parcel the other day for (my name) by mistake?
Neighbour - I did.
Me - Could I get it from you? I know you're on your way out so I can come round when you get back.
Neighbour - I don't have it now.
Me - Where is it?
Neighbour - I chucked it.
Me - Why?
Neighbour - (screaming!) I'm not a ****ing post office! I called your mum and she didn't want it! I can't just keep things until someone shows up!
Me - So you threw it out? You couldn't send it back to the return address?
Nieghbour - I don't have time! It's in the bin.
Me - The bins aren't collected until Monday, you must have it lying around somewhere? I don't care if it's been opened, it's meant to be a birthday present.
Neighbour - I don't care, I don't have it!
Then she stormed off down the road. My next-door neighbour was outside knocking down his wall and had seen all this told me to avoid her. The thing is, we live in a borough that doesn't have wheelie bins, so all rubbish is left in black bags outside the door and she doesn't have anything out there so it must be in her house!
I'm really at a loss about what to do here. The woman is an absolute nutter and there's no way I'm getting it back. Is it okay to start a hate campaign against her? I'd like to add she's a posh woman in her mid thirties and had a suit on, so I'm guessing she's in a somewhat professional job.
Comments
you have no proof that the parcel has been opened, so you need to be careful what accusations you throw about.
you cannot be reimbursed as you were not the sender.
any dispute about reimbursement would be between the sender, the delivering agent and the person who allegedly received it.
all you know at the moment is that a parcel was delivered to the address marked on the parcel, it was (apparently) signed for, and that person who received it contacted the sender to arrange collection and that the parcel has now been disposed of.
at the moment i don't believe any law has been broken.
any post office/royal mail regulations quoted previously in this thread don't apply as you have said it was a courier that delivered it and not the royal mail.
I'm guessing it was from moonpig or one of those sites. I'm guessing whatever was in the parcel wasn't worth that much and just something for me to open.
Does the Postal Service Act only apply to the Royal Mail?
Basically this woman has signed for a parcel that wasn't for her but addressed to her house, contacted my mam to arrange to pick it up but not given any time for that to be arranged, and claimed to have thrown it out when the bin day isn't until Monday.
I'm not going to contact the police, and to be honest I doubt the present was even worth that much so I want to sort it out between the two of us.
think before you go storming anywhere. simply go to the address and say you are here to collect the parcel. don't accuse anything.
I'm inclined to agree. Either that, or have a word with your local Police Community Support Team (they have their uses), and ask them to call round. After all, technically, this mad old bat has stolen your package. You don't know she's binned it, she may still have it.
I think they were talking about knocking on the neighbours door...
I don't really know how to approach my neighbour without accusing her. I KNOW she has it somewhere in her possession unless she's gone to a bin down the road to throw it out, but I guess I'll just have to see what she says when I see her face to face.
Did this parcel ever exist?
Start like this:
"Hello, I'm X, and I've just moved in down the road. I understand that you kindly took in the package that my Mum sent me the other day. Sorry I haven't been round before, but I've come to collect it."
Act like you don't know what she said to your mum. Take someone else with you if you like, preferably a large male friend who's willing to act as your partner for the occasion. If she still says she's binned the package, keep your cool and say something like:
"That was a very odd thing to do, could you explain why you did that?"
Don't threaten or get mad, but try to leave her with the impression that she can expect further action, even if you're not actually going to do anything.
Worst case scenario is that you won't get the parcel back, but at least you're now warned that she's a nutjob.
Yes!
I have no idea why she rang my mam, apparently the message she left was very strange in itself, she'd rang my mam and said something like 'I have something for you, come and get it if you want it,' my mam didn't realise she'd sent it to the wrong address so didn't know what the message was about so when she contacted her to find out the neighbour said 'She'd been a good samaritan by taking it in but had thrown it out now.'
Anyway, you've mostly all been very helpful, I'll take your advice Susie if she answers the door tomorrow and hopefully it'll all get sorted out. Thank you!
Simple
Failing that pee in their letter box
If they're going to go down that route they might as well get mad and do some threatening.
Demand to see which bin it was thrown in and take up camp in her living room until she does. Go around in the afternoon and insist on listening to the play on radio 3 or the Archers and turn it up really loud.
If you can wait till Sunday evening, there's a great play on Radio 3 called Lovers Rock which is set in Brixton around the time of the riots and explores not only the Lovers Rock genre but the lead actors problems dealing with his sexuality and the riots.
I never cease to be amazed at how naive some people are on here! :eek:
that's what i was thinking - it's an offence to intercept mail that belongs to another person WITHOUT their expressed permission..... hence why you are told, if mail that has anothers persons name on it arrives at your property, and you should put on the mail - 'Person not known at this address'
sometimes I get mail for an old couple up the road, but then it's always down to a typo on the letter in terms of the number - so I knock at their door and deliver their mail for them.....
1 and 7 get mixed up - especially with some peoples handwriting...
I'm sure the OP will be more than happy to give the crazy woman 10p to cover her phone call if she gives him his parcel back.
And as for a storage fee - don't be silly. Nobody asked her to store the item or agreed to pay for storage - she shouldn't have accepted the item as it was clearly not for her. This is a pretty basic definition of "theft":-
If someone steals something from you, they can't charge you for storing the stolen item.
Aside from the fact that this was a courier delivery so it's not interception of mail in this case. Even if it had been posted, it was delivered to the address on the package. Links to the legislation were posted a few days ago in a different thread. Basically the applicability of the law that creates the offence of "interception of mail" expires once it has been delivered to the address on the package, not necessarily the addressee in person.
Misappropriation/theft would require proof that the erroneous recipient actually took the item for their own use.
If the item had been valuable enough to take things further, as far as I can see the only basis that they might have for a claim was the fact that the recipient agreed with the mother to keep the package so it could be collected. That might create a duty for them to keep it safe for a reasonable time which they might not have done depending on the timing involved.
Duh! You don't say?
I think everybody knows that this is the case.
I'm not sure why everybody is saying that the neighbour is a thief for opening the package in the first place.
I open packages delivered to my address without first checking the name on the delivery label - if its to my address, I (perhaps wrongly) assume it is for me, and only after I have checked the contents and find that it is nothing to do with me would I then check the name on the address label.
Presumably, the neighbour accepted the parcel, opened the parcel, realised it wasn't for her (but may well have decided that she liked whatever the contents were), phoned the mother to give her the opportunity to collect it, decided - possibly because somebody else in the neighbours' household really took a shine to the contents - to then claim that the goods had been thrown away, and that's where its at at the moment.
Me - Hi, sorry to bother you, did you get a parcel the other day for (my name) by mistake?
Neighbour - I did.
Me - Could I get it from you? I know you're on your way out so I can come round when you get back.
Neighbour - I don't have it now.
Me - Where is it?
Neighbour - I chucked it.
Me - Why?
Neighbour - (screaming!) I'm not a ****ing post office! I called your mum and she didn't want it! I can't just keep things until someone shows up!
Me - So you threw it out? You couldn't send it back to the return address?
Nieghbour - I don't have time! It's in the bin.
Me - The bins aren't collected until Monday, you must have it lying around somewhere? I don't care if it's been opened, it's meant to be a birthday present.
Neighbour - I don't care, I don't have it!
Then she stormed off down the road. My next-door neighbour was outside knocking down his wall and had seen all this told me to avoid her. The thing is, we live in a borough that doesn't have wheelie bins, so all rubbish is left in black bags outside the door and she doesn't have anything out there so it must be in her house!
I'm really at a loss about what to do here. The woman is an absolute nutter and there's no way I'm getting it back. Is it okay to start a hate campaign against her? I'd like to add she's a posh woman in her mid thirties and had a suit on, so I'm guessing she's in a somewhat professional job.