Light bulb scammers making the rounds ...

I remember dealing with these clowns in the early 2000s, but they were soliciting for the mentally disabled. I guess anything can be used to try and rip somebody off with.

Maybe one day they will see the "light" and they will change their ways? :)

That'll be the day. The mentally disabled I'm sure was used to try and sucker me in. Seems like they were real sleazy callers as well.

We can but hope.

Southeastern Supply sent me some light bulbs which I did not order. The price for those few bulbs was almost
one hundred dollars. They keep calling, asking "Can I hear them, now.?" And I say, I can hear you clearly. THEY want me to say, "YES" so they can "Validate" their scam! I told them I am willing to take this scam to court, "Judge Judy " style. and let the USA see plainly what they are doing. Idiots do not like my "SmartMouth"  my answer? Don't call me again! I will NEVER send them money!

This thread should be locked.

I remember back in the 90's when I was first dating my now husband, I somehow found out he was buying light bulbs from a group that claimed they were raising money for the mentally ill.  The cost was like ten times the cost of buying a light bulb back then.  I told him it was a scam and no mentally ill person benefited from this. Sad but thieves have only gotten worse since then.

according to what my sister was told by the post office when she got something shipped to her she hadn't ordered, you are actually supposed to make a good faith attempt to return merchandise accidently delivered to you, but at the senders expense, not yours.  if the sender refuses to cooperate and pay for the items to be picked up by legit company (fedex, ups, etc), then it is yours.

The FTC completely disagrees with your statement: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise

Quote:

Q. Must I notify the seller if I keep unordered merchandise without paying for it?
A. Although you have no legal obligation to notify the seller, you may write the seller and offer to return the merchandise, provided the seller pays for shipping and handling.

Here's a fine example of why we should all "measure twice, cut once" around here, rather than post hearsay and misinformation. I concur with the prior reply and can save a lot of typing by simply referring to my own post on the previous page from two whole years ago. You'll see the USPS has its own very similar rules on this matter. I deduce one of the following:

1.  You or your sister badly interpreted what a postal clerk once said.
2.  The postal clerk was poorly trained and needed to consult the Service's own Domestic Mail Manual.
3.  The postal clerk should find a less mentally straining job, like public bathroom maintenance.
4.  Your sister is not a US citizen.

I did some poking around today to assure myself that nothing had changed in two years. Along the way I found that British law places a legal fork in the road. The UK has "Distance Selling" law which draws a distinction between "unsolicited goods" and a dumb seller error. The former problem is handled almost exactly the way it is here: Recipients of cold unordered goods have no duty to act, do not need to return or pay for anything, and cannot be legally billed or chased by debt collectors or sued for recovery. However, when a "prior request [is] made by or on behalf of the recipient", one cannot consider the surprise item a gift.

In other words, if I have this right, those who have not ordered at all are free of liability. Those who did order something and received the wrong item are expected to help the seller recover the unordered merchandise. Naturally the seller has to make return delivery easy and absorb its cost, but retains a right to sue anyone who will not surrender the goods. Five Xmas seasons ago, for instance, some video game shoppers ordering a single title mistakenly got a whole system worth almost nine times more. The seller sent legal threat letters to buyers who were too slow in compliance with their part of the Distance Selling rule.

Zavvi threatens shoppers after accidental PS Vita deliveries

Coming back across the Atlantic, I see no such distinction anywhere in US state or Federal law. The onus is, I think correctly, on the retailers to get their mail orders right the first time rather than shunt responsibility to parcel recipients. Almost certainly bad actors like these Fifty Dollar Light Bulb gangs would exploit a fuzzy conditional law to justify repeatedly dumping unwanted trash on unwary customers, only because they did order -- by trickery or fabricated invoice -- at least once.

If you get something you did not order,eithre return it or consider it a Gift.

If you didn't order it - it is yours to keep, you don't have to attempt anything, they are yours free and clear!