Laurel, MD asked in Consumer Law for Maryland

Q: Does my friend have to pay for heating oil mistakenly delivered to my address?

A heating oil company delivered oil to a friend's house that was supposed to be delivered to a house two doors away. My friend found a bill/receipt on her patio and took it to the address listed on the bill/receipt, thinking that it had just blown into her yard. Turns out the oil was actually pumped into her tank, not the tank at the address on the written bill/receipt. The company (not the company that she currently buys her oil from) now says she must pay for that oil. I'm looking at 2019 MD Code Commercial Law 14-1304. I don't think my friend has any obligation to pay for this oil. The oil company made an error when they did not confirm that they were at the correct address before delivering the oil. Am I correct in my belief that 2019 MD Code Commercial Law 14-1304 says that my friend does not have to pay for this oil that she did not order from this company? Thank you.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
Answered
  • Rockville, MD
  • Licensed in Maryland

A: The section you cite is directed to deliberate efforts by a seller to get a consumer to buy their product, without a contract, by intentionally delivering and then billing that consumer for the goods they did not order. The situation you describe is not that scenario; rather, it is a mistaken delivery, intended for someone else. It is unclear to me that a court would enforce that section of the code in this scenario. The solution would be for the company to pump out the same amount of oil they delivered to the wrong house. If that is not possible, then the argument would be that the homeowner who received the oil by mistake has received a valuable benefit that they will use, eventually, and should be expected to pay for (this is called in the law, "unjust enrichment"). I suppose if they were not planning on spending this much so soon for an oil delivery, they can argue the terms, demand a discount, request longer time to pay, etc., in an effort to settle the matter--but still to their benefit since they are keeping the oil. If they allow themselves to be sued, and go to court defending on the basis that they should get to keep hundreds (or thousands) of dollars worth of heating oil for free because of an honest mistake, they will take their chances that a judge does not see the situation the same way they do. The section you cite refers specifically to "merchandise" delivered that was not ordered, and merchandise is defined in another section of the code as including any "commodity," and heating oil is a commodity, so to that extent, the section encompasses oil. The issue, however, is whether the scenario you describe actually falls within the intent of the statute. I believe the judge would focus on the first part of the section, addressed to an "offer to sell" to a consumer, followed by delivery of the unsolicited product. There is no "offer to sell" to the recipient in your

scenario before delivery of the oil. It's merely a mistaken delivery, with an offer to sell that was directed, and accepted, by another person. For this reason, I do not believe a defense based on this section of the Code will prevail.

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