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Great question. Unfortunately, I don't think EU law allows you to keep what the [BBC][2] calls "online order freebies." As I read the EU Code, "unsolicited goods" are not any goods that show up at your house unsolicited. They are goods that are sent to you as part of the well-known scam of "inertia selling."

In a decision handed down last year, the [EU Court of Justice][1] explained that "inertia selling" has two prongs:

1. Demanding...payment for...

2. products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer...

From Colin's description, it doesn't seem his seller meets the "demanding...payment" prong of this definition. [1]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62017CC0054 [2]: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37048351

Great question. Unfortunately, I don't think EU law allows you to keep what the [BBC][2] calls "online order freebies." As I read the EU Code, "unsolicited goods" are not any goods that show up at your house unsolicited. They are goods that are sent to you as part of the well-known scam of "inertia selling."

In a decision handed down last year, the [EU Court of Justice][1] explained that "inertia selling" has two prongs:

1. Demanding...payment for...

2. products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer...

From Colin's description, it doesn't seem his seller meets the "demanding...payment" prong of this definition.

Too bad you can't sue for bad customer service. This looks like one of those instances where trying to do the right thing by fixing someone else's careless mistake will end up costing you more in time and frustration than their mistake costs them. [1]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62017CC0054 [2]: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37048351

Unfortunately, EU law does not allow you to keep what the BBC calls "online order freebies." This fact is consistent with the snippets of EU code you all cite. In the EU codes, "unsolicited goods" are not any goods that show up at your house unsolicited. They are goods that are sent to you as part of the well-known scam of "inertia selling." Both of the sections you cited are about "inertia selling."

In a decision handed down last year, the EU Court of Justice explained that "inertia selling" has two prongs:

1. Demanding...payment for...

2. products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer...

Since Colin's seller is not responding to emails, he does not meet the "demanding...payment" prong of this definition.

Great question. Unfortunately, I don't think EU law allows you to keep what the [BBC][2] calls "online order freebies." As I read the EU Code, "unsolicited goods" are not any goods that show up at your house unsolicited. They are goods that are sent to you as part of the well-known scam of "inertia selling."

In a decision handed down last year, the [EU Court of Justice][1] explained that "inertia selling" has two prongs:

1. Demanding...payment for...

2. products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer...

From Colin's description, it doesn't seem his seller meets the "demanding...payment" prong of this definition. [1]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62017CC0054 [2]: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37048351

TL;DNR: Last year, the BBC did a story explaining "Why you can't keep online order freebies."

  In EU law, "unsolicited goods" does not mean any goods that show up at your house unsolicited. The phrase has a very specific meaning in EU law. The key to that meaning can be found at the beginning of the snippet about "unsolicited goods" that Colin cites. It starts off, "Since inertia selling..."

"Inertia selling" is a well known scam. According to a decision handed down last year by the EU Court of Justice, "inertia selling" involves:

Demanding immediate or deferred payment for or the return or safekeeping of products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer...

This definition has two prongs: 1) Sending unsolicited goods; and, 2) Demanding...payment. Since Colin's seller is not responding to emails, he does not meet the "demanding...payment" prong of this definition.

Unfortunately, EU law does not allow you to keep what the BBC calls "online order freebies." This fact is consistent with the snippets of EU code you all cite. In the EU codes, "unsolicited goods" are not any goods that show up at your house unsolicited. They are goods that are sent to you as part of the well-known scam of "inertia selling." Both of the sections you cited are about "inertia selling."

In a decision handed down last year, the EU Court of Justice explained that "inertia selling" has two prongs:

1. Demanding...payment for...

2. products supplied by the trader, but not solicited by the consumer...

Since Colin's seller is not responding to emails, he does not meet the "demanding...payment" prong of this definition.