I bought a bunch of stuff online and they sent me extra stuff which I didn’t order but paid for. When I received the stuff today, I tried to return by communicating with their customer service team but they said to keep the stuff and they refunded the amount.
In this scenario, is it OK if I use the items or do I discard them?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah,
When you purchase a product online from a company, you become liable to pay for it. As the seller, the company has the discretion to either demand payment or waive the price. If they choose to waive it, the item is considered a gift.
In your case, since you did not place an order for these items, you were never liable to pay for them. However, because they were sent to you by mistake, it is your shar’i duty to return them to the sender.
However, since you made an effort to return the items and the company, using its discretion, decided to let you keep them, they now become a gift that you may use as long as they are not of an un-islamic nature. You do not need to dispose them off.
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi