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Take the following hypothetical scenario: I bought an item from a third-party retailer. The item was faulty, so I reached out to the manufacturer for a refund. The manufacturer didn't respond, so I went back to the retailer and returned the item. After that, the manufacturer got back to me and offered a refund.

Do I get to keep both refunds, or must I return one of them? (Let's assume both parties are Jewish.)

How about the following, similar case: I bought an item, but the manufacturer sent me the wrong one. They refunded the money, but allowed me to keep the item. May I sell the item and keep the profits?

DonielF
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  • If the seller is Gentile, offhand, sounds like you can rely on Ta'ut Nachri, which would let you keep the 2nd refund. Minhag chassidut, of course, would be to return the item. For Jews, perhaps, there is a concept of ye'ush? – DanF Apr 21 '17 at 18:59
  • How is your question / scenario different from the answers in https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/8266/5275? If it's the same, then this question is a dupe. – DanF Apr 21 '17 at 19:15
  • @DanF That's... interesting. You're implying that providing a refund is intrinsically an act of yi'ush. – Isaac Kotlicky Apr 21 '17 at 19:27
  • @DanF In the linked question the money is entirely the mistake of the seller providing too much change. Here each individual party is acting correctly, but the "mistake" happened as a result of the time delay between the the first and second parties, each of which is an independent actor. – Isaac Kotlicky Apr 21 '17 at 19:29
  • Does Halakha recognize your rights to any of these refunds? If not this is simply a Dina deMalkhuta question and we have to see what applicable local law says. – Double AA Apr 21 '17 at 19:29
  • @IsaacKotlicky Ah! I missed those nuances that you mentioned in your 2nd comment! – DanF Apr 21 '17 at 19:37
  • I think that a major piece of resolving this is knowing who is ultimately responsible for returns. Sometimes when I buy an appliance from say, Macy's they say in their policy, that manufacturer defects go to the manufacturer - i.e. - they've relinquished their responsibility. So, the manufacturer has to issue the refund. If Macy's gives you an additional one, that's a mistake and I think it follows the rules in the link (extra change). – DanF Apr 21 '17 at 19:41
  • In your scenario, it sounds like the retailer may have done you a "favor". Need a bit more detail from you. – DanF Apr 21 '17 at 19:43
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    The second case (that you just added) seems to be different case entirely. I can argue that he knowingly let you keep it, so it makes it like a gift. Whereas in the first case you're dealing with two parties. –  May 22 '17 at 18:46

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