I would like some feedback on a situation.

I recently ordered a jib sail from a well-known company. When I got it I quickly realized it wasn't a jib, but a main sail! I only paid for a jib, but got a plain white main sail. After much deliberation and thought, I finally called the company and explained what had happened(they had no idea). They were appreciative and are rectifying the situation. So, fedex picked up the sail and they are shipping a jib.

What would you have done? I thought of keeping it for a back up, selling it on ebay for a profit, but I really needed a jib and didn't want to fork over more $ to get one if I kept the sail. Obviously I saved the company some money by returning the sail and I think they will give me something free for my good nature, but I don't know what yet. What would you guys have done?

I certainly think you did the right thing. They goofed up and therefore I'd expect them to pay for the return shipping and maybe even overnight you the jib so you wouldn't have to wait extra long, but it wouldn't have been right to keep a main when you only paid for a jib. Good job.

yeah that's a call of right vs. wrong. I say if the company will pay for you to ship it back and send the jib quickly so you dont lose any extra money or time then you should give the main back to them. If they had tried to be real jerks about it and make you pay to ship things both ways or something then for me it would depend on the size of the company. If I'm buying from some huge seller that makes millions of dollars then they wont miss the sail at all. If it's a smaller one though, you might be making a noticable dent in their profits for keeping the sail. You can never go wrong doing what you did though as far as i'm concerned, it's the safest bet. Good job.

Does the size of the company involved really have anything to do with whether you should keep what doesn't belong to you or not? I think "Doing the right thing" has more to do with the doer than the done upon. Either way, I agree, the right thing was done.

well i mean i guess it gets way complicted if you wanna get really specific there. You could argue that large companies do "wrong things" all the time depending one how detailed you wanna get about this. anyway I mean if some large bloodsucking corporation like microsoft accidentally sent me something expensive I'd say it's their loss (not that they sell physical stuff that I know of, but it's just an example). I guess there aren't really too many companies like that who sell sails and stuff though... anyway, like i said, i would only keep it if i was sure it woudln't be missed.

Yeah, you did the right thing. However, you could have also made a deal with the sailmaker to keep the main for a reduced price and buy the jib at the normal price. That way they wouldn't have to pay for shipping and storing it until another order for a main comes in, and you both would have come out ahead. You also built up good juju.

The company had it picked up no charge, but they were out of jibs and it'll be another week or two before I see the jib. I think they're sending me some wind tails for my inconvenience, not really what I was hoping for, but what can you expect? Company was Murray's.com if anyone was wondering.

yeah that's unfortunate since now the company is having to pay for you to ship the main back, pay for the new jib to be shipped, and pay for and pay to ship the complementary item. Skipshot's idea would have been ideal but then again if you're not in the market for a new main then it doesn't work. By the way, what happened to your old jib? My actual jib sail is in good shape but I've lost over half of the batons over the years, I was hoping to find someone who had maybe torn the sail but still had the batons and could sell them to me at a reduced price. A new set is like 150 bucks!

$150 for jib battons!! No way, my local shop has the exact batton size/width, etc in 12 foot lengths. They just cut me the length I need a even put on luff caps for me. I lost 1 or 2 per year sailing in high winds until I learned to tape them thoroughly (once you adjust your tension). The tacks in high winds really tears/pulls/shreads the ends of your jib battons and they pop out. Anyway, the shop sells the battons here in Montreal for about $3/foot CA. That's about $0.75/foot in USD!!! Just kidding but still much cheaper than ordering them from Hobie, Murray's or Fogh. I'll check the price again. If as cheap as I remember, could arrange a mercy mission to get you cheap battons....

Thanks. In that case maybe there is a local shop around here that will do the same thing. I didn't check because usually they are way overpriced and it is cheaper to order stuff, but maybe if they have it in bulk like you were talking about then it would work out differently. What's it you're saying about taping them? For mine anyway, there are gromets next to the slots and slotted ends on the battons so you can tie them in. If I buy just the right length of material for the batons I guess I will have to buy the ends too.