Short answer. Yes. Article 1522 says that where the seller delivers the goods you contracted to buy mixed with goods of a different description not in the contract, you may accept the goods which are in accordance with the contract and reject the rest. You are not forced to take what you never ordered.
What the law says
Where the seller delivers to the buyer the goods he contracted to sell mixed with goods of a different description not included in the contract, the buyer may accept the goods which are in accordance with the contract and reject the rest.
Civil Code, Article 1522 — Delivery of Wrong Quantity. Read the full provision →
What the law says
if the subject matter is indivisible, the buyer may reject the whole of the goods
Civil Code, Article 1522 — Delivery of Wrong Quantity. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Where the seller delivers to the buyer a quantity of goods larger than he contracted to sell, the buyer may accept the goods included in the contract and reject the rest.
Civil Code, Article 1522 — Delivery of Wrong Quantity. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The provisions of this article are subject to any usage of trade, special agreement, or course of dealing between the parties.
Civil Code, Article 1522 — Delivery of Wrong Quantity. Read the full provision →
Yes — take what you ordered, reject the rest
Article 1522 covers your situation precisely. It provides that Where the seller delivers to the buyer the goods he contracted to sell mixed with goods of a different description not included in the contract, the buyer may accept the goods which are in accordance with the contract and reject the rest. So you are entitled to keep the items that match your order and hand back the foreign goods that were bundled in. A seller cannot force unwanted goods on you simply by mixing them with what you actually bought. The right is yours to exercise; you may accept the conforming goods and refuse the intruders.
The catch: indivisible subject matter
There is an important limit. The article says that in cases like this, if the subject matter is indivisible, the buyer may reject the whole of the goods. Where the goods form a single indivisible unit that cannot sensibly be split — so that separating your order from the extras would defeat the purpose — you are not obliged to keep a broken-up delivery. Instead, you may reject everything. This protects a buyer from being stuck with a fragment of an indivisible thing; the mixing was the seller's mistake, and the law does not make the buyer absorb it.
The same article on short and excess deliveries
Article 1522 handles the neighbouring problems the same even-handed way. If the seller delivers less than agreed, you may reject the short delivery; but if you keep it knowing he will not complete the order, you pay for what you kept at the contract rate. If the seller delivers a quantity of goods larger than he contracted to sell, the buyer may accept the goods included in the contract and reject the rest, and if you accept the whole, you pay for all of it at the contract rate. The theme is consistent: you pay for what you knowingly keep, and you may refuse the excess.
These are default rules
Finally, the article yields to what the parties have arranged between themselves. It states that The provisions of this article are subject to any usage of trade, special agreement, or course of dealing between the parties. So an established trade practice, a specific clause in your contract, or a consistent pattern in how you and this seller have dealt before can modify these rights. Absent such a special arrangement, though, the default is clear — you accept the goods that conform and reject the goods of a different description you never ordered.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Sps. Alexander and Julie Lam vs. Kodak Philippines, Ltd, G.R. No. 167615, January 11, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →