Amazon Sent Me a $339 Item I Didn’t Order…What Happened Next is Crazy
Have you ever had something show up at your door from Amazon.com, or another site, that you didn’t order? If you have, it can be a bit of head-scratcher. This happened to me last week when we received an item that Amazon sells for a whooping $339.
I knew I couldn’t just keep it without contacting Amazon first as I figured someone had paid for it and was wondering when it would be showing at their front door. Here is how the whole thing went down and what Amazon told me to do with the expensive item…
Huge Box Shows Up at My Door
So last week, a big ol’ Amazon box shows up at our front door and my son tears it open thinking it’s his new school backpack.
To his surprise, and disappointment, the box contained a VERY expensive BIG brown comforter set for a full-sized bed.
We all scratched our heads and tried to figure out if my wife ordered it, or maybe it was a gift from someone?
We don’t have a full-sized bed in our home so we were quite perplexed. Once my wife got home, she was equally confused and had no idea why it showed up.
See Also: 6 Brilliantly Slick Ways to Get Amazon Prime for Free
Amazon Has No Record of the Order
So I took to the inter-webs and logged into our Amazon account to see if there was any record of the comforter set. Nada.
So I hit up Amazon live chat and explained the situation to the operator.
The only record of the order I had was the UPS sticker on the front of the box as it showed up without a packing slip.
After snapping a pic of the label and getting it to the Amazon rep, she could not find any record of the order anywhere in their system.
What Amazon Told Me To Do
“Keep it.”
Yes, Amazon told me to keep the $339 comforter set.
Since they had no record of the order, and thus couldn’t create a return label so I could return it, they simply told me it was mine.
But I was like, “I didn’t pay for it” and they were like, “Nothing for you to worry about, I will going to leave a note on your account” in case someone claims the bedding set at which point they’ll offer a refund or replacement.
I figured they’d thank me for my honesty and politely ask me to return it.
I guess that’s more of a pain-in-the-ass for them than it’s worth.
I wonder at what price point they’d ask me to return the item? $500, maybe $1,000? Anyone know?
The most amazing part of this whole dealio? A quick Amazon search shows this comforter set is being sold for $339. I guess I’ll put it up for sale on eBay unless you know someone who may be interested?
I plan to donate the money earned from the sale to charity.
Below is the transcript of my chat session with Amazon and details how the whole thing went down…
(Update 1/11/20) – According to this LifeHacker article, scammers could be sending you stuff you didn’t order as a way to steal Amazon boxes from your porch once they get delivered.
Apparently they use your old credit cards on your Amazon account to make it happen then swipe the stuff before you get home from work or brazenly take them while you’re home.
This could be worth a look if you think your account has been hacked recently.
See Also: Did Your Amazon Account Get Hacked? 6 Things To Do Immediately
Ask the Reader: Have you ever had a package show up at your front door that you didn’t order? How did you handle it, and if you contacted the company, what was their response?
By Kyle James
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
We once received a refurbished sewing machine from the same company we had bought a new one from – I guess they confused our address with the person getting their machine repaired. Took FOREVER on the phone to convince them they had sent someone else’s machine to us. They were practically argumentative. They had UPS pick it up.
I ordered a $20 solar light from Sears and received a $75 sander. Called them and they said they didn’t know what I was talking about, they had no record of it. The next day my light arrived. Umm ok …Thanks Sears!
I just received a bunch of items for a Samsung s5 phone, the package was addressed to me but I never ordered it. There is no record of the order on my amazon account and my bank account was never charged for it. Amazon told me I could keep the stuff or get rid of it. I hope someone isn’t sitting around waiting for their stuff to show up.
I just received two things from Amazon (in one package) that I did not order. A face peel and facial cleanser, together they cost about $50. This is the second time this has happened. My daughter once received two silicone baking mats inside her box of stuff she did order.
I just received two packages from Amazon I didn’t order. On the first day, I received a large buck knife and a portable DKnight2 Speaker (about $75 together) then a day later I received an Xbox 360 video game and I don’t even own an Xbox! I wasn’t charged for this anywhere, but I sell stuff on Amazon and I know if a seller sends an item that wasn’t described correctly or they didn’t order, Amazon will not help the seller get it back. So, I guess this is a little bit of Karma as Amazon ripped me off royally about a month ago!
I ordered a ssd for my laptop and received a box of 10. I crap you not. I was so confused.
I just received a package from Amazon that I did not order. It was a Nikon D750 camera. When I checked my Amazon account, it did not show up in my orders list, nor did I ever receive the usual email confirming an order. However, when I checked my credit card statement online, I was charged for the camera’s cost of $2,400.00!!! I contacted Amazon and explained the situation, and my conversation with them went almost exactly like Kyle’s (above) except that I won’t get a refund to my credit card until they get the item back. The customer service rep (Indian accent) was able to locate the order number and issue a return label, but she wasn’t able to tell me who had originally placed the order. She was going to send it to “Investigations” so that they could look into it. You can bet that this camera will be going back to Amazon this week!! I wonder if I’ll ever hear anything from “Investigations?”
That is crazy Darcy! Guessing it was an honest mistake…you’d think that if someone hacked your account they’d have the item sent to them, not you. Best to change your Amazon password anyways. Thanks for coming by and commenting.
I’m just wondering why you mentioned the rep you spoke to had an Indian accent. Seems irrelevant and a bit of a strange detail to add :S
No it’s not irrelevant because it shows that Amazon uses poorly trained personnel who work for peanuts on the dollar
Peanuts can get expensive
Online chat people are outsourced by Amazon, who live outside USA
Plus their knowledge of English could be inferior
Because they are usually unhelpful and it is stressful dealing with a non-American at times.
I work in a call center and guess what? The non americans have better metrics than the americans. When are you, americans, going to understand that the job that the quality of the job that one does has to do with the integrity of the person rather than the nationality? Be humble and accept others can be better than you.
Ignore the ignorant people. Most of us do not think this way.
Obviously, she mentioned that the rep was Indian, because sometimes their English is not great at all– therefore can misconstrue the issue being called about! As I’ve experienced many times so don’t get all bunched up about the comment.
the fact is it is often a matter of being able to understand the accent of the person on the other end of the line. it is extremely frustrating when trying to resolve an issue that involves money and frankly if get a call from a telemarketer that I have difficulty understanding, I just hang up.
Sometimes?
Not irrelevant at all. Anybody knows that the quality of customer service from Indian, or Filipino call centers can be terrible. Not racist. Just true.
You should probably change you’re card number to stop it from happening again.
If this ever happens again, call your credit card issuer and file a dispute. Law says that you are under no obligation to return anything that you’ve received but did not order. It would be easy to prove that you had not placed the order since there was no record of it in your Amazon account and the bank would issue a credit, plus you would keep the camera.
Hi, Kyle. I am the Darcy who left the comment above on April 4th. Guess what? I just went into my Amazon account to check things out, and there sat a pending order from April 8th for a $2,500.00 Canon camera! The only reason that it hadn’t shipped yet was that it was waiting for updated payment information. Needless to say, I did not place this order! After the first fiasco with the Nikon camera, my credit card company closed my account and issued me a new credit card. I have not yet received that card, so the information on my Amazon account is now invalid. Since the new order (shipping to me and again with no confirming email) was pending, I was able to cancel it online. But now all of this makes me afraid to update my payment information when I get it so that orders do not automatically ship. I changed my Amazon password after the first issue, so I am completely at a loss as to why this is happening. I just thought I would share. Thanks for listening!
Don’t link your account/card. I know its a pain in the butt and all, but that’s what I do manually when I order something.
One thing i never do is have my card linked to my amazon account just in case.
This literally just happened to me! Lol I ordered like 4 different things from Amazon Pantry and ended up receiving cans of Cat food lol they too let me know that I can keep the item but I don’t have a cat! I’ll ask around at work hey free cat food!!
If you still have the cat food, see if you can donate it to a local shelter. I’m sure they could use it.
That’s a great idea, they are always in need of donations♡
The reason they don’t demand it back is because they can’t per FTC law. They are out and the person who ordered it gets refunded or replaced items. Personally, if I were to get a package I would be a “good guy” and attempt to return it . When I received a book from Amazon, I’ll trade for that comforter, that I didn’t order they told me the same thing.
They wouldn’t even give me a return address. It was crazy.
I ordered a showerhead/massager from Amazon a while back, and the spa beads were missing from the order. I contacted them to have my beads sent, and they ended up just crediting my charge card for the entire purchase! They said it was due to the fact that they could no longer get that specific item. At least they are honest, and don’t give you a hard time, like some other companies would. I really appreciate that.
Major props to Amazon!
Last week we received a packaged addressed to our 7-year old son. We didn’t order anything and definitely didn’t address anything to him. Opened the box to find 4 laser toner cartridges. Yesterday, I got another package addressed to me and it was a book of Knock Knock jokes. No packing slip, no info other than the shipping labels. The toner appears to have come from a third party associated to Amazon. Nothing in the order history and no odd charges that we can see in our banking. Head-scratcher for sure. On to Amazon, but I imagine they will say keep it like all these prior posts.
Now you gotta buy a new printer. 😉
I just received a $375 Armani watch from Amazon which I did not order. There is no record of it on my Amazon account or on my credit cards. I was worried about identity theft so I did an online check and everything looked fine. Left me wondering how this all happened. So glad to find I’m not alone here. PS – I was given the option of keeping the watch or returning it and receiving a $10 gift certificate for my troubles. No brainer there. Anyone want a watch?
Wow – will this ever end? Received a VM from India lady from Amazon saying she’s sorry I never received my watch and that she will credit my account. As far as I can see this has not happened. Must have my name crossed with someone else’s account?