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)
Received a $20 mask that we didn’t order today. From the Amazon Covington KY fulfillment center. No gift or shipping receipt inside and thus no order number. Called Amazon and they couldn’t tell me why it was shipped to me and just advised that I keep it. From searching the web, apparently this happens a lot from the Covington KY center. I’m just sorry that it wasn’t a more expensive item. We’ll give this away.
I had heard that employees in shipping departments steal items by fulfilling a fake order and shipping it to where the occupants are at work all day. They, or a friend, watches for UPS and picks up the package. They either want the item or they want to sell it.
Oddly I was just shipped 2 pairs of new underpants in a package that looked slit open and retaped, I was thinking it was going to be some creepy stalker, or my account got hacked and this was someone trying to put in a small order before ordering something big but after being on a chat with Amazon, they assured me it was their mistake and that my account was secure. They told me to keep it as their gift to me, ha ha, Amazon gave me underpants!
A play kitchen just showed up, billed to me, supposedly ordered by me 5 days ago on Amazon, but I never placed the order. Could my 2 year-old have ordered it when pressing a bunch of buttons randomly on my phone? I cannot imagine how else this could have happened. Will just return it, UPS will come back and pick it up.
I found your post because the same things has happened to us, last week it was an international surge protector, this week it was tennis elbow bands. Called amazon and explained we have no idea where these came from, they aren’t on our order history, not on our wish lists, never items we’ve even looked into and there was no packing slip. They told us to keep them or give them away as worked best for us….. I’m just curious if we will get anything next week too.
How strange? For the last 6 months I have been recieving packages from amazon and ebay addressed to me of routers and modems. Its very strange because I dont even have an amazon account, and as for ebay theres nothing in my order history or charged from my bank account. So far I have recieved 4 routers, 2 modems, and a power cord for a modem through the mail like this.
I just got a $75 stovetop fry pan last week from Amazon…that I didn’t order! How weird.
Just 4 hours ago, I received a new Xbox one limited edition bundle which costs $450 from amazon. I didn’t order it and no charge was taken from my bank account either.
The funny part is that the seller mentioned on shipping label is the one that I bought Strapless Bra from last week, I checked all the product they sell, all women accessaries. So how they gonna send me an Xbox console？？
Anyway, I will wait till tomorrow and see if there is any email or call. If not, I will contact amazon to see if there is any way to find out the real customer who is still waiting for his Gears of war 4……
Crazy.. I got a 450 dollar IRUMBA vacuum cleaner..
We ordered a Simmons beauty rest mattress. Which was to be delivered Nov 29th it was a 455. Matress. 5. Days after ordered I receive a summons beauty rest in a box I called amazon told them I didn’t order this much more expensive one. 987.00 they had no record didn’t come off my card they told me it was my choice I can return it or keep it but my mattress I did order is still being delivered on 29th. I’ve been good customer n a elderly man my husband helps him out mows his lawn. Well he was sleeping on an inflatable mattress cause he couldn’t afford a new one. We had told him he could have our old one which was still in good condition. But it’s a full size we bought a queen. When we brought over the mattress we ordered on 29th it was like Santa came early he was teary eyed & said no neighbor had ever been so nice as we have. I figured he needed it more than amazon. God will bless amazon & us. We told him what happened he said God does listen. Thank you amazon you made this sweet elderly man day
Wonderful story! Thanks for sharing Judy.
How kind of you! I love hearing stories like this! Thank you for doing your part to make this world a better place! God bless you and your family!
Tuesday I got 2 packages from Amazon, one was mine that I had ordered and the other one was a nerf gun that I did not order. I was busy, sat it to the side and forgot about it. Wednesday, same thing I got a package of what I had ordered and another box, I just thought why didn’t they put it the same box and opened it to find a children’s book, a pokemon movie and 2 Kindle Fire’s! The boxes have someone else’s name on them, but with my address. I Posted on facebook asking if anyone knows this person and I have also asked in a few buy sell trade groups for my area, these are obviously someone’s presents, but no one know who this person is. I even contacted a friend of mine on the police department and they can find no record of this person in my state. Amazon dose not know why I got the packages, they just said “well that was the address provided”. I do live in an apartment complex and I work for the power company so I was able to look at all the accounts of tenants who have lived here and there is no one. Not really sure what to do, but I don’t want to ruin some kids Christmas! I guess for now they will sit in the box. There is also no packing slip, gift receipt or receipt in the box, just the items, which I thought was odd. I did check my amazon account and there is no suspicious activity , the same with my bank.
I was sent over $250 worth of baby formula and bottle cleaner… I don’t have a baby! I started a chat with Amazon about it and they were a real pain about it….
“10:19 AM PST Amit: Jaclyn, I can’t find any information about this order from our system.
10:20 AM PST Amit: In this case what the best I can suggest for you is that you can return it to the given address.
172 Trade St, Lexington, KY 40511, USA
10:22 AM PST Jaclyn: I really don’t want to pay for return shipping on this item. I did not order it and it will be expensive for me to ship back because it is so heavy.
10:22 AM PST Amit: Okay Jaclyn.
10:23 AM PST Amit: In this case you can keep this item with you or can donate it to someone you want.
10:23 AM PST Jaclyn: Okay thank you.”
Why would I pay return shipping on something I didn’t order??? I’d have to be crazy to do that. Now I have formula for a baby I don’t have. I’ll probably donate it to a woman’s shelter or sell it and give the money to a charity.
It is illegal for them to ask you to send it back! See the rules here: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/business-guide-ftcs-mail-internet-or-telephone-order
Same thing happened today. We order our pet food and cat litter from them. Got a message saying that the last bag of puppy food arrived we did get a package but it was a $400 laptop. My wife tried to call and figure it out but got someone she couldn’t understand and was on hold for forever so she hung up.
My wife and I got a package from Amazon made out to me and her. We didn’t order… an Irumba! Vacuum cleaner.. came with a gift receipt saying “a gift for you, enjoy your gift! From Robert P. Gray CPA.. ONLY THING IS, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE HELL HE IS!?!?. I DID GOOGLE THESE IRUMBAS ABOUT A MONTH AGO JUST TO SEE HOW MUCH THEY COST… and low and behold I get one in the mail as a gift from someone I have never heard of or met… i scanned the gift receipt that was in the box and it says I can return or exchange it. I am at a loss.. my account hasn’t been charged either.. but how did they know my name and address and who is this guy that just sends a $450 gift to a stranger???
I’m having the same issue from Target. I ordered a gift for my son from Amazon (I had shopped all over online to get the best price) and it came last week. Yesterday, the same item came from Target with my name and address but billed to a woman in Maryland??
If you have public wishlist he may have looked at it and decided be generous soul and send it to you. Idk why he chose this item for you but he did.
This is so weird! Today I had a box from Amazon that arrived addressed to me… with a mini billiards table! I tried contacting Amazon and they told me to keep it. I have no idea what I am going to do with a $70 mini pool table and no idea where it came from. The label seems to have come from a third party distributor. The rep said it’s possible the company sent it to me as a gift but I have never browsed for this item or anything similar before so it makes little sense that they would send it to me?
When Fed Ex delivers an item to the wrong house on mistake they are required to pay the seller for the cost of the lost item. That’s probably why Amazon didn’t care.
I had this happen with an expensive microwave that showed up at my front door. As with your situation, Amazon told me to keep it. I was amazed but hey, that’s pretty cool, right?
Well, to my surprise the next day FEDex showed up looking for the package. I told them Amazon told me to keep it but they said they weren’t leaving until I handed it over and that they were going to call the cops if I didn’t. My point is that just because Amazon tells you to keep something doesn’t mean that some delivery truck driver who made a mistake won’t come around looking for it.
I would have called 911 and told them that I was being harassed by a FedEx driver. The law says you may keep something that you did not order that was delivered to your home, unless it’s an illegal substance and in that case you should call 911. But you called Amazon and they told you to keep this item, and you could have easily given it away by the time FedEx showed up looking for it. There is no way a cop can enter your home to look for the package without a warrant. That would violate your civil rights. The FedEx guy made a mistake and tried to turn the tables on you. I hope you stood your ground.
I have a similar situation with a slight twist. I came home the other day and found that Amazon’s own delivery service had dropped off a package I didn’t order. Neither the name nor address on the package was mine. As far as I know the package was addressed correctly, and this was purely the delivery person’s mistake for leaving it at the wrong place.
If this happened with any other delivery service, I’d contact them and expect that they’d pick it up and redeliver it correctly, so I logged into my Amazon account and chatted with a CS rep and explained the situation. She used the tracking # to find the original order and she scheduled a UPS pickup for the next day (even though this was originally an Amazon delivery), and sure enough, the brown truck came and got the package.
I thought that was the end of it, until today when I got an email from Amazon telling me that my return of item x had been processed and I now have a gift card balance of $23.68! At this point, I don’t know if it’s even worth trying to explain to Amazon that they didn’t owe me this money.
i ordered an item but was sent the better, more expensive version – like i ordered the $175 item and got the $375 item instead. they told me that i can send it back for the one i ordered or keep the one i got and then they said happy Hanukkah.
We got a fridge delivered that we didn’t order, then a Bluetooth speaker, and a series of other things that have made no sense. Naturally, it’s while we’re trying to reduce what we own to make moving easier. Thanks, Internet.
I’m reading this thread because I received a BT speaker I didn’t order. was yours the best selling model?
I have been receiving random Amazon packages I did not order for weeks now! I’m so confused — but so glad to see this post and the comments, so I know that it’s not just me! So far, I’ve received a cheap polyester XXL men’s sport coat, a wireless security camera, a bike light, and a gaming headset. It’s so strange. Every time I think “this must be the last one,” I get another one!
I’ve had two similar experiences. The first time, around Christmas, I was looking at a bunch of toys on Amazon in preparation for Christmas. I received some toys in the mail which I had looked at but not ordered. Weird!
And it just happened again today. And each time my cc was charged without my knowledge.
I am starting to wonder if Amazon’s use of Artificial intelligence has created a sort of “rogue Alexa” inside the system, that is placing orders for people.