Amazon Sent Me a $339 Item I Didn’t Order…What Happened Next is Crazy

Updated January 18, 2024 by Kyle James
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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…

Amazon Sent Me a $339 Item I Didn't Order...What Happened Next is Crazy

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…

Amazon Chat Session

(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

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PickyChoosy

“…reason they don’t demand it back is because they can’t per FTC law.”

Walmart did. They must not know about FTC law because they said to just return it. So I had to drive out of my way to the nearest WM. No skin off my back but just giving my 2 cents lol.

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Mindirella

I received two things week that I didn’t order. One was on Monday, I received a phone case for an iphone 10 (selling for about $27 on Amazon), the other was today. I received a package of shower drain covers (selling for about $17 on Amazon).

I used the help feature on Amazon to have someone call me to discuss this. They guy was definitely from out of the country. He thought it was hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing about it.

He had me read the tracking # on the envelope, since there was no package slip in either envelope. After about 10 minutes on hold, he came back on and told me someone had sent them to me as a gift. He said they were from two different people.

I asked who sent them, and he said privacy laws wouldn’t allow him to tell me.

He asked if that solved the issue, I said “NO but I guess it is what it is….” and then told him if I got more of these I’d be calling back for a manager’s assistance.

I think it’s kinda creepy! Especially that he thought it was funny. I don’t think it is!

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Polly

This has happened to me to. With the same exact response from Amazon. They gave me a name of the sender but couldn’t tell me the state in which it was sent from. Said that i must have received a gift from someone. I have two random packages now with very random stuff. Tracking lights came in the first one and now an Oil Sprayer. So weird.

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Amanda Chavez

Ive been recieving one item per week for the past 3 months. All random. All pretty useless to me – mesh bags, measuring spoons- thermal bags, external dvr, tv antenna, a bath mat. Well today i checked my mail and i had 5 packages. 5. All from amazon. All things i havent ordered. None have ever had a packing slip and I’m beginning to worry .

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Ghayner

I’ve received at least 10 unordered packages from Amazon when I wasn’t home. Many more came but I refused shipment because I was home to stop them. I’ve received hair ties, expensive thermometers, phone charging cables, $80 earbuds (twice), phone cases, a digital tv converter box, lightening av cables, dog grooming glove, some weird kind of jump rope, mop slippers, anti-cellulite scrubber, and flashlights. All items were made in China, were not charged to me, and were mailed to my name and address. Amazon says they were shipped as gift, to keep them. They are shipped from a variety of places, with a variety of sender addresses (which they wouldn’t give me), and from user names like: rtyu or qasw – random letters. Scratching my head at this. It has to be some kind of scam, but what?

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Sue

It’s strange that this happens so much. It’s also very unnerving that as often as this happens, Amazon is gladly telling people to keep this stuff, and on the other side there is someone who ordered this stuff and will get their refund for no delivery What ya’ll are forgetting is the seller is the one who gets bent over by Amazon and has to eat the loss. Many are hard-working small businesses that really feel these losses and with the changes to the return policies getting even more liberal, we will have no choice but to raise prices or die out. And another thing, the fraud and deceit go both ways, not only to buyers, but sellers experience it almost in a daily basis I really hope Amazon tracks the returns like they say in this article.

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Clare

Difference being, small businesses have better tracking procedures, these packages are poorly labeled and with crazy wording, for me signs of some type of scam/fraud.

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Jas

I am so relieved that I am not the only one this is happening to! About a month ago I started receiving packages from Amazon prime with items I did not order. I contacted Amazon to let them know and they told me my name and address were on the account, but my credit card was not nor was my email. I checked my bank account and credit score and luckily no changes there. They said they couldn’t provide me with any information regarding who owned the account aside from my name was on it. I was very confused as to why someone would buy and ship items they will never receive. After the 4th or 5th package I left them at the mailbox with a “return to sender” across the top and the mailman took them back. Today, one item was returned again, so I left it there with a message taking wrong address. Amazon said they were going to escalate it, but it looks like they tell that to everyone and nothing actually happens. If I know I did not order anything I’m not bothering to figure out what it is and just leaving it for he mailman to pick back up. Amazon needs to figure out a way to stop this from happening! Definitely a blessing for those receiving items they needed lol but they need more security measures.

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Krista

We also received 2 separate packages that we did not order. We were very concerned due to what the items were, lets just say they were very inappropriate. No packing label, nothing in the package but the items. We were planning to call amazon to see what was going on. Glad to see it is not just us.

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Krista

Also these items came in our name, to our address, the only thing was we had an ! at the end of our street name. They came prime shipping as well.

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Tim c

I ordered an echo Alexa Dot. The item came but it wouldn’t link to any audio. I called the first guy kept telling me it was iheartradio’s fault. The second person I talked to told me there was going to be a repair team that would contact me in 3 to 4 business days weird. I called back again just to try to talk to some of the on the same field as me. I told him I issue I told him I talk to other Amazon employees about it and he said just keep the old one or donate it and they’ll send me a new one overnight. It randomly wouldn’t let me listen to iHeartRadio or any radio skills or apps. Even Amazon music on Spotify wouldn’t work.

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Lila

I have, just after the holidays, began receiving packages, 1 a day, that I haven’t ordered. I have never dealt with Amazon and have no account there. I am still receiving packages averaging 1 every 3 days. Addressed to my name and address and the label also has my phone number on it (this bothers me). Neither my bank or credit card is being charged. Things I’m receiving I cannot use, a hands free pumping bra, a jacket for a child, a face replacement for a cell phone that I don’t own, etc. Amazon is of no help when you can understand what they are saying. What to do?

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shelly

We are receiving packages in my Daughters name, to an apartment we haven’t lived in for almost 2 years. We do still still live in the same complex & they know us so they just call us whenever the boxes arrive. New tenant in that apartment is getting a little irritated!! First shipment of boxes was just random electronic stuff but also a bathroom mirror that is LED backlit & has to be installed in wall – which we cant use since we live in apartment. Was approximately a $200 product!!

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Helz

Just today Amazon sent me a beautiful little espresso maker (worth about £28). On delivery I opened the package expecting the chocolate I’d ordered for my mother (worth £12). I immediately hailed the delivery man who happened to be delivering next door. He took the parcel and phoned head office who assured me my actual parcel would be sent to me. Later I checked my online account where alongside my order it said “customer refused delivery “. With the result that my order was cancelled with no refund. I phoned Amazon who weren’t all that arsed but said they’d send out the order “again”. Moral of story Amazon refuses to believe that the Q serial number does not tally with contents so if you receive something exceeding the value of actual order keep the bloody thing and forget doing the right thing…

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Random internet news browser

This didn’t happen to me, but I was browsing news articles, saw 1 about an older couple this was happening to, & found this page when I wanted to look up more info.

Ya’ll might be interested in knowing that it’s a scam (isn’t it always?). At least the ones sent as gifts. It’s from some sellers who set up fake accts, pay w/ gift cards, & send their product as gifts to random people.

This allows them to give “verified purchase” fake reviews so that their items show up higher on the search results list. At most they’re out the cost of shipping, while gaining better “real estate” on Amazon.

Amazon is getting wise to this though, so keep reporting these so that these dishonest sellers won’t take over the search results & the hardworking sellers don’t get pushed to the bottom.

Everyone else…….. just keep an eye on your bank accts/cc’s.

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Daniel Iser

Only problem with that theory is that the items I received in October of 2017, including a $340 dash camera system which is actually pretty cool, do not have any reviews as of today.

I saw that same article and got excited I may finally know the source of this random package. It also included a Jack Reacher book.

That said after having read this full list of comments now I noticed that those matching the original articles criteria (below) shared many similarities to mine with one exception.

Criteria
– Package addresses properly to your address and name.
– Kentucky Distribution center.
– No package list or info in box.
– Random Item/s, often not something previously viewed before.
– Official Prime box and tape.
– Not in order history.
– Not charged for the item ever.

Those not matching this criteria are suffering. From various forms of identity theft or credit card fraud.

My only difference is that mine came from a fulfillment center in Las Vegas. Specifically 3837 Bay Lake Trail, Suite 115, North Las Vegas NV 89030.

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Beverly wence

I have received 3 packages that I have not ordered, from n. Las vegas

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It’s me

I just received two packages to a 10-year old address from this same distributor, did you guys ever figure out why?

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NO name

Got something today from this same address………anyone know more about this ?

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Alix

I’ve received 3 packages this week from the bay lake trail, Las Vegas address that I haven’t ordered. As far as I can tell I haven’t been charged anywhere, but it’s freaking me out. Has my full name and address. Is there any way to stop this?

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Cee

Amazon sent me a 39.99 vibrating butt plug on accident. Good thing my wife likes sex toys.. that could have been problematic had she opened the box and not been cool with it.

No, I didn’t contact them. Too awkward.

It’s crazy powerful and drives her nuts when I tease her nips 😁😁

Amazon is awesome.

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Patricia A Erickson

i need some answer as to why i send items back which came to amazon and when do i get money back noone knows this first time i ever ordered anything

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Eddie

Yes I been getting them also. It’s been driving me crazy I got another one yesterday. And 3 before that

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