Amazon parcel delivered in error

[Acey]

I found a parcel in my porch this morning, delivered by Amazon Prime. It had my address but there is no-one here of that name.

I contacted Amazon and was told that it was delivered in error (well I knew that) and, after they checked the name and tracking number, was told to either keep the item or donate it, and they will offer the original recipient a re-delivery or a refund, at the customers' choice.

Seems an odd way of doing business to me; what do others think ?

 

[DarloRich]

I found a parcel in my porch this morning, delivered by Amazon Prime. It had my address but there is no-one here of that name.

I contacted Amazon and was told that it was delivered in error (well I knew that) and, after they checked the name and tracking number, was told to either keep the item or donate it, and they will offer the original recipient a re-delivery or a refund, at the customers' choice.

Seems an odd way of doing business to me; what do others think ?

they wont care: they have been paid and it will cost them more than it is worth to arrange collection, transportation, processing and disposal of a relatively cheap item

They did the same thing when they sent me the wrong book. They were very apologetic, sent the correct book out free and told me to do what I liked with the wrong one. I gave it to charity as it wasn't a topic I was interested in.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Yeah, this is pretty standard behaviour from Amazon. They don't really have mechanisms for taking product back into stock following a misdelivery / error, 90% of the time it's just cheaper/easier for them to write it off and send the order out again.

 

[westv]

Delivered in error? Presumably the correct recipient put the wrong address?

 

[Acey]

Yes indeed,although it could be a scam apparently !

 

[swt_passenger]

Yes indeed,although it could be a scam apparently !

There’s a scam known as “brushing”. A dodgy firm uses fake deliveries of cheap tat to drive their ranking up for the expensive items they want to sell. With a fake purchase and delivery “in the system” they can then add a fake review of their business. They only need your address, there’s apparently no security issue.

Which magazine has an explanation here:

Brushing involves an unscrupulous seller, or an agent acting on behalf of the seller, sending usually cheap-to-ship items to unsuspecting people and then falsely logging it as a genuine sale in order to artificially inflate sales volumes.

As a result, Amazon customers risk being misled into choosing products that aren't as good as they seem.

Brushing is primarily designed to game Amazon's highly competitive search ranking system, which favours products with high sales volumes and good reviews. Because consumers will rarely search beyond the first page or two of product results on the Amazon website, it's important for sellers to appear as high up as possible.

One million households in the UK potentially hit by Amazon 'brushing' scams - Which?

Exclusive survey shines spotlight on scale of the Amazon seller scam for the first time, as Which? members tell of being bombarded with parcels they didn't order

www.which.co.uk

 

[skyhigh]

There’s a scam known as “brushing”. A dodgy firm uses fake deliveries of cheap tat to drive their ranking up for the expensive items they want to sell. With a fake purchase and delivery “in the system” they can then add a fake review of their business. They only need your address, there’s apparently no security issue.

Which magazine has an explanation here:

Very oddly I had a decent name branded item turn up from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. Because I'm a suspicious old codger I use a slightly different variation of my name on eBay orders and it was this variation on the label, so I'm supposing someone I bought from on eBay used my delivery details.

Everything I've ordered recently on eBay has arrived and I've not ordered anything like the thing that turned up, so I'm assuming it was "brushing" in my case.

Why they'd choose to send an item worth £45 I'm unsure though. Amazon told me I could keep it.

 

[Parjon]

Why not leave them a rubbish review for their troubles?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Why not leave them a rubbish review for their troubles?

That would be one way of thwarting the "brushing" thing as described above... however as the OP didn't order the item on their account I'm not sure how easy it will be to leave a review. I've never attempted to write a review for an item I hadn't ordered, so I've no idea if doing so is easy or even possible.

 

[Parjon]

Very true. And I suppose many of these products are sold by many different Amazon or eBay retailers including under different brand names.

It's ironic that we as a country tie our own industry and retail up in so many safety and quality rules and regulations... And then just let any old tat/fake goods/unsafe electronics/false advertising to proliferate on these platforms. That then go on to pay next to no tax.

 

[kristiang85]

My boss had a £150 star wars light sabre turn up at work, from Amazon with his name and address. He's never known why, and he has no interest in Star Wars. But it's made for a funny feature on his office wall ever since

 

[johntea]

Amazon certainly have some interesting delivery logistics, I ordered a couple of items on Saturday afternoon specifically using the 3-5 day free delivery option (not a Prime member) and wasn't in a rush for them at all, yet they had them delivered to my door by Sunday afternoon!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Amazon certainly have some interesting delivery logistics, I ordered a couple of items on Saturday afternoon specifically using the 3-5 day free delivery option (not a Prime member) and wasn't in a rush for them at all, yet they had them delivered to my door by Sunday afternoon!

Like with the post it's sometimes easier just to chuck "1st and 2nd class" in together. It's about guaranteed next day, not whether you might happen to get it next day anyway. They could do what some companies do and delay dispatch, but that complicates stock control.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Yes indeed,although it could be a scam apparently !

Take it that the Amazon parcel didn't contain an expensive, high-spec, mobile telephone or similar item?

 

[Acey]

Haven't opened it yet

The mystery has been cleared up,

The box I received emblazoned with Amazon labels /tape stickers etc and addressed to an unknown person,was,in fact a packet of lawn feed that I had ordered from Ebay the previous day !

I only opened it today and had already received a refund from the Ebay seller for an undelivered item.

I feel such a twit but don't consider it's all my fault but there you go !

I've notified the seller and offered to reimburse him and apologised for the inconvenience




Last edited: 35 minutes ago



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