Just a general comment here, if I have any Secret Admirers on the Straight Dope, I accept cash.
I say, this is a charming little mystery, isn’t it?!
But surely there’s a simple way to solve it:
just call the company listed on the package, and ask them about the billing information.( If they aren’t cooperative, one tactic might be to claim that the item is defective, and you demand a refund. )
They will probably tell you who sent the package, when and how much it cost.
Or am I missing something in this story?
(And if the Brother-in-Law is “cheating” on his wife, maybe it’s best not to get too involved…)
Well he never found the drone, right? Maybe someone else found it and figured out the company it was from. Probably had a serial number on it or something. Then maybe the person felt both nice and rich enough to just pay for a replacement drone and have it sent to the address on file at the company. And then they just…wanted to keep sending presents…?
WAIT
Was it through Amazon or some other retailer that would have all three items in one store? Do you think the phantom purchaser might have accidentally gotten your brother-in-law’s address tied to their account, and they’ve been ordering things for themselves and haven’t noticed that the default address has changed? They’re sitting in their house scratching their head thinking “It says the Groot figure was delivered, but I don’t have it…”?
Kind of a stretch but…maybe…
Otherwise I don’t see how a company who refuses to tell you details about the package now would tell a random stranger your address in the first place to send you packages.
The Groot can be purchased from ThinkGeek [at least that is where I got mine]