Packing list says I paid 179 bucks for worthless looking nutritional supplements. 2 items. All the correct info as far as my name and address. Checked my records of my credit and debit cards and can’t find where I’ve been charged. If this is a scam, how does it work? The packing list is very normal looking and has an address and phone number but I’m reluctant to call until I think about it for a bit. My info on the packing list has the wrong phone number but it’s very close. I googled the company, “Total Life Changes” and found lots about it being a scammy MLM ripoff but nothing about them sending unordered stuff. Are they waiting on me to call so they can try and sell me stuff?
Any advice?
Call them. They’ll tell you to keep the product for free since it was their mistake. If you like it, you can order some more when you run out. That’s when they get you. It’s a new twist on the old, “free sample”. But, if they sent you the product for “free” you wouldn’t know that it’s actually WORTH $179 DOLLARS!11!!. Which, of course, it isn’t. But they’re hoping you think it is. So when they offer you a discount on future purchases (oh, and even greater discounts if your join their TEAM of independent sales consultants–or whatever the fuck they might call it). So you won’t mind buying some more. Especially since you already got $180 worth of free stuff. The $100 dollars of 50% product you buy later will still seem like an amazing bargain. That’s almost $400 worth of stuff that you got for just $100. But, of course, it’s really only 18 cents worth of product and like $4 total in shipping costs.
Hell, you’ve already Googled the company and you’ve posted about it on a message board to share the word. If that kind of advertising isn’t worth the small price they spent in mailing, I’m not sure what is. Compare that to all of the mass junk mail adverts you’ve thrown out and ignored. This one caught your attention.
Also the address of the company (on the packing list and shipping label) is in MI, but UPS tracking shows it being shipped from NC by “Anonymous”
Who would actually ingest some random crap somebody sent you unordered? Not me. 
Thanks for your input.
Could it be a gift to you ordered by a friend or relative?
No.
Is there anyone in North Carolina who would benefit from your death?
Probably a scam, but you are probably not the target.
You cannot be charged for anything delivered to you by mistake. If a package has been addressed to you at your proper address, it’s yours to do with as you please. You are under no obligation to pay for it or return it. Under federal law, it’s considered an unconditional gift on the part of the sender.
What you do want to do is maybe check if there’s an Amazon listing for the product and if someone has left a review under your name. This is the scam these days. Generate fake 5-star reviews from “verified” buyers after sending something to their address. Amazon sees that you received such an item, so there aren’t any automatic red flags for fake reviews.
That said, if they do ask for payment, that’s a direct scam. You can ignore such a request with no legal consequences. As far as the law is concerned, they sent you a free gift.
I think brushing is the most likely explanation.
Another possibility is someone ordered the stuff using a stolen credit and had it sent to a neighbor’s address, with the intention of grabbing the package off their porch when it arrives, before the recipient sees it. Then if and when the credit card is reported stolen, there’s no evidence linking them to the theft. This obviously works better during normal times when people aren’t at home 24 hours a day.
Can’t they revoke your hippie card for that?
That is interesting. A few months back a cousin of mine ordered a hammock or a lawn chair or some such outside furniture for a $20.00 close-out price from some website that shipped from China (not Ali Baba.) The order didn’t arrive, she reversed the charge with her credit card. Only later she gets a package from China from that company containing a small flimsy plastic toy school bus.
It’s $180! It’s gotta be high quality.
I think they revoked my hippie card back in the late 90’s when I went from long to very short hair!
I’m inclined to think Bear Nenno nailed it in the first reply. I’m thinking they expect the recipient to immediately call them and give them an opportunity for a sales pitch, and to verify that their contact info is accurate.
The only people in my life that would have the resources to gift me 179 dollars worth of anything are real health and fitness buffs that know their shit about diet and exercise and would not be taken in by scam operators like this.
That’s just “drop shipping”, where the seller has the merch sent directly from his source.
I’m a shipping and receiving guy from way back. I’m familiar with drop shipping but at some point someone typed “anonymous” into a computer screen as the shipper. Why?
Typically when you order illicit drugs through the mail, you don’t send them to your own house. Considering the contents were “supplements,” I wouldn’t be surprised if a local teenager drops by your place asking if maybe you got his package by “mistake.”
For some reason that cracks me up. A toy plastic school bus? It doesn’t get much more random than that.
“Hammock,” in Chinese means, “small flimsy plastic school bus,” like, “Coca Cola,” means, “Bite the wax tadpole.”
