So, I ordered some vitamins and art stencils from Amazon. They were all arriving at once, as one order. There were 4 sellers total for 6 items and everything was shipped from Amazon.
What arrived was a package containing a book on kettlebells. A book that I did not order. The package was addressed to me and when I looked on Amazon’s site, they considered my order delivered with a picture of the package, with the book in it, on my porch.
Inside the package was a receipt with my name on it and the amount I paid. There was also another slip of paper. It said that the book was a gift from some guy I do not know, who I forget the name of. And there was a QR code to scan in case of returns.
Now obviously, it was a scam. There was no way I was going to scan that QR code. Instead, I got a refund through Amazon after dealing with a few, very cheery women from India.
Looking at the sellers, there are 2 legit seeming ones, the makers of the products. Then there are 2 possibly sketchy ones, one for a metal stencil and another for a bottle of vitamins that is listed as sold by: “Amazon.com Services, Inc” Did one of these sellers somehow hijack my order?
What I want to know is, how and where the scammers pulled this off. Did the switch happen in the warehouse? Did the driver do it? Was I picked at random? Is it safe to reorder any of these products?
Is this a known scam? Has this happened to you or someone you know?
I usually have had good luck with Amazon. It bothers me that they are getting worse to deal with.
When I actually have a gift shipped through Amazon, that’s exactly what happens. The gift comes in a box with a little square slip of paper that has a QR code on it. Sometimes there’s a second piece of paper where the sender can leave a personalized note but this can also be left blank.
My guess is that someone at the Amazon warehouse took a gift and put it, along with the slip of paper it goes with, into the wrong box.
The only scam I can think of that could be related is the one where the seller buys their own item so they can then review it. They have to ship it to someone. But I’ve never heard of them making it a gift.
@BigT My name was on the receipt but not the gift note with the QR code. There were multiple sellers for the order. @Babale It never even occurred to me that it was not a scam. I suppose Occam’s razor would say that your explanation is the most likely. Thanks.
I once ordered something from them and, instead got a necklace with a heart pendant (it was right before Valentine’s) that was clearly intended for someone else. They told me to keep and sent the correct order. I insisted on returning it and did since my wife didn’t like it.
Once ordered some bamboo backscratchers, got a pair of drumsticks. So long wood things, completely interchangeable, right?
At times with other places getting sent the wrong thing is a nightmare because they want me to return the thing that I did not get first. But Amazon was cool here. Might have been different if it a $500 thing.