It’s a scam! If you received packages that you didn’t order, what did you do about it?
I haven’t have any unordered packages sent to me but I did get an offer for a free Amazon gift card if I gave a high rating for something I purchased. I got the offer in the mail. I held onto it to see if I could report it somewhere. I haven’t found anywhere to report it yet.
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One of the best ways to check on reviews is to install FakeSpot on your browser. Besides making my own assessments of Amazon reviews, I am presented with a “FakeSPot Analysis” of those reviews. I can also trigger a new analysis if one is out of date. Their algorithm has ways of finding the fakers, including looking at all the things that an account reviews and trends in their reviews. Fakers leave trails. Check it out at www.fakespot.com and install it yourself.
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I’ve received 3 unsolicited Amazon packages over the past couple of months. The first, I can’t remember, but the other two were a rechargeable cabinet light, and yesterday (6/20/2022) a king-sized comforter (blanket). The light was delivered by Amazon deliveries and the blanket by UPS. I called Amazon CS both times.They tried to look up the tracking numbers, but both searches were unsuccessful. They advised me to keep the merchandise (gee, thanks!). Nothing shows on my Amazon account, and I haven’t been charged, but I’ve had Amazon CS note on my account that I’ve received unordered items. If I get more freebies, I’ll call them in, as well.
Four years ago we downsized and put the old house up for sale. One day I was back at the old house doing yard work and realized there was two packages on the porch; they were addressed to me. I suspected that a family member had sent them, not having our new address. I opened the packages and found they contained new Apple 7 phones from Sprint, which I had not ordered. I went to a local Sprint store, but they couldn’t help me. I called Sprint and explained the situation; they took my phone number, email address, and new address, then said they would have their crime unit contact me. They never contacted me. I already had good iPhones and had no use for them. I was told by one phone store that they were locked onto Sprint and tied to my name, that if I used them they would charge me for the phones. I gave up and just stashed them in a closet, where they still sit.
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I got brushed at two addresses, the most recent time was about a year of endless junk, a few decent things, but a lot of stuff I couldn’t pawn or give away. Initially it was amusing until it wasn’t. It became so overwhelming that I stopped calling Amazon bc inevitably I was told to keep the item.
I became able to tell patterns to the shipments. They’d ramp up a few weeks before a major holiday and Prime Day. I would often see the item as a Lightning Deal or on sale.
Years ago before they changed their review policy I did get free items to review, all those reviews got wiped and I think that’s how I got in the list to brush the first time. The second, stupid me signed up on several Freebie sites to get a “free gift” I free pretty confident that’s how I ended up getting endless packages. It stopped when Covid first hit China. That’s how I knew something was amiss. It actually made me sad, because behind the hundreds of phone cases and wires was a human.
I have a pretty good eye for fake reviews as well as ones that the person got an item for free. But I still make sure to sort by most recent and dig deep. A LOT of sellers pull a switcheroo. they will replace a highly rated item with an entirely different one.
Also, I highly recommend only buying items that are “Fulfilled by Amazon” because if you don’t, you will possibly have difficulty returning
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Thanks to a hobby of mine I have been shopping across several sites. You will often find the exact same thing on Walmart, Aliexpress, Groupon, and eBay and for some craft and beauty stuff, Shein. Take advantage of Google Shopping, image search in apps. Walmart like Amazon has third party sellers, so pay attention make sure it’s fulfilled by Walmart. Those bogus reviews are there as well. I must say I have had good luck w Walmart s online customer service.
This has only happened to me once, about 4 or 5 years ago. It was a cheap “disco ball” thing that would shine lights/stars and other garbage on the ceiling. I researched and read they do this and then write as if they were me and give themselves a 5 star review!
So I checked my Amazon account, it didn’t show this item or any reviews that I know I didn’t write. So I have no idea why I got this.
Amazon is not USPS,
unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep, [according to the United States Postal Inspection Service]
Over July 4th holiday received somebodies grocery delivery. Was out of town. What a stinky mess.
Package redirection scam? I received 2 unsolicited packages for random items within 2 wks from diff companies; one was not affiliated with amazon (I called them, one company had me on hold for 10 min, I had to hang up, but the other was super helpful. I Asked them if they sell on Amazon and they said no…they are a small business that makes custom items…the item was custom and expensive. they provided a return label and asked me to send it back to them and thanked me profusely for letting them know so that they can be on lookout when scammer comes back to cash in). Both packages had my name and address on them and both had the same “phone number” referenced, which is not my number. Googling the # came up with nothing. Our credit is always frozen, and I checked all financial statements looking for fraud charges, found nothing. Checked credit report, again clean. Clark team- do you have advice? How does the perp cash in? They buy something with a stolen credit card, have it shipped to random person and then claim they never got package, demand refund, but how do they profit from this? How do they end up “cashing in”? I have received notices from various service providers through the years including recently regarding data breaches (for instance Equifax-remember that one? and recently -medical providers-husbands’ orthopedic dr. He visited this dr one time and then we got a letter about a security breach. Wow, that didn’t take long). Also I tried to order something from Facebook marketplace sev mths ago and tracking showed it arrived….but it didn’t. Might have been a false tracking email -phishing. But item never arrived. Then later I received the “item” but it was a completely different brand and size of the item. It came from Hawaii. My residential address was on the package but it was addressed (name on package) to someone other than me. It can’t get more weird, I’m telling you!!!
I received about 5 different shipments through Amazon for large boxes of cat food. I do not own a cat. I contacted Amazon and they said it was being ordered through my Amazon Prime account. I canceled Prime. Still got more cat food, now in larger boxes with 80 cans per box. Amazon said that they could do nothing. I was still being charged for the Prime fee every month. I was fed up with the whole mess, so canceled the Amazon account. I found that I could buy everything from Walmart. Even after canceling, I received another box of cat food. Then I canceled the credit card for the Amazon account. I haven’t got any more cat food, but did get email saying that I needed to get a new credit card because the shipper could no longer access my account! Good riddance to a headache. Who needs them?
Did you tell Amazon it was identity fraud? Did you contact the shipper to dispute the recurring order, and tell them it was fraudulent?
Yes and yes. The shipper said they had orders and payment for those orders, so would continue to ship until the order was canceled. Amazon said they could not cancel orders for which they had no records. Amazon eventually said there was just nothing else they could do. After many tries to fix these annoying shipments in every way possible, I did the ONE thing that I could actually control: I left Amazon and the associated credit card for my account. I have never been happier, and have saved a ton of money and wasted time! Life is too short to put up with this type of aggravation. PS: I donated a truck load of cat food to animal shelters, friends, and other charities!
I’ve received 3 monthly Amazon orders of puppy food addressed to a previous resident’s name – I guess it’s a subscription that’s been set up. The previous tenant said she never ordered this so there’s nothing in her account to update or cancel. I forwarded her your article and asked her to follow your recommendations. She’s called Amazon twice now but was told they can’t do anything to help her because the order doesn’t show on her account. So Amazon continues to drop these monthly deliveries. I called and was told they couldn’t help me because it’s not my account. Not sure how to stop this, but now I have the box at my front door with “REFUSED - Addressee no longer at this address” written on it. Hoping to catch an Amazon driver who will know what to do to put a stop to this. Just crazy!
Amazon and UPS drivers always refused me to take back unordered packages. USPS drivers will take them back and return to sender.
I ordered two 3M furnace filters from Costco a few years ago and was surprised when a big box with 5 filters inside showed up. These were the 5" deep filters that go for around $25 each. I called Costco and they advised me to return them to my store. I was aware that legally I could keep them, and weighed doing just that. But ultimately I kept the two I had paid for and returned three to the store. The customer service clerk thanked me for my honesty.
What beat all was when I received 120 pounds of high end cat litter that I didn’t order. When I called Amazon they told me to keep it and give it away. But when I checked my Visa bill the following month I found that I had been slammed with an Amazon Prime membership. And charges for two memberships on two successive days. I immediately cancelled my Visa card and requested replacement and reimbursement. I guess the take home message is check every credit card bill for charges line by line every month.
I’m kinda like Clark. I do look at my 3 CC statements every month.