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14
Man Finds Random Packages On His Doorstep And Refuses To Return Them On His Own Dime
Everyone makes mistakes, and it’s the mark of a more reasonable person that they will actually try to fix them as soon as possible, unless they are the sort to “grace” the various stories of entitlement across the internet. This is, or at least should be, doubly true in business, as there tends to be real liability, but sometimes even a company can be unhelpful.
A man asked the internet if he was wrong for refusing to personally bring back a parcel a company had accidentally sent to his address. When he contacted them, they were initially pretty unwilling to fix their own mistake. We reached out to the man who made the post via private message and will update the article when he gets back to us.
RELATED:
An unexpected parcel with a strangers name on it is generally a mistake
Image credits: voronaman111 / envatoelements (not the actual photo)
So one man was surprised when the company asked him to hand-deliver the parcel they misplaced
Image credits: nblxer /envatoelements (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Noe_Wunn
Since it doesn’t bring in money directly, some companies don’t care about customer support
Image credits: DC Studio / freepik (not the actual photo)
Many businesses treat customer support like that dusty treadmill in the corner of the gym, something they know they should invest in but would rather pretend doesn’t exist. A delivery company is sending out vehicles all the time, would it really cost them that much extra to just pick up the item? The logic seems foolproof at first glance: support teams don’t close deals, they cost money to train and staff, and hey, wouldn’t it be great if we just replaced them all with a chatbot named Chad? The spreadsheet says yes, the CFO nods approvingly, and suddenly your customer service department has the budget of a lemonade stand. But penny-pinching on customer support is like trying to save money by skipping oil changes on your car. Sure, you’re pocketing a few bucks now, but you’re also slowly removing repeat customers one by one.
Companies convince themselves that customers won’t really need much help anyway. They’ll just check the FAQ page, right? They’ll happily navigate through seventeen layers of automated phone menus while listening to hold music that sounds like a dental drill remixed by someone who hates joy. Except customers absolutely will not do this cheerfully. They’ll do it while composing mental drafts of the scathing reviews they’re about to post everywhere from Google to their family group chat. The math that makes bad customer service look attractive is missing some crucial variables. Sure, you saved forty thousand dollars by cutting your support team in half. Congratulations! You also just gave your loyal customers a reason to take their business to your competitor, and acquiring new customers to replace them costs somewhere between five and twenty-five times more than keeping the ones you had. It’s like celebrating the money you saved by canceling your home insurance the same week your house catches fire.
And let’s talk about the domino effect of terrible support. When someone has a nightmare experience trying to get help, they don’t just quietly move on with their lives. They become evangelists for your competitors. They write novels in the review section or perhaps, like this man, on Reddit. They tell everyone at dinner parties about the time they spent three hours on hold only to be disconnected. In the age of social media, one spectacularly bad support interaction can reach thousands of people before you’ve finished your morning coffee.
It’s not just customers who end up feeling annoyed, the company also suffers
Image credits: Drazen Zigic / freepik (not the actual photo)
What many executives miss is that customer support teams are basically treasure troves of business intelligence disguised as cost centers. These are the people who hear about problems before they explode, who understand what customers actually want versus what your product team thinks they want, and who can spot emerging trends faster than any analytics dashboard. But when you staff your support department with three overwhelmed people and a prayer, you lose all of that insight. You’re flying blind while congratulating yourself on fuel savings. The sad irony is that skimping on support creates a negative feedback loop. Undertrained, overworked staff can’t solve problems effectively. Customers get frustrated and contact support multiple times about the same issue. Wait times balloon. Good employees flee for jobs where they’re not treated like punching bags. New hires arrive, receive minimal training, and the cycle continues. You’re spending money constantly fighting fires instead of preventing them.
Meanwhile, companies that actually invest in stellar customer support are eating everyone else’s lunch. Zappos didn’t become legendary because their shoes are made of unicorn leather. Chewy didn’t build a cult following because their dog food has magical properties. They won because when you contact them, you talk to an actual human who can actually help and actually seems to care. Revolutionary stuff, apparently. The beautiful secret is that good customer support actually saves money in the long run. Empowered support teams fix root problems instead of applying band-aids. Satisfied customers don’t keep calling back. Well-trained agents resolve issues efficiently instead of bouncing people around like ping-pong balls. It’s almost like treating people well has positive consequences.
In today’s world where customers can switch to your competitor faster than you can say “please rate your support experience,” treating customer service like an optional expense is taking an unnecessary risk with your business. The companies winning aren’t necessarily those with the fanciest products, they’re the ones who figured out that investing in customer support isn’t just warm and fuzzy niceness. It’s cold, hard business sense wrapped in a smile and a genuine desire to help. Your customers will remember how you made them feel long after they’ve forgotten your product’s technical specifications, and that memory will either build your empire or fund someone else’s.
Most thought he was being reasonable
Some did warn him to be careful
[others were suspicious it might be a scam]
Others shared similar stories
A few even suggested he just keep it
THINKS OP SHOULD HAVE BROUGH IT:
One user even had a theory to what might have happened
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What do you think ?
Jaya 1 week ago
People who automatically think it's a d**g trafficking thing, sound a bit overdramatic. Sure, it could be, but it's just as likely that someone simply made a typo when typing in the house number (20 when it should have been 200 for instance). Or someone sent packages as a gift to someone and has the wrong street name or wrong house number. We don't live in an action movie, most things don't have something very dramatic and spectacular reason behind them.
Leah Woodard 1 week ago
My MAGAt family and neighbors would think you were a real bore.
Load More Replies...
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
I live in a very rural area. So far I have had a phone dropped in my driveway, and an air fryer delivered to the wrong address. Tried to deliver the phone to correct addressee, but they stopped responding. Mine. Air fryer seemed like a nice gift. Held it for a few weeks, then mine. Stuff em!
Rick Murray 1 week ago
I live very rural, and I work daytime hours. If anything came from Amazon (obvious box), I'd get in touch with them. If the address was nearby I'd take it over (somebody has already done this for me) otherwise they can arrange a pick-up (I'll leave it at my local supermarket as it's right by work, anything else is a firm no). If it isn't Amazon, I'll contact the delivery company and tell them their parcel is in the barn, they have seven days to collect it before I'm turning it over to the Gendarmes. So far it's only been Amazon parcels and the odd letter that's been misdelivered. The strangest one was my vitamin pills (cheaper on Amazon than the local chemist) which went to a house with an entirely different name (not even a homophone) in the same village. The most annoying one is Chronopost that don't bother to come out rural and will leave the parcel in a local pick-up point and say "customer not home". I have complained to Amazon repeatedly, so I think they use them less for me now.
Load More Replies...
A Strike 1 week ago
I’ve got a good one that happened to me. I order tropical fish from the website liveaquaria and one day, completely out of the blue, I received two HUGE boxes to my doorstep. I hadn’t ordered anything and was very confused when I opened the boxes to find they contained over two hundred pounds of live saltwater rock. This is rock that has gone through the nitrogen cycle and is ready to be put in a tank to become part of the ecosystem. It takes months to cycle rock and they have bacteria and algal growth in them. They have to be kept wet so they survive and don’t start to rot. I contacted the company and said it had been delivered to me by mistake and asked them what I should do about it. They sent me shipping labels and told me to ship the boxes back to them. I loaded hundreds of pounds of rock and carried it into ups and sent them back. I didn’t even get so much as a “thank you” from liveaquaria for the trouble. :/
Mike F 1 week ago
I'll bet that next time you'll put that 💩 on Craigslist!
Load More Replies...
ॐBoyGanesh 1 week ago
Grew up in San Francisco with a city park across the street. There is a rather secluded footpath that runs along the Muni (train) tracks and the path hosts nefarious & salacious activities throughout the night. During the day it’s rather dead. We’ve dealt with many mislabeled packages on our doorstep & oftentimes we’d see daytime loiterers keeping an eye on our porch. It was often stolen cards to buy mail order (pre-internet) goods or d***s. At some point it just became common practice that one of us would grab the package, walk across the street & toss it into the bushes along side the footpath. The was the maximum effort & thought we’d put into it. I image at some point my parents made an effort to get them rerouted or returned. But that was obviously a pain & the āss, so it became “toss it in the bushes across the street.”
Nils Skirnir 1 week ago
In these times, it could be anything from a scam to a b**b. Best to handle it conservatively and dump it, unless you personally know the sender.
Leah Woodard 1 week ago (edited)
Amazon did this to me, save that I'd ordered a window air conditioner and they'd sent one so large a truck and crane delivered it. First they tried to have me consider it an upgrade, then tried to tell me I was responsible for returning it. I did some research and discovered the law is on our side: packages delivered in error - whatever the error - are the responsibility of the sender/shipping company. If they won't retrieve it, it's a gift. Amazon sent a truck after I sent them a link to the Craig's list ad.
Sofia 1 week ago
Not sure about law where it happened but I am pretty sure that trashing mail/parcel is illegal even if was delivered to the wrong address. Should return to sender or to the mail office and advise the delivery guy not to leave parcel that arent specifically for OP
Janelle Collard 1 week ago (edited)
In the US, it's a federal offense to do stuff to someone else's mail. State laws apply to misdelivered packages. (I googled it!) We're supposed to contact the carrier and tell *them* to pick it up. We're not responsible for getting it back to *them.* Their fvck up, their responsibility. If the carrier refuses, we're supposed to contact the sender + tell *them* to pick it up.
Load More Replies... 
nm 4 hours ago
Many times in the email of the company I was working with we had received messages sent to us by mistake. I considered it professional responsibility to alert the sender for his mistake or pass-on the message to the correct recipient, if was known. Once I found in my mail box a insurance contract οφ another person. I managed to find the insurance broker, who came to my house, collected the envelope for passin-on to the correct receiver.
Philly Bob 1 week ago (edited)
I once recieved a package addressed to me. Same name, same town, same number. Wrong street (I really didn't see that until it was too late.) I figured it was something from work or mom, whatever, so I opened it and it had checks for thousands, airline tickets, an itinerary etc. Realizing it wasn't for me, I sealed it back up and went through the phone book and found another "me" at that address. I called the person who's wife answered the phone and she gave me hella attitude. "Why did you accept the package if it wasn't yours?" etc. I was like "yo bimbō, my name is... I live in... my house # is... all the same except the street and I didn't accept it, it was left on my doorstep. She came and picked it up, snatched it out of my hand, slammed her car door and took off. I should have tossed it in the trash. Fk her! It was from an investment firm.
Jack 1 week ago
This happened with an Amazon seller years ago. We ordered a wall-mounted soap dispenser. They sent the wrong one, and had the wrong name on the package. Then they wanted me to forward the package to their other customer and they would pay me back! So, direct to Amazon for help. They intervened and all I had to do was drop it off at UPS.
Emilu 1 week ago
NTA. I'd be happy to hold the item, re-label it, etc, but I'm not doing your dirty work and schlepping it to the post office; I can barely be bothered doing that with my own parcels. That said, I'd be happy to make the phone call, because I'd hate if someone had my parcel and didn't inform the company. I was on the phone with one of our major supermarkets for about half an hour because they'd delivered somebody else's groceries to me (address was mine; no idea of the person and none of the neighbours have that name). Ended up getting to keep the groceries, so that was an unexpected win! Especially as the mysterious person and I seem to buy similar things 😆
Laserleader 1 week ago (edited)
In Alaska, you just write, "return to sender" and leave it by the mailbox for postal, if its a FedEx, you call them and do the same thing. Don't touch or alter or print label, because fraud is constant up here. We got some "packages" for an unknown and it was some kind of scam, they were properly disposed of after they weren't picked up that week. It may not be druugs, but random small objects in boxes that appear every few weeks is not a mistake.
ThisIsMe 1 week ago
I live in a small neighborhood, and for a time was regularly receiving packages for a house on street over, same house number different street name. A couple of times I ran the packages to the house if I was on my way out anyway, but this got old fast. Suggested to the neighbor I could text them so they could pick up, but they didn't seem keen on that. So I started reporting the incorrect delivery online to the carrier. I was told to print something they sent, attach to the box, and leave on porch. Sometimes it would take 3-4 days for them to pick it up (even though they came regularly to drop stuff off). They would have to take back to office, record pick up, and then take back out for delivery. Waste of everyone's time...except mine :-)
Crystalwitch60 1 week ago
Here in uk ,this is what’s commonly known as A SCAM ! and as a few rightly said ,the chances of it containing d r u g s is very high! Personally if I get post ie letters for other people not here ,but I know live in the village ,I get my daughter to drop them round to them , im housebound , n walking isn’t always an option , now if I ever had a parcel with my addy on ,n a name id never heard of ( I’ve been here11 yrs so unlikely to be some n as lived here before lol ) I know instantly its not gonna be real ! I’d either call the courier back n say nope not here , n hand it back of if I miss em ,id open it n make sure it wasn’t illegal ,in which case police get called asap ! But no way am I doing what they asked op to do lol I ligit don’t have a printer n I ligit don’t drive now ,n no post office for 35 miles either 😂so ,nope they can come get it end off
Crystalwitch60 1 week ago
Oh n another thing it is likely to be , goods get delivered to a random addy , and the people as ordered it ,watch nearby n go nick it , but op stoped that by getting home , n brining it in lmao a more porch pirate type set up ,but they actually order it
Lady Eowyn 1 week ago
This makes no sense whatsoever. Worse even than your usual nonsense.
Load More Replies...
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
Amazon have never asked me for money to return
Load More Replies...
Jaya 1 week ago
People who automatically think it's a d**g trafficking thing, sound a bit overdramatic. Sure, it could be, but it's just as likely that someone simply made a typo when typing in the house number (20 when it should have been 200 for instance). Or someone sent packages as a gift to someone and has the wrong street name or wrong house number. We don't live in an action movie, most things don't have something very dramatic and spectacular reason behind them.
Leah Woodard 1 week ago
My MAGAt family and neighbors would think you were a real bore.
Load More Replies... Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
I live in a very rural area. So far I have had a phone dropped in my driveway, and an air fryer delivered to the wrong address. Tried to deliver the phone to correct addressee, but they stopped responding. Mine. Air fryer seemed like a nice gift. Held it for a few weeks, then mine. Stuff em!
Rick Murray 1 week ago
I live very rural, and I work daytime hours. If anything came from Amazon (obvious box), I'd get in touch with them. If the address was nearby I'd take it over (somebody has already done this for me) otherwise they can arrange a pick-up (I'll leave it at my local supermarket as it's right by work, anything else is a firm no). If it isn't Amazon, I'll contact the delivery company and tell them their parcel is in the barn, they have seven days to collect it before I'm turning it over to the Gendarmes. So far it's only been Amazon parcels and the odd letter that's been misdelivered. The strangest one was my vitamin pills (cheaper on Amazon than the local chemist) which went to a house with an entirely different name (not even a homophone) in the same village. The most annoying one is Chronopost that don't bother to come out rural and will leave the parcel in a local pick-up point and say "customer not home". I have complained to Amazon repeatedly, so I think they use them less for me now.
Load More Replies... A Strike 1 week ago
I’ve got a good one that happened to me. I order tropical fish from the website liveaquaria and one day, completely out of the blue, I received two HUGE boxes to my doorstep. I hadn’t ordered anything and was very confused when I opened the boxes to find they contained over two hundred pounds of live saltwater rock. This is rock that has gone through the nitrogen cycle and is ready to be put in a tank to become part of the ecosystem. It takes months to cycle rock and they have bacteria and algal growth in them. They have to be kept wet so they survive and don’t start to rot. I contacted the company and said it had been delivered to me by mistake and asked them what I should do about it. They sent me shipping labels and told me to ship the boxes back to them. I loaded hundreds of pounds of rock and carried it into ups and sent them back. I didn’t even get so much as a “thank you” from liveaquaria for the trouble. :/
Mike F 1 week ago
I'll bet that next time you'll put that 💩 on Craigslist!
Load More Replies... ॐBoyGanesh 1 week ago
Grew up in San Francisco with a city park across the street. There is a rather secluded footpath that runs along the Muni (train) tracks and the path hosts nefarious & salacious activities throughout the night. During the day it’s rather dead. We’ve dealt with many mislabeled packages on our doorstep & oftentimes we’d see daytime loiterers keeping an eye on our porch. It was often stolen cards to buy mail order (pre-internet) goods or d***s. At some point it just became common practice that one of us would grab the package, walk across the street & toss it into the bushes along side the footpath. The was the maximum effort & thought we’d put into it. I image at some point my parents made an effort to get them rerouted or returned. But that was obviously a pain & the āss, so it became “toss it in the bushes across the street.”
Nils Skirnir 1 week ago
In these times, it could be anything from a scam to a b**b. Best to handle it conservatively and dump it, unless you personally know the sender.
Leah Woodard 1 week ago (edited)
Amazon did this to me, save that I'd ordered a window air conditioner and they'd sent one so large a truck and crane delivered it. First they tried to have me consider it an upgrade, then tried to tell me I was responsible for returning it. I did some research and discovered the law is on our side: packages delivered in error - whatever the error - are the responsibility of the sender/shipping company. If they won't retrieve it, it's a gift. Amazon sent a truck after I sent them a link to the Craig's list ad.
Sofia 1 week ago
Not sure about law where it happened but I am pretty sure that trashing mail/parcel is illegal even if was delivered to the wrong address. Should return to sender or to the mail office and advise the delivery guy not to leave parcel that arent specifically for OP
Janelle Collard 1 week ago (edited)
In the US, it's a federal offense to do stuff to someone else's mail. State laws apply to misdelivered packages. (I googled it!) We're supposed to contact the carrier and tell *them* to pick it up. We're not responsible for getting it back to *them.* Their fvck up, their responsibility. If the carrier refuses, we're supposed to contact the sender + tell *them* to pick it up.
Load More Replies... nm 4 hours ago
Many times in the email of the company I was working with we had received messages sent to us by mistake. I considered it professional responsibility to alert the sender for his mistake or pass-on the message to the correct recipient, if was known. Once I found in my mail box a insurance contract οφ another person. I managed to find the insurance broker, who came to my house, collected the envelope for passin-on to the correct receiver.
Philly Bob 1 week ago (edited)
I once recieved a package addressed to me. Same name, same town, same number. Wrong street (I really didn't see that until it was too late.) I figured it was something from work or mom, whatever, so I opened it and it had checks for thousands, airline tickets, an itinerary etc. Realizing it wasn't for me, I sealed it back up and went through the phone book and found another "me" at that address. I called the person who's wife answered the phone and she gave me hella attitude. "Why did you accept the package if it wasn't yours?" etc. I was like "yo bimbō, my name is... I live in... my house # is... all the same except the street and I didn't accept it, it was left on my doorstep. She came and picked it up, snatched it out of my hand, slammed her car door and took off. I should have tossed it in the trash. Fk her! It was from an investment firm.
Jack 1 week ago
This happened with an Amazon seller years ago. We ordered a wall-mounted soap dispenser. They sent the wrong one, and had the wrong name on the package. Then they wanted me to forward the package to their other customer and they would pay me back! So, direct to Amazon for help. They intervened and all I had to do was drop it off at UPS.
Emilu 1 week ago
NTA. I'd be happy to hold the item, re-label it, etc, but I'm not doing your dirty work and schlepping it to the post office; I can barely be bothered doing that with my own parcels. That said, I'd be happy to make the phone call, because I'd hate if someone had my parcel and didn't inform the company. I was on the phone with one of our major supermarkets for about half an hour because they'd delivered somebody else's groceries to me (address was mine; no idea of the person and none of the neighbours have that name). Ended up getting to keep the groceries, so that was an unexpected win! Especially as the mysterious person and I seem to buy similar things 😆
Laserleader 1 week ago (edited)
In Alaska, you just write, "return to sender" and leave it by the mailbox for postal, if its a FedEx, you call them and do the same thing. Don't touch or alter or print label, because fraud is constant up here. We got some "packages" for an unknown and it was some kind of scam, they were properly disposed of after they weren't picked up that week. It may not be druugs, but random small objects in boxes that appear every few weeks is not a mistake.
ThisIsMe 1 week ago
I live in a small neighborhood, and for a time was regularly receiving packages for a house on street over, same house number different street name. A couple of times I ran the packages to the house if I was on my way out anyway, but this got old fast. Suggested to the neighbor I could text them so they could pick up, but they didn't seem keen on that. So I started reporting the incorrect delivery online to the carrier. I was told to print something they sent, attach to the box, and leave on porch. Sometimes it would take 3-4 days for them to pick it up (even though they came regularly to drop stuff off). They would have to take back to office, record pick up, and then take back out for delivery. Waste of everyone's time...except mine :-)
Crystalwitch60 1 week ago
Here in uk ,this is what’s commonly known as A SCAM ! and as a few rightly said ,the chances of it containing d r u g s is very high! Personally if I get post ie letters for other people not here ,but I know live in the village ,I get my daughter to drop them round to them , im housebound , n walking isn’t always an option , now if I ever had a parcel with my addy on ,n a name id never heard of ( I’ve been here11 yrs so unlikely to be some n as lived here before lol ) I know instantly its not gonna be real ! I’d either call the courier back n say nope not here , n hand it back of if I miss em ,id open it n make sure it wasn’t illegal ,in which case police get called asap ! But no way am I doing what they asked op to do lol I ligit don’t have a printer n I ligit don’t drive now ,n no post office for 35 miles either 😂so ,nope they can come get it end off
Crystalwitch60 1 week ago
Oh n another thing it is likely to be , goods get delivered to a random addy , and the people as ordered it ,watch nearby n go nick it , but op stoped that by getting home , n brining it in lmao a more porch pirate type set up ,but they actually order it
Lady Eowyn 1 week ago
This makes no sense whatsoever. Worse even than your usual nonsense.
Load More Replies... Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
Amazon have never asked me for money to return
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