Amazon UK Mistakenly Sent $5,600 Worth Of Goods To A Student, Told Him He Could Keep Them All – For Free
A student was in for the surprise of a lifetime when goods worth thousands of dollars started pouring in on his doorstep. But Christmas definitely came early for him when he was asked to simply keep them by Amazon, the company for whom the goods were meant.
The student, Robert Quinn, 22, started receiving parcels which appeared to have been destined to be returned to the online retailer, only to arrive at his family home in Bromley, south London. But the best part of this mistaken identity was that Amazon has asked him to simply keep and use the goods, for free.
In total 51 packages addressed to Mr. Quinn have been sent so far to his parents’ house ranging from a £150 ($234) baby buggy to a £50 ($78) portable heater – and they keep coming, reported Deccan Chronicle. To date, Quinn has received over £3,600 ($5,643) worth of products. Apparently there’s no pattern, nor any particular category of products, that Quinn is receiving.
The packages started arriving a week ago, and the most recent arrivals in this week included a £165 ($258) computer processor. Apart from the same, the boy has received a book on neurological physiotherapy, a pirate outfit and an £18.98 ($30) Lego fire truck, £120 ($190) laptop, a baby buggy, a Sony PSP console, a £90 ($140) Waterman pen, a £170 ($265) electric wine cooler, a Lotus car user manual, CDs, DVDs, and books. Interestingly, there were some big ticket items like £889 ($1390) 55-inch Samsung 3D television and the 12 inch Galaxy Pro, which retails on the site for £338 ($528).
It is believed that the products were destined to a returns depot. Last week, Amazon experienced a record-breaking Black Friday when it sold 5.5 million items. On average, Amazon was clocking 64 purchases per second, and it is quite likely that even a small computer glitch might have resulted in Quinn getting thousands of dollars worth of products, reported The Telegraph. But no one expected the online retailer to simply let the glitch become a mega-gift bonanza, said Quinn,
“At first I phoned up Amazon and they said that people must be “gifting” them to me, but there’s no way that’s happening because I don’t know any of these people. I was worried that people were losing out on their stuff so I phone Amazon again and said I’m happy to accept these gifts if they are footing the cost, but I’m not happy if these people are going to lose out. But Amazon said ‘it’s on us'”
Confirming the story, an Amazon spokesperson said, “This matter has now been resolved and I can confirm that on this occasion the customer has been informed that he can keep the items that were delivered.”
[Image Credit | Chris Eades / The Sun, PA]
