A gamer who bought a pricey Xbox from Amazon claims he received a bag of cat litter instead. Matthew Tonkin received the parcel that he had expected to contain the £449 Xbox Series X, but noticed the package seemed 'small' compared to packaging he'd seen in high street stores.
It was only when he ripped open the box that he realised his console wasn't there and instead he'd received a 10-litre bag of Catsan. Unable to catch the delivery driver before he set off, the 33-year-old, who doesn't own a cat, contacted the retail giant and told them about the error.
The food factory worker claims emails between him and customer services over a number of days failed to resolve the problem - leaving him £450 out of pocket. Matthew shared the mistake with unsympathetic friends, who joked 'you'd best get a cat mate'.
Amazon said they had apologised and were issuing him a full refund. Matthew said: "At first I was excited because I'd finally got the Xbox.
"I should have known [when the box arrived] as the one they showed me at GAME was twice the size.
(Kennedy News and Media)
"When I opened it I just laughed, it was so ridiculous. I showed my dad and he just said 'what the hell? What were you expecting to get?'."
"Everything I've got from Amazon has been what I've ordered apart from this. They're one of the biggest companies with the biggest resources and I just think, 'how could anything like this happen?' It's crazy."
As soon as he realised the error, Matthew called Amazon's customer service line and claims he was simply told their returns policy. After sending a number of emails to the customer support team he said he was told that the issue 'was in the process of being resolved' but didn't receive a refund.
Matthew said: "It wasn't like I made a £10 purchase, if it was socks or something I'd be like 'ah, don't worry about it'. You've sent me kitty litter and I've just spent almost £450 on an Xbox.
"You give me kitty litter, and very little feedback. All I want is my money back, that's it really."
Although Matthew has found the situation frustrating, he's managed to find the funny side and says the mix-up has been the source of plenty of jokes for friends and family. Matthew said: "My mate's response was, 'you'd best get yourself a cat, mate'.
"My other friend said, 'that's a pretty expensive kitty'." Matthew says he is still waiting on a refund from Amazon.
An Amazon spokesperson said: "We've been in contact with the customer directly, apologised and a full refund is being processed."
